WEEK 8 - MTC - AUGUST 29, 2107

Swasdi kap!

Last e-mail from the MTC! Next week I will be writing from Bangkok Thailand! I am so excited to get there! I already love the people and can't wait to serve them. The MTC has been a great experience, but we've all just been so excited to get to Thailand.

There's a Cafe Rio in the LA airport so hopefully we'll get some of that while we're there!

Mom, the rolls were spectacular. Kapkuhn mag kap! They were gone in a matter of moments, so that shows how great they were. Everyone in our zone knows to come to our room in they ever need food, so we always have people walking in which has been so fun.

We start packing today. We will have time Saturday night to pack too. It won't be too hard I just have to put my shirts and pants in a bag and I'll be set! 

 I saw Joe a few nights before he left! He came up to my floor and we got a picture and just talked for a while. It was so great to see him and hear how he's doing. He sounds so excited to get out there . He's going to be an awesome missionary. I see Elder Dixon a lot! We have our meals at the same time so we talk a lot. He sounds like he's doing good! The first week is always hard, but I' m sure he's loving it! He's such a stud! 

Highlight of the week was hearing about the Thai culture from our teacher Brother Sugihara. He's so awesome and you can tell he really loved his mission. He's been giving lots of great advice on how to work hard and what fun things we can do. The Thai culture sounds so awesome and I can't wait to experience it firsthand. He came to the temple with us today too! We ate breakfast in the temple cafeteria which was so good. 

A funny thing from this week was Elder Clayton came and spoke to us (the one from stake conference)  and he used all the same jokes and stuff from our stake conference back in May.  He got up and said we needed to sing louder (While we were about to sing "How Gentle God's commands) and he told the story of the "Come Come Ye Saints."  Funny even the second time!

            

The thing that has made me most happy this week was teaching a member in Thailand via skype. He was in the stake presidency and he seemed so happy and loved talking to us. I understood pretty much everything he said so that was good too! I'm feeling a lot better about the language and can't wait to speak it more. We learned that we need to make 30,000 mistakes before we can be fluent, it just depends on whether we're willing to make the mistakes or not, so this week my motto has been "make mistakes"  (in the language of course)!

This stood out to me this week in my reading in Alma 37:6-7, It says: 

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

I feel like a small and simple thing but I know if I give my all  to the Lord He can take my small and simple things and bring great things to pass. Other spiritual things are I've memorized the first vision in Thai! It took the whole 8 weeks but we all got it down. I love learning about Joseph Smith and all he did.  Elder Nielson and I got released as Sacrament coordinators. It was great to serve and help prepare the most important part of the week.

Alma 31 is awesome cause it's like the Avengers assembling. Alma gathers the sons of Mosiah, Zeezrom, Amulek, and his sons to go on a mission with him. It reminded me of the lessons we would do with the Star Wars guys for FHE.

I'm really doing awesome. I could not be more excited to get to Thailand and serve.

Elder Nielson has been pretty sick this week so we stayed home from a few classes and that gave me some awesome study time. I've read a bunch of Jesus The Christ which is so good and I'm to 1 Nephi 3 (almost 4) in my Thai Book of Mormon reading. I'm feeling a ton better about the language which has bee a huge blessing. I've also been praying for focus in my study and classes and I can feel extra focus in class and in personal study and I know that's from the Lord. 

Honestly, I do feel some inadequacy. The experiences that people share from their missions sound so awesome and they all shared that they needed to have a strong testimony to do the things they did.  I'm hopeful that my testimony will be strong enough to do all the things I need to do. I'm letting the belief and desire to believe swell within me. I'm excited to become the missionary the Lord wants me to be.  I just want so much to be able to give the gospel to the Thai people.  I get a lot of little spiritual boosts, so I know God is watching out for me.  I've felt the Savior's love, usually in small, simple ways, but that's how He works. I loved the quote from dad about courage. It has helped me a lot.

I'm super excited to get to Thailand! When should I call home? From SLC or from LA? I don't know how much time international affairs and stuff will take but we'll see!

I love you all and can't wait to talk to you on Monday! I hope everyone is doing well. I'm praying for you!

Love you all!

-Elder Borg

​

Travel plans!

With Brother Siguhara (front row, with no name tag), beloved teacher of District 7E, at their last early morning temple session

With Elder Parker Dixon, Delta V buddy, going to the California Santa Rosa (Spanish speaking) Mission. Love the matching ties!

With Elder Joe Willes, another Delta V buddy, going to the California Rancho Cuccamonga Mission

WEEK 7 - MTC - AUGUST 22, 2017

Hey hey!

Week 7 done at the MTC and I'm not gonna lie, this was the hardest week for me yet but it was full of tons of great experiences and growing opportunities, so it has also been the best week yet! We got to listen to Elder Anderson on Tuesday and that was so cool! He talked about making it so that nobody else can dim our flame of faith and it took me back to the countless hours of football practice where our coaches would tell us, "the only things we can control are our effort and our attitude" and I think that applies well to missionary work as well. As long as I'm doing my best and keeping a positive attitude, Heavenly Father has promised that He will help me with everything I need. (Mosiah 2)

I've been feeling some stress with the language lately and feeling like I'm falling behind but I know the gift onftongues is real and I've been doing my best to study hard, so I know the Lord will help me with the rest.

I do not think I'll be able to help host Parker tomorrow unfortunately. I think they usually have the English Elders handle that so maybe Elder Willes will get to be a host! I'll keep my eyes out for Parker and make sure to take a picture with him when I see him.

Tell the brothers to soak up school while they can. We had a few people speak to us about experiences they had in high school and it made me miss my days at CC. There is nothing like high school so make the most of it and enjoy every second. You'll never regret having too many friends or being too nice to anyone. Also getting good study habits down will help so much on a mission and later in life.

We usually do endowments when we go to the temple, but today we did a sealing session because our MTC teacher, Brother Sugihara, (The coolest teacher ever) wanted to introduce us to his wife so we got to be his "children" which we all loved. Yes, have the brothers do the baptisms and I can try to do the others. Elder Nielson has 20 names he wants us to do also but we would love to include others if you send the names too. I found a few names also if you want to check my familysearch account and print those too!

The thing that helps me the most with Thai is practicing with flash cards and then looking for opportunities to use the new word I learn in real life examples. The thing that is hard for me is the Thai grammar. It's pretty different from English so it's a little tricky to get that down but I'm working on it.

Nobody else has a flash drive but I'll keep asking around to see. Whatever you send would be great, I don't need anything fancy.

Yes the cookies were amazing! They were gone in about 30 seconds so that was awesome. Also tell the Edwards thank you because they sent some cookies too which was so sweet of them!

We're super excited to get out to Thailand! We have a post-it notes countdown in our room and we take a day off when we go to bed each night. I think I'm doing good! Don't need anything else.

The thing I love most about the MTC is my district. Everyone is so awesome and gets along so well with each other. It's so fun to study Thai together because if one of us doesn't know a word, chances are good that one of the other 10 Elders does. We have tons of inside jokes and we spend a lot of time laughing when we aren't studying. 

The hardest thing about the MTC is the routine. It's hard getting up and doing the same thing each day. It's hard to remember which days are which because we feel like we just do the same thing everyday but gospel knowledge is built line upon line, precept upon precept, so I'm sure this is the best way to learn.

Some cool things from this week:

I saw the Thompson family! They were here on a tour. I'm sure you saw the picture but it was so fun to see them! They spotted me from down a hallway which was pretty amazing! 

The eclipse was fun to watch. It lined up perfectly with our exercise time and Elder McDonald brought some eclipse glasses so we all got to watch it. The best part was the sand was cooled down so we could play sand volleyball! 

Congrats to CCHS on their big win on Friday! I have been wearing my CCHS t-shirt all week and I wore my blue and silver tie on Friday! I will be wearing my blue and white tie this Saturday in honor of BYU. We have exercise time Saturday night so maybe I'll sneak out for just a few minutes to catch a glimpse of the game! Hahaha ,just kidding.

This week we taught a Skype TRC which is where we skyped a member in Thailand and taught them a lesson! Our guy's name was Tan and he seemed really cool. I actually understood most of what he was saying so that was good.  Then at the end we saw that he was with the missionaries and we got to talk with a few Elders who were out serving! It was awesome to see them and I can't wait to get out there.

We got our name tags in Thai this week! I'll send you a picture. They're yium mag (very awesome)

Sickness is attacking Zone 7 and most of the Elders in my district have a cold. I've felt a little under the weather but not too bad. Some Elders have some throat viruses and are being taken care of. Hopefully they recover quickly!​​​​​​​​​​​​

The most spiritual thing that happened this week happened on Tuesday of last week. Elder Nielson and I were walking back from the temple and I was feeling a little down. Nothing had happened and I was just feeling a little out of it. Then this girl walked up to us and asked us for a blessing. I had never seen her before but she said she went to BYU and her family lived in Texas and she was struggling with some stuff. Elder Nielson and I happily agreed. Elder Nielson let me give the blessing and as soon as I put my hands on her head I felt this crazy amount of love that Heavenly Father had for this sister. I started sobbing (which never happens so you know this is special) and so did she. I don't remember much of what I said but what I do remember is saying that Heavenly Father loves her and that she is a special daughter of God. I finished the blessing, she thanked us several times, and then she was gone. It was an awesome experience and something I will never forget. It made me remember why I'm out here. It for sure isn't for myself. It's so that I can serve others  and help bring them closer to Christ.

Thanks for all your prayers, packages, letters, and support for me! I'm absolutely loving being a missionary and I'm so excited to keep growing my testimony and my love for the Savior. I love Joseph Smith's testimony of Him:

22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begottenof the Father—

24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worldsare and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

He truly does live and I am honored to wear His name on my chest every day. I love you all so much! Good luck with school this week and with everything else that's coming up! I pray for you all every day.

Love,

Elder Borg

District 7E, the best district in all the land!

Elder Borg wearing solar eclipse glasses, August 21st

Hayden's district received this letter from a former Thailand missionary

The Thompson family (pictured: Lauren and her brother, Parker) ran into Hayden while they were touring the MTC on August 19th. Also pictured: Elder Nielson

WEEK 6 - MTC - August 15, 2017

Hello All!

Well, I've made it through one transfer! Gang! (“skilled" in Thai). Things have been going great this week. Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke at our devotional on Sunday night and that was awesome. He used D&C section 29:5 in his talk which is one of my favorite scriptures and has provided some comfort in hard times, so that was a nice tender mercy. The choir sang Sweet Hour of Prayer for the devotional and that song has never meant more to me than being out on a mission. I'm pretty sure I've said more prayers than ever before, but I always think of the saying "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel" so I've spent many hours in prayer while I've been here.

Elder Ballard's talk was an interesting one and very informative. He talked about "locking our hearts" against the temptations on our missions. It felt a little like an Elder Holland talk with its high intensity, "just enough to singe our eyebrows." ;)

Elder Anderson is speaking to us tonight, so that will be awesome. We’re so lucky to have the apostles speak to us. 

Haircut was good this week, not as good as a Gray Gables haircut but it got the job done! We didn't have to pay, we just swiped our card and we were good. They asked what kind of haircut I wanted and I had no idea, so I just said shorter and that seemed to work! 

Mom, my health is great! All the other Elders are worried because they've gained a lot of weight and I haven't gained any yet and I eat just as much as they do. Eh pohm may ruu (I don't know).

Our zone is so awesome. Everyone gets along really well and it's fun getting to know all the other Elders too. We have Thai, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Lao speaking Elders right now and tomorrow we get 9 new Thai Elders and 20 Cambodian Elders! Super excited for that!

I have no idea when our real departure date is, but it's around the 4-6. I'll let you know when I get real info. We should be getting our flight plans in a week or so.

I saw Elder Griffiths and Elder Willes on the first day they were here! Cooper is in the same building as me for class, but on a different floor and Joe is in my same residence hall but a different floor. They both looked great and seemed like they were hanging in there. Elder Griffiths is here for the long haul too, and Elder Willes will be in the field before I am! I also saw Elder Donahoo which was fun. Elder Nielson enjoyed speaking Spanish to him. I tried speaking some German but I've forgotten almost all of it. Too much Thai in my head.

The dear elder letters are the best. They're just folded up pieces of paper and I usually get repeats of each letter but it makes me feel good when I get 5 letters with the same message printed 3 times. Hahaha

Yeah, I go to the mail room to pick up packages. We get excited because we get a special slip in the mail saying we got a package so that's always fun.

I've been studying the Atonement a lot this week. It's amazing how I feel clean every time I study it. I encourage all of you to study the Atonement. We can never comprehend the sacrifice the Savior has made for each one of us and He did it out of complete love. We've also been studying charity a lot this week. Our teachers tell us not to learn Thai for ourselves but to learn it for the people in Thailand. From the stories they tell us the Thai people sound amazing and I'm so excited to meet them and teach them. 

Bear Lake sounded awesome, but I'm quite disappointed in the production of Zipzz. All we've done for them is give them our love and support and how do they repay us? With sickness and sadness. Peedwong (disappointed). :)

I love that #9 on Owen. He looks much better than I ever did! I'm glad the Chargers will still have a Borg in 9 this year :) I will faithfully be wearing my navy and silver tie this Friday to support the Chargers in their first game! Hoping for the best for CCHS.

Favorite thing about Elder Nielson this week: He is a legend at eating food. Whatever you put in front of him he pounds it and never leaves any thing on his plate. What a stud. I've really loved getting to know him and learn from his diligence and spiritual knowledge.

Favorite quote from this week: "1 person is a crazy, 2 people are missionaries." -Brother Egget, choir director. We truly are a "peculiar people" but we are the Lord's people. It's crazy to think this is what I'll be doing for the next two years but the more I think about it the more excited I get to grow my testimony and come closer to the Savior. Whoever speaks at our devotionals always talks about the power the missionaries have and that is for sure true. 20 days left and then I'll be in Thailand and I can't wait!

Love all of you. Thanks for all your support and prayers. I miss you all! 

-Elder Borg

One of our teachers headed back to Thailand, so she isn't our teacher anymore. This is a picture with Sister Kaumagnoi the last day she was here.

THAI TESTIMONY - AUGUST 9, 2017

Thanks to our friend, Natalie Perry, for taking this video of Hayden bearing his testimony in Thai while he was helping give tours at the MTC Open House.  We don't understand a word, but he sounds great to us! :)

WEEK 5 - MTC - AUGUST 8, 2017

สวัสดี (Hello!)

Another week in the books! Time is starting to move by a lot faster! I'm starting to love the MTC more and more! This week was awesome with some really cool things that happened:

The whole MTC watched the Character of Christ talk by Elder Bednar after our Sunday devotional which was really good too. Jenny Oaks Baker played the violin and spoke to us. She talked about how her and her family went on tour last summer and the countries they toured were Japan and Austria. Pretty cool huh? I can picture mom's reaction right now! One of her last songs was "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" which reminded me of when Sister Henry played that at my farewell. It was so good, I really appreciate the Hymns now since it's the only music I can listen to and I am constantly singing Hymns. I probably drive my district crazy but I help supply their food so I think they'll survive ;) Anywho after the Character of Christ Elder Bedanr came and did a Q and A with us for an hour or so! It was so cool! You would have thought there was a major celebrity coming because the whole auditorium gasped and started cheering when they said he was coming! This sister sitting in front of me was sobbing and people were dying to have him answer their questions. I just enjoyed seeing him and his wife and hearing how much they love the missionaries. Definitely a high point of the week.

Another cool part of the week was when we got to class Wednesday morning (Feels like a Monday because it's after P-day) there was a note to us from one of the people we taught at TRC. He talked about how much he loved hearing from us and how he was a missionary in Thailand and how he prays for the missionaries in Thailand every day. He talked about how much he loved his mission and how we have legions of past missionaries praying for us and hoping we succeed. It was a super cool note.

I play basketball whenever I can and with whoever I can. It just depends on who's there and what courts are open. Generally I play with the other elders in my zone. We play volleyball sometimes and on P-day we usually lift weights and ride the stationary bikes.

I still see Elder Hulme every once in a while but he leaves today. He's going to be great! It was awesome to hear how Elder Scheffner is doing! He sounds like he's loving it! First Delta V member in the field and he's already got someone on track to be baptized. What a stud.

I got the second shot for Japanese Encephalitis today. And I got a Thor band-aid so that was pretty sweet. Probably cause we look so much alike ;)

No news on passport or visa but I'll let you know when I hear anything.

Chips are always welcomed but we eat absolutely anything you send. My roommates never stop raving about Sister Borg and Bishop Borg. They love the Borg family. The whole zone knows that room 415 is the place to be if they need food at night so our room feels pretty popular after classes!

We got 13 new Mong-speaking Elders in our zone this week so that was fun. Even though we're all the same age they feel so much younger than us! It was fun to help them get through their first week just like the other Elders helped us. 

Choir is so awesome. The choir director is Brother Egget and he's so funny. He tells stories and makes it so fun. The two weeks before we got here the choir sang "Praise to the Man" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" We barely missed singing two of the coolest songs ever but we've sung some really cool songs too. This week we're singing "Sweet Hour of Prayer". Everyone in our district goes and we practice Sunday and perform it at the devotional Tuesday. 

A few funny things from Elder Nielson this week. We're continuing to speak only Thai to each other and sometimes he carries it over to other people. We'll be talking to some Elders who don't speak Thai and he answers some questions in Thai. They just stare at us blankly and we just stare right back (mostly cause I don't know what Elder Nielson said either, his Thai is really good!) It's so funny to just watch that happen and feel the awkwardness. Another thing is we've been teaching two Thai Elders from the other district and they've been teaching us. We had to make fake investigators and now Elder Nielson likes having conversations, before we go to bed, as if we were actually the investigators. It took me off guard the first time but now it's kinda funny. investigators "Scott" and "Nort" are really getting into it!

Class is way fun. When Brother Sugihara and Brother Tirrel teach it is a blast. Brother Sugihara is short and Asian and Brother Tirrel is super tall skinny and white so they are complete opposites but they tell such funny stories about their missions and we love learning from them. We usually teach one of the teachers a day and spend the rest of the time learning "whayagon" (grammar). Thai is awesome. I'm starting to get pretty good at reading it. Reading the scriptures is so different from reading anything else because they have a whole royal language they use for the scriptures. I'm almost done with 1 Nephi 1! And we've been memorizing the first vision in Thai and I have a lot of it down. 

A few Thai words from this week: ปรมปรา = legendary (brambrah)  สามัคคี= unity (samakee)

This week I started trying to study the Savior more so I went to the Bible Dictionary and read and researched each of the names the Savior is called in the scriptures and that was really spiritual. Definitely a good way to come closer to Him. He truly is "Wonderful, counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the Prince of Peace," Prince of Peace is my favorite one out of those few names of the Savior. He truly can calm the storms in our lives and immediately reaches out to save us when we start to sink.

I really enjoy going to the Temple each week. Today we woke up at 4:50 because last week we got there after we wanted to. Even though we were all groggy and tired it's awesome to feel to peace that comes in the Temple. Also everyone always says how awesome the Draper Temple is so that's pretty neat.

Elder Ference got some glow in the dark stars and he had extra so he gave some to us so now the ceiling of our dorm looks so awesome. We turn the lights off and stare at the "stars" every night. Pretty awesome!

Elder Nielson and I got called to be sacrament coordinators in our zone this week. It reminds me of being a teacher because we set up the sacrament each week. 

I have an iron right next to my room so that's good and my laundry bag is perfect sized. everyone loves how people wrote on it!

Really sad to hear about Curtis and Owen's injuries. I hope you both recover quickly and I've been praying for you every day. The Lord works in mysterious ways. What might look like a trial or hardship now will ALWAYS be turned into a blessing. Remember D&C 122:7.

 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

I hope you all have a great week! The seats in the backyard look so cool! Keep mine ready for me and always remember who the king of "Borg Court" is ;) 

Love you all!

-Elder Borg

Elder Borg with his companion, Elder Nielson, and some missionaries from the other Thailand district

WEEK 4 - MTC - AUGUST 1, 2017

Wow! it was so awesome seeing you guys yesterday! I can't believe it worked out! I waited at my station while doing the tours the whole three hours and I thought I wouldn't get to see you. But I would recognize that "Hey!" from Dad anywhere. It was so awesome seeing you all there, and so cool that Curtis was in an all out sprint to hug me. Reminded me a lot of Peter when he sees the Savior while fishing the second time. (In no way am I comparing myself to the Savior). Curtis is a lot like Peter is his extreme loyal defense of the people he loves. Reminds me of when he screamed "Hey, that's my brother!" at a 10 year old who pushed Owen in a basketball game. Love you Curtis, hope the first day of work goes awesome today!

Elder Byers and Elder Jorgensen raved about all you! They said I have the coolest family, which I do. They loved getting to meet you. Also the the Thai sisters have not stopped talking about you! At least 5 times yesterday they said how cute you all were and how lucky I am! That was a very nice compliment from sister Munro because I definitely do not feel like my Thai is very strong, but it is for sure improving. I can understand most of the lessons we teach but it's a lot easier to understand than to teach, so I usually bear my testimony a lot and say very simple, basic doctrine sentences, but by small and simple things shall great things come to pass. 

I'm glad you got to meet Elder Nielson! He keeps me on my toes. He always wants to wake up earlier, which we have been doing. (Only about 10 minutes earlier, don't be too impressed ;)) I'm very grateful for the ban on English he's been using. My Thai is growing way faster than it would have without that. I guess it's sort of like being immersed in Thai! Hahah!

Elder Jorgensen is honestly such a blessing. He is such a funny guy and always keeps the district in a good mood. Him and Elder Byers just got made Zone Leaders and they're awesome. He always knows how to cheer me up and I would absolutely love to me his companion later in the field. Also, I found out he does an incredible Jerry Seinfeld voice so I've enjoyed hearing him use that.

Going to the Temple was an awesome break from the busy schedule we have. It was really nice to sit in the Celestial room for a few minutes and just enjoy the peace. It reminded me of the first time I went through and seeing everyone there which made me so happy. Also, for some reason, my district decided to wake up at 5:15 this morning (that's right, folks) and go to them temple. It was still dark outside but it was another awesome experience at the temple and I was so glad we went. If you haven't been to the temple in a while I challenge you to go as soon as you can because we are blessed when we go to the temple!

The lesson we taught last night went great! We actually taught about the temple and eternal families and the sisters we taught first had just been discussing the temple before we taught them, and the second sister we taught had been planning to go today! Coincidence? I don't think so.

I took some more Advil and said a lot of prayers and the headaches went away after a few days!

I was planning on getting my hair cut next week so we'll see how that goes. Definitely not as good as a haircut from Mom at Gray Gables!

Elder Nelson has eaten a few of the fruit leather you got him so that's good. I think he just likes fruits and vegetables and we get plenty of those here! 

P-day goes until 4ish when we go to dinner. Then we have choir after that and devotional after that! P-day and Sundays are the best.

Yes! The pizza is awesome, the line,however, to get the pizza, is not. For some reason the line at the cafeteria gets ridiculously long when they're serving pizza so that's kind of a bummer. We got to have subway yesterday though, so that was yiam jung looy (awesome).

The nights before bed are some of my favorite parts of the day. We talk about class and say random Thai words and tell stories of our lives back home. Usually Elder Nielson throws in a scripture reference here or there. We get ready for bed and talk with the other Elders from our zone. At 9:45 the district gathers in our room and we have a little devotional to end the day. I shared the poem you sent me with everyone for one devotional and it was great. I love that poem. It's Adam's favorite, so it reminded me of him when you sent it.

We've gone outside a few times but no walks yet. I think our teachers worry about being able to contain us outside! Also it's uncomfortably hot so it's usually a no-go.

I've heard from Elder Scheffner, Elder Hulme, Elder Williams, and Elder Chandler on our Delta V e-mail and i'm excited to hear from Elder Savage and see Cooper and Joe and Parker in a few weeks!

I've had a few cool experiences this week:

I used the picture book you sent me of all of the pictures of family and friends in a lesson and it went really well. Our teachers say the Thai people are very visual learners so they love having pictures and objects lessons to see when teaching. It was cool to be able to share a lesson on families and be able to show my family and then i took a minute to look at the pictures after.

On Sunday we did our usual temple walk and our ponder thought was to think about the first vision and Joseph Smith. I pondered and thought a lot about that and didn't really get too much out of it, so i felt a little discouraged. After dinner and the devotional we had the opportunity to see the Joseph Smith movie and wow. It was spectacular. I encourage all of you to go watch it again. There's a part in the movie that talks about the first missionaries and everyone cheered. It was awesome to see the start of the work that we're dedicated to. Also in the movie it said my favorite scripture which hit me so hard. D&C 121 verses 7 and 8. 

"7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." 

Joseph Smith really was the prophet of the Restoration and I love learning about him and the restoration of the Church. The Restoration is awesome to learn about and even cooler to teach. I love Joseph's positive attitude and willingness to do everything the Lord commanded him. He reminds me of Dad in a lot of ways.

During the tours I was standing at my spot and talking to a few people about Thailand and how the language is going and the MTC and whatnot. I noticed an older woman walking slowly and staring at me. I asked her if she enjoyed the tour and she came up to me and just looked at me for about 30 seconds. A little awkward at first, but I just stood there smiling waiting for a response. Finally she said something like, "You have such a light about you. I can tell you know this gospel and are ready to serve.You just glow when you talk about your mission." It was a really cool experience. I thanked her several times and Elder Nielson asked what brought her to the MTC because she appeared to be alone and she said she wanted to be with the missionaries and feel their happiness and love for the gospel. Seriously the coolest thing.

We are starting to learn how to read and that has been crazy. There's so many rules that our teachers say that we just have to learn because that's just hoe Thai is. Some letter make different sounds than they're supposed to and some don't make any half the time and some just change the tone of the word. It's been tough but it's awesome when I figure out a word and can read it! We say "soo soo" a lot which means press on/fight on/keep going!

I miss you all so much! Also, I'm sorry if you sent me a DearElder last week and I didn't respond. I didn't get my mail until Wednesday last week because of Pioneer Day. I love hearing from everyone and anyone! Keep letting me know how things are going at home!

Love you all!

-Elder Borg​

Surprise meeting with our missionary at the MTC open house tour on July 31, 2017. It was so WONDERFUL to see our Elder Borg!

With Elder Nielson

With Elder Colson Anderson, friend from CCHS, going to Argentina

With Elder Jacob Hales, another friend from CCHS, going to Taiwan

Elder Jorgensen and Elder Byers, members of Elder Borg's district

Thailand bound sister missionaries, Sister Hendrickson, Sister Munro, and Sister Lister