For some reason that past few weeks it has rained A LOT! So much rain that there has been some flooding. One of the days we were basically driving in a river - it felt like, haha. The rain has made it a little harder to do the work, but we do what we can!
This week I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with one of my Zone Leaders Elder Soffe. He is super awesome and really fun to serve with. He and I worked in the Hmong area and it was a really good time. We knocked a lot of doors and met some cool people. At the end of the night, Elder Soffe and I went out to this Spanish restaurant since he is a Spanish speaking missionary and we treated ourselves to some way good Spanish food pupusas, tortas, and churros. It was really good.
Also, this week we had volleyball night. It is our 3rd week doing it and every week we get more and more people, which is really fun. All of us missionaries have been inviting people to come and this week we had around 15 people come which was pretty good and even a few Hmong people. This was the first week that a Hmong person came and Elder Parker and I were pretty excited. Well the first 5 seconds of us playing, someone set it and I spiked it and it hit the Hmong girl right in the face. I felt so bad. We finally got someone to come and the first 5 seconds, I spiked it at her face. Not a good way to get people to like us missionaries haha.
My favorite day this week was Saturday. We went down to Oshkosh which is a city about 30 mins from Appleton because there was a huge Hmong gathering. One of the biggest of the year. Hmong people came from all over - Wisconsin, Minnesota, and even some from California. They had sports teams playing, pageants, Hmong dance teams, booths to buy things, food, and lots of other things. It was really fun and really cool to see a lot of the Hmong culture. There were 8 Hmong missionaries there which was really fun. I also ran into a lot of people that I knew. The bright side of being in so many areas is that you know a lot of people. Saw lots of members, investigators, and other people I knew. I even saw Mai and her daughter, Iris, who are 2 recent converts from Madison. That was a fun surprise to run into them. Overall it was a super fun day!
This week I hit my 13-month mark which is ridiculous. Time really does fly when you are having a good time and nothing is better than sharing the gospel, especially to people as awesome as the Hmong people. I am very blessed and very grateful for this time.
Love,
Elder Rich
Lots of pictures from the Hmong Tournament and festival in Oshkosh
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| The tie is a Hmong tie that tells part of the Hmong story. It is pretty cool. |
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| Hmong missionaries who were able to attend the festival |
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| Mai and her girls |
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| Driving in Wisconsin rain |
