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

July 16 - It was a great week - and another baptism in Madison!

Nyob zoo,

We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week. Elder Andelin came to the Hmong area with me and Elder Parker went to the Spanish area with Elder Cox. We had a blast. Elder Andelin and I served around each other in Madison, so it was fun to finally be able to serve with each other for a day. It was a pretty successful exchange too. We met some cool people and got some good food. We were also able to get Hmong food for him to try for the first time and I was able to try some really good Hispanic food. 

We stopped by to see a former investigator named Sandra. It was cool because she told us that she has been reading the Book of Mormon and Bible side by side. She said that she has really enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon. It was really cool to hear that and how much she is enjoying reading it.  Also our investigator Xai Xyooj came to church which was awesome.  She is coming from a Shaman family so she doesn't know a whole lot about Christianity, but it is cool to see how much faith she has and how much trust she has in God. 

My favorite part of this week was on Saturday. I had the opportunity to go down to Madison for Iris Vang’s baptism. Iris is Mai Vang’s daughter who I taught when I was in Madison. Her baptism is a huge miracle. Mai's husband is against the church, so it was a huge miracle once he finally decided to let Iris be baptized. I was able to be a witness for both Iris and also Ntsuab who also was baptized. I never taught her, but she is really awesome. She shared a really powerful testimony. I love hearing people's conversion stories. 

After the baptism, we ate some great Hmong food and I was able to see lots of people. Past companions, members, people I taught, and Kelly! It was a good time, but always so hard to leave. I love Madison so much. It is definitely my favorite area still so hopefully, I will be able to serve there again in the future. 

It was a great week. It is awesome to see 2 children of our Heavenly Father make covenants and be baptized into his true church. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and help people to gain a testimony of the restored gospel. It is so awesome!

Love you all, 

Elder Rich

Split with Elder Andelin

Iris Vang's baptism

Kelly

Elder Bastian went home 3 weeks ago but came back for the baptisms

Elder Blackburn

All the elders at the baptism

July 9 - Zone conference, 4th of July, and a miracle

Nyob zoo,

This week we had Zone conference. A cool thing about the Appleton zone is that it is the only zone that has 2 sets of Hmong missionaries in the mission. The rest of the zones in the mission only have 1 set of Hmong missionaries. So we were able to spend some time with the Sheboygan Hmong elders which is always great to spend time with other Hmong missionaries. Plus the best part of zone conference is that we beat our fellow Hmong Elders for the gold plates. Elder D. Vang, Elder Chue, and Elder Berrett were a close 2nd, but not quite close enough haha. Sorry Sheboygan! 

This week was also the 4th of July. We tried to see some of the fireworks, but apparently, for some reason, Appleton does all of their fireworks on the 3rd of July.  So I didn't get to see any fireworks this year :(

One of the Hmong families in Milwaukee Jimmy and Ka have a daughter who lives in Appleton. This week we went over and ate dinner with them. It was awesome because her siblings were also at her house so it was fun to see them again. We ate chicken wings which were stuffed with egg rolls. So, so, so good. I loooove Hmong food so much. Sorry I probably have said that at least a million times. I wish you guys could all try it so then you would understand haha. 

This past week we spent a lot of time trying to find new people and inviting people to come to church. To be honest we really had no luck at all and we were both pretty bummed out. This week was one of those weeks that I was questioning “Why I am even out here? Why am I even wasting my time?”  We knocked doors for a solid 15 hours this week and literally got nothing -  I mean nothing!  It isn't fun to do missionary work when no one wants to listen to you. By the time Sunday rolled around our spirits were low and we were both physically exhausted. After setting up the translation equipment, we saw a Hmong lady. We went and talked to her. She was visiting and she is looking for a church to join. She also invited her sister to come too! They ended up staying for sacrament meeting and the 2nd hour. It has been over 3 months since a Hmong investigator has come to church in Appleton. It was literally a miracle. It was so cool.  Things like that make all the hard parts of missionary work worth it. I am so grateful for missions even though they are hard. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done but is also the best thing I have ever done. I am so grateful for these past 11 months to serve the Lord and help the Hmong people.

Love you all, 

Elder Rich

Happy 4th of July

Chicken wing stuffed with an eggroll

Throwback and a photobomb

Out tracting

July 2 - Made it to July - it's so HOT here!

Nyob zoo,

Wow, another week and another month! Today is my 11-month mark!  Where has the time gone?  Have I really been out this long mom?  It definitely doesn't feel like I have been out 11 months. Time has gone way too fast and I don't think I can comprehend that I am almost to my year mark.  That is crazy! 

Before I came out on my mission everybody said that Wisconsin is really hot and really humid. So far on my mission, it really hasn't been that bad...well until this week haha. I think summer finally decided to come to Wisconsin because it is suuuper hot and suuuper humid. It feels almost as if we are walking through the jungle or something. The humidity just drains you. At this point, I don't know if I like the summer heat or the winter cold better haha. It is a toss-up. We will see if the warm weather stays because yesterday was cold and rained super bad. Wisconsin is pretty confused on its weather still... 

This week I was able to go on exchanges with an elder in my district named Elder Raymer. I went to his area which was a lot of fun because I haven’t been in a non-Hmong area for a while. They didn't have any appointments for that day so it was a full day of finding. Knocking on doors for 5 hours isn't the funnest thing, but we both talked about how we wanted to look on the bright side of things and be positive. We could have thought, “Oh man 5 hours of finding. That sucks. That is such a long time.” Or “5 hours of tracting! That is awesome. That is so much time to find. Think of how many people we will be able to talk to.”  A lot of the things we are able to accomplish are based on our attitude and mindsets.  I definitely saw the difference when we stayed positive and made the best of things. We were able to meet a lot of people. Some were interested and some were not. A quick funny story - We met an old guy who we talked with a little. When we were about to leave we asked him if he would be interested in coming closer to Jesus Christ and he said: “Don't worry about me because I am getting pretty close to meeting him.”  After we left I couldn't hold it in. I was dying. It was so funny. 

Also on Saturday one of my old investigators from Sheboygan, Ariel, was baptized. I wasn't able to make it down there for her baptism, but I am so happy for her and her decision to be baptized. She is awesome. Also, shout out to the Sheboygan Elders!

Recently I have been reading the Old Testament which I actually have really enjoyed so far. Before my mission, I honestly wasn't a huge fan of reading my scriptures and I was quite bad at reading them too haha, but the longer I have been out on my mission it has been cool to see how my love and my desire to read the scriptures has grown too. I love reading the scriptures and learning from them. It is definitely my favorite hour each day, the hour I get to study the scriptures. I know daily scripture study is very important and there is a special spirit that we feel each time we read. I invite you all to try to find that time every day to read the scriptures. I know life is busy and it can be hard to find that time, but I know it is so important and if we can find that time to read, we won't regret it. The scriptures are awesome and I love them. They really do help us and are applicable to all aspects of our lives which is awesome. 

Love you all, 

Elder Rich 

Ariel's baptism in Sheboygan

It rained so hard yesterday.

It's so HOT here!

June 25 - 1st week in Appleton

Nyob zoo,

Wow! It sure is weird to be in another city. Appleton is an awesome city. It is smaller than Milwaukee, but still a pretty decent sized city. It is really pretty and there are lots of Hmong people. It has been fun to talk with all of the Hmong people here and learn another awesome area. It sure has been a big adjustment this week, but it has been really good!

The best part of the week was that I got to see my trainer formally known as Tub Txib Yim Leej. It was so fun to see "Elder Lewis" and talk with him. We got to speak some Hmong together and it was cool to see my progress from the beginning of my mission to now. As well it was good to see him again. He is a good friend. 

I knew that coming into this transfer it was going to be a struggle with the language and it has definitely been a struggle. These past few days I have probably studied harder and prayed more than ever before. I am grateful for this opportunity even though it is hard because hard things help us to grow. I have definitely seen that growth in only a few days. In my other areas, I have relied a lot on my companion's Hmong, but now I know I have to go out of my comfort zone and just open my mouth. It has been really awesome to see how much I have improved and grown in only a few days. I am getting better and more comfortable every day. I am excited to continue to attack the language. I know as I continue to go out of my way to learn and rely on God, I will grow tremendously. I am excited for this transfer and the growth I will have! 

Talk to you next week,

Elder Rich

Saying goodbye to our investigator, Yeechue

Reunited with Elder Lewis

Me and my new companion, Elder Parker, and Chia who is from Madison

The new Bucks stadium they are building

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