November 5 - Txoj Hmoo Phem (Bad Luck)

I have officially been out 15 months now. That is so crazy! 

On Tuesday I went on exchanges with my bud, Elder Goodworth, who is the ZL. I went to his area. We had a few good hours of finding in the rain. The highlight of the exchange was meeting with a recent concert. Recent concerts are so cool and always have such an awesome spirit. 

Well since last week our effort to get all the addresses into the Google Maps failed miserably, this week we had to enter all the addresses into our area book individually. We entered over 1700 addresses into the area book 1 by 1. Man, that was so boring - a whole 7+ hours of doing that, but it is awesome now that is all done. We can find the Hmong houses super fast now.

The battle with the cockroaches is still raging. We are in a full on war. We have our weapons all over the apartment just in case we see one and if we do see one they are dead pretty fast, well except for this one time when Elder Giddings was messing with one and chopped it in half with a knife and somehow it lived and crawled away. Dang roaches!!! Because of that, we decided we can't mess around anymore so we decided to go to Walmart and upgrade our weapons of war. We got some nice traps that we placed and some spray. And let me say, that spray is the best! No escape for those dang roaches anymore. #instakilled

One of my MTC teachers actually moved to Wisconsin for school. The funny thing is he is now in my ward. It is fun having him here since he served in Wisconsin a few years back. This week he took us 4 Hmong missionaries out to eat. That was a lot of fun.

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things

A lot of bad luck for us the past couple of weeks. It seems like everything isn't going our way at all, but I know things are put in our paths for a reason - even if we don't know why. God wants to help us to learn and grow and I have definitely learned and grown a lot from these obstacles.

Love you all, 

Elder Rich 

Helping Kelly with Farming

And no I didn't actually ride the tractor lol 

This was on Halloween.  We just got glow in the dark stuff for pics

lunch with old MTC teacher, Richard Lee

Oct 29: Looking on the bright side

Nyob zoo,

This week's email will be a little shorter because of a lack of time due to other things we have to do today which you will find about later in the email. :)

So this week we had a couple great days of finding. We finally got bikes and bus passes since we are in a car share with the other Hmong set. We are super excited for that since we have been waiting a while for that. Every other day we will be riding bikes and taking the bus which I am super excited about since I have always wanted to ride bikes. We got all the bikes fixed up, and the funny thing is, the first day we were super excited to finally have bikes and after only 1 hour, one of the tires popped already haha. So we've got to fix that. 

Tuesday we went to Kelly and Shaun's farm and we helped them to prepare for planting. We used these super sweet knives and whacked the old flowers down and dug up the roots for planting next week - Super fun. I still remember helping Kelly plant the Tulips last year so it was really fun to help again this year. 

On Wednesday we went to Mai's. We had dinner and painted pumpkins with her kids. It was really fun and I do have to say mine was pretty good. I am not very artistic, but I am pretty proud of what turned out. Afterward, we shared a message with her about Patriarchal blessings. She was very interested and is working on getting one. Pretty awesome! 

On Thursday we had dinner with Kelly and Shaun. They both are doing awesome and that was really fun to talk with them. 

Friday was one of the worst days of my mission. We were trying to go to the libraries to get access to the A-Z databases to look up Hmong address and then put the file into our Google maps on our phone so then we can find Hmong people more effectively. We decided to do that and we thought it would only take an hour or so, but it seemed like everything just went wrong. We went to 5 different libraries and by the time we found one that worked we were in a city called Oregon, Wisconsin which is a super small town in the middle of nowhere. I don't know why they had it there of all places, but they did. By the time that was all done it was 6. And we were both pretty mad because we felt like we wasted a whole day. I mean we did a little, but it was just a lot of bad luck. We went online and messaged the workers for the A-Z databases to find where the nearest library was that had access and every time they told us a place we would go and they wouldn't have it. It was a little frustrating. The 4th library told us they did have it so we were super excited and then we went and tried it and it happened to be that they actually didn't and he was confusing it with the other library they worked at, so that is why we drove all the way out to Oregon. We were able to get over 3000 Hmong addresses. So after, we went to eat at a barbecue place called Ziggy’s which was really good. We treated ourselves with ribs and brisket because we deserved it for that awful day. So now we had a full stomach and drove an hour back to our apartment and we find out that our Google maps on our phone doesn't even work so we can't even access it. We were so MAD!!!  Stupid MaaS360 which prevents us from doing everything. What is the point of having a smartphone if we can't even use it?  Hopefully, that will get fixed soon. Sorry, that was a long rage. 

Also, another thing that was a bummer this week is that we found cockroaches in our apartment. So we spent 3 hours last night killing cockroaches and cleaning up. We assume they are coming from our neighbor's apartment through one of the cracks. So today we are gonna be continuing to clean our apartment really good and getting rid of food. We really don't have much food anymore since we found some in our fridge too, so we basically chucked everything because we thought it was gross. Better be safe than sorry.

This past week it seemed like everything was not going right. I swear we had the worst luck with everything, but we decided to be positive throughout all the situations. I mean I would never have had the opportunity of going to Oregon, Wisconsin. I would never have had the opportunity to make funny videos of us attempting to kill cockroaches, or getting scared like 3-year-old girls from the cockroaches. Overall it was a pretty frustrating week, but we chose to stay positive and happy, Well as much as we could haha.

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Painting pumpkins on Wednesday with Mai's girls

Pretty proud of my pumpkin

Elder Giddings, me, Elder Lo

You can see the capitol in the background

Helping at Kelly and Shaun's farm

It was fun to be able to help them again this year

More matching Hmong ties

Oct 22 - Hmong Conference

This past week has been so awesome and so much happened! On Wednesday Elder Giddings arrived in Madison and man he is such a good guy and such a good missionary. What a blessing it has been to serve with him already. He is such a good example to me of a consecrated, urgent, and faithful missionary. He literally is the hardest working missionary I have ever met. Super excited to serve with him and grateful for his example to me.

We did quite a bit of finding this week and it was awesome! We and the other Hmong Elders are in a car share, so Elder Giddings and I got to do a lot to walking which is something I have never experienced as a missionary before. I have always had a car before, but it was awesome because we were able to talk to so many more people. As we were walking around we would just talk to everybody and I mean everybody. We had a couple of funny stories this week. First, we were walking around and we saw a white guy get out of his car so we started walking over to him. He saw us coming and said “Hey! I am not buying anything.” and Elder Giddings replies “well great we aren't selling anything”. He didn't really like that. The second one, we were walking around a complex looking for a specific Hmong house and a lady was watching us, but we didn't think much of it. So once we found it, we knocked on the door and right after she asked us what we were doing and I said “Knocking doors.” She said that there is no soliciting in this apartment complex. And of course, I replied, “Great we aren't selling anything.” She didn't like that either. She made us leave the apartment complex, but the funny thing is that the guy answered his door and all we said was that lady won't let us talk to you and just left. Last one - we were walking around and we see a Hmong guy pull up in his car. Of course, since he sees us he doesn't get out of his car. So we just walked by and went and knocked on his house, but they didn't answer so we just went and knocked on his car window. Haha. 

On Saturday we had the annual Hmong conference. This year it was held at Sheboygan. We had a super good turnout. I don't know how many people came exactly, but there was a lot of people and it wasn't even everyone. We were still missing a lot of people. This year's theme was “Christ-centered homes.”  It went really well with the new time change for the church. They had a few workshops on Family home evening, sabbath day, and other things that can help us to have a more Christ-centered home. It was really good and will be very beneficial to all the Hmong members. We also had a great lunch and were able to have a lot of get to know you games. It was fun to see a lot of members from old wards that I have served in previously and also to see the other 14 Hmong missionaries. 

On Sunday we had our first Hmong sacrament meeting. It was all in Hmong and it was really awesome! We had over 40 Hmong members show up and a had a few families missing. It was really cool to hear a few Hmong members share their testimony in their own native language and to also feel the spirit testify that the things they were saying were true. It testifies to me that God knows us all  - no matter what language we speak, race we are, or where we are in the world, God understands and loves us and that was really cool for me to experience that. 

I love this work and I am grateful to be a part of it! 

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Oct 15 - Another transfer already? a new companion but staying in Madison!

This week is transfers. It is weird to say because I feel like I just got to Madison last week. Well anyway, we got the transfer text today and the bad news is that Elder Carlson is leaving, but good news that I am not leaving. 5 weeks was very fast and not very long to be with such an awesome companion like Elder Carlson. My new companion is Elder Giddings who was in my MTC district so I am super, super pumped. I have wanted to serve with all the Elders in my MTC group and now I get to serve with another awesome companion, Elder Giddings.  I only have one more MTC buddy left to look forward to. Let's just say this transfer is gonna be awesome!

This past week we went to a super nice sushi place called Red. It is in downtown Madison and it is super good. It is one of the nicest Sushi places in Madison. Our Zone Leaders took us out so that was awesome. Sushi is always awesome. Quick funny story - we were eating and Elder Carlson being his awesome self,  boasted me up way too much. He was saying how I could eat anything spicy and that it doesn’t phase me at all. Being 4 Elders you can probably guess what we did next. The only spicy thing in a sushi place is Wasabi, so after being boasted up this much, I had to prove myself haha.  I grabbed the whole thing of Wasabi which was about a nickel size amount and put it in my mouth and swallowed it. Man, that stuff is spicy. The nose burn was brutal, but the worst part is the taste. Worst thing I ever tasted in my life. Pretty funny though.

This week I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Lo. That was fun. I have never been on exchanges with another Hmong Elder so that was awesome. We worked really hard and met a lot of people. One family that seems really solid. Pretty exciting. 

This week we went to the Vang pre-New Years party. Lots of Hmong people, but like most Hmong people, they were all super drunk. We talked to a few people including Elder Lo's cousins. We had a couple of funny encounters with a couple drunk people and it was pretty hilarious. I am glad that I have a knowledge of the Word of Wisdom because drugs and alcohol make you do weird things haha. 

At church on Sunday, one of the older Hmong guys approached me and told me he wanted me to translate for him for priesthood. I don't think he asked me because he wanted my translating but just wanted to help me out. It was a fun 45 mins of translation. It was more of a conversation and discussion between him and me about the lesson which was fun. And of course, he corrected me a bunch which I appreciated. I still have a lot to improve, but I have also come a long way. 

This past week has been a harder one for me. My brother, Ian, just recently entered the MTC so lots of my thoughts were turned to my family this week. I am excited for my brother and the great things that he will do, but I also miss my family a lot. It has been 14 1/2 months which is crazy. It is a long time and may seem hard in the moment, but in the broader picture, it isn't honestly that long and it isn't honestly that hard. Some days I may think it is a sacrifice for what I am doing, but it really is not. I have the opportunity to bring others eternal happiness and not only that but bless my family. I have never really taken the time to see the things Heavenly Father has blessed my family with since I have been away, but this past week I did. First off, I have seen my brother make the decision to serve a mission and not only that but give his all and serve faithfully. I have seen my sister Alli gain more of a desire to read her scriptures and by doing so come closer to her Father in Heaven. I have seen my sister Jill grow her faith by giving a talk in sacrament and also fast for 21 hours and afterward email me saying that she wants to do a full 24 hour fast next month. I mean what 12-year-old does that? It is so cool. I have seen my sister Sadie try more to choose the right. These may seem little, but to me, these are all testimony builders of the importance of what I am doing and that I need to do my best every day to share this gospel. I am grateful for this gospel. I am grateful for it changing me into a better person. I am grateful for being able to learn from my younger siblings examples and from their examples, I desire to be a greater missionary.

Love you all, 

Elder Rich 

It's starting to look like Fall

This past week we had our Halloween party. It was really fun. It was Harry Potter themed.
We had piñatas, truck or treating, and even had kids throw pies at the bishop.
It was a fun party, but it was pretty cold. 

We wore mustaches

Elder Carlson saying bye to Mai's family

Oct 8 - I am grateful for conference

Well, it is finally October here in Wisconsin and it definitely is starting to feel like it. It is getting colder and colder every week. It is almost winter :(

This week we were really, really busy. It is a good thing to be busy, but we didn't have a whole lot of time to find new people because of other things we had to do. With the time we did have, we were able to talk with 2 Niam Neebs. A Niam Neeb is a female Shaman. I guess you could compare it kinda of to a Bishop or other leader in our church. They are the people that do the rituals and all the crazy stuff in the Shaman religion. It was fun to talk with them and learn a little more of their religion. 

This week we went to Mai’s as usual. She is so awesome and is such a good missionary. She told us all these things that she has been doing. First, she invited one of her friends over that same day so we talked a little with her. Second, she talked to one of her friends at work and talked about church. That friend is now interested in coming to church and seeing how things are. Third, she has a couple friends that she has been talking with. We are going to go to their church and hopefully, they will go with us to our church too. And last, she talked to her husband Alex about Hmong conference which is the conference for all the Hmong members in Wisconsin. The first time she asked him if he wanted to go he said he didn't want to, but a couple days later he said that he changed his mind and wanted to go, so that was really cool. Mai is awesome and it is cool to see her desire to share her testimony with others.

Saturday we watched conference with a Hmong family named the Changs. We watched the first session and after we had some great Hmong food. They stuffed us with a lot of food. The second session was not as good, well… I assume it was really good, but we all fell asleep. Let me defend myself real quick haha. Hmong people give us so much food and we were stuffed and they had the softest couch ever too. That is not even fair. Us 4 missionaries tried our best to stay awake, but we all failed. Game over. The kids thought it was hilarious and video recorded us.

Sunday we watched conference at the church. A lot of Hmong members came and watched it at the church including 5 of the recent converts and Mai’s husband Alex. In between the sessions, we had some great Hmong food again, but luckily this time we weren't on the comfiest couch in the world. We were on the church benches which, BTW are super uncomfortable, so that day was a win. We all stayed awake.

All jokes aside - I really enjoyed conference. My favorite talk was definitely Russel M. Nelson’s talk. Ever since I was little I always have loved hearing the prophet's words. I know he is a prophet and I know he is an inspired man of God. He talked about the name adjustment and focus on calling the church by the correct name. I thought there was such power in this. Our church isn't Mormon’s church, it isn't the saints’ church, but it is Christ’s church. And with that, we as members (me included) need to call it by the correct name. What a blessing to know that our church is Christ’s church and that he leads this church. That we have a modern-day prophet. I am grateful.  

Have a great week,

Elder Rich

We waited all day to get pictures from some members from conference but were unable to get them today.  So the pictures I have.  

Had the craziest sandwich. Similar to the McDonald's sandwich everyone makes but this was a 2.0.  Double Cheeseburger from 5 Guys and put a Chick Fila sandwich on it.  It was good but so bad for me. I've always wanted to try it. I need to exercise more haha

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