Monday, March 25, 2013

nyob zoo! hej nyob li cas?



that's "hello! how are you?" in hmong.... i think hahaha maybe the elders are pulling a fast one on us ;) i have no idea how to say it haha i though hello was "nao jong" so shows how much i know ;) boy do i have some funny & awesome hmong stories for you this week! i love the hmong people!!

 

one thing i forgot to mention about the Hmong culture is that they have shamanistic beliefs.... so for example, one time we went to visit a sister whose son just got baptized, she lives with her whole extended family in a little house, they have these little paper dolls on the door, i don't know what they're for but if we see them on a door we're not supposed to tract it because it means they're hmong. there's also a huge (HUGE) shrine in the house that's really pretty and has little dishes and pictures and things on it... and the door also had like corn husks & honeycomb? i think? something like that.... way interesting! i think it would be hard to be not only the only members in the home, but the only CHRISTIANS. J & S are awesome though, & the ward & the hmong-speaking elders do awesome work with them. J is a Relief Society teacher! so awesome :)

 

Other things I learned this week..... my name in Hmong! "Ntxhais Txib Muaj Txiaj!" it's pronounced "nt-sigh t-see(b) moo-uhj t-sigh-j" ..... or something...... hahaha Elder Y taught me. "Elder" is tub txib, sounds like "toot-sie" and means "son servant" ntxhais txib means daughter servant! (isn't that so cool?) & muaj txiaj means "prophet" (ha ha ha...) so that's cool. you have to have an old hmong lady "adopt" you & give you a hmong first name... i'm still working on that haha ;)

 

other cool things... so basically last district meeting turned into a tracting support group hahaha since we all had really bad weeks, numbers-wise.... so lame. but, Elder Green (DL) shared something that I really loved -- "disiples of Christ learn how to do hard things, & later learn that they weren't as hard as they thought." :)

 

Tuesday night we had dinner with the Y and... guess what? i love them!! they are just SO amazing and so so GOOD. just one of those families that truly keeps their temple covenants & gives everything they have & are to this gospel & to the Church of Jesus Christ. UGH. SO SO GOOD. & so cute!! they live all the way out in Neenah (since they're hmong.... the ward boundaries are weird, it's like appleton & a few other cities if you're white, and then ALL the hmong people in the fox valley, which is huge) so they have to drive like 30 minutes to the church building & even farther to do home & visiting teaching & ward meetings etc etc etc but they never ever complain!! they're just... awesome. so GOOD. & goodness is severely underrated i think. it's nice to be funny & smart & whatever, but GOOD... i just wanna be good. <3 i've met so many great examples of gospel families on my mission & i love it. <3

 

i would now like to share with you a parable called... the parable of me never getting any letters hahaha. so over the past two p-days i've sent out like..... 13 or 14 letters haha and i've recieved like 3. one of which was from mySELF haha since i got nathan's address wrong. so the parable goes like this...... sometimes you send out TONS of letters (put forth tons of work) and never see any results that week..... or the next week.......... but you just do everything you can! and write everyone you have an address for! and then write a parable in your next letter home about never getting letters so people will send you mail...... ;) haha just kidding. it just went well with our tracting support group district meeting about how sometimes you have weeks where you just put forth TONS of effort & see NO immediate results..... but then out of nowhere you get miracles! & they don't even seem related to all the work you were doing, but the Lord knows when you're doing your best & I know that He blesses us with miracles & that He loves us :) & i'm just kidding about the letters hahah it's fine ;)

 

Scripture chain for the week...... Jacob 5:20-23 & Alma 26:36-37. God always knows where we are! & He knows where His children who are ready for the gospel are! :) Also, 1 Nephi 17:13. "ye shall know it is by ME that ye are led" or something like that :)

 

Last Wednesday we had an amazing exchange with Fond du Lac... I was with a Sister who's only been out 4 weeks! (she was in the MTC with nathan!) She taught me a lot about persistance when ALL of our early afternoon appointments cancelled... that's like the worst time ever for contacting but we did it anyways! even though no one was home! we tried the next people over and over and over and over for hoursssss and finally we just drove down a street, pulled over, and she was like "let's knock that door!" WELL P (had a nametag) answered smoking a cigarette with a pack of them in his pocket, we introduce ourselves, he says he has his own church, which usually makes me want to back down, but Sister H was like "well have you heard of the Book of Mormon?" & gives him one and it turns out he's met with missionaries before! and only stopped because he got busy, & he's willing to have them come back!! so that was an AWESOME lesson on persistance. & when I asked if we could pray with him he was like "well i gotta go..." but then he bowed his head & let us say a quick prayer haha we just gotta be more persistant! our message is SO SO IMPORTANT!! alsooooo we asked for referrals from EVERYBODY and got so many!!! it was awesome!! a miracle! & we met these awesome people who are so willing to change, we taught them the plan of salvation & they just LOVED it and gave us like half a dozen referrals afterwards haha. it's so so effective to lay out the plan of salvation, invite the Spirit, let everyone feel how important & amazing this is, and then ask "Whom do you know that we could teach this to?" they LOVE it & they gave us so many manes haha it was awesome. So basically, Sister H is amazing & I LOVED the exchange :) (i put more in my journal.... it's so hard to get everything down in an email!!!)

 

Then on Thursday we were at Sister B's house for our weekly Book of Mormon reading session (she loves it!! she's less active and her daughter is a "dnc" that we're ignoring hahah) & her son-in-law (he's always teasing us) said to watch out because he's going to start "Wade's Discount Church of Present-day Saints" hahahaha with 5% tithing - all the blessings, half the price! it's like a 50% off church..... hahaha. hmmmm... now what's the problem with that? hahah ;) too funny.

 

Also, I ate stinky cheese lasagna. & it was delicious hahah.

 

AND THEN. okay. the most amazing relief society birthday party!!! Sister J K was in charge & I love her. Everyone brought a dessert from their heritage (hmong desserts = SUPER YUMMY) & then some people told their stories of their heritage & how they came into the church. so amazing!! okay but first i have to tell you about K.... I LOVE HER!!! remember a few weeks ago we went to visit some hmong members who speak english, but they weren't home, but the gramma was? that's K, & she only speaks Hmong & we only speak English but she is my BEST FRIEND hahaha EVERY TIME she sees us she just laaaaaaughs and laaughs and laughs & hugs us & laughs & holds our hands & laughs until she cries & covers her face with her hands hahaha she thinks it's the funniest thing!! & i just love her!! she's the best haha pssshh who cares about the language barrier?? she's awesome & we love her so so much :) :) the best is when we can tell that she's making fun of the way we mispronounce the hmong words hahahaha heyyyy!! sooooooooo funnyyyyyyyyyyy :) :) :) love her.

 

so 2 of the older Hmong ladies, K & Brother Y's mom N L, shared their stories. (Elder Y translated.) WOW. just wow. I was telling Joseph, Hmong people come from Laos & they helped us in the Vietnam war so they were hunted & chased out their country into Thailand (i think) & then to the U.S. Brother & Sister Y were both born in Laos. K told about the hardship she's endured in her life as a farmer in Laos & how her mother died when she was a baby & she was left alone her whole life, her dad didn't take care of her & she was just alone to farm & take care of herself. she bore her testimony about how now, having the gospel in her life, she knows that she is never alone. so amazing. i didn't know what she was saying but i could still feel the spirit of her words. so hard to imagine what her life used to be like. then N L, Brother Y's mom, shared her story, & WOW. She told that when she was young she lived with her brother & sister-in-law & learned a song about "God loves me, God loves me" but then moved back in with her parents & never heard any more about God. When she was married the situation in Laos became very bad & she told her husband she wanted to leave but he said they wouldn't have any food and besides, they had no potential so they might as well just stay there & die. (!!!) But N L knew that her sons had potential, so she moved her family out of Laos & sewed & sewed to make money so that her family could eat. Shortly after they arrived in America, her husband died & then one of her sons died, and she went into a deep depression where she didn't sleep for 3 years. people would come & try to get her to learn about their church but she didn't want to. her son S (s-t... brother y) invited her to his church (LDS) but she said they he'd have to wait for her to pass away to get her into a church. but then she met the missionaries and she felt the Spirit and knew that it was true, that God loved her. It was so incredible to hear her testimony.... I couldn't understand it (Elder Y translated every few sentences) but I could feel the Spirit as she was talking. amazing. She said that now we are her family, and she's grateful for all the trials in her life because they've brought her here, to have the gospel in her life, and she just wants her grandsons (s & e) to serve missions <3 so so so amazing. what a legacy of faith. she bore her testimony at the end that the church is true. "keep the commandments. pay your tithing. keep the commandments." there was a quote that always made her emotional that i don't think i got down right but it was something like "choose righteousness & walk away from evil, and the sun will always shine on your face." anyways that was amazing. & there were so many other amazing things from that night that i'll have to write down later because i'm running out of time!! but the moral of the story is who cares about the language barrier!! & i love the hmong people!! :) :)

 

We went to visit another Hmong family on Friday & watched the Mormon Message "He Lives" with them (so good! ) & then afterwards the mom bore her testimony to her son...... we taught about the resurrection & how we all get our bodies back, which was news to him, & he was like, "well how will i know where my family is??" hahaha so his mom said he'd just have to follow Jesus Christ, & said but what if i get lost? & she said -- "Jesus is the Light of life! If you follow him you will never walking in darkness! That's like turning on the light & saying, "what if i can't see?" of course you can see!" hahaha. such an awesome testimony! i love it :)

 

Also Sister M is a champion visiting teacher...... we were visiting with Sister B, who she VT's, and she was telling us how Sister M had invited her to be the "grandma" for her little kids (nathan & jacob! so fun) at grandparents day :) & i just thought that was awesome :) also we read Alma 44 with Sister B & she said "oh my G-d he scalped him??" hahahaha yep! hilarious :)

 

other things...... I wish I spoke Spanish!!!! everyone....... take a foreign language in high school. learn a foreign language haha i WISH i had!!! Also, learn to play the hymns!! or at least conduct them!! i'm so so so so glad I know how to play the piano, it's been such a service to the ward here & it feels so good just to be able to offer to help if they don't have anyone to play the piano & to be able to play whatever they ask. so thanks mom!!! haha :) I'm playing the piano for the ward hmong choir next sunday!! we're singing "come unto Jesus" & it's awesome :) :)

 

so basically, life is awesome :) I love being a missionary!! Can't believe this transfer is almost over already....... wow. where has the time gone??? i love you all SO SO much!!!!! I'm SO grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that through Jesus Christ we can overcome ALL weaknesses & truly become new. I know that He is with us every day. I know that His Gospel is truly the only path to enduring peace & happiness. I know that, & I'm so grateful for that :) Also......... have you heard??????? God has again called a prophet!!! yeah, it's true!! there's a living prophet again on the earth, who leads us & guides us & SPEAKS WITH GOD & tells us how to have lasting, enduring happiness!!! just like in the Bible!!! it's true!!!! tell your friends!!!! hahaha.... but seriously though. general conference is the most AMAZING thing!!!!!!! everyone needs to know about it!!! we have a PROPHET again!!!!!!!!!!!! truth is restored!!!!! the priesthood is on the earth again!!!!!!!!!!!! hallelujah, amen!!!!!!!!!!!! so tell all your friends :) :) :)

 


 

:)

 

I love you!!! You're the best :) Keep writing me letters! haha xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

 

 

SISTER PROFFIT :) :) :)

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