Airport homecoming video

August 8: Welcome home Elder Rich

August 6, 2019: Tsab Ntawv Kawg (The Last Letter)

Well, family and friends, it has officially been 2 years. Last Friday was the day I entered into the MTC. It feels like that was so long ago, but also feels like it has just flown by. I will be flying home this Thursday, so like this email says... this will be the last letter. 

Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Peck. We are both heading home this Thursday. We talked a lot about these past 2 years on the mission and also plans for after the mission. It was a fun last exchange with a good friend and we were able to see some pretty cool success stories from our hard work. 

This past week has been a lot of goodbyes. I have said goodbye to some of my favorite families in the ward. Of course for the Hmong members, I have said goodbye to the Xiong's and plan on saying goodbye to the Vang's sometime this week. For the English members, I said goodbye to the Wrights and the Murphys. We also said goodbye to the people we are teaching. Said goodbye to Ee, Ze, and will say goodbye to Vince later today. Goodbyes are sad and something I am not a fan of. I've got a few more goodbyes this week and then the hardest of them all, Wisconsin. This place has become a very dear and special place to my heart because of these last 2 years, my experiences, and the many friendships that I have made with so many wonderful people, especially the Hmong missionaries and Hmong people, but so many more as well. 

Well, today is my P-day. Today I am getting my haircut. Afterward, we plan on going to B-dubs one last time with some of the missionaries in the North Zone and afterward we're going bowling. It should be pretty fun. Tonight I'll say a few more goodbyes and hit the doors for the last time. 

Tomorrow is transfers, so we will get all my stuff over to the South Stake center and will chill there until the AP's take me to my departing interview with President Murphy at 1:00. Afterward, I'm hoping I can go out and work a little more, but we will see. The mission might have to tie me down and put me on a plane on Thursday lol. Afterward, we will have a Q and A session with all the departing missionaries and President and Sister Murphy. We will then have dinner with everybody and then end the night off with a testimony meeting. 

* The mission has been wonderful. I would not change it for anything. There is nothing as hard, tiring, frustrating, and time demanding as serving a mission, but even with all that there hasn't been a time in my life where I have been more happy in my entire life. That is a strong testimony builder for me. These 2 years will be something I will look back on for the rest of my life. These past 2 years will be a building block for how I want to live the rest of my life. I have been far from perfect on my mission. Missionaries are far from perfect. Growing up I always thought missionaries were these glorious and perfect beings, but I am far from that. I have so many weaknesses and things that constantly tempt me and pull me away from the Lord. I feel exactly like Nephi does in 2nd Nephi chapter 4. I have a long way to go and many things to work on, but I know who I have trusted, who has supported me, and who has uplifted me these past 2 years and I know who will continue to do that for me the rest of my life. God lives and because he loves us he sent his son Jesus Christ into the world. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us, he died for us and atoned for all our wrongdoings. All of them every single one and because of that we can be forgiven. I have felt the power of Christ's atonement before my mission and on my mission. It is because of Him that I have the hope of growing, becoming, being something far better. The gospel is true. Take the time and make it a priority in your life like it should be. Pray every day, read the scriptures, and you will feel the peace, comfort, and happiness that I have experienced these past 2 years and longer. You will come closer to your Heavenly Father and Savior. You will feel their love for you. You will know of their role in your daily lives. That is a promise I make to all of you. I know because I have felt it and I know that it can be the same for you all as well. 

I love you all and am excited to see you soon!! 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Kalista's baptism in Madison.
She asked me to baptize her, but I couldn't get a ride.

 But it's all good - my boi Carlson did.

Hmong elders jerseys

Saying bye to Ee

steak

Mai's family stopped by Milwaukee on their way to Michigan.
Glad I got to see them again before I go home.

Mai gave me this sweet Hmong tie.
It's got the famous Hmong symbol on it so it's really cool.

July 29: 2 hands!!! (10 days)

Nyob zoo os,

I'm heading into my last full week as a missionary. I have 10 days left which is sad, but also super exciting. 

This past week we had lots of stuff to do and lots of people to visit which I am very grateful for. I love meeting with people and I love sharing the gospel with people. We are still teaching Lee's kids Hmong which is sweet, but this week we also started teaching her and her family about The Book of Mormon and prayer. We read out of the picture Book of Mormon since they are young kids and then we taught them about prayer and invited them to pray.

We got a random call this week from a less active member. She wanted to meet with us. She is actually Sister Chang's sister from Madison. We met with her at the church and she started to break down and cry. She grew up in the church, but when she got married she had to stop going because her husband practices Shamanism. In Hmong culture, the wife has to practice the religion her husband practices regardless of what she practiced and believed in before. It was really sad to hear her testimony of the church and that she knew it was true, but she couldn't really do much about it. She doesn't like Shamanism at all, but because she is married to her husband she has to practice it. She knows there are a lot of things she can't control and also a lot of things she can't do, but she also knows there are some things she can do and that is to pray and to continue to read the scriptures. We read a little bit from the Book of Mormon with her and gave her a new Book of Mormon to take home with her. You could see her excitement and enthusiasm to have the Book of Mormon again. She thought that when she got married since she had to in a way "stop believing in God" that she could stop doing the things she used to do like pray and read the scriptures. At first, she was able to do that, but after a while, it began to take a toll on her. She missed her old self, the spirit she used to have, and the strong relationship she used to have with her Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I love no matter what we do or how far we go off the gospel path we can always come back to our loving Heavenly Father and loving Savior who have been calling and waiting for us with open arms the whole time. 

We also had a lesson with Vince this week. We brought along our ward mission leader Brother Martinez to the lesson with us. Brother Martinez is a convert and has a really strong and powerful testimony. He shared with Vince and also his nephew John his conversion story. He said he first received the Book of Mormon when he was 21 years old, but didn't pay any attention to it. He put it on the bookshelf and didn't read it. He said the line on the cover "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" always struck him. 7 years later he opened it up and it changed his life. He shared with them this and the rest of his testimony and told them to not be like him and allow the Book of Mormon to sit on their bookshelf and collect dust like he did. It was a really powerful story and life lesson that hit them hard and also me really hard. It is so important to read the scriptures every day. Like Brother Martinez said "it changed his life" and it can have the same power and can change our lives if we just open it. 

Saturday we were invited to 2 barbecues. The first one was a guy named Gary that we knocked into about a month back. We got some really good barbecue pulled pork sandwiches and also were able to talk to Gary, his wife, and also his wife's sister. Gary's wife said that Gary has been talking about us so you know that is a really good sign haha. It was a really good time and also really cool to be able to share more for about what we do as missionaries to them. I love how the Hmong people are amazed at us speaking Hmong. A lot of times the middle generation says we speak better and deeper Hmong then they do haha. Excited that we have a couple more solid people that we could start teaching here shortly. 

Vince also had a barbecue as well. He invited a lot of his friends and family as well. It was awesome because they asked a lot about us missionaries and what we do. We gained a lot of respect and curiosity from them all. They were amazed at the dedication and time we put in to learn Hmong and help the Hmong people and we don't even get paid. It opened their hearts up a lot. They even said that before they probably would have said no if we knocked on their doors, but now if we knocked on their door they would have to open and let us in. So we got a lot of potentials there and even taught a whole Restoration to one of Vince's nephews who came up to us and asked us what the difference between us and all the other churches are. It was pretty cool. 

We also had a funny experience this week. We were talking to a Hmong guy probably in his 60s. He didn't speak any English at all. We were having a conversation with him in Hmong and his daughter comes from around the corner hearing this Hmong conversation and looks at us and her dad and starts laughing because she was so impressed. I have never seen anyone laugh before, but it is hard not to smile when we impress a Hmong person enough with our Hmong that she starts laughing out of pure astonishment. It is a good feeling to think of where I was when I started to where I am now. I have come a long way. It's been tough, but it's been worth it. It's been amazing and all the hard times make me enjoy moments like these so much more. It is kinda like an "I made it" feeling. 

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Vince cooking the meat,

We "won" the scavenger hunt at a zone activity.
We didn't actually win - we took a picture with the trophy to troll everyone

Culver's raspberry custard. Reminded me of my
Gpa Randy's raspberry milkshakes he always makes.

Brewers game last week with Chuck's mom

July 22: Brewers game!

Nyob zoo os!

It is starting to get really hot here. I have never felt heat and humidity so bad in my life. Once you are outside, immediately sweat starts dripping down your face like you are running or playing an intense game of basketball, but the funny thing is you are just walking around and you are dripping sweat like no other. Luckily the Hmong people are super nice so they will invite us in out of the heat and give us water, mangos, cherries, or even one time they pulled out a fan for us. Hmong people are so nice and I am going to miss them a lot! 

We met with Ze this week again. She is literally the sweetest Niam tais you ever met. She would do anything for us and treats us just like her sons. When we got there she had a whole meal waiting for us. She made us a Hmong soup called Khauj poob and also Laab. Elder Giddings and I were stuffed after eating and there was still so much left that she even packed some up for us to take home. We read with her the introduction of the Book of Mormon. She seems to understand everything really well. This past week she read out of the Book of Mormon without us even asking her to which was really cool and on Sunday she came to church for the second time. Super fun working with her. 

Sunday night we got a random knock on our door. I opened the door and look down and see a person I'd never met before holding tickets for the Brewers baseball game. She said, "These are from Jenni." Jenni is in charge of all the apartments where are staying. I'm so pumped though because we got free tickets to go to a Brewers game tonight. They are good seats too. Row 17. Unspoken prayers can be answered haha! 

This week was also my last zone conference. We have a tradition in our mission that your last zone conference all the missionaries that will be going home that transfer bear their testimony. I remember my first transfer hearing the missionaries going home and I was thinking - wow that is so weird they are going home. That is never going to come to me. And then all the sudden here I am in my last transfer giving my departing testimony. It's weird to think that it is getting closer to the end every week. I have nothing but gratitude. Thinking about where I was when I started and where I am now and all the many ways that I have grown and learned over these past 2 years. It's been a good ride so far and I am excited for these last couple weeks to see what is in store and what we can get accomplished. 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Brewers Stadium

Mr. Baseball

Tickets - the same day we went and got some pictures at the stadium, we got free tickets

Chuck's mom is here again. She is awesome and taking a suitcase home for me.

Last zone conference

July 16: Stomping out weeds!

Nyob zoo os,

This week we had to the opportunity to go farming with Ze, one of the people we are teaching. We left at 7:30 so that we could get there by 8 before it is too hot. She gave us our gloves and hoes and we got right to work. Elder Giddings and I made it a goal to get all of her garden done before we left. By the time we finished, we were exhausted and sweating really bad. It was really fun and it was worth it because of how grateful Ze was.

A quick funny story. There was a plant that looked like a weed, but I couldn't tell so I asked Ze if I should leave it or keep it. She said tseg cia which means to leave it there, but I thought she said tshem kiag which means to get rid of it. So I got my hoe and I killed that plant. Her face was so funny afterward. Oh well - I tried my best. 

We also were able to go visit Ze and teach her a lesson this week as well. Before we did she helped us learn some more green moob. I learned something recently that in white hmoob they say the r constant, but in green moob they say more of ts constant. So, for example, the number 6 in white hmoob would be rau, but in green moob it would be tsau. Kinda interesting and cool that I can slowly start to understand the green moob dialect better every week haha.

Anyways we read the picture Book of Mormon with her which I really like because it is easier for them to understand with the visual of the pictures. We read the chapter of the first vision and also the chapter about the Book of Mormon. She seemed to understand it all really well and said she would pray about it all. So we are excited! 

We also had a lesson with my Boi Vince. I love Vince he is so funny, fun to talk to, and also is very sincerely seeking for truth. When we went over there, he fed us some Hmong catfish soup which was surprisingly pretty good. After we finished eating we had a good discussion on the plan of Salvation. He knows there is higher power because of the world around us. So many crazy things like birds making perfectly twined nest, trees sprouting in unison every year, phones, Bluetooth, etc. It all testifies to him, and also to me, that God is our creator. It is kinda fun to look around and look at the beauty of God's creations. It is beautiful and amazing to look at. It is also crazy to think about everything that has been created and everything we have all comes from this tiny planet of ours. I think it is really cool to think about. 

After we were done teaching the lesson Vince brought up one of his concerns. He said he has always been scared to get baptized. He never has been baptized because he knows it's a big commitment and a big promise to God. He fears breaking that promise and not being able to fulfill that promise because he said if he got baptized he would stop everything smoking, swearing, alcohol, etc. To help him out we shared a verse from the New Testament in Matthew, chapter, 11 verses 28-30.

28 ¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I love the symbolism of this scripture. We, just like an ox, we have such a hard time pulling our weight (out burdens, trials, hard times, etc.) by ourselves, but lucky for us is we have a best friend in the Savior by our sides at all times helping us to lift the burdens and struggles of life. He will never leave our side. He is always by our side. Helping us to feel peace in knowing that our burdens can be light if we allow him to help us.

Love, Elder Rich

Helping Ze

Dressing like cows for free Chick-fil-a

golf today for P-day. I averaged like a +3 haha.

Cherries my favorite. Gpa Randy would be so proud.

July 8: 'My plan'

Nyob zoo os,

This week was the 4th of July. The 4th was crazy. The whole city sounded like a war zone with fireworks and gunshots going off every second. It was pretty cool haha! The city has had fireworks going off for a few weeks now so nothing was too new and I bet we will have some more fireworks for at least another week or so. Haha got to love Milwaukee. 

Monday one of my good friend's mom was in Milwaukee so she took us out to eat. We went out to get Pho and it was really good to be able to catch up with her and talk with her. That was definitely one of the highlights of the week.

Last Saturday President and Sister Williams finished their mission. On Tuesday we had the opportunity to meet our new mission president and wife, President and Sister Murphy. It is actually pretty cool because President Murphy served as a missionary in the Milwaukee Wisconsin mission around 35 years ago and now he is back as the mission president. He and his wife are super awesome! They are super funny and fun! Excited to have them for my last transfer. 

Wednesday we stopped by one of our potentials. He wasn't there, but his sister was there who we actually met the same day we met her brother. Right away she said "I have a question, "How do I sign up my kids for your Hmong class? Because they need to learn Hmong." She asked if we could start coming and teaching her kids Hmong. We went back later that week and we didn't really think about the holiday, but her whole entire family was there. Luckily we were still able to get in. We were able to teach 8-10 kids some Hmong which was super cool. We were also able to talk to a lot of the families that were there throughout it. All of them were from out of town, so we got some referrals for the Minnesota Elders and Madison Elders. That was sweet!

Other than that we did a lot of walking around and talking to Hmong people. It's pretty hot and humid so I drink 6-7 water bottles at least every day haha. One day it was super funny. We were walking around and it was super hot. We look ahead and see an African American family with a hose and buckets getting each other wet. As we get closer to them one of them says, "You chose the wrong street to walk down today." Another said, "Those are really nice clothes it would be a shame if those get wet." Not a second after that a hose was spraying us and a bucket of water dumped on us. I wasn't mad in the slightest. It felt so good to be cooled off. It was super funny though! 

Also had a random guy that we tracted into that we gave our number. He wasn't really interested so we have never been back since, but we got a call from him and he said, "I made a lot of food over the holidays and I have a lot extra and I couldn't think of anyone else better that could help me get rid of it than you guys." He ended up giving us a big bag of barbecued smoked brisket and ribs. It was soooo good! 

This week I started 'My Plan' which is super weird. My plan is basically a course you take your last transfer to get you more prepared for heading home. It's weird that I am heading into that last stretch of the race. I'm excited for the last few weeks I have and to be able to finish the race sprinting to the end giving it all I have. Missions are awesome and I am grateful for these lasts few weeks! 

Love,

Elder Rich 

Volleyball on the beach

President and Sister Murphy with Milwaukee and Madison zones

Getting pho with my good friend's mom, Lisa

July 1: Do not eat devils tongue pepper

Nyob zoo os,

Wednesday was transfers. Elder Lamb went up to Green Bay and I got my new companion Elder Giddings. We had a missionary going home the next day working with us in our area. It was cool because his last door of his whole mission we got in and taught the Restoration to a Hmong family. Crazy to think about how that is going to be next transfer. 

We got in with Vince this week! He is super fun to talk with. He is hilarious. It is nice to feel that we can relax and be ourselves with him. He showed us some mushrooms growing in his backyard. Apparently some Hmong people believe that wild mushrooms growing are where the evil spirits were so the spirits leave the mushrooms behind. He doesn't believe in that, but I thought it was interesting.

We read some of The Book of Mormon with him. He seemed to enjoy that. Vince is doing really good. He is doing tons of missionary work even though he isn't a member haha. Pretty cool! 

We did a lot of finding this week which was super nice. We were able to hit the grind which is something I wasn't able to do a whole lot the last few transfers. I am pumped to be able to do that my last transfer. We didn't see too much success with people answering the doors, but it was cool because 1 of the days we got fed by 2 different Hmong families that were barbecuing. So that was a tender mercy for sure to get some food and water after walking around in the heat the whole day.

We were able to get in with a less active family that we found. They weren't in our Polk or in the ward directory, so that was super sweet. They are really cool. They knew members from the Sacramento area and Wausau area, they even knew my past companion, Elder Cheemeng Vang's parents. They want to start coming back to church so that was a miracle to meet them.

Sunday night after a hard day of work for dinner we decided to make some tacos with a lot of leftovers that we had. Everything was pretty close to going bad. Well, we made the tacos and they were not good. They tasted not so fresh, but we decided to eat them since we just spent so much time making them - until we couldn't cause they were just so gross. Being the smart missionaries we are we decided to get some Devils tongue peppers with some chicken so that we could get the tacos out of our system faster. Oh maaaannn they were so spicy. I poured the whole little container in because I didn't know how spicy it was. Our noses started to burn and we started coughing since the whole apartment had the pepper smell in it. We ate it all too and we were dying!!! We will probably just make new food next time haha!

Love you all and hope you have a good week! 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Finding in the rain

Naim Tais - Ze

devils tongue pepper chicken

June 24: Last transfer!

Nyob zoo os,

Good news I am staying in Milwaukee for my last transfer. Crazy to think this is going to be my last transfer. These past 2 years have gone by way too fast. I am going to for sure make the most of the last 6 weeks I have. It is going to be a fun transfer for sure. My new companion is Elder Giddings. We served together back in Madison so it's going to be a blast together. 

This past week nothing too eventful happened, but it was still a really good week! We finished the last exchanges for the zone for the transfer. Good time with Elder Hansen in the Hmong area and another fun day with Elder Conlin in the Milwaukee area. It's a good feeling to have all 8 of those done because I am pretty tired after fitting all the things we are supposed to fit in 6 weeks all squeezed into a short 5 week transfer. I am excited for this upcoming transfer! It is going to be a blast! I am excited to give it all I have for 6 more weeks!

Thought of the week, Joseph Smith said, “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God.” As we come to know God, we begin to really know ourselves and our potential. These two things cannot be separated. Joseph Smith taught, “If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” As we come to know God—and consequently ourselves—better, we will see more clearly and understand more deeply what it means to be His sons and daughters. We will start to glimpse the profound fact that we have divine DNA within us as well as God’s transcendent promise that we can receive and possess all that He has and is.

Love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week, 

Elder Rich

P-day at the beach this morning. We just threw rocks into the water mostly,
but I did put my feet in the water - it was really cold!

We toured the Milwaukee Bucks stadium today for P-day.

Easily my favorite pday ever