Nyob Zoo!
This was a really good week - lots of great stuff happened this week. We did exchanges so I went to Sun Prairie which was fun. I got to eat sushi for the first time in 4 months and that was really good. I finally figured out how to pronounce the letter D in Hmong so that’s pretty awesome!
This week so much happened. To start the week, we had a lesson with Kelly and we brought one of the members named Sister Chang with us. The members here are really awesome at loving the people and sharing their testimonies and they have a desire for others to come unto Christ. After the lesson, she invited Kelly and us to come over the next day to eat. So the next day, we went to her house and we got to help make the food. We made some eggrolls which a lot of fun and really good.
This week we finally were able to have a lesson with Naly - you may remember she is Kelly’s daughter. It was really awesome because we have really really really wanting to meet with her and her family for a long time. She lives outside of our area a little bit, but we got permission to go see her. It was 17 miles there and 17 miles back, so it’s really far. That day, we drove all the way down there. She said to meet her there at 6:00, so got there about 5:55 and she texted us and said she wouldn’t be there until 7:00because she was still closing up her flower shop. So Elder Vang and I didn’t have anything to do because we had just used a lot of miles and we only have a certain amount of miles we can use each month. We couldn’t go back and tract so we just sat in the car and talked about life. Life before the mission, the mission life, and after the mission life. It was fun to just talk to each other and I realized as we were talking that I’m really grateful to be out here as a missionary. It made me really reflect on my life and got me thinking about going to college and life after the mission and I’m totally not ready for that, so I’m grateful for having a little break and just being a missionary and doing something for someone else.
We were able to meet with her family at 7:00 and we had a really good lesson. She said she really wanted to come to church, and the next day her whole family ended up coming to church. And it was a crazy day at church for Elder Vang and me. it was crazy and stressful because we had Kelly come, Naly and her husband, Tou, and their 4 kids, and also another investigator who is friends with Naly came with her 3 kids. So we ended up have a ton of people there and it was stressful helping them all get where they needed to be. It was hectic and stressful, but at the same time, it was good. It’s crazy to think how much you can grow to love and care for the people you serve. 4 months ago, I didn’t even know these people, but now I have such a great love for them and care about them so much.
I’ll end my email with a challenge for this Christmas week. If you do not know this story, I encourage you to watch the Bible Video “Christ and the Rich Young Ruler.” In this story, we learn of a man who comes to Jesus to see what he needs to do to make it to heaven. Christ tells him to follow the commandments. The young ruler tells him he has been doing that ever since he has been little. He then asks Jesus what he lacks? Jesus says he needs to sell all his things, give it to the poor and come follow Christ.
A lot of us are similar to this young ruler, but we have the one thing that is blocking our paths. It may not be money like in this story, but we all have things that we can improve on in our lives so that we can get the greatest blessing which is eternal life. What is better than living with your family forever? It could be many different things - for example, our time. Time is the most precious gift we have because we can't get it back. So for Christmas, I encourage you all to give Christ a little bit of your time as a gift to him for all that he has done for you. When you do that, you will get an even greater appreciation for him, a greater appreciation of what he did for us, and become closer to him.
Thanks for all you guys do. Love you guys and enjoy the Christmas season.
Mathew 16:25-26
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Love,
Elder Tshwj Xeeb
Photos: (1) We helped an older couple last name Hieloshime set up their Christmas tree (2-3) making egg rolls with Kelly at the Chang's (4)"After you prepare a 1 hour lesson for your investigator and then they cancel on you 5 mins later" (5) sushi
