Merced/Atwater Days

July 15th, 2013

Things are going great. We had a super fun week. We went and did more service. We helped a non-member re-arrange her home so that carpet people could come in and stretch her carpet. We also went and put down a sandstone tile pad at a landing for some stairs, lots of fun actually. The members here are amazing. They feed us so well. We actually just got a new branch president this last weekend. The new one seems pretty cool. Still getting to know everyone! I'm happy you got the whole recording thing working. Totally send me them when you can and you I can record more. Well I forgot my journal to use to tell you what happened this week in detail but I do have a good MLK quote from Elder Xiong for my spiritual thought.
 

Spiritual Thought:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

I think these are some great quotes especially for all the opposition that comes towards the church because of our positions.

Well, I love you all very much! Keep the questions coming!

 

LOVE YA,

TSEEM FWV LEEM

Merced & Atwater

July 9th, 2013

So Merced is awesome! I'm lovin' it here. Elder Bone is great. I left on Wednesday to come up here. Jonathan gave me a ride. I was really sad to say goodbye to everybody in Fresno but Merced is great too! Elder Bone is from the same town in Utah as Elder Burton (Kaysville, UT). On 4th July we went and gave service to a brother in another ward up here in Merced. We poured cement into these tubes in the ground to create solid bases for a fence to be installed. It was intense. Elder Bone is like the greatest "handyman" on the planet. He's done a ton of service! He's poured patios, redone roofs, fixes yards, fixes cars etc. So we also did a ton of laser leveling to prep the ground and make sure all the concrete bases would be level. Therefore, when I get home, I will definitely be ready to do all the big fixes around the house. Haha. We had a great lunch at Pheej's house (Pang). She's a super awesome Green Hmong lady from the branch. By the way, green Hmong is another dialect of Hmong! There is a lot of myths of how it came about, but nothing super solid about how it came forward. Anyways, we had to be in by 6pm on 4th of July. We had to have a ride in a members car if we wanted to be out longer. But by the time it got dark outside, we only had about an hour before we'd have to be back at our apartment so we just stayed in and got things organized. 

The next day, we had a baptismal interview with the sisters about an hour away. He was a young kid. He was really funny though. Apparently he had recently egged somebody's house and so he wanted to get his "sins" washed away. Gotta love it. 

The following day, we went and did more service for another member in another ward. We cleaned out his storage unit. Tons of cool junk in there. Then we went and did more service for a non-member ; a Japanese lady that lives way far away. We did some yard work and Elder Bone did some crazy work on her sprinkler system. We cut pvc pipe and moved one of the sprinklers closer to some dying trees. SO MUCH FUN. Like I said, I can do a lot of yard work now. 

Yesterday, I met the branch. They're great. We have about 60 people that attend regularly. Lots of non-Asian people are pulled in to help support the unit. Everyone's way nice and love to help the missionaries. Also, the branch isn't exclusively Hmong. Its actually a southeast Asian branch. So we have Mein, Hmong, Cambodian, and some other people I think I forgot. I love the branch already. 

Also, our area covers a lot of area, but not a whole lot of people. We cover primarily Atwater and Merced (you can probably Google map it). Its been in the 100s all week. Its not too bad because we're in a car most of the time, so no biggie. The heat is not like VA. Its not very humid here, just straight heat. 

Spiritual Thought: 

Never alone. Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Shouted from the Summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone, even though we may sometimes feel we are." Because of Jesus Christ, we can be comforted in our trials. We will never have to face them alone. We will always have someone there  lifting us and encouraging us. I know that our Heavenly Father is always close to us! He will always be there for you. 

I love you all very much! Keep the questions coming! xoxox

Love, 

Elder Tseem Fwv Leem Xai Yob Vaj

First Transfer

July 1st, 2013

So I'm going to Merced! Elder Doane will be coming to Hmong East to be with Elder Dunnaway. I'll be up in Merced 5th with Elder Bone. He's been out for 2 transfers longer than me. Should be a ton of fun! This last Sunday our two investigators got confirmed so that makes me super happy. One is a part-member young man. The other is a lady that was a math teacher in Laos for 30 years. She's so stinkin' cool. She's reading the Book of Mormon in Laotian. 

Its hot in Fresno....I haven't slept under the covers all week. It was around 90 degrees when we ran this morning around 6am. Ahh! crazy crazy. 

It's been super sad saying goodbye to everyone but maybe I'll come back. I actually have no time to write today because I've got to get everything packed up. But up in Merced the family history center is right near the apartment so I'll be sure to put some good quality letters your way. 

Well, I love you all very much! Keep asking questions and I will respond!

 

LOVE,

Elder Burdick 

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