June 18 - Let your light shine...and headed to Appleton

Nyob zoo,

Wow, another week and another transfer finished!  I am officially starting my 7th transfer in the field and I will be in… Appleton. Yes, I am getting TRANSFERRED  again.  Pretty crazy right?  I don't think anybody saw this coming, not even me haha. We all thought I would be in Milwaukee for a while, but I guess the Lord has different plans. So like I said earlier I will be serving in Appleton and this will be my 5th area in only 10 months. I have gotten around to almost all 6 of the Hmong areas and after this, I will only have 1 more to go. My new companion will be Elder Parker and he is a stud.  Elder Fielding trained him and I have heard only great things about him. I am really excited to serve with him, but also a little scared because he has been out for only 4 transfers (2 less than me). We both still have a lot to learn with the language so it will be a challenge, but it will be a great learning experience for us both! Should be fun!

On Saturday, Lue Xiong and his wife Zoua got married and sealed in the temple. I wish we could have been able to go and support them, but it is out of our mission boundaries. Even though we weren't able to go, it was super awesome to have a Hmong couple be sealed in the temple. That is the goal for everyone we meet - to have them sealed as a family and it is super cool to have them do that. 

Also, this week we were able to go over to Jimmy and Ka's house. They are one of the active Hmong families in Milwaukee. The Hmong members here are so awesome. I can't explain in words how awesome they all are. Anyway, we went over to their house and talked to them about missionary work. They shared a very awesome missionary experience that they had this past week with us. This week Jimmy and his family visited his sister’s family and his sister said that she is thinking about coming back to church and wants to bring her kids to church. She said that she sees how Jimmy's kids have something different about them and that difference is the gospel. She really wants this for her kids and why she is wanting to come back to church. As I heard this awesome experience, it reminded me of a scripture that I read in 3rd Nephi this week. It is 3 Nephi 18:24.

24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do..."

It is so very important that we always remember who we are and let the light shine everywhere we go because we never know who is watching us and we never know who we can influence by our example. Christ led by example and we need to reflect that light of Christ that we all have. I know that when we strive to be that example, people will see the light that we have and that light is something that people are looking for in their lives. 

Have a great week,

Elder Rich

My district

Hmong ties we had made

Elder Vang and Elder Chue who came and stayed over

 Lue and Zoua who just went through the temple

Justin Xiong who served in Wisconsin before I came out.

June 11 - God loves us with all his HEART, MIND, AND STRENGTH

Nyob zoo!

This week we did a lot of finding and we were able to meet so many awesome people! The coolest person we met with was a lady whom Elder Vang and Elder Fielding had met in the past and gave a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to. This week we stopped by and followed up with her. We weren't able to teach the Plan of Salvation lesson to her, but we were able to talk to her for a few minutes. We asked her if she was able to read the pamphlet and she said that she did! She said it was exactly what she needed to hear because her brother recently past away and she said that she LOVED the hope and comfort that the Plan of Salvation gave to her.

We also had exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week. Elder Stephenson came with Elder Vang and me. On that exchange, we were able to go over to a less active family, Lee and Lisa. Lisa is a member, but the rest of her family are not members. We had dinner with them, got to know them better, and also were able to share a message with them. The family practices the Shaman tradition because, in the Hmong culture, the wife does whatever religion the husband does even if she doesn't believe it. Anyway, we taught a lesson on prayer and it was cool because at the end of the lesson we asked who they would like to say the prayer and Lee said he would try. He said his first prayer in his entire life and it was awesome!

For the reading challenge, we are up to 3rd Nephi chapter 15 as of today. I have really enjoyed this reading so far. The thing I have noticed the most is how much God and Jesus Christ truly love us and care for us.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “The first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life.”

I know life can be hard and isn't always easy, but no matter what God loves us with all his HEART, MIND, AND STRENGTH. No knowledge is better than this!

Love,

Elder Rich

Milwaukee

Our ward mission leader, Brother Mackey, who is moving out

Cool mural

weird beards ft. James Harden

Jesus statue

Probably the coolest comp ties ever (New Hmong Ties)

 Exchanges and signing our names. This is a place where every elder signs their name.

June 4- Charity is the Pure Love of Christ

Nyob zoo!

This week went by way too fast. I can't believe it is Monday already, but anyway, it is P-day again. Today for P-day our district is going out to eat, going to play mini golf, and then after playing some sports so it should be a fun day!

This week we had interviews with President Williams. It is one of my favorite parts of every transfer and is always a great time to talk with him. He definitely is a very inspired man and always has great tips and advice for me. One tip this week: He is wanting me to learn the area, so I am now the designated driver again. I liked chillin in the back studying and relaxing, but it will be a good thing for me to learn the area. It is a big city and the people drive crazy so wish me luck!

Hmong people care a lot about the social aspect about church. For example, they will go to a church based on how many Hmong people go there rather than what the church teaches. It makes it hard to find people that are actually interested in the truth, but this week we met an awesome guy named Mark. He literally is the most humble guy and is so prepared to hear the gospel. We knocked on his door and he let us right in. He told us that he honestly doesn't care about how many Hmong people are at church as long as it is God's true church. He is seriously searching for truth and it is really cool to see. We were able to teach him the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation this week. He is someone that I think has a lot of potential and has the right mindset to progress. 

So hopefully you have all had time to do the 3rd Nephi reading challenge. I would still love to hear what you guys have learned from the reading so far. As of today, I am on chapter 8 of 3 Nephi. This takes place right before Jesus Christ comes to visit the people and also right before Jesus comes to minister to the people in America. These next few chapters are some of my favorites, so I am very excited. 

As I have been pondering on ministering this past week, I came upon a quote that says, "Charity isn't giving someone something you want to give them, but charity is giving someone something that they need." I like this quote a lot and I think it is very true. We know charity is the pure love of Christ and when we have that love for others, we will look for ways to help them. As Christ served others he always served people according to their individual needs. He didn't serve everyone the same way because everyone is different and unique and they need different things. Things like a spiritual message, helping around the house, or maybe simply just being a friend to talk to. I know if we have this Christlike love in our hearts we will see others as our Heavenly Father sees them, as a child of God and we will know the things to help others the way they need it most just as the Savior did. 

Have a great week,

Love, 

Tub Txib Tshwj Xeeb

Eating Hmong food at a Hmong store

My new seat

Getting quite the collection of Asian Sauces

May 29 - There is Power in our Testimony

This week we finally got our smartphones. Man does it feel weird to have a smartphone, but it is awesome. We have so many tools and resources on the phone that I'm really excited to apply into missionary work. The only problem is I have to figure out how to use this phone. I didn't think I would forget how to use a smartphone in only 9 months, but I have. So this week a lot of our time has been spent figuring out how to use the smartphones and adding teaching records into the phone. It is a big change, but I am grateful for the opportunity and blessing to use smartphones in missionary work.

So a funny story this week, we were walking around and we saw a couple families in their backyard cooking food. We decided to go and talk to them. We introduced ourselves and could tell they were pretty drunk so we tried to leave, but one of the guys asked us a question. He said, “Do you guys drink beer?” And we responded, “No we do not.” He then went over to the cooler and grabbed 3 beers. He tried to give them to us but again we said we were fine. He then said, “You guys believe in Jesus right?” And we responded “Yes.” He then explained to us how Jesus created everything. He created people, he created the animals, he created the plants, and he created the whole world and we agreed with him. He then said so that means that Jesus created beer and Jesus would want us to drink the beer because he created it.

Also this week the Milwaukee Elders got a referral for a lady who requested a Bible, but they don't have a car. They asked us if we could go drop off the Bible to her. We went over to her house, introduced ourselves and gave her the Bible. We then asked her if she had ever met missionaries before. She said no and was curious about what we believe. She started quizzing us on all these different things. After we had answered them all we asked her if she had ever heard of the Book of Mormon before. She said she hadn't so we explained what it is and how it came to be. We then tried to give it to her, but she hardcore rejected us. She said I need my Bible and my Bible only. I then bore my testimony on the Book of Mormon and the whole situation changed. You could tell her heart had softened and could feel the spirit testify that the Book of Mormon is true. As we were leaving she said, “Actually I will take one of those Mormon Books.” 

Our testimonies are our strength and our best tool in helping us share the gospel. I am grateful for these past 9 months on a mission and how much my testimony has grown and has been strengthened. When I first got out to the field I was a little hesitant and scared to share what I knew to be true, but now I don't care. I want to share the message with everybody and give everybody the opportunity to know about it. There really is power in our testimony. Especially when we take the time to strengthen and nourish our testimonies. M. Russell Ballard gave us a 30 day challenge to read the book of 3 Nephi - chapter 1 to the end - starting on May 28th (yesterday) and while we read, look for ways that the Savior ministered to others and look for how we can be better ministers to others. I want to leave this same challenge with all of you and I am excited to share what I learn with you guys and also hear from you guys what you learned. I promise as you take just a little time each day to do this, you will come even closer to your Savior, your testimony will be strengthened, and you will feel of the Savior's love for you in your life.

Love, 

Elder Rich

 I got to skype in and watch the bro open his mission call to Ecuador Quito mission.  I'm excited for him. 
It was really fun to watch him open his call

Zone conference

Home cooking

Golden Plates winner again!

Our new smartphones

May 21 - Miracle week

Nyob zoo,

This week we met a lot of awesome people.  On Tuesday, we had about 30 minutes before we had to go back to the apartment, so we wanted to find "the one person" who was interested.  So we started driving around for about 5 minutes just driving by random houses until we felt inspired to go to one.  After a while, we felt like we should go to a house, so we stopped the car and went to the door.  We knocked on the door and a lady named Leda answered.  It was really cool because it ended up being someone that Elder Fielding had met at a Hmong party a while back.  We ended up talking to her for a little while and she is super cool. It was a cool experience.

We also met a guy named Vaaj and he isn’t a member, but his daughter is a returned missionary and right now she is attending  BYU Hawaii.  He is semi-interested, but it would be cool if we could teach him because of his daughter.  We also met a young college student named, Elijah.  While we were talking to him on his doorstep, he brought up a concern that he had. He said that he hasn't been to church for a while because all the churches teach different things and he didn’t know how to know which one was the true church.  And as missionaries, that’s the question that you want all people to ask you because that’s exactly what the message of the restoration answers.

On Thursday, we were doing weekly planning and all of a sudden we had the impression to call a potential investigator that we met about a week ago.  We called her and we talked to her for a little bit and then all the sudden she said her grandson wanted to talk to us.  So we talked to him and his name is Yungti Thao. He is from Laos and just barely returned back from his mission to Australia about 2 months ago.  He was really awesome and still had the missionary spirit with him.  He really wanted us to come over and share the message with his grandparents.  We went over there and we met with them and they were super awesome and it was really cool because the grandson was able to share his testimony of the Book of Mormon with his grandparents. It was really cool to see his love for his grandparents and how much he wanted them to know that our message was true.

On Sunday we had a family home evening with all the Hmong members.  We ate some bomb Pho and then after, President and Sister Williams came and they shared a brief message with us all.  Everyone really enjoyed it and it was good to be able to gather with everybody and have a good time together.  We are wanting to set another one up so we can continue to invite some more less actives and investigators to come and continue to fellowship more people.

During this past week in studies, we talked a lot on faith and having more faith. We wanted to do our best to eliminate our smallest thoughts of doubts and have 100% trust and faith in God.  And throughout this week we were able to see lots of awesome things.  For example, one day this week we set a goal to find 10 potentials for that day, which is a lot.  We went out and were able to find 5 very promising families and I know that is because of us finding with faith.

Have a great week.

Love, 

Tub Txib Tshwj Xeeb

Takraw ball.   It is a sport like volleyball but you use only your feet.
People do backflips and crazy stuff to spike it over the net

Another chicken foot

Making a wish

Yungti Thao

May 14 - Mother's Day in Milwaukee

Nyob zoo,

This was my first week in Milwaukee and it’s a pretty awesome city! Milwaukee is the biggest city in Wisconsin. Our apartment is in Northern Milwaukee and, to be honest, it is right in the ghetto -  but I love it.  It is so much fun. The area has so many Hmong people and lots of work to do.   This area was closed back in 2016 and they just opened it back up about 6 months ago so there’s a lot of good things going on.  

My companions are Elder Fielding and Elder Vang.  Elder Fielding has been out for 20 months and he’s really good at Hmong and Elder Vang is native, so of course, he’s really good as well.  This past week has been so much fun and I have learned so much from them. They are both fantastic missionaries and I have had a blast serving with them this past week.   This past week was honestly one of the favorites weeks of my mission so far.  Trios!

And of course, yesterday was Mother's Day.  I am so very grateful for my awesome mother and all the many things she has done for me in my life.  She honestly has done so much for me and I can't express how grateful I am.  She is the greatest example to me and is the reason I am the person I am today. I truly have been blessed with the greatest mom. Thanks to all the wonderful women in my life. Thank you to my mom, my 3 awesome sisters, my grandmas, my aunts, and so many others.  I love you all and I know I would be nothing if it wasn't for the awesome women in my life.

Love,


Tub Txib Tshwj Xeeb

Mother's Day call

 

Last picture with Elder Tarone

The new Trio

May 7 Another baptism and another transfer

Nyob zoo,

This week we found out that Elder Tarone and I are both being transferred.  They are closing down the area so there will be no more Hmong elders In Wausau for probably 6 months to a year.  I’m a little sad because I only got to serve here for one transfer and there are some super awesome Hmong people, but I know it will be a good thing for the area.   The work here in Wausau is pretty slow and there honestly aren't any Hmong members who come.  It is sad, but it will be a good change.  I am pretty pumped for this new transfer.   I am going down to Milwaukee with my one of my old companions Elder Vang (Elder Vang #2 who I was just with in Sheboygan) and also Elder Fielding who has been out 18 months.  I am really excited for all the things I can learn from them and also to serve with Elder Vang again. 

On Friday, we played some volleyball.  Usually, we have about 15-20 Hmong people that show up to play and it’s a lot of fun but this week it was only Elder Tarone, Kab Zuag, 3 of her friends and me.  They bet us that they could beat us 2 on 4 and we accepted of course. They said whoever wins the most games has to buy the other side dinner.  It was actually pretty close but we, of course, won.  But then after, they said if we could beat them in another challenge, then they would take us out to eat.  So on Sunday, we made some spicy Korean noodles and did the spicy Korean noodle challenge. They said whoever eats it the fastest, the other will buy dinner.  We did that and we wrecked them again - so last night, they took us out to eat.

And the best part of the week… was on Saturday.  In Sheboygan, there was a baptism for one of my old investigators named Nou Lee.  It is honestly quite a miracle that she was able to be baptized.  She has wanted to get baptized for around a year now, but her family wouldn't allow her.  Well once Elder Vang from Madison arrived in Sheboygan, he talked with the family and they still wouldn't let her.  After a lot of fasting and prayer, they finally agreed to let her be baptized.  She was so excited and it was awesome to be able to go and see.  There was so much support for her from the ward and also her friends and family.  We also had 5 out of the 6 Hmong areas (10 Hmong missionaries) that were able to go because at least one of the companions from each area had taught her before.  It shows the power of prayer and fasting and if we put our trust in Heavenly Father, miracles can happen. 

Thanks for all the love and support,

Tub Txib Tshwj Xeeb

Pictures from the baptism in Sheboygan.  Nou Lee with the Hmong elders

Hmong elders who were able to attend the baptism

Elder Tarone gave me a haircut and it was his first time cutting hair ever.
It saved me $20

April 30 - No longer a teenager!

Nyob zoo,

This past week the Wausau sisters had an investigator who got baptized named Marcus. Elder Tarone and I and the opportunity to help with his baptismal service. Elder Tarone baptized him and I was able to confirm him on Sunday. It was super awesome to be a part of it. One of my favorite things on my mission is to see people change by coming closer to their Savior.  I don't have a picture yet, but need to get a copy.

We also have had quite a bit of success with this new warm spring weather. This past week we were able to get 3 new investigators which is a lot for this area, one of which was a media referral from the online Elders in the MTC. His name is Chandler. He grew up in the church but was never baptized. We were able to talk with him for a little bit and he said he wants to come to church and wants to be really involved with the ward. We have our first appointment with him today. He is about the same age as Marcus so we plan to take Marcus out with us to some lessons. It will be good for him to be able to share his testimony. 

We went to Subway this past week and a less active member works there named Mai Lee. We were able to set up an appointment with her. She was baptized a few years back and she told us how much happier she was when she was active in the church. We shared the conference talk titled "Am I a child of God?" by Elder Taylor.  It has such a good message and it was my favorite talk from this past conference. It talks about how important it is for us to remember that we are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. It is such a simple knowledge and something we have heard ever since we were in primary. But it is so important that we remember this because it can help us in so many aspects of our lives. If you have time this week please read it. It is such a great talk. 

Also thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes today.  It is very crazy how fast time flies. I don't really like getting older anymore haha.  I had lots of emails and packages and I really appreciate it.

Love you all and thanks for all the support!

Tub Txib Tshwj Xeeb

 A member in our ward took my birthday picture yesterday at church
  to send to my mom.  I'm wearing my birthday tie.

I'm no longer a teenager

Here's to 20

I got a bahn mi for birthday lunch today.  It was good but nearly as good as the one by our house.  

Birthday dessert  Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. 
We don't have a restaurant but they serve it at Barnes and Noble