May 20: Mission tour with Elder Soares

Nyob zoo os,

This week is transfers and Elder Lamb and I will be staying another one in Milwaukee. Pretty excited because we are getting stuff done and having a good time. I'm excited for these last 2 transfers. 

This week we found a new investigator who I am very excited about. Her name is Eena who is a 25-year-old young mother of 3 kids. The funny thing is the first time I met her when I was on exchanges we did our door approach and she said she wasn't interested and already had a church, but we didn't give up and kept testifying of the blessings of the church and also spoke a little Hmong which opens their hearts too! 

Anyways after that, she was like "well I actually I have been looking for a church and I would be interested in you guys coming back." So we did just that and met with her twice this past week. She is super prepared. We gave her the plan of salvation pamphlet the first time we met her and when we came back she had read the whole thing and had tons of questions that we were able to answer. She is super open, prepared, and sincerely wanting to learn. So that's exciting! 

We also we able to go help a Niam Tais farm this week! It was super fun to get out and help her. She was super grateful because when we pulled up she was making slow progress, but we able to get it done very fast for her. 

The coolest thing about this week was we had Mission Tour. The whole mission came down to Milwaukee. Two of the Hmong sets stayed over at our place the night before at our apartment which was way fun and 8/10 Hmong missionaries were able to go to dinner the night before and ate some Hmong food after the conference. Hmong brotherhood ️

Saturday morning we had mission tour. We had the great opportunity of having all 160 Elders and Sisters in one building, but not only that we were all visited by Elder Ulisses of the quorum of the 12 apostles. We were all able to shake his hand which was awesome and hear him speak. 

He said a lot of things that I really liked. He talked about the process of how missionaries are called and how he has the special opportunity to call the Elders or Sisters. He said it is an amazing experience and testified that every Elder or Sister is called to where THEY need to go and WHO they can influence and not only that but also the mission president that can help them grow the most. I thought that was really cool. 

He also shared about when he was called to meet with President Nelson to become an Apostle. Elder Soares was overwhelmed and said "Why me? There are 1000s more qualified than me. I can't speak the English language very well. Why me?"  President Nelson responded by saying to him "God isn't calling you for who you are now, but who you can become." Elder Soares said he knows he has many weaknesses and isn't the most qualified, but he knows that as he tries his best the Lord will bless him with all the pieces that he currently doesn't have. I thought that was super powerful. 

To end he shared with things that we can do personally to continue to grow and stay active for the rest of our lives. Below is the counsel that Elder Soares said:

1) Live with purpose

2) Study the scriptures

3) Learn how to prioritize your time

4) Attend the temple regularly

5) Remember our temple covenants

6) Serve in the Church

7) Actively serve others who are less-active and guide them back to the Church

8) Do something good

9) Just do all we can do

10) Remember that Heavenly Father called us not necessarily for who we are, but for whom we can become

To end he said, "You all probably thought I was going to give you all tactics and strategies for how to be better missionaries, but I'm not. The best way to share the gospel is through ourselves, the light of Christ that is in us!"

I know this church is true and I know what Elder Soares said is true. The little things we do every day are going to influence who we become and our identity and others will see that in us. It is so important for us all individually to strengthen our testimonies every day, to feast upon the words of Christ, to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior every day through prayer and also by repenting.

Love, 

Elder Rich

Pday haircut

8/10 of us going out to dinner

all 10 Hmong elders at Mission tour

meeting up with my trainer and his fiancee last week

May 13: Go Bucks!

Nyob zoo os,

Monday was P-day and was a fun P-day. Elder Lamb and I made Pho for our whole zone. It actually turned out really, really good - surprising for 2 miskas (white boys) haha. 

Tuesday I had the wonderful opportunity to serve with my first companion aka my twin Elder Devyn Vang. That was a blast. I haven't been able to serve with him in over a year and a half. It was good to catch up and serve together again. Lots of good memories and experiences we were able to talk about. I served in his area which is the AP area. So I got to really see what the life of an AP is for a day. Super busy and lots of phone calls and logistical things. It was really good though. We also ate at Zupas which I haven't had since back home. Good food! Best of all we got to visit a recent convert family from Green Bay who was in Milwaukee. 

The work is moving forward in Milwaukee Wisconsin. This week we had a lot of time to get out and work. It was good to be able to grind again without any other things to worry about or do! We were able to meet some cool people and we are hoping to get in with them this upcoming week! 

Another cool experience is I was able to see my trainer! He came back to visit and even cooler he came back with his fiancee. We were able to meet up for a little and catch up which was super fun since it has been so long! 

Sunday was mother's day! We had a great sacrament meeting and Elders quorum about mothers. In Elder Quorum, we went around and everyone shared something that they are grateful for or learned from their mothers. That was very powerful to not only hear but to also reflect on my life and all that my mother has done for me as well as the other amazing women in my life. For me, the closest comparison of the Savior's love for us is the love of a mother to her child. I think that is exactly why in the scriptures it compares a mother to the Savior's atonement and sacrifice on the cross. It says, 

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

The love of the Savior is something that we can't fully comprehend. A mother's love, their selfless love for their kids giving everything and more to them is the closest comparison we can make. What a wonderful compliment to mothers and women. I know my mom loves me and her Christ-like love that she has for me helped me to feel the love and more fully comprehend all that my Savior has for me. Thank you, mom and thanks to all the wonderful women in my life. 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Splits with Elder Vang

Spring is finally here

Making Pho at the church last P-day

Elder Pinera's bday

We went to the Bucks' stadium today for P-day

Go Bucks!

May 6: Birthday week, 100 days left

Nyob zoo,

To start off the week it was my birthday on Tuesday. It was also another Elder in my districts birthday as well, Elder Isaacson, so we got to celebrate together. Funny thing is last year we were in the same zone so we celebrated our birthdays together. I don't know what the odds of that are, but I'm guessing like 1%. Anyway, we went to Bdubs as a district. Got some wings and of course, the Elders wouldn't let us get away without being sung to, so the whole restaurant knew it was our birthday. It was worth it though because they gave us ice cream and a bottle of wing sauce for our birthday. Later that day we had correlation meeting. Our awesome ward mission leader's wife, Sister Murphy, made one of my favorite treats for my birthday - Raspberry brownies and they were wayyy good.

We also had 2 exchanges this week as usual. One of them, I went to Port Washington with Elder Jackson and the other I stayed in the Hmong area with Elder Lundahl. I love exchanges so of course, it was a good time. 

I'm continuing to learn the other Hmong dialect, Green Moob. I'm picking it up pretty fast and had some opportunities with some Nam Tais (Grandmas) to talk and learn Green Moob. It was pretty cool because she said I was the first missionary she's ever met that is trying to learn Green Moob. That was a cool compliment since I have been working really hard to learn it. I've been writing down all the differences and have a notebook filled with notes. I think I have figured out 97% of the differences so all I have to do is continue to improve in speaking it and understanding a little better. Pretty fun! 

This week I had the opportunity to go to MLC for the first time. It was a great meeting on talking about how the mission is doing, what we can improve on, and goal setting for this upcoming month. It was fun to see some missionaries again and learn some ways I can improve. Something that President Williams told us is that "You can accomplish more and influence people more than you think!" I liked that a lot.

Something sad this week is that I now have less than 100 days left till I head home. Time has just flown by and seems to get faster every single week. I have loved being a missionary and am super excited for this last stretch I have to continue to serve. The longer I get out the more I love to do the things that I used to not love as much. I'm just grateful for every day I have left to serve and I'm loving every minute of it. 

Love, 

Elder Rich

My birthday with my district

raspberry brownies with Elder Isaacson

Bdubs

MLC with Elder Lamb and my first
companion in Madison, Elder Vang

Yes I do!

April 29: Exchanges for days

This week went by really fast and part of that was because it was 1 less day to pday and also because we were super busy. 

Wednesday afternoon we exchanged with the Lake Michigan Elders. I went with Elder Winborg in his area. He is the nicest guy ever. Super fun to serve with him for a day.

Thursday afternoon we exchanged back and we went straight to a lesson with Avarploy and Don. We had a great discussion on the Plan of Salvation and somehow in that discussion we got to the topic of baptism and Avarploy out of nowhere say "I want to be baptized." So we are prepping her and helping her to get ready to be baptized, so that is super exciting.

Thursday night we exchanged with the Parkway Elders. I again left the area and went with Elder Pisciotta. He wasn't feeling good so a lot of our exchange we were stuck inside the apartment which was a bummer, but I took advantage of the time that I had and taught myself a lot of the other Hmong dialect, Moob leeg (Green Hmong). I put together a pretty decent list of changes between the dialects. I have been practicing speaking it for a few weeks now and I am picking it up super fast which is really fun. I am even teaching Elder Lamb some as well which is really fun. The next day we were able to go for a few hours and help a family move. They were non-members so that was a great opportunity.

Friday night we exchanged back, we were planning on exchanging with the APs and I was going to be going in the area, but it got rescheduled which was probably good so I could spend more than one day in my own area for the week haha. Elder Lamb and I were curious and out of all the 42 days the transfer, we only have 19 full days of work that we are actually together. The rest are exchanges, meetings, church, etc. Pretty crazy.

Sunday we had church and after we had a great opportunity to teach a guy named Lue. He shared with us his conversion story and after we shared him ours. It worked out perfect that we were at the church. A YSA aged member was there and overheard our conversation and asked if he could share his testimony. It was such a simple, but powerful testimony. It brought the spirit in so strong. After Lue asked us for a Book of Mormon and said he wanted to read it. It was super cool.

This week we had a lesson on trials in Priesthood. I thought it was super cool. We read the talk "Wounded" by Niel L. Anderson. In it, there was a part that I really liked. It said: 

"Along with the bright colors of happiness and joy, the darker-colored threads of trial and tragedy are woven deeply into the fabric of our Father’s plan. These struggles, although difficult, often become our greatest teachers."

I think this is very powerful and true. We all have trials in our lives. They are part of the great plan. In the moment we may not understand why, but these are all for our growth and sources for us to learn from. I remember all the hard times in my life and all the things that I learned from those experiences. It's important to remember that and also to always rely on the Savior during those times so that he can help and support us. 

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Last week we went to the Milwaukee art museum

Me and Elder Peck were dying the whole time taking pics. 

Making fun of the dumb and weird art, but some art was really cool.

Elder Peck

Pictures around Milwaukee

Cool alley in Milwaukee downtown area

April 23: Kinda Phởed out - for now!

Nyob zoo os,

Wow, this week a lot happened. I had the opportunity to go on 2 exchanges with 2 missionaries in the zone. Both times I was in the Hmong area which was fun to be the only one able to speak Hmong and being with the English missionaries because they think Hmong people, culture, and language are really cool. So that is really fun doing exchanges with them. A part of the Hmong culture is giving names and "adopting" people into their clan. So, for example, I was adopted into the Tsab clan so I'm "a part" of their family. I had the opportunity to talk to a Hmong grandma and get a Hmong name and clan for Elder Dickinson but wasn't able to get one for Elder Conlin. I have a big list of missionaries that want one in the zone so we will see what we can do haha! 

Also one of the cool things that I learned is that Elder Dickinson family has only been members for 18 years. Missionaries knocked on his door when he was a baby, his family was baptized, and now he is on his mission. Really cool! 

Saturday we had the opportunity to go down to Appleton again for a baptism for a family of 6 that Elder Lamb worked with, so lucky for me I got to tag along again! It was amazing! A whole Hmong family of 6 was baptized and they are super awesome. Last month when I went up for the other baptism with Elder Taylor I visited them. It was cool to hear their testimonies. They were Shaman before and they said that "the gospel has changed their life." Super cool! After the baptism, we had some bomb Hmong food and got to talk to some members and hang out with Elder Lo and Carlson which was a blast! 

Afterward, we went to a Hmong wedding of a Hmong member and ate some more Hmong food! 

Afterward, we went go the Vangs and they taught us how to make Phở, so now I have a recipe to try out. I had 2 bowls that day and it was so good. I also had 2 bowls the next day too! So much Phở. Kinda Phoed out :/ Cool thing is they are going to teach us how to make something every Saturday. I am pumped! 

Next day was Sunday and we had a great Sacrament meeting on the Atonement. It was really powerful and great to hear others' testimonies of the Atonement and ponder what the Atonement means to me as well. We also had the opportunity to sing in sacrament with the Vang family. We sang 'Peace in Christ' and that song is a really powerful song. That day I actually had the opportunity to work with Elder Lamb in our area which was good since we weren't together like the whole week! You would think the Hmong people that practice Shamanism wouldn't celebrate Easter, but they do haha. I guess it's an excuse to get together, eat food, and drink alcohol! They even put out Easter eggs for their kids to find, but sadly I guess they don't know what the true meaning of Easter is. 

Monday we had interviews which is why my P-day is today. Had a great interview with President. We had a great discussion on the Atonement. He said something that I really liked he said, "Never judge yourself in the past with your testimony and conversion that you have today." I think that is so powerful that as we go further on the Covenant path we will become more righteous and our testimonies will become even stronger. Things that we didn't think we did were bad in the past we may now realize is not good, but we shouldn't judge our past selves with what we know today. We can always repent and become better. That's the amazing thing about the gospel and the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Love, 

Elder Rich 

Baptism in Appleton

Hmong elder selfie

Lotus flower cookie - a Hmong treat

exchanges with Elder Dickinson

April 15: Hello from Milwaukee

Nyob zoo,

I finally made it down to Milwaukee. I have been really enjoying it down here besides the fact that it has snowed 3 times this week. I was so certain that spring was finally here that I sent all my winter clothes home on Tuesday before I came down to Milwaukee. Pretty funny!

Coming down to Milwaukee I was thrown into the fire really fast. Thursday we woke up at 5 to take a missionary to the airport and once we got back I was told that we had to prepare for our 50 min training that we would be doing in Zone Conference the next day! So we prepared that training and the next day was Zone Conference which I was asked to conduct the meeting which was fun/scary at the same time. Our training ended up going really well which was good for the limited time we had to prepare for it! After Zone Conference, we went to an old favorite, Kopps, which has some of the best ice cream I have ever had.

Saturday we planned out the rest of the things we need to do for this upcoming transfer and let me say it is going to be really busy. This past week has been the fastest, but also seems like the longest week of my mission. We have had so many things to prepare for, phone calls, logistics, and other things we have had to do. It has felt like we haven't really been doing missionary work this past week just because of how different it has been, but it should be better this upcoming week when we have more time. We only had about 10 hours that we were able to go out and do stuff this week so next week should be good since most of the planning is out of the way. 

Even though we were limited in time, we were still blessed with success in our finding and teaching. I think that it is really cool that no matter what our circumstances are or what we are going through, God will still bless us for our hard work, diligence, and desire to do his work and follow him. We were able to set a person we are teaching on baptism date named Treivy, but passed him off to the YSA Sisters and as well were able to find some really cool potentials that hopefully we will be able to get with this upcoming week. 

A really interesting thing that happened this week that I've never experienced before was that we met a guy who was speaking something called striped Hmong. Basically what it was is the 2 dialects white and green Hmong mixed. I had never heard that before. It was really odd to listen to. To kinda explain what I mean, one sentence he would use the White Hmong word 'poj niam' meaning wife and the next sentence he would use the Green Hmong word 'quas puj' meaning wife, white Hmong 'thiaj li' or 'txhaj le', 'tuab neeg' or 'tib neeg' etc. It was funny because it sounded like he couldn't make up his mind on what dialect he was trying to speak so he was mixing back and forth the whole conversation. I guess an example you guys could probably understand is if someone was going back and forth between an American accent and a British accent. Obviously, that's not exactly the same, but a good example. 

Spiritual thought this week which I am actually going to steal from my companion because it thought it was really cool. He was reading in the Bible about Jesus Christ's last week because of the Easter Season. One of the things that Jesus did that last week was cleansed the temple. And the part that is thought was cool that he compared that with 1 Corinthians 3:16 which says: 

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Just like Jesus Christ cleansed the temple and got rid of the things that didn't fit the holiness and the sacredness of the temple.  It is interesting to compare that to our body or our "temple." If Jesus came to us what would he take out of our body to cleanse our temple? Whether it is things temporal or spiritual it is a good way to reflect on our bodies and how we treat them and the importance to strive to make our body holy just like the temple. 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Saying bye to come families in Green Bay.
This is the Niam tais who made the ties

This is her sister

The other family is Ci ntsa tshiab. Alvinia and Karden who we were teaching.

Stil making snow angels

My new companion Elder Lamb

April 8: New week, New transfer, and New area

Nyob zoo os,

Well, I was a little surprised to see that I am getting transferred. I was hoping to stay in Green Bay for a while, but obviously, the Lord has other plans for me. I will be heading down to Milwaukee and my new companion will be Elder Lamb. I served in Milwaukee back in May last year so it should be fun to go back and I also will be serving with my MTC comp which I am stoked for! 

General conference was amazing! I loved all the messages that we were able to hear and learn from! 

A few things that I liked:

-What are we casual in the gospel? What could we do more carefully? 

-We can't be perfect, but we can be worthy. 

-There are so many voices around us calling for our attention. It's important that we listen to the right ones.

-Where will this choice or decision lead me? 

-When we repent we allow the Savior to mold us to become the best version of ourselves. 

-We aren't expected to be perfect, but increasingly pure. 

-Do an inventory of where your time is being spent and that will tell you where your heart is. 

So many wonderful talks that I enjoyed listening to this past conference. I could go on forever about all the amazing talks. I am excited to reread and learn new things from the talks. I know the words were truly inspired and meant for us personally and we can all continue to learn and grow when we review and reread these past general conference talks. 

Love, 

Elder Rich

Thao family - An awesome Hmong family here in Green Bay

We went to Lambeau stadium today for P-day. There is a fun complex with shops,
activities, restaurants, etc called Titletown near Lambeau Field that we went to also.

April 1: God will always support us in all things

Nyob zoo os!

This week was really busy! I had the opportunity of going on 3 exchanges this week! So a lot of time outside of my area. 

First exchange of the week I was with Elder Roberts in the Spanish area. He is an awesome Elder! He has been out about the same time as me so we will be going home about the same time. We had some really good conversations about our missions and plans we have for after. It was cool to reflect on my mission so far and the remaining four months I have left. It's sad that it is coming to a close. 

It was also fun listening to Spanish. I could pick up on some things since I took 4 years of Spanish. I did forget 99% of it, but I can still get the main message of some of the things people say which is pretty funny. So it wasn't a complete waste of 4 years of learning Spanish lol. 

I also did an exchange with Elder Hacker and Elder Hubler in the Hmong area. We also had a really good exchange. Elder Hacker is really into goals and that's been cool to see more and more the importance of goals and using our time wisely. A question that he asked me is "If someone gave you $250,000 every day and you didn't know how long this person will be giving the money to you - what you would do with it?" My answer was "Invest it or use it." Then he said, "God gives us 250,000 seconds everyday so what are we gonna do with it?" I thought that was a cool thing to think about. Time is so limited, so what are we doing with our time? Are we using it to develop our talents and skills? Or are we using it in things that are not a great use of our time? We really do have so much time in our day and so many things that we can learn and improve on. 

Saturday we went down to Appleton for a baptism. Her name is Kaj Siab. Elder Taylor taught her a couple of transfers back. That was really fun and we blitzed their area after. We also ate dinner with a family that is going to be getting baptized in 3 weeks. Funny thing is I met them before, but they were not ready when I was here. They flipped a complete 360 and they are so cool! After the great meal, we did some karaoke Hmong style. It was super fun. It was a good day to be in Appleton again and to see Elder Carlson and Lo again. 

Sunday we were back in Green Bay. With all the exchanges and going down to the baptism, it took up a lot of time. I did less than 1 hour of language study this week which sucked, but what was cool is that I was still able to translate really well after being out of the area for so long. God will always support us in things that are important as long as we have faith and trust in him. I thought that was really cool especially since this week was especially hard to translate. I had to translate about Family history, ward emergency preparedness, and ward mission plan. There is no way to translate things like family history account, 72-hour kit, pedigree chart, but I was able to get across what was needed which was cool. Also, something that I noticed this week was that way back in the MTC, we one day practiced reading the sacrament prayer. That day we were so slow. I read it around a minute and a half and it needed to be around 30 seconds or less for the same time as the English prayer. That day I thought I would never be able to do that, but I totally forgot about that day until yesterday when I realized I have been able to go at the same speed as the English prayer for a while. It's cool to see God's hand in all that I do!

Love,

Elder Rich

Pictures:

1. Exchanges with Hacker and Elder Hubler

2. In Appleton for the baptism

3. Matching Hmong ties