Sept 3 - Nothing is better than sharing the gospel

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

The tie is a Hmong tie that tells part of the Hmong story. It is pretty cool.

Hmong missionaries who were able to attend the festival

Mai and her girls

Driving in Wisconsin rain

Aug 27 - Let us all be strong members like Ammon and Nephi

Nyob zoo

We had a great lesson with one of our Investigators, Nxthais Xyooj this past week. She fed us some Hmong food and after we talked about the power of the Book of Mormon with her! She explained to us that as she has been reading the Book of Mormon, it has helped her to feel peace in her life, have protection, and not have bad dreams! For the Hmong people, bad dreams are a really bad omen and a prediction for the future. It was awesome to see the effect the Book of Mormon has on all cultures!

Also this week we went over to Yami’s house. She is one of the Hmong members and is super awesome. She taught us how to make Hmong egg rolls. We made around 100 egg rolls. That was pretty fun and they actually turned out pretty tasty even though we made them lol. For dinner, we also had some super good Pho. It was probably the best Pho I have ever had. After dinner, we shared a message with her family and also gave her son a priesthood blessing. It was a good day! 

Elder Parker and I had a couple funny tracting experiences this past week. First, we saw an old Hmong guy sitting outside on his porch.  I decided to go say nyob zoo to him. He said nyob zoo back and asked us where we were from. I said we were from The Church Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we come to share an important message. After that, he just went silent. He didn't say a word after that. I think it was because he was stunned with how good my Hmong is. He has probably never heard such good Hmong in his life. No, but for reals, he just ignored us after he heard the word church. It was really awkward because we asked him like 3 more questions and he just acted like we weren't there and ignored us and stared at nothing. So we just awkwardly walked away. Most of the Shaman people are really nice even if they aren't interested, but he wasn’t too fond of us "church people". 

Another funny door approach we had. I knocked on a door and a lady answered. She spoke English so we spoke with her in English. We talked with her for a couple mins and she eventually said that she and her family were having a party and weren't available for us to share our message with them. I just repeated what she said in Hmong and she was just amazed that we could speak Hmong. She said that she had never seen Miskas people speak Hmong before. She then talked to us a little longer and even invited us in to eat some food. We didn't go in, but it was really funny because as we were talking, a bunch of people came over and were watching us and one person even was videoing us speaking in Hmong. It was pretty funny. Hopefully they don't put it on YouTube or Facebook or something lol. 

We also had a pretty awesome miracle this week. We have a pretty awesome ward, but recently there has been a lack of desire from the members for missionary work. So there hasn't been a whole lot of support for us missionaries and also a lack of fellowship from the members. Elder Parker, the other Elders, and I have been praying for a while for help and this week in ward council our bishop shared a really cool experience that answered our prayers. We have had a lot of members that have recently moved out. The numbers have been dwindling in both the Hmong and English. This past week the Bishop was praying for more members to move into the ward because the ward needs more help and support. After he prayed, he got a very strong impression that we already have strong members and we don't need anyone to move in - members like Ammon, members like Nephi, that aren't coming to church that we need to help come back. He also said that we have people around us like Captain Moroni, people like Alma that are prepared for the gospel that we need to go and find.  As he was saying all this he was very emotional and the spirit was very strong. He testified of the power of missionary work and the power of ministering to our members. He said that the ward needs to be more missionary focused and that was a tender mercy for us 4 missionaries to hear because for the past 3 months it honestly felt like we were doing things without the ward's help and that doesn't work well. The bishop rekindled everyone’s fire for missionary work in the ward. That Sunday we had a couple LA Hmong members come to church and it was so amazing to see the ward fellowship and be friends to them. It was such a tender moment for me and made me so happy. It was an answer to many, many prayers. I know Heavenly Father is there and is listening to us. I know he answers our prayers and I know he wants to help us. We just need to ask. 

Have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Dinner at Yami's

Making Hmong eggrolls

My pho!  Prob the best pho I've ever had

Bean mustache

Aug 20 - God's Mercy and God's love

Nyob zoo,

This week we had exchanges. I love to be able to serve with other missionaries for a day and learn from them. Elder Pisciotta came with me in the Hmong area and Elder Parker went with Elder Humphries in the other area. We got a lot done and it was fun to be with Elder Pisciotta for a day.

This week we decided to set up a volleyball night, so we made an event on Facebook and invited as many people as we could. Once Friday came around, we got to the church and realized - we don't even have a volleyball. How are you supposed to have a volleyball night if you don't even have ball haha. It was pretty funny. The other Elders ended up going and picking one up, so we were still able to play - just a little late. 

Also this week we were knocking some doors and we went to this apartment complex and we saw a Hmong Niam Tais so we went and talked to her. She made up a pretty lame excuse of why she couldn't talk to us, but she told us that there was another Hmong family in the apartment building. We knocked on that door and ended up getting in. We taught about the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it, but the sad thing is that she can't. The Hmong language has 2 different dialects in the US. One is White Hmong which is what we as missionaries speak and also what the Book of Mormon is translated into. The other dialect is Green Hmong and that is what she spoke and read. Here is an example of the difference between White Hmong VS Green Hmong. 

Hello everybody in White Hmong- Nyob zoo sawv daws

Hello everybody in Green Hmong- Nyob zoo suav dlawg

Anyway, it was really sad because we couldn't give her a Phau Ntawv Maumoos because she can't read it. That has never happened to me before where someone couldn't accept it because they couldn't read it. It was really sad. 

The Hmong people really like to do gardening and farming, so a lot of them on a normal day won't be home because if it is sunny they are at their farms and gardens. On the rainy days, we take advantage of the weather and go see them because they will be home. One of the days this week it was raining so went to a visit a less active. She was super funny. She taught us a lot of Hmong and was telling us a lot of stories. She was organizing some beans and was telling us about all these beans. One of them she called a taum tus sab. She said she didn't know what it was called, but called it that because she always steals it. It was pretty funny. She said she wants to come to church one of these days so hopefully she will come. 

I recently started the Book of Mormon again and read something that I really liked. In the first chapter in the Book of Mormon in verse 20, it says "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the TENDER MERCIES of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith." And the in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon in verse 3 it says "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how MERCIFUL the Lord hath been." I thought that was pretty cool that at the beginning and end of the Book of Mormon, it talks about how God's Mercy and God's love is all over and that we need to remember that. It is the Bookends of the Book of Mormon and if we remember that, and really look back in our lives, we can see that God really has blessed us so much and has been with us along the whole journey. I know that to be true and I know that as we read the Book of Mormon we can see that as we read it. 

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rich

I made peach dessert.  It was really good.
I made everything homemade except the crust.

The real Appleton

District breakfast

August 13 - I give unto men weakness that they may be humble

This week we had a crazy change in the mission. On Thursday, we had Zone conference and we got Facebook. I have never had a Facebook before so I honestly don't know what to expect, but I do know that the Lord is hastening his work through the use of smartphones, which we got earlier, and now Facebook. Facebook will be an extra tool that I have to share the gospel so I am excited for that. We will be using Facebook for missionary purposes so please don't tag me in any videos or anything like that, but feel free to add me. If anyone has any questions related to missionary work, I can message you throughout the week, but friends and family, I can reply to other messages just like with email on Mondays. 

Also, some other exciting news - one of my fellow Hmong brothers has returned back to the mission after having to go home for surgery. Welcome back Elder Seims!  Even got to talk to him and see him at Zone conference which was awesome.

Also, we had a lesson with one of our Investigators named Leng Lee. He has had a super rough life. He is pretty depressed and honestly, has no happiness in his life. We taught him the Restoration and promised him the blessings of following the gospel. We invited him to pray and read the Book of Mormon so we will see if he does. I hope he does because I know the gospel can bless him so much and bring him that happiness in his life that he doesn't have. 

Also this week we had a lesson with one of the English families of the ward, the Mortensens. Super awesome family. Brother Mortensen was pretty fascinated in the Hmong language so we taught him a few words. For the dinner message, he asked us to teach his family the Restoration in Hmong. So I taught a brief Restoration to them while Elder Parker translated to them what I said. It was fun and my first time doing that. The coolest part was after the lesson, his little son prayed and he is still little so his dad helped him, but Brother Mortensen told him to ask if the things we taught were true. Really cool experience to see a member teaching his kids the importance of having a testimony of the gospel even if they are still little. 

Probably the coolest thing this week is that I gave my first priesthood blessing in Hmong! That was really cool. Honestly, before I didn’t know if I was capable of doing it, but I tried anyway, and with Heavenly Father's help, it actually went really well. It is cool to see the progression and growth in the language, even if it is just small things like that. 

I know that Heavenly Father hasn't made the language easy for me so that I will continue to rely on him. The longer that I am out on my mission, the more I learn that I can't do this by myself. Some days I think I can, but I always get humbled really fast. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses in the book of Mormon. Ether 12:27

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

This is one of the things that I have learned the most on my mission. God gives us weaknesses so that we stay humble and rely on him, but as we stay humble and rely on him, our weaknesses can become strengths. I think that is so powerful and is something that I have really learned on my mission.

Love you all and hope you have a great week,

Elder Rich

Random picture

Zone conference with 4 of my 6 Hmong brothers that came out with me.
And Elder Seims!  It was really fun to see him again

Hmong food with Elder Humphries.

August 6 - One year down...

This week we spent a lot of time tracting without a whole lot of success. It is okay though because Sai came to church for the 5th time which was so awesome!

This week we had an awesome opportunity to give a blessing to a member’s mother. She isn't a member and honestly isn't too fond of the church, but she asked for a blessing which was a tender mercy for this member. I had the opportunity to give her a blessing and it was a really cool experience. It is cool to me how every blessing is so individual and different. It isn't a coincidence, but it truly is God speaking through us priesthood holders. I really know God loves us all and knows us all individually.

This week we also went to visit some lesson active members with Brother Chue Toua Lor. It was cool to see his love for his fellow Hmong brothers and sisters. He really cares for them and loves them. He also has a super strong testimony of this gospel. It is really cool to hear him share his testimony with them. He knows this church is true and he knows that it will bless them and their family. He is such a great example to me because he is such an awesome member and his testimony is so strong. He gives me that increased motivation to go out and knock doors every day because knocking doors isn't always fun, but if someone has the chance to receive the blessings of the gospel, then it is worth it. 

Finally the best for last! Something super, super, super crazy happened this week. Something that I honestly thought would never happen... I have officially been a missionary for ONE WHOLE YEAR! I am halfway done and that feels so good. I know that sounds really bad. I promise I am not happy to be halfway done. I am actually quite sad that I only have a year left. This past year I have learned, grown, and accomplished so much. My testimony has been strengthened, I have been speaking a language that I once thought was impossible to learn, and greatest of all - I have helped others to come unto the Restored gospel. Missions really are so hard, but it’s weird at the same time - they are such a blessing. I am grateful for this past year and the things I have been able to accomplish and I am excited for one more year to serve the Lord. Missions really are the best. 

Love, 

Elder Rich

1 YEAR

The English elders in our ward

my plate of Hmong food

Hmong food with the Spanish elders.  They are our ZL and we just went to
eat with them one of the nights for dinner

Reunited with Elder Tarone. He is AP so he spent the night with us
 because they were having a meeting up here

Chue Toua Lor

July 30 - Staying in Appleton/ Gift of tongues/Everyday decisions

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

July 23 - The short and long version this week!

SHORT VERSION: Service, Craziest Niam Tais you ever heard, Exchanges with Elder Reynolds, Hmong girls, and Fire department.

LONG VERSION: This week we had some crazy things happen. We will start with something not crazy lol. This week we were able to help one of the Hmong members, Pang Her. She is a single mom, recovering from a car accident, and working a full time job. She has a lot on her plate so we went over there twice this week and helped her out with some yard work. She hasn't had time to get to any of the yard work at all. She had some huge weeds. Some of those weeds were almost as tall as I am haha. It was quite a task, but it was so worth it because she was so very grateful and really needed our help. Seeing peoples gratitude makes all the hard work worth it...well and maybe some egg rolls and coconut bubble tea too :) 

Now something crazy. So we were walking down the street and we see this Niam Tais (Grandma) so we go and talk to her. She was gardening so we talked to her about gardening. During our conversation, a (Miskas) white dude came up to her and started talking to her in English. I was thinking in my head ummm... bro she is old Hmong Niam Tais - she doesn't know English at all, but to my surprise, she starts speaking in fluent English. It was the craziest thing. She starts having a full conversation with this guy about Real-estate agents and insurance. It blew both Elder Parker and my minds. She is the one and only older Hmong lady that knows English. Most only know a few words at best. It was crazy. She knew better English than we know Hmong lol.

Also this week I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with my District Leader, Elder Reynolds, in the Hmong area. The English Elders in the mission are all super funny.  All of them have Hmong names and Hmong tags for when they come on exchanges. They come prepared for the Hmong work. I also taught  Tub Txib Tub Xeeb (Elder Reynolds) some Hmong lol. It reminds me of the good old days in the MTC trying to make all the weird Hmong sounds and try to pronounce the tones. Let me say it is a lot more fun and funny being on the other side of things haha. 

It was a fun exchange. I will quote what Elder Reynolds wrote. " Friday I was in the Hmong area again. It was super fun to be with Elder Rich and to learn to speak a little bit of Hmong. I tried to learn a door approach, but that did not work out very well. I just sounded like an idiot trying to sing a foreign language... And I thought it was easy... But then later in the day we met four Hmong girls that are going to be seniors in high school. We weren't sure if they wanted to meet with us because they were interested in the gospel, or in us... but they told us we could come back, and Hmong people usually don't do that so we were excited, but also scared because they were four 17/18 year old teenage girls. It actually went pretty good. We had a good discussion with them outside about what they believe and all sorts of weird stuff. The funniest thing about it was that one of them goes "do you have girlfriends?" It was definitely one of the weirdest experiences of my mission, but we think they are interested in the gospel too...not just us lol."

Also our apartment almost burnt down because a drunk guy in our apartment left his stove on while he was gone. Jk it wasn’t that bad, but it could have been bad if we wouldn't have gotten to it in time. That was a crazy experience! 

Man, this transfer has really flown by. Only 1 more week and it will be over. This transfer has been a really good growing experience for me. It has been really hard, but it has been awesome. Yesterday was one of those hard days. I was translating and I was getting frustrated. I was thinking "Why am I even trying to learn this language? Why am I even out here?" I think Satan puts those thoughts in our heads a lot when times are hard. He wants us to give up and he doesn't want us to try. I am grateful for the hard times because those hard times are what help me to rely on my Heavenly Father and to strengthen my relationship with him. Those hard times help me to stay humble and pray to him to plead for his help. A mission has helped me to appreciate the hard times in life a little more. It isn't fun going through them, but after, I always know that it was for my benefit and to help me to improve and grow. I am grateful for this time to serve. It is hard, but I have learned so much. I love it and it is awesome!

Love, 

Elder Rich

Fire trucks at our apartment

Fish head! I didn't eat the head, but the rest of the fish was really good

Traditional Hmong clothing

Exchanges this week