So we got the transfer texts and good news I am staying in Appleton. Even better Elder Parker and I are staying together another transfer. Super excited for this next transfer. This past transfer has been a blast. I have learned and grown so much. Before this transfer I was not really confident in my Hmong abilities - still felt pretty subpar in my speaking, understanding, and other aspects of the language. At the end of the transfer, it is always fun to evaluate my growth compared to the beginning of the transfer. It is always a good way to help me to see that I am improving and getting better.
This week I had a few cool experiences with the language. First I decided to start reading the Book of Mormon again in Hmong. I hadn't really read it since I was probably in Sheboygan. Anyway, I decided to read it and it was so cool because I was understanding almost everything. Also, I had a lesson this week that I understood like 95% of what he was saying. Lastly, translating is usually pretty frustrating for me. I want to be able to help the Hmong people understand what they are saying. This week was different and I felt like I was finally able to do that. The gift of tongues is honestly indescribable. I can't explain how it works or what happens, but I know that is real. It is so cool. I have improved a lot in my Hmong this last transfer and I am excited for the growth in this next transfer too.
This past week we met so many awesome people. We have been having so much success finding new people to teach. God really qualifies who he calls because Elder Parker and I aren't the greatest at speaking Hmong, but we are honestly having so much success finding people. We met a lady named Sandy. She was pretty hilarious. She told us a bunch of these Hmong slang words. Like what they call white people is mov ntsev dej which means salty rice white and Hispanics is noob taum which means beans 
Also we met this girl who named her son Giannis after the Buck’s basketball player, Giannis Antetokounmpo. That made me super happy and I thought that was super cool.
Last week we had a very small amount of Hmong people at church, so this week we worked extra hard on inviting investigators and less actives. This week so many Hmong people came to church. It was a miracle! Elder Parker and I have been praying this week for more Hmong people to come to church, and they came! A member from Minnesota named Seethong came to visit too. He used to live in Appleton and be in the Appleton ward. It was a perfect week for them all to come. It was like a Hmong family reunion haha. It was so awesome.
This week I have been pondering on decisions and how important our decisions are, even the small ones. If we want to be good we need to surround ourselves with good influences and good things. Our everyday decisions determine who we are going to be in the future. Agency is one of the biggest parts of our Heavenly Father's plan. We have the choice to choose between good and bad everyday. I know our decisions are important and Heavenly Father wants us to choose the things in life that will help us to grow and progress into the sons and daughters he wants us to become. One of my favorite talks by Elder Ucfdorf called "A Matter of a Few Degrees" talks about our decisions and how important they really are. If you have extra time I invite you to read it.
Love you all,
Elder Rich
Pictures: (1-3) We went to the lake last week with the other 4 elders in Appleton (4) Shaman alter. One of our Hmong members, Joua Lee, got married. (5) Shopping with Elder Parker in Walmart
