Chicken Feet

Nyob Zoo kuv tsev neeg! (Hello my family)

This week has been going pretty well. Highlights include: Eating some chicken feet..."just chew the soft bones, spit out the others." Surprisingly delicious. Also, I got to eat some great pho (Vietnamese soup, pronounced Fa). There are these sweet old peanut farmers named Pab Zeb and Mili and they made the best pho ever. We also found new investigators this week which has been the answer to tons of prayers. We went and found one on the weekend in this apartment complex. It’s crazy though, because on the weekends, that is when all the "jingle bells" take place (jingle bells are ua neeb; shaman rituals etc.). Another crazy thing that happened was when we went to go visit a less active member, we were about to get out of our car when we heard a couple yelling at one another (not nice words about inappropriate things and drugs etc.). They were both men and the one was storming down the street and the other one was in a door way so it was all kinds of craziness on that street. So when I got out of the car, I walked up to some Hmoob lady that had been watching the whole thing and was just like "Nyob Zoo" "Koj nyob li cas?" (Hello, how are you?)   Super funny, b/c I just pretended like nothing happened when it had obviously just went down. Old hmoob lady...super nice. All the old people call you son if you’re younger and if you’re familiar with the older people you call them dad, mom, grandpa etc. :) Also, just to fill you in on some of the obvious that i forgot to mention. I live in Fresno. I am in the Fresno East Area. Elder Doane is in the Fresno West area. There is one companionship for each (hmoob speaking). So, me and Elder Burton operate on the east side. We live right next to the airport (Google earth that if you want to try and find it). We live in a gated community right across the street and there is an Army National Guard aviation repair depot right in that corner of the airfield. It’s so great. Every day we run past all the helicopters (Blackhawks, Apaches, Chinooks) during our morning jog. Totally want to be a helicopter pilot...just kidding.... 

Anyways, I'll answer dad's questions now. 1st week was kinda crazy but still awesome. We don't speak Hmoob as much as I would like but that just means I'll need to work harder on finding older people to teach etc. President and Sister Gelwix are awesome. He is super inspirational and just gets you fired up. His way of teaching is very unique because he takes nontraditional routes. For instance, he reads scriptures by explaining what it doesn't say. EX: 1 Ne 3:7--"I will go and do because it'll be easy. I will go and do because I know exactly what to do. I'll go and do when I feel like it. No it says he'll go and DO!!!" It’s great. It really puts scriptures in better perspective. Next question to answer: The bike is assembled and ready to go. However, we have a car so we haven't biked at all yet. We have such a large area so its kinda crazy. Food is great here. The spiciness is a killer but it’s so good now. Sticky Rice and kua txob (peppers) are the best! Anyways, the work is going great. 

Spiritual Thought: 

Joshua 1:9 

Great scripture... definitely in my top 2. We have no need to fear because the Lord is with us through it all. Read and ponder and apply!!!

Love you much! Good luck back home! 

Love, 

Es Daws Fwv Leem (or full name: Es Daws Tseem Fwv Leem Xai Yob Vaj)