A Thai Buffalo

remember the last picture he drew for us? here's a new one.
looks like riley is getting more comfortable with the language. woot woot!
you can do anything with the Lord.

MTC 2.14.12

Sawadii Khrab! (hello)

The MTC is sublime. It is too much fun. Yes, Mom we have had pizza
night...twice. Pretty sweet huh? Well not really. The pizza looks like its a
day old. And the cafeteria employees just grab random boxes and throw em out there, so you may wait 5 minutes in a line and get to the pizza box only to find that it is some vegetarian business. It is stressful, you have to choose your line wisely. It is like the russian roulette of pizza.

That's sweet my Thai Book of Mormon came! Are you guys going to learn Thai so you can read it? Or are you going to send it to me? :)

My district made some intense goals this past week. By February 29th we
are going to speak in Thai 100%. If we say something, it will be in Thai.
#MightBePullingAHelenKellerThatDay. But we are also reading the entire Book of Mormon by then. Its really cool, every day during personal study our room is completely quiet because we all get sucked in to the Book of Mormon. If books were vaccuums, the Book of Mormon would be a Dyson because it never loses its suction. Random analogies aside, we are all working our hearts out to reach these goals. How would Dad say it? "No Holds Barred."

As for pictures, I found out that i can't attach pictures to my emails here
because the computers are weird. But I'll send the memory card home soon.
Don't fret!

On Sunday Elder Gibbons was called to be the new zone leader in our
branch. He is so charitable, so it makes since why the Lord would want him as a Zone Leader. He is a good missionary. He really listens for the Spirit. It is cool.

So yesterday, E. Gibbons and I taught a lesson to our "investigator" named
Suuphot. It was probably the best lesson we have had. We taught very simply, but powerfully. I was able to understand just about everything he was saying. Usually we just smile and nod and pretend we understand all of what they are saying, but yesterday I was actually comprehending it! It was the coolest feeling. And to add tot he excitement, I was able to say what I wanted to say without reading it out of my notes or one of the many language books we have. The Spirit definitely helped us, because there is no way I could improve that much in the space of a day. The Lord truly helps missionaries learn the language. It is great.

Well thanks for all the letters and goodies. I love you...Lots.

Sawadii Khrab! (it also means goodbye...and good morning...and
hello...basically you say it all the time)

Elder M. Riley Creer
The Only

Hashtags:
#thepuppetcollectionisgrowing #shouldibeworried
#twopackagesinoneday #holleratyourboy #WellLoved

MTC 2.7.12

Sawadii! that is hello in Thai.

This week has been pretty sweet. Tons of fun. Some days are crazy hard and some days go so fast. Lately I have been sick... no bueno. An elder in my district was sick last week and now half my district is sick. It stinks. Our room is full of sniffles and tissue boxes. The Thai is coming along. Last night we taught our new investigator. His name is Beer (apparently it is all the rage to give your kid strange nicknames in Thailand). I said the opening prayer before we taught and almost lost it when I thanked Heavenly Father for Beer. It was funny. But while we were teaching, Beer asked what the priesthood was and without looking in a dictionary or our Thai teaching books I answered his question! I mean it was a one sentence answer, but still it was kind of exciting. It is amazing how much the Lord helps us learn Thai. This week we started learning the actual Thai script (so far we have been using this awkward in between stuff called phaasaa Elder (because only Elders can read it)). There are so many letters! I didn't think it was possible to have more than 5 vowels...boy was I wrong. Its pretty nuts. But parts of it are really cool!

So last night we had a rap battle in our room. Two elders wrote raps yesterday and they battled it out while I threw down the beat. It was hilarious. Most of the lyrics involved marrying another elder's younger sister. We were dying. Probably the best night yet. My district is pretty sweet. We have a good time.

answers to your question:

My favorite thing to eat is cereal...psych! The tater (tator?) tot casserole was pretty tasty. But I ate some fruit and it made my throat and mouth itchy...so I have come to the conclusion that I am legitimately allergic to all fruit.

There are no sisters in my district. But the other Thai district that got here the same day as us has 3 sisters (did I already tell you this?).

Yes I have used my camera (mainly to record that rap battle)

Realtalk, I had to change my tie. But I think I have enough conservative ties to last me through the MTC.

hashtag time:

#thingsmycompanionsays:

"I'm a princess." #ohboy

"I feel an emptiness inside without classical music...I think I am going through music withdrawals" #ifLMFAOcountsasclassicalthenditto

"I can't do more than a mile" #youare19not97

#hemakesmylifemoreinteresting

Well I love you guys. Thanks for the letters! Our family...ROCKS!

Much Love,

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only

P.S. Dad, how do I shine shoes? I attempted to shine them today but don't know if I did it right...

LatestHashtag

#WhenYourCompSpillsOrangeSodaOnASister'sWhiteSweater

This was on the bottom of a letter with things to send Riley,
of course he listed:

More cookies:)

First Email - MTC 1.31.12

โรำฟสไฟวปใ <-- that means hello...psych! i have no idea what that means, i just changed the language on my computer to Thai and started typing!

But the MTC is sweet. The first few days were horrible. I wanted to die. You know how the Savior was mentally prepared for Gethsemane, but not experientially prepared...well thats how I felt. Mentally I was ready to say goodbye to the world for 2 years but I had no idea how difficult and overwhelming the homesickness would actually be. And to add to the insanity, we had to teach an "investigator" on our third day...in Thai. That was nuts. It was a rough few days. But Sunday it all changed. I think I realized that I am trying to do all this by myself. I realized that I am stressing out for nothing, the Lord will help me learn Thai and help me become the missionary I am to be. So after I realized that, everything got better! It is awesome.

But Thai is crazy hard. The tones are killer. To get them right I have to move my hand and head with the tone. So when I say stuff I look like I belong in the psych ward, moving my head up and down and tracing imaginary mountains and valleys in the air. It is pretty funny. My district has Thai time where we only speak in Thai to each other. Its hilarious. We hardly understand each other and our conversations are limited to bearing our testimonies to each other and asking who this book belongs to. We have a good time though.

My companion is Elder Gibbons. And he is from Draper. He is pretty chill. The thing I admire most about him is his charity, he never misses an opportunity to serve others. He'll take the trays for the senior missionaries and the sisters in our district every time. He truly cares about people, its cool. He obeys too, which makes it easier for me to obey.

There are 8 elders in my district and we are all going to Thailand. There is another district of Thai missionaries that arrived on the same day as us with 8 more. And then there are about 8 more Thai missionaries that have been here for a little over a month. There are a ton of us, we all sit together at meals, its pretty cool.

The coolest word i learned in Thai is klabcay (pronounced glabjai). It means to repent, but the cool thing is klab means to return and cay means heart. So repent literally means to return your heart. How sweet is that?! Yeah Thai pretty much rocks.

Phom rag phii thug (that is supposed to be i love you all)

Elder M. Riley Creer

The only

hashtags:

#ThatAkwardMomentWhenAnElderInYourDistrictHasTheExactSameShoesAsYouAndAnAlmostIdentitcalSuit

#Whenyougetaskedtochangeyourtiebecauseitistoobright

#Whenyouareteachingalessonandlookdownandrealizeyouarewearinganotherelderssuitjacket

#firstweek

A Picture is worth a thousand words....

Riley is off...

Riley was all smiles...

Last photo with family


Off he goes for two years
First twelve weeks in the MTC to learn Thai.
Then off to Thailand!