Megalodon, Hosting new missionaries,Thai words, the usual

Elder Ellis with Elder Fung (middle) on his last night in the MTC before Hong Kong,
2nd missionary from the Asian dorm to leave. 

Watdi watdiiii

So yeah. megalodon. its real right. i mean its got to be in the ocean somewhere? When we look to practice speaking normal thai conversation we talk about the megalodon cause come on. its sweet. sooo lets see moving on to real things that happened this week....

Hosted some new missionaries. chill people. like 5 of them were going to Japan thats pretty cool. 

SAW SOME AWESOME HOMIES

Saw Elder Gerardo Fong, Jarin Mcmillan, Dmitri Wheeler, James Umphress which leads me to the next story...

So i had a roommate in college. Girls loved him. and he...idk, took the girls out on dates but really stressed out a lot. His name sounds similar to iceberg. Chee. yeah. So like these two girls had asked me (separate occasions) "Hey you look familiar, did you go to BYU?" And i was like yeah..... and then i asked if they knew elder ------- and they were like YES OMG! yup. if you know, you know. he was one of the other Hapa guys. Love you yuuuuuuuuuuut (Choke or for those that dont speak pidgin "A ton")

Ok thai struggles this week, idk how big my vocabulary has gotten. but its pretty big that i can talk and carry on a conversation about normal stuff and gospel related topics. so like thai wods also sound really similar..... so yeah.

Chua^ chua/, chxa^. chxa, chxa` and chua(v) chuan and chuay

They all sound the same. but have pretty different meanings. 

Im talking like these words range from: evil, nice, invite, help, believe, to use, and i think one of them is a word for some thai monster...idk.....yeah....i should probably brush up on those before I...

TEACH A LESSON TO SOMEONE IN THAILAND OVER SKYPE

Yup. i dont want to tell someone that theyre evil. or that i want to use them. yeah there is definitely some confusion.

Oh and we have these huge devotionals and we see one of the khon thai elders go up cause he was called up to share an experience he had. so when we saw who it was the whole thai district (8 of us in a sea of around 2200 missinoaries) started cheering...from the back of the auditorium place....and then the speaker was saying oh, stand up if youre from thailand. but then the khon thai says YUN KHUN! and all of us farangs (foreigners) stand up...yeah we understand thai better than we do english haha.

Oh and lets see. My companions family was worried about his weight gain so they sent him carrots. brah. thats a rough life. but actually carrots taste pretty good. but please dont send me carrots. i like candy and rice. ya know. just saying

Hm oh and one of the other elders sleep talks and they had gotten new roommates. the first night apparently he was sleep talking in "Thai" These other elders were going to Hong Kong mandarin speaking but the next morning they were like "Woah dude, you know you scream thai in your sleep...THATS SO SICK when do we get to that point?" But tbh he just says jibberish that sounds like thai. haha yeah....not too much stuff happening, got a sriracha 2 go little bottle and the cafeteria now regularly stocks sriracha its sweet. idk. this week just flew by. 

Love hearing from you all! its great and i love hearing about the outside world.

Keep it real, Im literally overjoyed because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. its weird. but yeah, i wake up and go to sleep with a smile on my face just because of how great this all is.

Stay Outcheea (yes with two e's) 

Aloha,

Elder Ellis

Sandys Drip, Vowel Problems, Inspirational stuff, And (2 items of) important news

Watdi watdi (hey hey)

Its another week. this one flew by like lightning fast. ho. Im tired. not really. ok yes really i still fall asleep during personal study time. not longer than 15 minutes....i think. idk. it all blurs together. so....

Sandys drip

So yeah i love the ocean. and i love bodysurfing. so whenever i go to sandy beach (If you dont know youtube sandy beach vids, theyre sweet) you tend to get poound on the sand. cause thats fun. but salt water goes so far up your nose that you literally have a faucet that you cant turn off on your face. thats what ive had this week. phom mai chaab (i dont like) Yeah just having my nose drip right onto my textbook really reminded me of sitting at home on my laptop and then salt water literally dripping from my nose cause of the beach. oh the ocean. oh.

Vowel problems

The sound for spicy and duck and the end vowel for relationships and to interview all sorta sound the same. So you could basically say "I have a relationship with spicy duck interviews" and itd be like Phom mii khwamsampham phaan(-) phaan(^) pheen(/) oh how i love tones and vowels that all sound the same.

Inspirational stuff

lets see...

"Wo we must lengthen our strides"

"Never settle for mediocrity"

Be believing be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out.

Just some quotes that I felt like sharing.Honestly, nothing really exciting happened. I'm still learning thai. Still struggling, but its a good struggle cause I know what i need to work on. but yeah, super busy week so i feel like winded. its like a running a marathon. except i probs wont run a marathon again anytime soon and i still got this lifestyle of learning thai for another 2 years sooooo.

Hm important stuff

As a district (group of 8 missionaries all going to Thailand) we've gained a total of over 100 pounds. yeah you heard that right. i gained 10. my companion gained 20. Aww yeah. its awesome. and we are definitely getting fat. i cant just go and bodysurf for 6 hours anymore :(

Second interesting thing

We are meeting the chancellor of Thailand. not sure how important he is. sounds like the person is super important. but yeah, the chancellor is interested in just seeing what these mormon missionaries that are coming into Thailand are like. aka. I've got a few weeks to start whipping myself in shape so i can speak legit Thai to him. no worry beef curry.

FUNNY STORY

So its the little things in life that really keep you going. so we decided to start telling people in the MTC that our district was going to Iraq. The Baghdad Irag mission (Its not a real mission just saying) so yeah. most people didn't believe us. but then this group actually did HAH. khon yak jon's (fools) Yeah we told them we needed to get gas masks and like the other group that was sent to Iraq is unheard from. so yeah. idk, we had a blast. they cant even tell middle eastern language apart from south east asia. honestly neither can I haha, but yeah. its the little things that keep us going in the week.

Samooong le bood (mind explosion)

Aloha,

Elder Ellis

Odthon jon kwaa chiiwid ca haa may, More tonal mess ups, and some other thai phrases, 2 Kings 2:23-24

Ho. im still alive. like i gained a few pounds but. eh. ill survive right?

2 kings 2:23-24 just so you can all have a good laugh of what you can find in the bible.

OK. if you really want some spiritual inspiration go and look for the mormon message entitled "The other prodigal son" literally will change your perspective on the parable of the prodigal son. go check um go check um GO!... or nah. you can keep on reading. i think im pretty entertaining.

So lets see.

Tuesday-We learned how to say our names in thai! yeahh. one of our teachers is a khon thai (translation to "Thai person") so he spent some time chipping away. idk if i can even use like a thai keyboard but yeah. ill try take a picture and maybe ill send it sometime.

Wednesday-new missionaries, didnt get to host but it was aight. new friends! welcome to prison. jk i mean the MTC. its not prison i promise, im doing fine. im learning a ton in here

Thursday-So we had this weekly goal to run a lap around the whole mtc. and yeah we kept it. and we chant in thai. so every night around 8:15. "Oh look. there goes those crazy thai missionaries." also our fastest time running in slacks, ties, and dress shoes is 1:30. i didnt set that. im just letting them all enjoy the limelight. but dont worry. ill clutch up during game time and set some crazy record.

Friday-idk. stuff happened. i guess i didnt write anything on my stick note....

Saturday-oh man. this day. so sad. The teachers now only write in THAI SCRIPT. IT TAKES ME LIKE AN HOUR TO READ TWO WORDS. so i ask my friends that can read fast what it says. also we sing hymns in thai and they sound horrible. except for hymns that have the word allelluia, cause like you cant mess up saying alleluia in any language.

Khon thai teacher (name is bro.kaosuchirit) taught us his favorite phrases samoongle booood! (forgive me idk how to spell it. just how to say it)

It translates to mind explosion. or mind blow. which is pretty much how we feel whenever we learn and study thai. our minds will literally explode. HAH.

hmm so youre probably wondering what that first phrase means. well in short it translates to endure to the end. but in thai they dont say it that simple.

The thai translation means "Endure until the point where one can see no life left to live" super poetic right. oh yeah. watch out. ill be laying down some thai lines. im a poet. yup i know it. Not really. but its the small things in life that keep you going. 

I only weigh 148. havent hit 150. i probably will this week. i tend to average around 5-8 glasses of soda during dinner and i drink a lot of water during the day cause its so dry allll the timmmeeeeee

TONE STRUGGLES:

So we got some friends learning cantonese. and they were teaching about how through the Plan of Salvation (google it, its a mormon thing if you dont know but youre curious) its basically about how you can live with your family eternally. so this one cantonese elder is teaching someone and he tries to say

"I know that through the plan of salvation i can live and see all those people that i lost, Have you lost anyone that you love" but the words for lost and kill are like a single tone off. so he said "I know that....i can live and see the people that ive killed. Have you killed anyone you love?" yeah....gotta work out the kinks here in the MTC hahah

Oh and beach withdrawals! I mean i miss the ocean (yeah of course) but like. i still dream about every wave. my ocean memory is so strong, its comforting. sometimes i close my eyes and turn the water cold and pretend im in the shower at sandys or maks....then i realize im just in a shower stall. yeah. But hey, learning Thai is pretty legit. i got my fill of the ocean

Love hearing from all of yalls that email me. Thanks for keeping me updated about the swells. and like life on the outside world. just give it a month and ill be in Thailand with elephants and you know. the works.

Stay strong, true to the faith, look up the scripture location verse thats in the title. youll get a good laugh.

I'll end with a joke that was told this week by a friend in my district

Hey, so I have this friend from N Korea who came to live in America. I asked him how was life back in Korea, and he said "I can't complain"

HAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHA cause you know... like hahahha yeah.....ok....maybe it wasnt that funny....ok....well the little things in life remember.

Aloha,

Elder Ellis

3 Weeks down, Sriracha, Hosting, and more Thai phrases! Read the funny story section!

Elders of the Thai district in front of the Provo, UT Temple. Can you spot Elder Ellis?

These weeks are flying by. The hours seem long but next thing I know, im nice and cozy in my bed, trying to get another full 8 hours of sleep.

So recap of the week hmmm

Hosting-I hosted new missionaries, tons of cool people. Got to host two friends from college, Elder Braden Brundage and Elder Jacob Watabe. Love seeing friends here! Also a few of the elders I was hosting and walking to their dorms had these hugggeeee suitcases. im talking like a solid 50 pounds each. and guess where their dorm rooms were.....on  the 4th floor. and no we dont have elevators. and my job as a host is to pretty much be their pack mule. so yeah. i should hit the gym. la len. ( Just kidding in thai) im not about to go lift HAH. ill keep on struggling on. ive got more important things to do...

LIKE DOMINATE FOUR SQUARE

Oh yeah. you heard that right. i dominate four square with my limited hand eye coordination. (Not really. i just play four square cause my companion likes basketball and ever time i try play basketball with these other elders i just get pushed over) so yeah four square is my thing.

Hopefully Ill be able to send some pictures we have a card reader but theres some email size restrictions soooo. we shall see how that goes I guess?

This week was truly long. like we all felt so tired. we tried to stay awake during our additional study time but we started to watch a bit of a Mormon message and 5 minutes in everyone was asleep.

In Elder Ellis' room... they get back so exhausted they fall right asleep

Only two elders were up. one was reading the Book of Mormon in Thai and the other said he couldnt get into a comfortable sleep position. which leads me to the next topic...

I CAN READ THAI

sorta. not really. it takes me a long time. im still working on memorizing the thai script but its interesting cause vowels can go on top, left, or right. and you just need to memorize their direction. and just cause they come before the consonant doesnt mean thats how it is when it is sounded out. and like certain combinations make different letters. theres like 3

Thai Book of Mormon

s sounds then you add in these two other consonant combinations and they make another 2 "s" sounds. so we have a total of 5 sounds. yeah. yeah. and then theres all these other weird rules that I dont understand (yet) but hey. im working on it and two weeks in and I can read thai. I read at about the pace slower than my baby sister. Im talking a solid word or two every 5 minutes? hahah, nah nah. maybe like 1 word a minute. Its an interesting language but I can feel God's hand helping me learn and understand and I am so grateful for this blessing.

Oh but a sport that I actually do enjoy playing here is soccer. So we arent allowed to get competitive but we do....and we cant keep score so instead of points we keep score in smiles. so whichever team has the biggest smile after wins hahah.

Also. I couldve totally brought my skinny ties. just saying. thought I should tell the world that. Yes skinny, but not like pencil thin skinny. i guess its up to preference. its ok if you think its ok. but hey im happy i didnt bring any of them. cause Tie-Land. yup. ties. in thailand. sickest things ever.

Oh and I wear my sandals all the time with my slacks. ill take a picture to show you all how amazing and stylish I look. ho yups.

Im also happy that Im still dark cause all these white people. yup. I stand out still. the tan is still sorta here

OK FUNNY STORY TIME

So thai is a tonal language. and also for certain religious and royal terms you add sorta like a modifier (phra-) to the beggining of it. so like phrapupenjaw is God and phra bidda bon sawan is Heavenly Father. and then the word for missionary (which i am) is phuusoonsadsanaa. So we go and teach mock investigators to practice our Thai and my companion, with complete confidence knocks on the class room door, introduces himself and proceeds to say "Raw pen phrapupencaw" Which basically translates to "We are God."

Yeah....yeah....got some strange looks from the teacher hahaha

Also funny story number two.

Another two elders were teaching a mock investigator and talked about a Book of Mormon prophet named Lehi, Lehi was the father of Nephi. The word for father is paa, with a valley tone. the word for goat is paa with a rising tone. These two tones are pretty similar. so my friend goes (in Thai, i translated it for you)...." Yeah Lehi was amazing, he was Nephi's goat. Lehi was a terrific goat, and helped his family so much, the goat received revelation from God."

Yup Thai language. Gotta love it a ton

OK NOW SOME FUN MORMON FUN FACT/HISTORY STUFF

Sister Srilaksana the principal translator 

Brother of Jared, were all familiar with him right? really faithful guy. okay so in the English translation of the Book of Mormon, the brother of Jared isnt said to be older or younger. Get this. In Thai you have to designate older or younger according to the the person speaking. So the lady translating the Book of Mormon to thai receives revelation that it should be "phii" which translates to older brother! ho. sick ah. I wonder if thats how it is in the Hawaiian book of Mormon, cause all the kaikunane/kaikaina etc. I challenge you guys to go find out. but just thought Id share that

Oh and one more thing, apparently two mormon missionaries were sent to Thailand looking for the Asian equivalent to the Book of Mormon. Cause like Christ appeared after his resurrection and visited all of his disciples. so like Middle east has the bible, the Americas have the Book of Mormon, and the Church had wanted to find the Asia "Book of Mormon" if you will. so yeah. who knows. it may still be out there! God loves all his children so im sure that he would have disciples in Asia. just gotta wait and see.

Im doing good, getting fat, not working out enough and eating way too much ice cream on Sundays. Yeah i had 4 bowls and then an ice cream bar....I am officially 150! WOOOO celebrate by....eating way MORE!!!

Choose the right, stay safe friends, God loves you and he wants you to be happy. I know that prayers can be answered, mines most certainly have been as I have been studying the Thai language. Things get easier. I miss the beach. but not really cause im so focused on learning a language.

Oh wait and sriracha. Yeah so to my cousin Kai who sent me sriracha. ur cool. Thanks! idk what to do with it though cause i didn't think about how awkward it would be to like have to take the sriracha bottle in and out of the cafeteria. but hey ive got fruit out (yes i know #rebel) . maybe I can use it to help me stay awake in class.

Good vibes, Provo wide.

Aloha,

Elder Ellis