There will be miracles!

Im still wondering how these two weeks went by so fast... the last week was filled with hard work, but we also had tons of fun too. Monday was FHE at sister Ning's house and it was so much fun. We love sister Ning and her delicious cooking. We played basketball, and this other fun game that is kind of like ultimate frisbee.  Later that night we made a 7/11 run and had our devotional. 7/11 turned into pretty much a nightly thing, but who wouldn't want 7/11 when the slurpees were only 12 baht. btw 12 baht equals about 35 cents so like I said... we loved 7/11. Tuesday we ended work a little early and headed to one of Thailand's national parks. We got to climb the Buatong waterfall and it was one of the raddest things Ive ever done. Its this huge waterfall in the middle of the jungle and we got to climb/run/hike straight up it. For some reason its super grippy and not slippery at all. It took me a minute to get used to it, because every time I stepped I felt like I was going to slip but no one did. It was seriously so awesome. We hiked down the stairs to the bottom of the waterfall then we would hike up it through the water. Then it started raining and it was even more awesome. I don't have any good pictures because my go pro had died, but just search it and you'll see how amazing it is. And it's a huge waterfall. You thought you were at the top then it kept going. Plus we hiked it twice. So much fun. It may not be nice now that I didn't have my go pro, but it was so nice in the moment to not have to worry about pictures. I loved it. 

After the waterfall, we headed to the nicest restaurant with the best food. We had ribs, fries, salad, chicken and SMOOTHIES! They weren't as good as the grand canyon smoothies, but they were really pretty. We also celebrated pioneer day here in Thailand #utahpride. We got our hands on some fireworks (I have no clue how) and we found an empty parking lot, blasted some music, watched the fireworks and danced around until they made us book it to the bus and we got out of there real quick. 

I loved this night so much. At this point of the trip, all of us were so close and it was so sad to know the trip was almost over. I was so serious when I said each day got better and better, except the last day. That night we had testimony meeting and it was so awesome. If we weren't close before testimony meeting, we were even closer afterwards. This trip literally changed so many lives and it brought so many people closer to their heavenly father.  This testimony meeting taught me that you NEVER know what is happening in other peoples lives, so be nice and friendly to EVERYONE! There were so many miracles that happened on this trip, both as a group and personal miracles that happened for each person. I am SO grateful for this experience and all that I have gained from it and the people that I was with. I truly loved every second and Ive never felt so much overwhelming love and happiness 24/7. On a not so spiritual note...that night we snuck into the pool after hours. They had a sign up that said "hazardous chemical treatment after 7" but we figured that was just a made up reason for the pool closing at 7 so we jumped in anyways. Just before 11, we were all slowly making our way out of the pool when Kira says "The security guard is coming" so at this point we are swimming as fast as we can to the edge and getting the heck out of there. Well as Im getting up, Jesse shoves me back in the pool right as the guard came around the corner. Luckily jesse wasn't a total jerk, he waited for me to get out then we silently walked past the guard. He shines his light in our faces then at the sign and says "No pool" hahah I thought he was gonna kill us, but we made it safely to our rooms and called it a night. And we definitely didn't tell Jayci what happened. The next day was our last day at the worksite. After working we had time to swim some more and then we got ready for a fancy cultural dinner. We got to sit on the ground and eat our food while watching dancers, a sword guy, a drummer guy and some more musicians. It was super cool and the food was super good, but I didn't eat a lot because I hadn't been feeling too good that day. 

We said our goodbyes to Jayci that night, 

she had to meet up in Phuket with her new group. 

That night I felt pretty sick, but it was Liv's birthday the next day so we all stayed up till midnight and we surprised her with some balloons and a present from her family. It was way fun. The next day we went to a few more stops in Chiang Mai and then said our goodbyes to this amazing city. 

There's a mote around the middle of chiang mai and this is one of the main towers they used back in the day. Then we visited a museum and some more temples. I started feeling a lot better, but I was still super nervous to eat. We went to this place for lunch that had thee best chicken strips and I did eat a lot of those. They also served us huge plates of spaghetti and I was full from the chicken so Zac downed his plate of pasta then we challenged him to down mine and he did... in less than a minute. It was probably one of the most impressive/disgusting things Ive ever seen. 

After a fun last day, Bro. Bee dropped us off at the airport and Im not kidding when I say this, but saying goodbye to Bro. Bee was so hard. We became so close to so many of the members and it was so sad to say goodbye. No one wanted to leave Chiang Mai, but sadly we had to. 

We made it to Bangkok late that night and we partied. So me and elise got our own room and we happened to be staying in the room across from Hollis, Zac and Jesse. After we had got to our room we heard some ruckus outside so we went out to see what it was. Well, the boys were sneaking off to a super late night 7/11 so we went with them of course. We walked the dark sketchy streets of bangkok to the 7/11. We walked by this bar with some nice karaoke happening and people waving us to come in. Hard pass. At 7/11 we bought a mini cake and candles to give to Liv because it was still her birthday, then Hollis bought us all an ice cream. Then once we got back to the hostel we barged in liv's room and sang happy birthday to her. Apparently everyone else in our group had just been sleeping this whole time, but we woke them up and sang to her. It was such a fun, wild night. It was probably 2 am before me and elise went to bed. While we were up talking at night, we heard a super loud scream from across the hall...we later found out it was the boys being weirdos, but it was hilarious. We had to leave the hostel by 4:30am and we were on our way to hongkong. In hongkong we did a lot of walking and riding the trains. The metro or whatever was so confusing and it was packed with people. We hung out and ate at the mall to waste some time. That night we got to do baptisms in the Hong Kong temple! It was so beautiful. Such an inspired temple and it was so cool to see such a clean, pure building in the middle of a dirty, busy city. It is a super small temple and it is crazy to think how many people travel to come to this temple. Traveling from chiang mai to hong kong was not a quick trip and people literally have to do that whenever they want to go to the temple. Crazy. We are so blessed in america, especially utah. The boys were able to baptize us and it was so cool to hear the names of chinese people getting the chance to be baptized. So amazing. 

That night before bed we hiked a few more stairs to this look out spot and dang Hong Kong is HUGE! Easily the biggest city Ive ever been to. I could've stayed up there all night, just talking with my friends and enjoying our last night. 

The next morning we were up early and to the airport once again. We all got really good at airports - I think I could go through security with my eyes closed. 14 hours back to the US and back to real life. The flight was the easiest one yet. We all sat by each other and just enjoyed our last few hours together. 

And then we went our separate ways. Love these people so so much and I loved Thailand more than I could've imagined. I was grateful to be back in America, but I really just wanted to say hello to my family then head back to Chiang Mai. I still feel that way actually... sadly I couldn't go back and I couldn't even go home, because I had an 8 hour layover. I spent a lot of my time on the phone with my mom, dad, mom, shawnee and my mom. I got through security and bought some good lunch. Then I found a nice cozy corner where I charged my phone, watched some youtube and accidentally fell asleep. I kept telling myself that I wasn't allowed to sleep (even though I hadn't slept in almost 30 hours) because I had a lot of important things on me and I didn't want them to get stolen. Well I fell asleep anyway, but I was woken up by this guy standing over me and it happened to be parker from my group!!! I was so happy to see him, even though he scared the crap out of me. His flight had gotten delayed so we chatted for a little bit and then I walked with him to his gate and we said goodbye. 

I still had a couple hours, so I bought myself a milkshake and I sat at my gate watching this lady workout. No joke, she was working out in the airport and I was sipping on my milkshake. It made me feel real good about myself... haha just kidding but I thought it was funny. I finally got on my flight and it was probably the hardest flight out of them all. I was so dang exhausted and my body hurt and I didn't feel good and I was just ready to be home at this point. So when I finally made it to st george and I saw my dad and jack, I gave them hugs and just cried because I was so tired and happy to see them. It was a wild trip and now that Ive traveled to the other side of the world with some strangers, I think I can do anything. I loved blogging about this trip because I was able to relive it in a way, but now that Im done I feel like Im reliving the sadness of knowing the trip is over. I love you Thailand and I will be back without a doubt.