Sunday, July 15, 2012

Week 7 at the MTC

Nyob Zoo kuv tsev neeg (Hello my family),
 

Nej nyob li cas (How are you)? Kuv nyob zoo heev (I am very good)!   So the problem with the MTC is that time is a flyin' so I don't always remember everything so I’m sorry if I forget to thank you for something that happened this week etc. but I am extremely appreciative of any packages or letters.
 

4th of July at the MTC is pretty cool. We had an awesome fireside and it was all "FREEDOM, LIBERTY, RELIGION". However, we ended up trying to watch the Provo fireworks from the MTC campus so we didn't see very much with all the trees and stuff.  It’s hard to believe how long we've been here...it seems like we just got here. Today I went and got a haircut and they had a chalkboard with the "Independence Day" movie quote. "We will not go quietly into the night. We will not go without a fight. Today we fight for independence" so that was one of the many highlights of today. I wish the MTC would let us watch that movie for 4th of July but apparently the brethren may have some issues with that….hahaha.
 

Anyways, we had some awesome teaching experiences this week. For instance, our one investigator was confused about honoring your father and mother...because the Hmong people do that through shamanism and in our investigators’ eyes, shamanism isn't worshiping someone other than God but rather calling on spirits for help. Yeah, super crazy!!! Never even thought to think about it from that perspective so we have to do a ton of prep to address that question and ensure our investigator understands what's what.
 

Btw, Npuaj means slap. Hwm means honor. Es Daws is simply elder. So my name that Bro. Sanchez gave me means slap of respect...or it’s just a Hmong name. He gave us something that sounded sort of close to our original name and that’s the only reason why I use Npuaj Hwm. Once I get to the field, I will be renamed and receive my REAL Hmong name. Bro. Luke (one of my teachers) said that the family that gave him his Hmong name have sort of adopted him. He has to stay with them when he goes to California...and he calls them brother, sister, mom, dad, etc. Bro Sanchez said some old shaman gave him his name and that was it. However, everyone becomes close to the families. I'm super excited to get my new name, and my Hmong tag with my new name.
 

Bro. Sanchez told us about people that he met from Laos that could speak 13 different languages and most old people will easily speak Hmong, Thai, and Laotian, so I'm hoping to pick up some Lao while I'm in Fresno. Anyways, there’s not much going on here this week but I’ll leave you with my spiritual thought:
 

Mosiah 28:3

Sons of Mosiah desired "that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish." I think it’s awesome that as missionaries we have the opportunity to share the gospel with everyone. We share it so that others can more fully come unto Christ and partake of salvation. I think it’s important that we are all always being missionaries because the message of salvation is a message that everyone must hear. We should not delay; the work's time is now; even today!


Love,

Es Daws Npuaj Hwm

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