Kuv hlub neb tiag
tiag! [I love you truly] Fexanaus
zoo zoo heev! [Fresno is very good] Cov Hmoob zoo tshaj plaws [the best Hmong
zone]! tiam sis, kuv hais lus hmoob tsis zoo. Kuv yuav tsum kawm lus hmoob
ntxiv thiab hais lub hmoob ntxiv [I must study the Hmong more]! Fresno is the
best. I have the best companion; Elder Burton. He knows his stuff like crazy. I
feel pretty stupid almost all the time because he's got it down so well. I went
tracting this week for the first time and it was fun. A lot of people don't
really like us but whatever. I walked up
behind somebody changing a tire and (from Elder Burton's account of the story)
I yelled enthusiastically "Can I help you with that?" He was like
"NO" ---Sad face.
The work is going really well, we are doing a
lot of finding right now. We have tons of lessons with members and less actives
(our ward directory has 800 people, only 200 are active). We had a miracle on
Sunday; our investigator family showed up for church so zoo zoo heev. I went to
ward council for the first time and that was interesting. There are a ton of
parties in the ward and we are invited to all of them.
The food is amazing.
Sometimes a little sketchy but always delicious. There is this pepper called
kua txob [Bing translator said: peppers] and I had it the first day I got here
and my mouth died. I eat it everywhere we go and everyone tells me that if I
eat it, I will speak Hmong better so I’m definitely doing that. Kua txob is a thai
pepper that is used in fish sauce, etc. Delicious heev tiam sis nws ntsim
(spicy). Anyways, the pepper wrecks me every time but I love it still. I
basically now love spicy food.
Hmoob is coming along
well but it’s hard. We don't talk to enough old people yet so we have to work
on that.
The apartment that we live in is super nice. We have a ton of friends that rhyme with mockroaches. hahahahahahaha. But it’s no big deal, it’s super comfy. I'll hopefully be sending pics soon but it’s hard to find time to take them all. Anyways, hope everything is going well back home. Apparently the new DC south mission president is a former hmong missionary's uncle so pretty cool.
Spiritual Thought:
This week we've been
struggling to help people truly understand the importance of the gospel. They
understand it in their minds but not in their hearts. I've really thought about
this and heard an object lesson once describe the dilemma. It’s like a
delicious bag of chips. You can show someone the chips, you can eat it and tell
them it’s great, you can do everything in your power to try and help them
understand how delicious it is....but they will never know unless they try it.
Many times, we forget to try the chips in the gospel. We believe that we
understand it and therefore its all good, but we have to feel it to truly know.
We have to go out on a limb with faith and see what happens to truly know. Jeffrey R. Holland spoke of a french poem that
went something like this:
"Come to the
edge," He said.
"No, I'll
fall!"
"Come to the
edge," He beckoned.
"No, I'll
fall!" I replied.
"Come to the
edge," He called again.
So I came.
And He pushed me.
And I flew.
We must trust in Heavenly Father. We must go to the edge where Peter, James, and John are; where Moses and Elijah are. We have to go ALL THE WAY! When we do this, that is when we truly come to know. We taste of the redeeming love of Jesus Christ. Not only understand it, but taste it. We feel it in our souls. This is how we are converted. It is sometimes hard when we only understand it, but when we ask for the strength to go to the edge, we are enlightened and feel it, and then know it. This is what we invite people to do as missionaries. We invite people to do things that will help them feel and know things in their hearts. Therefore, I invite you, to think about how you can better know it in your heart and feel it in your soul. Then ponder and ask the question: What must I do in order to achieve this? Then go and do it. I know for me it’s super hard sometimes, but definitely worth it. :)
Kev Hlub [Love],
Tseem Fwv Leem Xai
Yob Vaj
P.S.
Send all mail to the
mission home. And please post that address on the FB and on the blog :) Ua tsaug nawg [Thank you]
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