Oct 1 - Choose you this day whom you will serve

Nyob zoo, 

Time is flying by so fast. This upcoming week will be my 14th-month mark on my mission and also my 1-year mark for being in Wisconsin. Where does time go? 

On Monday night we went out to eat with Kelly and Shaun at a Thai restaurant called Sa Bai Thong. Really good food and it was really fun to spend time with them. Also, later in the week, Kelly took us to a different Thai restaurant. Like I said last week, we really are spoiled here!

Saturday morning we played some football and frisbee with the young men. It was fun to hang out with the youth and also to play Frisbee again. That was really fun. One of the Hmong youth plays Frisbee for his high school team. This ward is awesome and there are some awesome youth in this ward, especially the Hmong ones. They have such strong testimonies and are such great examples to me. 

The coolest thing this week, we went over to Mai’s house. Her husband asked us to come help him with some things around the house. So we went and after, we were surprised that he had prepared a whole meal for us. We went inside and ate steak, potatoes, asparagus, corn, and he even made a cake for us. It was pretty cool, especially since it was just him because his family was out of town. It has been cool to see him change since I was here the first time. The first time I was here, he wasn't going to any church and all he wanted to do was bash with us. Over this past year, he has changed and grown so much from the gospel. His wife has been a super good example of what the gospel can do and he has seen his wife change and that has affected him. Now he is going to church every week and has changed so much. We had a whole meal with him and he didn't even bash with us. We just had a friendly conversation and at the end, he even gave a heartfelt thanks to us and for what we do. He said that we helped him to realize that he was off the path and he needed to put God as the priority in life again. Even if he isn’t going to our church at the moment, it is really big progress. It is cool to see how the church can affect everyone - including nonmembers. His heart has opened so much and he really respects us now. He even called us family. One day he will be a great member. I know that will happen one day, but it is gonna be a slower process. Nonetheless very exciting. 

This week in my personal study I had a couple of verses in Joshua that really stuck out to me. 

14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

We all have those "other Gods" in our life that we "worship". Whether that be our phones, sports teams, TV, or whatever, it is important that we serve God and put him first in our lives. 

Also quick shout out to my little brother Ian. He had his farewell talk yesterday and I heard that he did great. He is heading in less than 10 days and I am excited for him and the things that he will do. He is gonna do awesome. Love you bro! 

Have a great week,

Elder Rich

Picture by the lake

Dinner with Kelly and Shaun

Sept 24 - How important is the gospel in my life?

Nyob zoo,

It has been a good time in Madison so far. I am enjoying it a lot. We are still figuring out how to split the area up since there are 4 Hmong missionaries now. Madison is a really big city and we cover all the surrounding cities, so we haven’t been too worried about it so far. On Wednesday, however, Elder Carlson and I were stopping by one of our potentials in McFarland, which is one of the surrounding cities of Madison. We knocked on the door and they opened the door and let us in. It was a funny surprise to see Elder Vang and Elder Lo sitting on the couch. It was pretty awkward, but also pretty funny. Their family was super nice and pretty interested. We taught the whole Restoration, part of the Plan of Salvation, the Sacrament, and after all of that, they fed us some Hmong stir-fry.

On Saturday, we went to the farmers' market and helped a few of the recent converts and also James and Chong. The farmers' market is really cool. I’ve heard it is the biggest in the country. There are lots of people and we get to talk to a few of them as we help with the flowers. After, they took us out to eat at a place called Sumo which has a Hibachi grill. It was really fun. We also got some sushi. We really are spoiled here in Madison. I don't think I have had to make dinner once since I have been here. Everybody just takes us out to eat or has us over for dinner. It is super awesome. 

This week, we had a lesson with our most progressing investigates James and Chong. I think I mentioned this last week, but I will mention it again. James is Kelly's son and Chong is James wife. They are super nice. They fed us some Hmong food and after, we shared a really good lesson with them. We read the whole chapter of Alma 22 with them and after we focused on 4 verses, verses 15-18. My favorite 2 verses in this chapter are verse 15 and verse 18. The King in verse 15 says he will give up all of his kingdom and all that he possesses to have the joys of the gospel and then in verse 18 he says that we will give up all his sins to know God.

I thought this was very cool. It is a very good reflector for me to think about - how important is the gospel to me? What would I give up to have it in my life? Am I doing all that I can to have a relationship with God? Is the gospel a priority in my life? I know this gospel is true and I know that as we put God first in our lives we will find more purpose and more happiness in life. We are so blessed to have it in our lives and I hope it is a priority in all our lives and if it isn’t, I hope that you will make it a priority.

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Dinner at Mai's again

We took pictures by the capitol 

Dinner with James and Chong after the market.  Kelly was there too

Sept 17 - 1st week back in Madison and it's good to be back!!

This week felt like a dream. We have been joking that we are gonna wake up and not be in Madison anymore. I am glad it is reality because it has been so much fun. My companion, Elder Carlson, is super awesome and we get along super super well, the ward is awesome, and Madison is such a cool city - plus they had free Chick-fil-A all week. Let's just say it is good to be back. 

On Wednesday we went and visited Mai and Iris who are recent converts. They were only expecting 2 missionaries, but it was a fun surprise to have 4 show up. We made egg rolls with them which was fun. The egg rolls looked a little "different" so the kids laughed at them. Even though they looked a little different they tasted really good. Anyway, they are both doing super well. Mai has been reading the Book of Mormon every day and just recently finished 3rd Nephi. It is cool to hear her share her testimony with us and the power of the Book of Mormon in her life. They are both doing super good.

Thursday we visited Kelly and Shaun who are also recent concerts. They both are doing super awesome too. They are both very busy with work and farmers market. It was super fun to talk with them again. They are super funny. It was a lot fun more fun this time because I could actually talk to them and understand most of what they said compared to when I first was here. They were both super happy that I came back.

On Friday we had volleyball night. We had a super good turnout - around 30 people that came. It was super fun. 

On Saturday we went downtown to the farmer’s market. Kelly and Shaun sell flowers. Also, a couple of our Investigators, Chong and James, sell flowers too. James is Kelly's son and Chong is Kelly's daughter in law. Anyway, we went down there with the other set of Hmong Elders and helped them. Elder Vang and Elder Carlson helped James and Chong and Elder Lo and I went and helped Kelly. It was a lot of fun. It was also the day of the BYU VS Wisconsin football game. Lots of BYU fans that were at the farmers market so it was fun to say hi to lots of members. They all thought they were gonna get wrecked against Wisconsin, but I guess Miracles happen because BYU won. So crazy! 

Overall this week has been awesome. I am so blessed to be able to be in Madison at this time. The work is going extremely well and the ward is super hyped because it is the first time a ward has ever had 2 sets of Hmong missionaries. Everybody is wanting to share the gospel even more than they already did. It is so awesome. We received 5 member referrals this week and we didn't even ask - they just said they had some people they wanted us to stop by. It is an exciting time to be in Madison. I am excited to be here and excited to be a part of this work. 

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Last P-day in Appleton and we had a huge nerf gun war

goodbye Appleton Zone elders

Shaun

Kelly

Mai and her girls

Made egg rolls with Mai

Flowers at the farmer's market

Sept 10 - It's transfer week again...and I'm headed back to Madison!!!!

Nyob zoo,

This week is transfers. After 2 transfers in Appleton with Elder Parker, I am sad to say that Elder Parker and I will not be together anymore. It has been the hardest 2 transfers of my mission, but also the 2 greatest transfers because I have learned the most these past 2 transfers. I have learned a lot from Elder Parker and will always be grateful for his example to me. He will be missed, but I know the Lord has greater plans for us both. So... I am going back to where I started my mission. Back to Madison. I am so hyped. Madison is my favorite area and I am excited to see all the people again. I will be serving with Elder Carlson who has been out for 11 months - the same time as Elder Parker. I am super excited to serve with him. I have met him a few times and he is super cool. Also, Madison will have 2 sets of Hmong missionaries. Elder Cheemeng Vang and Elder Lo will both serve in the ward too. It is gonna be a good time. 

This week I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Humphries who is my District Leader. Man, that was a blast. He is super fun to be with. We ended up having the whole day to find because our lesson for the day got moved to a different day. It was pretty nice because Hmong work is all polk tracting, but in the English area, we were able to knock on any of the doors we wanted which was pretty nice. Overall it was a good day. We were able to find a few potentials for their area. 

We had a lesson with one of our Investigators Ntxhais Xyooj (Sai Xiong). She has come to church 6 times and has a really strong desire to learn more about church and God. We were able to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we talked a little about baptism and she talked about how that is something that she wants to do, but the sad thing is she is moving to Michigan for an unknown amount of time. We will miss her and hopefully, she comes back soon. She has so much faith and trust in God, it's incredible.

Our time for church changed from 11:30 to 9. So this week we had about half the Hmong members show up at 9 and the other half showed up at 11:30. So this week we translated two sacrament meetings. Afterward, my brain was fried, but it was all good because after church we went to Yami’s house. My mom would be proud because I made Pad Thai all by myself and by the way - it was super good. We also made eggrolls and Hmong lettuce wraps. I also had Hnyuv Nyuj, which is just cow intestine. I thought it was gonna be nasty, but it was actually not bad. Fun day! 

This week I have been studying a lot about prayer, and as I was thinking about this, I thought about gratitude. We really have so much to be grateful for. God has blessed us with so much and we could pray forever in gratitude for our many blessings. It is sometimes easy to forget the little things that we already have like being able to see, food, and our families. It is so much easier to focus on what we don't have and be mad or sad about what we don't have, but in reality, we already have been given so much and we just need to remember what we already do have. Gratitude is such an important aspect of our lives because when we are grateful we are happy. I know this to be true and I invite you guys to choose to be grateful and by so doing choose to be happy. 

Have a great week,

Elder Rich

Appleton district

My Pad Thai

Yami...I am pretty sad to leave.  She is awesome!

Hnyuv Nyuj (cow intestine)

 Last P-day, we went to High Cliff State Park.  We hiked and climbed this huge tower

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