Dec 4 - It's Finally December

Nyob zoo

So it is finally December, Christmas time, and everyone is putting up their Christmas lights so you can totally feel the Christmas spirit.  We got a Christmas tree (like you wanted Mom) and since we didn’t have any decorations, we had to put on random stuff that we had around the house. so we have a picture of Jesus, a Book of Mormon, we have a bow and arrow, some Pokemon cards, a spoon, a hat, Meet the Mormons 2, pokeballs - so those are our decorations.  It is kind of weird because even though it is December, the weather the last 2 weeks has been between 45 and 55 degrees, it’s been really nice. Today it is 57 degrees which is crazy because it is December.  It makes no sense. 

Transfers were last week, and we got Sister Missionaries.  Everyone likes the Sisters better than us, so… no one feeds us anymore so pretty much all we eat is cereal and PB and J’s.  But it’s all good.

To start the week, Elder Vang and I are both doing really good and I feel like we are very productive and working really hard.  This week we were really busy.  We didn’t have a lot of time to do everything we wanted, so we didn’t get everything done that we had planned. But we did the best we could. We have been working on a tracting book, so we have been using our dinner hour to work on that. Also, at the beginning of the week, we got a call from the Green Bay Hmong Elders and there was a request for us to go give a blessing to someone who is in the hospital.  So we went and did that.  I don’t remember her name, but she is a non-member and she has cancer.  She is not looking good and it looks like she will not make it.  What I thought was cool about it is, Elder Vang gave her the blessing and in the blessing, he wanted to say “You will be healed” but he kept trying to say it and he kept trying, but - he couldn’t say it.  It just shows that no matter what we want, God has a plan and God’s plan may not be for her to be healed but for her to move onto the next life. It was kind of sad that he couldn’t say that so it makes it seem like she won’t live, but it is cool to show that Priesthood blessings are true and it’s all coming from God what he wants to say to you.  And Elder Vang gave me permission to say that, he told me that after so that’s cool.

Also this week, we got to meet with Andrew and Kaozong to do their first recent convert lesson.  We taught them the restoration again and we just focused a lot on God’s love for them, God’s plan for them, the priesthood, callings in the church and just how to move forward and keep building their testimony.  Also, we made Korean barbecue with them. And that was a lot of fun and good.

We also had another lesson this week with Kelly.   We found out that she used to be a famous Hmong singer so she showed us all her CD’s and stuff which was really cool.  We have taught her all the lessons so this was more of a review.  We talked about Joseph Smith, Christ’s atonement, and baptism - so it was kind of a review of the first 3 lessons. We wanted to invite her to baptism and Elder Vang told me to do it.  So I did it in my broken Hmong, but I got the point across.  She said that she’s not ready yet, but she wants to get baptized when she feels like the time is right and when she’s ready and when she has learned more.  She wants to learn more so that’s good too.  And she also wants her family to come too, so she’s already doing missionary work inviting all her family to come to church with her.  This week, she brought her 7-year-old granddaughter named Sophia with her.  She’s come to church 3 weeks in a row pretty much on her own, not really because of us asking her, but because of her desire to come.

To end, I’ll just talk about “Light the World.” Because it’s Christmas time, it’s important to remember the true meaning of Christmas.  “Light the World” does a good job of doing that.  It also gives us an opportunity to learn more about Christ’s life and also to light the world and show our light and be an example to others.  So I challenge all of you to do “Light the World.”  It takes probably less than 5 minutes a day to look it up and participate.  It’s good for us and it’s also good to help us remember what the true meaning of Christmas is.  So everyone this week - Show your light to the world.

Have a great week,

Elder Tshwj Xeeb

Pictures: (1) Our Christmas tree (2) Kelly and Karol at the lesson with a few of the albums she has made.  Karol is a recent convert and we ate Thanksgiving at her home (3) Korean BBQ with Kaozong and family (4) Christmas jelly from my mom.  It is so good.

Additional Pictures this week

More Korean BBQ

Still no football for me

November 27: Two trainees on our own

Nyob zoo,

This week on Tuesday we dropped Elder Lewis off and we said our goodbyes so he’s at his house now doing whatever he’s doing.  This is the first week of the two trainees taking over an area.  The funny thing is Elder Vang was made a trainer so I’m getting trained by a trainee.  I was made the designated driver and I’ll just say - I’m the worst driver ever now since I haven’t driven in 4 months.  It was honestly like starting over.  Scary!  I really do not like the Wisconsin roads at all.  It’s like driving a bowl of spaghetti - the roads are so random and don’t make any sense at all.  It was very different without Elder Lewis. We were used to following his lead which was nice, but now we have to plan out our whole days, and we don't really know too many people or the area too well.  So it is different, but it is good too.

This week was super super busy.  It was the busiest week by far that we’ve had.  It was an interesting time for us to be on our own and doing our own thing.  This week we had Thanksgiving and Hmong New Years.  So 3 days out of the week, no one wanted to meet with us because they were celebrating Thanksgiving and Hmong New Years. On Thanksgiving, we went to a member’s house named Karol Smith.  She is super awesome. She is a recent convert of a few months and her grandson got baptized a couple months ago too.  We ate the classic Thanksgiving food. Turkey, potatoes, ham, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. The rest of the day was just a regular day so we went tracting all day which sucked because I didn't want to go for obvious reasons. As well no one really wanted to talk to us. But we went anyway. And we met some cool people so it was all good.  

Hmong New Years was on Friday and Saturday.  We went to that for a few hours both days.  Basically, it’s a huge get together with all the Hmong people in the Madison area.  So this was the Madison Hmong New year.  They have a Hmong New Year for all the cities like Wausau, Appleton, Green Bay, Sheboygan, etc.  There were a ton of people there, probably around 4000 Hmong people that came and celebrated the New Year.  There are lots of booths that sell clothes and food.  and they have some stages that people can do dances and sing, stuff like that.  They have a model - kind of like a beauty pageant as well.  All the Hmong people dressed up in their Hmong clothes and they were really really cool Hmong clothes.  The Hmong New Years was pretty fun, but also pretty weird because I was the only white dude there; there were so many Asian people.  

This week because of Thanksgiving and Hmong New Years, no one would meet with us so we didn’t have much to do, but it was ok.  Everyone said after Thanksgiving and Hmong New Years, they’ll meet with us, so we’re going to take everyone up on that.  This week we’re going to have a lot of people to meet up with, so that will be good.

Also this week, Andrew and Kaozong received the Holy Ghost at church. We were really worried they were not going to come because they both got sick over the weekend and they were acting like they were not going to come. But they came for the whole Sacrament meeting which was good but went home after that. 

Also when Elder Lewis was still here, he had some former investigators he wanted us to meet.  They had been pretty busy and the whole time he was still here with us, we’d go stop by and they were never home.  But Me and Elder Vang were able to run into both of them which is kind of crazy since we weren’t able to run into them for seven weeks with Elder Lewis.  But we ran into both of them and we got an appointment with both of them next week, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’ll just end by saying that I'm doing good.  I’m having a lot of fun.  The mission is keeping us busy and we’re working hard.  If anyone has any questions, shoot me an email and I’ll try and answer them.

Have a great week.

Elder Tshwj

The top 5 photos are from Madison Hmong New Years

Our investigator, Kelly

Thanksgiving

My new name name badge. I got it a couple weeks ago. It has my updated Hmong name and as well 
the Tub Txib part which basically means mail messenger (closest thing to missionary I guess.  I wear t
he Hmong one when I am with Hmong people and the English when I am with English speaking people.

November 20: My Investigators

Nyob zoo,

This was our last week with Elder Lewis.  He goes home to California on Tuesday so then it will just be two trainees going at it, me and Elder Vang.  This week, Elder Lewis taught us literally everything he could about being a missionary, about taking over an area, and missionary work.  He taught us all the tips and tricks of how to be a missionary.  

This week we also had transfers.  Obviously I’m still staying in Madison with Elder Vang, and it’s going to "fun" with two little trainees running around, not knowing what to do; not knowing the area.  Usually, when missionaries come out, they get trained for 12 weeks and then they can go somewhere else and usually they are with an older missionary.  Elder Vang and I have been trained for 7 weeks and we are stuck together.  It’s going to be interesting.

This email I’m going to talk about our investigators that we are working with.  People have been wanting me to do that.

So I’ll start with a lady named Kawm.   Elder Lewis taught her a few times before I got to Wisconsin, so we’ve been teaching her the whole time I’ve been here.  She has a really strong faith in God.  She’s come to church a couple of times.  She knows that the church is true, but she has been going to another church for over 20 years, so it’s hard for her to make the transition to our church when all her friends and family go to her other church.  So we are just taking time with her to build her faith, and helping her to know why and how our church will help her.  She is in her mid 50’s and is a sweet, nice old lady.  She said she will be baptized, but it will be in the future when she is more comfortable making the transition from her church to our church.

Our next investigator is Kelly.  She is also in her mid 50’s and she is the one that we went and helped at her farm a couple of times.  We found her through her sister.  My second week here, we went tracting in an area, and we met her sister. She let us in, but she wasn’t really interested.  She told us that her sister was interested and she gave us her address, so that’s how we found her.  We’ve taught her three times.  The problem that we’ve had with her was that she didn’t have a lot of time with her farming, and she needed to get it all done.  That’s why we went and helped her so that she’d have more time.  Since we helped her and she’s finished, she has a lot more time to meet with us.  We were able to meet with her again yesterday.  She also came to church yesterday and she really loved it.  She stayed the whole time and stayed for our baptism (I’ll share about this in a bit) so she stayed for almost 5 hours and that was her first time going to our church.  That’s pretty awesome for her to stay the whole time.  And she honestly really loved it.  She was telling us after how much she liked it and she wants to come again next week.  She’s going to tell one of her different sisters to come with her next week so that’s pretty awesome.  

One quick story about Kelly that was pretty funny this week…So all the Hmong people here think I am so tall and it is really funny, even though I am just an average sized white person.  Hmong people are all really short.  When we were eating with Kelly this week, she was just going off on how tall I am and she thinks it is so crazy and she always makes fun of herself compared to my size. It is really funny.  At the end she asked me how tall I was.  And she guessed I was 6’7”  I must really seem tall to her.

Our next investigators are Naly and her husband, Tou.  They own a flower shop and Elder Lewis met them before we got here.  Every P day we go to their flower shop and talk to them for a little bit.  We never taught them anything about the gospel - we just went and said hi.  A couple of weeks ago, Elder Lewis and Elder Vang went to their house for a birthday party and were able to have a conversation about our church and their church and our beliefs and their beliefs.  I wasn’t able to go because I was on splits.  So this week, because of their conversation, we decided to give them a Book of Mormon and talk about faith because that was the topic from the birthday party.  Since she owns a flower shop, we talked about Alma 32, which compares faith to a little seed.  And we read the last two verses from Alma 32 which says 

42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you

We read that to her and it was really cool because she started to get really emotional and you could tell that she was really grateful.  She told us, “I’m really grateful for you guys coming and talking to me today.  This was something I really needed to hear.  God knew I needed to hear that.”  One interesting thing that we did not know until just a little bit ago, is Naly is Kelly’s daughter.  When we were teaching Kelly one time, we made the connection that they are related.  Pretty neat.

Our last two investigators, who are no longer investigators are Andrew and Kauzong. They were baptized yesterday.  Elder Lewis has been teaching them the entire time he has been in Madison, and previous Elders have worked with them too. So they have been investigators for over a year.  One of the main reasons they decided to get baptized is because they had a daughter who passed away about a year ago when she was about a week old.  That's kind of the reason they decided to get baptized.  They are super awesome.  Elder Lewis said they are the first adults to be baptized in Madison in the past 6 years so that was pretty cool to be a part of their baptism.  It was pretty awesome.

To end my email I just want to give a tribute to Elder Lewis. I am going to miss him a lot. He has been an awesome companion, friend, and trainer, especially in prepping me and Elder Vang in taking over the area.  I am grateful for all the things that you were able to teach me and grateful for you always pushing me to become a better person and missionary. I will miss you for sure, but you will have tons of fun at home and college. Love you Man.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving this week.

Love,

Elder Tshwj Xeeb

Elder Lewis's last time at the Thai Gardens

Last of the trio

Andrew Yang and Kaozong Thao were baptized finally after a year plus!! Elder Lucas got to come from Waukesha for the baptism. We had a great turnout from the ward to support them.  They were baptized by Andrew's cousins, Joseph and Adam (the two standing behind) 

The Family

Dinner w Kelly! She's the one in the very center, on the left is her daughter Naly, one of our other investigators 

Surprise package from Aunt Lisa from San Fran

First Snow

Dinner at a Thai restaurant with member Tina Manavong

November 13: A week of Gratitude

Nyob Zoo

This week we spent some time preparing for the turkey bowl coming up next week.  On Saturday morning, we played some football with all the young men.  It was 9:00 in the morning so it was really cold.  It was fun though to play football again and get to know the young men a little better.  This week we also went to a member’s house and they were watching football on the TV.  And it was HARD to not watch the football game.

This week is Elder Lewis’s last full week.  One of the members threw a going away party for him at their home.  There were a ton of members who came, and it was really cool to see all the members who came to show their appreciation for all he did to help the ward and the Hmong members while he served in Madison.  He served in this area almost a year, so he was here a long time.

We also went to help home teach a Hmong family whose name is Txoov Xob.  We went because we needed to help translate for them.  While I was translating, it was really cool because I realized how much I know and how much I was able to do.  It was REALLY cool for me.  I also realized how much I don’t know and need to still study and continue to improve.  After we were done, the guy I was translating for said something really neat to me.  Elder Lewis had to translate, but he said, “God called you to be a Hmong missionary because he knew if you were an English speaking missionary, it would be too easy for you.  God knew that being a Hmong missionary would be hard for you, but through patience and diligence, you’ll be able to learn it.”  And then he complimented me and encouraged me to continue to work hard and be diligent with my studies because if I do this, one day I will be really good.  I thought it was really cool to hear him say this, even though he said it in Hmong, and Elder Lewis had to translate, it was really neat for me.

With Thanksgiving coming up, one thing I have been focusing on this week is Gratitude!  One thing I have been doing, and a lot of times we all do this, and that is to focus on the negative things.  It is really easy to look at the things that are hard, look at the things that are not going our way, and we take for granted all the things we have and the things that are going our way.  This week I tried really hard to be more positive and more grateful for what I have.  So…

I am super grateful for my companions.  I am really sad to see Elder Lewis leaving.  He has been a really good example to me and Elder Vang because he always pushes us and he puts us in those awkward situations to help us grow  - even though we are not comfortable in those uncomfortable situations, it helps us to grow.  He is always pushing us to help us become better. I’ve become really good friends with Elder Lewis in the last month.  

I am grateful for Elder Vang too.  He has been an awesome companion.  Knowing him for 2 months in the MTC and 1 month in the field, we have become really good friends.  I am grateful for him pushing me too and helping me to improve and be a better missionary.

I am also really grateful for the Book of Mormon and for the opportunity I have to read it every day.  One thing I thought would be cool is to have a little challenge with everyone who reads this email from now until Thanksgiving.  So the challenge is to read the Book of Mormon every single day until Thanksgiving.  It’s a pretty easy challenge, but one that a lot of people don’t do.  But I promise if you all do so, it will help you in your life.  It will help you to be more happy, make things feel more peaceful, and will help with answers you may need.  The Book of Mormon really does relate to our lives and it really can help us.  I’ve seen that in the last few months as I’ve studied it more diligently.  And you will all receive blessings from our Heavenly Father for doing it.  I hope you will all join me in this challenge.

Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Tshwj Xeeb

Elder Lewis going away party

Farming with Kelly again

Tracting

Simple but classic Hmong food

All the cereal that my mom would never buy

Our "pet" squirrel that is getting so fat because we keep feeding it

No football for me

Getting ready for turkey bowl next week

Extra Pictures for the week

Cat we found at our apartment

Splits this week

Boiled Quail egg

The greatest invention of all time

November 6 - Onto month two in the field

Nyob zoo

This week went by really fast and it was super good.  Now that I’ve been out here for a month, I’m pretty used to the missionary life.  I feel that our companionship is really good.  The three of us work really hard, but we also have a lot of fun.  We joke around and have a good time, but at the same time, we get our work done and we do what we’re supposed to do.  My trainer, Elder Lewis, goes home on the 22nd which is pretty crazy to think about.  He has fewer days than Elder Vang and I have months.

This week for things, we went to the farmer’s market on Saturday.  It was the last weekend of the year for the market.  We’ve gone to the farmer’s market every Saturday since I came to Wisconsin.  We go around to all the different booths and talk to the Hmong people.  The Farmer’s market is around the Capitol - so around the entire Capitol building on all sides of it, they have booths set up and people sell their vegetables and fruits that they’ve grown - as well there are cheese curds, bakery items, stuff like that.  So it kind of sucks that this is ending, but it was really good to be able to go to that the last few weeks.  I never bought anything, but I wish I would have.

This week, we also did a special fast for one of our investigators.  We started it on Friday after lunch.  The entire time we were fasting, I don’t think there could have been any more temptations to eat food.  There were so many opportunities where we could have eaten.  When we were in meetings or lessons with people, everyone offered us food.  We kept saying, “No we’re good.”  There were so many temptations to eat the food.  The next day, we were still fasting, we were doing our studies when we got a call to go to the hospital and help a member.  At this point, we had been fasting for over 25 hours, but we went and gave one of the members a blessing.  We were really hungry at this point. so we went to a buffet after called “Journeys.”  They serve lots of seafood and Chinese food.  We just pounded the food, and by the time we were done, our stomachs were destroyed.  After, we came home to finish our studies, but we didn’t really finish them very well because we were in a food coma.  We all ended up falling asleep - so lesson learned - Do NOT go to a buffet after you have a long fast!

This week, also, I noticed that the adversary works in many ways to make us feel inadequate in our callings, whether it’s with depression, feeling not confident with yourself, or not feeling worthy to serve.  That’s what I’ve been feeling this week.  He knows that your calling is important, and he knows that you have work to do, so he tries to make you feel like you can’t do this or you shouldn’t be out here.  He tries to make you feel like you need to go home or you need to not be doing what you’re doing.  He knows that what you are doing is very important and he doesn’t want you to be out here.  So that’s what I’ve felt this last week.  I even felt not worthy to be out here, so I called my mission president and I had a really good talk with him.  He helped me so much and reassured me that I am 100% worthy to be out here on my mission.  The adversary doesn’t want me to be out here.  I also realized the importance of repentance - even for small things.  It is important to always talk to our leaders to make sure we have the spirit to be with us because without the spirit we won’t be able to teach.  I think a lot of times people think repentance is a bad thing, but it’s not.  It’s a good thing because it shows our commitment to follow Jesus Christ.  I’ve really seen that over the last month; my desire to continually change and to become a better person.  This week has been one of the best weeks.

That’s all I have for this week.

Love you all,

Elder Tshwj Xeeb

Farmer's Market

Wisconsin football stadium.  

All the people up here are crazy about the Wisconsin Badgers. It is funny.
Wisconsin is doing pretty dang good. They haven't lost yet.

Farmland that is outside the city of Madison

My apartment

Extra photos for the week

My grandpa sent me these pictures this morning in his email.  My brother, Ian, and I would go ride with him
in the tractor when we were little.  I thought it was funny he sent these pictures since I went
farming last week and sent pictures today of the farmland around Madison,