Random Pictures

June 27^th, 2013

No letter this week, but some random pictures with captions.

So this is a paj ntaub....super cool hmong sewing...we're learning how to do it. SUPER FUN

This is my paj ntaub! 

frozen milk on life cereal...:( 

Our baptism this last weekend

SO EXCITED FOR ALL OF THEM! 

Me and random hmong guy...really funny

Of Questions and Father's Day

June 17^th, 2013

This was a short letter to answer a few questions we had sent Scott…

So first to answer your questions! 

1. Yes I did get Papa Jess's card!  Thank you SO much! 

2. Yes, our threesome companionship are all in one bedroom. We can't have the temp below 75 so it gets pretty hot at night....

3. We ate rattle snake....not Hmong food but interesting

4. Bamboo socks are the best! they're super comfy! 

5. Yes!!! Kuv hlub koj thiab!! (love you guys, too) 

This week was amazing. We had training with a guy named Greg Mckeown!!! He's awesome. Totally google him. We're so lucky Pres. Gelwix knows awesome people. He taught us about ESSENTIALISM! I'll send you some cool stuff on this...Buy all of Bro. Mckeowns books....they look awesome! 

I also gave a talk this last Sunday! Super scary. They called me the day before and I had to do it in hmong....super crazy! 

Spiritual Thought: 

Happy Father's Day!!!! Love you dad! You're the best! Thanks for everything that you do! I'm proud to be your son! 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Love, 

Elder Burdick

Fresno Days--The Power of 3!

June 10^th, 2013

So we have 6 Hmong missionaries in Fresno now! Elder Bradford and Elder Mabey came down to be with us. We are in two sets of 3. It’s a lot of fun. Teaching is a little different and running in the morning is crazy with all 6 of us. 

We also had some great miracles this week. All the people that have been baptized on our side (East) since I got here, all of them came to church. Julie also got a calling. She's awesome! She's going to be a ward missionary so we're excited for her too! 

We had a great zone conference and we got some great training. A senior couple gave some great instruction on communication and dispensations. 

3 types of communication 

-Superficial: Basic surface information of a person's life.  

-Personal: Thoughts, feelings, deeper than just mundane facts...  

-Validation: finding strengths...compliments etc.  

The more personal and validating communication, the greater risk we take, but we also get the most feedback and satisfaction. It makes a ton of sense actually. They gave us great ideas for how to improve communication with others. 

President had some great counsel and instruction. He said "Christ doesn't ask us to go through Gethsemane, but rather to just wait by the gate of the garden. He just asks us to be there with him. To be his friend." 

He also talked about obedience and Abraham and Isaac. In the apocrypha, he referenced that an account said Abraham gushed out tears over his son right before he was preparing to sacrifice him. He said this "He sobbed. He wept. But he was obedient." Just stresses the importance of obedience. 

"It’s human nature to set our sights low....IT CANNOT BE THIS WAY WITH US" 

These were just a few of the things they talked about...super awesome. 

Spiritual Thought: 

"Jean Valjean, my brother, you belong no longer to evil but to good...I will draw it [his soul] from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition..." 

This is for Ray Ray and her graduation. I love this line. Our goal is to help our brothers and sisters return to good; return to God. Let us be as forgiving and loving as the bishop that forgave Jean Valjean. Let’s reach out to those that are struggling and lift them back up. 

I love you all so much. Please let me know if you have any specific questions or anything! xoxox

Love, 

Elder Burdick (Tseem Fwv Leem) 

Green Hmong?

June 3^rd, 2013

So what’s new?  I'm learning Green Hmong. There's this awesome lady who is super patient and she's teaching us Green Hmong. It’s really hard though and totally messes with your head. Also, we met this "in-training" to become a Catholic priest guy and he's headed off to Mexico to learn Spanish and we totally gave him a Preach My Gospel so he could use chapter 7 (learning a new language). He's super cool. Although we have differences, other faiths are super cool too. 

Some highlights: 

Taught the story of David and Goliath....super funny teaching it to hmong people. They get a kick out of it. 

President dropped by our apartment a few nights ago and he's just amazing. You just love talking to him. He's super inspiring. 

Elder Doane's birthday was this last Sunday. BIG 21!!! Do you remember when his birthday was in the MTC and we did the cinnamon challenge? Hahaha good times. 

We bought badminton rackets today and are playing like crazy...<3 mama bear. 

We have a lot of people right now that are preparing for baptism and we're super excited for them. I love the old Hmong ladies...they're the best. Keep ‘em in your prayers. 

Sounds like craziness back at the fortress....don't get too stressed. Totally saw a t-shirt at Walmart for Regan: "Keep Calm and Ask Your Mom." HAHAHA Perfect right? 

Spiritual Thought:

“If you want to increase your faith increase your personal righteousness.” - Elder M. Russell Ballard

Well, life is awesome here in Fresno! Let me know when you get the mini-SD card....I put instructions on it for how we should do this whole recording thing. Anyways, I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH! 

Kuv Hlub Nej! 

Elder Tseem Fwv Leem Vaj

Fresno Days...Of U-Hauls and Baptisms

May 27^th, 2013

We went on Open Your Mouth again. The first person I talked to was super rude...that's how you start off your mission. Super rude people. Just makes me appreciate Hmong people so much more. Always be nice to anybody that knocks on your door, even if you're not interested. 

Also, we helped this lady move and it was hilarious. She basically crashed the U-Haul into the carports at an apartment complex. Pretty awesome. 

There are these old ladies that we invited to church and they totally came so we are really psyched about that. We also were able to get them to say the closing prayer at a lesson so even more exciting, right? 

2 kids got baptized this last week on West Side so the ward is pumped up for that. 

I bought a mini SD card so I'm going to send you a voice recording this week with my funny stories. 

Spiritual Thought: 

“God will put prepared people in the way of His prepared servants who want to share the gospel. How often it happens depends on the preparation of your mind and your heart.” - President Henry B. Eyring

Well, I love you all very much! Hope everything is going well back home. LOVE YA ALL! 

Elder Burdick