Elder Austin Rich : 2017-08-06

Nyob Zoo (Hello)

How are all of you doing? I sure do miss you all. Thanks for all the letters and emails this week.

I thought the transition from regular life to missionary life would be a lot harder, but it wasn't bad at all. It actually went quite smoothly. Missionary life is like a roller coaster. It has a lot of ups and downs. Some days are just the best day ever and then some are the hardest. I feel like a lot of people don't truly appreciate what missionaries do because everyone serves missions now days. I for sure have gained a greater appreciation of missionaries and missionary work over the past week because it is not easy.

In my district there are 13 Elders and no sisters. We all arrived the same day and all are speaking Hmong. 4 are going to Minnesota, 3 to California, and 6 are going to Wisconsin. All of the Elders are super cool guys. Our district is already pretty close. We do everything together. We eat together as a district, work out together, etc. In my room there are 5 total people. Me, Elder Lamb (My companion), Elder Tarone who is from Vegas, Elder Seims who is from Alaska, and Elder Vang who is kinda fluent in Hmong is from Fresno.

When I arrived at the MTC we went straight to class. My teacher is Brother Gardiner. He only speaks in Hmong. No English. I think over this week he might have said less than 50 words in English. It is a lot of guessing and hand signals to figure out what he is saying. A lot of people are probably wondering what the language is like and how is it going. To be honest, it is the hardest and most frustrating thing I have done in my entire life. The alphabet is all the same letters, but most of them make different sounds than what they do in English. For example, the X makes the S sound, R makes the D sound, etc and also the 8 tones. The language really humbles you because I know for sure that I can not do it by myself. I pray so much throughout the day to have comfort, patience, and help from my savior Jesus Christ. I know I can't do it without him. I even joined the MTC choir to help my tones. I don't even like choir. You know the language is hard when I would join the choir to help with my tones. My Papa would be so proud.

This next part is a story that I thought was pretty cool:

So Friday it was my 3rd day. I knew very little of the language and I was pretty frustrated with my self because I wasn't getting it at all. I am one of the slower learners compared to the other Elders. That Friday we taught our first investigator completely in Hmong and it did not go well at all. I literally couldn't say anything and my companion literally said everything. I was so mad at myself and Heavenly Father. I thought why am I even here? This language is too hard and I will never learn it. It seems impossible and I just wanted to give up. After the 6 hours of language class. I was so angry and overwhelmed. I thought it would be so much easier to just give up and go home. I felt hopeless and like no one cared about me. Not even Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ. When I got back to the room I wanted to email home so bad and say mom I am coming home. I was so frustrated with myself.

When we got back to the room after, I asked for a priesthood blessing. As well did the rest of the people in my room. We took turns giving each other priesthood blessings. We all felt the spirit so strongly. Even so we all started crying. Letting out all of our frustrations for the day and as well the spirit was stronger than I ever felt before.The spirit testified to all of us that everything would be okay. We felt our heavenly father's love and comfort.The next few days were much easier. The first few days were so hard, but I want to testify that it does get easier. Just stick with it and keep working hard.

I want to end with my testimony that our Heavenly Father loves us and cares for us. He knows us by name and only wants the best for us. He knows our struggles and trials. He knows how to help us, but he can't help us if we don't ask. That is one thing I have really learned throughout this past week is to pray. When I pray, I know that Heavenly Father will answer my prayers and help with whatever I may need. The MTC is such an awesome experience. It isn't always easy, but it is so rewarding. My testimony has grown so much in this past week and also my relationship with the savior. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve Heavenly Father for 2 years. I know all my struggles will be worth it in the end. I honestly think if I didn't get such a strong confirmation when I opened my mission call, I would have sent that email. I know that this is where I am supposed to be and the Hmong people are waiting for me to bring this glorious gospel to them. I love this gospel with all my heart and can't wait to share it with the Hmong people.

I love you guys and I love my family!

Sib Ntsib Ntau (Goodbye)

Hlub (love) Elder Rich

P.S. I'll do a little of my language so if you guys want to try it out haha.

Kuv puab hais tias Yesux Khetos hlub koj. ( I know that Jesus Christ loves you)

The last letter of the word are the tone you have to say it in.

In English it would sound like Goo pua hi daya Yaysoo Kaytaw hlu gaw.

I don't want to include the tones because that is to complex.