Things that happened this week:
This week we got a new Elder in our district. He is 6 foot 4, so he is a really big guy. He went home around 5 months ago for whatever reason and now he is back. He already did his time in the MTC, but he wanted to do 3 more weeks before he goes out to the field. He is going to Minnesota and Hmong speaking as well. So he will leave with us in 2 weeks. My district had the opportunity to Host this week. We hosted the brand new missionaries that came into the MTC. When they were dropped off, we helped them with their luggage, showed them around the MTC and got them settled in. It's weird that that was me 7 weeks ago. I used to be the newbie missionary, but now I am one of the oldest here. It's weird that I am leaving in 2 weeks. This upcoming Saturday we are going to get our flight plans which is super exciting. I can’t wait to see.
We finally got our Hmong ties this week. They honestly are so so so cool (I'll put a picture below). Elder Vang's mom did the greatest job making them all. She handmade every single tie and she made them all unique with different patterns/colors.
Funny things:
So one of the days this week, it was raining pretty hard and it was really cold. I didn't bring any of my sweaters, so I borrowed one of Elder Tarone's sweaters. That day we both wore some sweaters from Walmart. They are pretty cool looking, but…they are from Walmart so they are interesting. Anyways, that day I got so many compliments from wearing that sweater. The funny thing is I don't think I have ever gotten so many compliments ever and the sweater is from Walmart. So apparently if you want to find some stylish clothes, Walmart is the place to go.
This week as well we also got some Hmong peppers in a package from one of the Hmong missionaries in California. Our whole district tried the peppers and it was hilarious!! At least half of our district started crying haha. In my opinion, I didn't think they were that spicy, but that is because I love spicy stuff. I ate quite a few of the peppers and I thought they were pretty good.
Culture:
So this is a basic history of how the Hmong people came to America. A few hundred years ago, most of the Hmong people lived in China. The Chinese people didn't like the Hmong people so they persecuted them and eventually the Hmong people left to Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, the USA hired the Hmong people to do Guerrilla warfare for us. In exchange for the Hmong helping in the war, the US government gave them food and promised to bring them all to America in the near future. Because the Hmong people helped the US in the Vietnam war, the people of Vietnam hated the Hmong people. They were hunted and chased out to Laois. As well in Laois, they were hunted and chased out of Laois to Thailand. In Thailand, they made refugee camps and waited until the US would bring them over to America. Eventually, the US fulfilled their promise and brought the Hmong people to America. There are still over 1 million Hmong people that live in various southern Asian countries. But during that whole time, over 2/3 of the Hmong people were killed. The main causes were the war and being hunted from the Laois/Vietnam people.
I know that God has a plan for all of us. The Hmong people went through a lot of really hard things to get to America, but now that they are in America, they have the opportunity to receive the gospel. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to bring them the gospel. I can't wait to begin to start teaching them. I can't wait to see how the gospel will make their lives better and make their lives happier. I have such a great blessing to be a missionary. I am beyond grateful to represent my savior and bring people such a wonderful gift in the gospel
That's all for this week. Miss you all and hope you have a good week. And shout out to Elder Wayment. He is in half of my pictures because I always use his camera instead of mine haha
Love,
Elder Tshwj
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| Walmart sweaters |
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| Hosting the new missionaries with Elder Wayment |
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Wisconsin Hmong elders with our new Hmong ties
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| Hmong culture Surprise photo of the week: During their temple walk on Sunday, these 3 Elders ran into Elder McArthur's cousin who is attending BYU. She was kind enough to take their photo and share it with their moms.
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