Nyob zoo os,
On Tuesday we had district council and also interviews. My interview was pretty fast and rushed, but nonetheless, it was great to talk to President as always. The rest of the day I was on exchanges with Elder Israelson in the Hmong area. He is only been out for 5 months so it was fun serving with him and his fire. We worked really hard which was great and were able to meet some people as well which was good.
We had the opportunity to help a few families this week. With all the recent warm weather all the snow has melted which caused a lot of flooding. A ton of the city was flooded, some parts up to 5 feet. A ton of houses were flooded causing lots of damage and loss of property and possessions. One of the Hmong families houses got condemned and they lost everything in their basement. So many cool memories and possession that they had to throw out. It was super sad.
We do a sports night every Thursday. This Thursday we had a really good turnout. Alvinia who we are teaching came and a few of her friends. That was awesome and we had a great time playing volleyball!
On Friday we had dinner with one of the Hmong members, Mai See and her daughter. Super fun and super good food as always. I told her how I need to learn how to cook Hmong food and she said that it's super easy so next time we come over she is going to teach us how to cook Pho (You're welcome mom).
We also have been talking with a super awesome Niam tais and her daughter who own a Hmong clothing store. She is so awesome and she loves us. Anyone that can speak Hmong to the older generation they love it. Anyway, she has been making some super cool Hmong ties for us and really cheap as well. I have received a lot of compliments from people about the Hmong ties, so if anyone wants to get one let me know and I can hook you up with one for pretty cheap.
Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference. We had a super sick 70, Gifford Nielson, come and visit. He played quarterback at BYU, for the Houston Oilers, and also was a broadcaster for 25 years. He was a really good speaker and his testimony was really cool to hear. I always enjoy that.
Saturday afternoon we went to Chuck E. Cheeses. I haven't been there in a minute. It's been a while haha. We went for one of the Hmong family's kid, Nathaniel's birthday. He is a super cute kid. Always gives us hugs when he sees us. We got him some pokemon cards and a Pikachu stuffed animal. Good times!
Sunday we met with an awesome guy named Shoua. He made us breakfast Hmong style which was really good and after we had a good conversation. He just barely had his first child 3 months ago. He is really looking for answers to questions that he has like "What is the purpose of life?" "Is God really there?" and "Why do bad things happen to good people?" He grew up in a Shaman family, but now he is really open to learning about God. He seems very promising and it is very interesting because he has a lot of the same values and morals as the church, but just isn't a member. We are excited to meet with him more.
Also, exciting news all the recent converts in Madison went to the Chicago temple for the first time.
Something that I thought was cool is in the very first verse of the Book of Mormon it says the word "affliction." If you click on the word affliction something really cool is the 2 tabs underneath affliction say 1. Blessing and 2. Gifts of God. I thought that was a different twist from how we usually view afflictions and trials. It all is on our attitude and our positivity on how we view our struggles. God wants us to learn and grow, but it is up to our mindset.
Love,
Elder Rich
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| snow is melting |
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| flood cleanup |
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| Chuck E Cheese's bday party |
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| Madison members and converts temple trip |
