Fresno Days--Egg Rolls, Egg Rolls, Everywhere

February 18^th, 2013

Nyob Zoo!!!   (Hello Family)

Lub as thiv no zoo heev. Nyuaj Nyuaj Heev thiab. Peb nrhiav cov neeg tshiab rau 3 xuab moo txhua hnub. Ib qhov zoo tiam sis nws nyuaj thiab. Tam sim no, kuv thiab kuv tus khub mob mob me ntsis. (Bing translation--This week is very good. Problems is very difficult. We are looking for new people for 3 hours every day. A good choice, but it's difficult. Now, I and my partner hurting a little.)

So we've been putting in 3 hours of finding every day. It’s super good for our area. But unfortunately me and Elder Xiong are a little sick today. 

Could you please send me some old "how to play piano" books for some recent converts that want to learn. Much appreciated. Well, I'm not going to lie...I’m super under the weather so we're probably going to go knock out until preparation day ends. 

Highlights of the week: 

Found some new families to teach! They're super awesome! 

We went and made egg rolls with the youth behind the stake center....it was a crazy mass egg roll production (6000 egg rolls)! 

Toilet seat is officially fixed. 

Got sick. 

That’s about it! 

Spiritual message time: 

"Instead of allowing yourself to be unhappy, just let your love grow, as God wants it to grow. Seek goodness in others. Love others unselfishly, without the thought of return. The return, never fear, will take care of itself." 

Henry Prummond 

I really like this quote. I think as a missionary you're constantly learning to love others. By finding the good in everybody, we develop the capacity to love them. By loving them, we can serve them. This is what Christ expects of us. To love others as Heavenly Father loves us. To see them as Heavenly Father sees them. 

Well I love you all! Hope you are having a good week!

Love,

Tseem Fwv Leem

Mission President's Visit

February 11, 2013

Nyob Zoo,

So lots of fun stuff happening here in Fresno. This last week I went on an exchange with the Zone Leader and that was a ton of fun. We went and knocked some doors and I totally had to do everything myself because he doesn't speak Hmong. Pretty crazy!

 

We also went and built half a chicken coop for one of our members....super missionary style chicken coop! I definitely have to get some chickens when I go back home. We basically had to build an addition to the existing chicken coop because the hawks keep eating all the chickens. 

 

Also, President Gelwix stopped by our apartment. Kind of scary :) Our apartment was a mess and we were in the middle of an extremely long nightly planning session so he was standing there monitoring. Of course, he had to use the restroom (and we forgot to tell him the toilet seat was broken), so it was hilarious to hear the toilet seat falling all over the bathroom. Anyways, all is good. He is the best! LOVE PRESIDENT GELWIX! Check this out: mormon.org/larry Yeah that's my mission president. 

 

Also, the west side Hmong missionaries had 5 baptisms this Sunday and they're super cool. They came to the states just 6 months ago and they soaked up the gospel. The only problem is that they speak Hmong too fast for me to understand. I've got to improve my listening! 

 

Our ward is doing super well! East side is doing really well too. We're teaching some Young Men and they're such good guys. We went and did karate with them for mutual and it was a ton of fun. We just have to get some permission from the parents for baptism. We also are teaching some older people and its really difficult to explain things to them because a lot of the gospel concepts are just really foreign to them. For instance, the words will make sense but the idea is completely new. Its crazy how hard it can be to explain things! 

 

Well, super sad to hear the Caps aren't doing too hot. Keep rooting for them for me! 

 

Spiritual thought: 

"Never Surrender! Never Quit! No Regrets!"

-President Gelwix 

 

He writes this at the end of everyone of his letters to us missionaries. I was just pondering on it today and thought about how we should live everyday with no regrets. We should never give up. No "I quit's" in this day. We should make everyday the best day! This reminds me of two things: One is the Spongebob episode about the "The Best Day Ever" and Second: the Savior's call to follow Him. I know that as we go out with the right attitude and truly devote ourselves to following the Savior daily, every day can be the best day ever. 

 

Well I love you all so much! "Never Surrender! Never Quit! No Regrets!" 

LOVE, 

Tub Txib Tseem Fwv Leem Vaj 

Shout outs...

Tell Scott H. I'm super pumped for his mission!

Cassie is serving a mission in Fort Worth, Texas...awesome!

Hammer Time?

January 28th, 2012

What's up? The pick-up of wreaths at Arlington sounds like a blast! I honestly can't begin to believe that Elder Parker will be coming home before you know it.  TIME HAS BEEN FLYING!!! Speaking of the Parkers, tell Sister Parker that I'm crying for the Caps over here. Keep me posted.

 

Here's some highlights from this last week:

 

Team-ups with members:

We've been teaching a Hmong class every Tuesday night at the church and this older member has been coming every week. He surprisingly came out with us on a team up to go visit a family and it was super awesome! He was great at fellowship, etc.

 

Also, we took out Nick who is a pre-missionary (who's about to go to the Rochester, NY mission) in two weeks. We went to go see some old Hmong people and it went really well. But when we were leaving we ran into a man that only spoke Spanish and it just happened that Nick is preparing himself for his Spanish speaking mission in NY. So Nick, like a boss, contacts him and bears his testimony and it was GREAT! We were so pumped. But most importantly Nick was super pumped. I know that doing missionary work is the most fulfilling thing ever.

 

Open Your Mouth:

It's the day when all the missionaries arrive from the MTC and older missionaries go to take them out for their first few hours. I was able to take out the new Hmong missionary Elder Davis. It was so much fun! Me and Elder Xiong split and went with a new missionary and told each other we were going to meet up at such and such time. However, when it was time to meet up we couldn't find each other, so I decided I would go back to one of the nice people we talked to so we could borrow their phone. But the one person we went back to, they started to crack the door and I saw the tall Hmong husband with a hammer ready to swing. Super scary!! They told us that they thought we were gangsters hahaha!

 

Spiritual Thought:

"Hope is the anchor of our souls." -James E. Faust

 

Ether 12:4- Look it up!

With hope we can be anchored and steadfast no matter what the trials life may bring.

 

Well I love you all! Kuv hlub koj heev!

 

Kev Hlub,

 

Tseem Fwv Leem Vaj