Hey
family!!!
It's
finally p-day, and I already feel like I have a lot to tell you guys, so I'll
just start off with some of the obvious and unnecessary... Like first of all I
DID make it to Wisconsin safely, and I'm just starting to get adjusted to REAL
missionary work... My companion is elder Vang (hmong native, his real name is
Shadow Vaj) and he and I are doing really awesome things together. We were both
new to this appleton area, we call it being white washed or shotgunned because
neither of us is at all familiar with the city. Our first day a member fed us
(fettuccine!) and he offered to update his old GPS and give it to us. How nice
is that?! His name is Brother Mortenson and he said that he used to be the ward
mission leader in his old ward back in Idaho, so he loves to take care of
missionaries. Other than that we've been running around like chickens with our
heads cut off for the past few days! We got to our apartment (video upcoming)
and we found out that we barely had enough food to get us through to this
pday... We basically survived this week off of eggs (which we get fresh each
Sunday from a member) and a cheap cheap CHEAP knockoff brand of ramen noodles.
Needless to say, my mouth is already watering thinking about all the groceries
that I'm going to buy at walmart today. We've been trying to contact some of the
recent converts, less actives, and our investigators for the past week, but
we've only actually been inside 3 houses: 1 member, 1 recent convert, and 1
family we just met tracting who had no interest in our church... It's been hard
being so new, but with the help of our Bishop, Bishop Allen, the ward missionary
leader, Brother Seethong (see tong) Yang, and a lot of digging through the area
book on our part, we think that this next week should be more productive.
Appleton is exactly where I said that I wanted to go when everyone asked me
which area I wanted to go to first, so I am loving it here!! Even though its as
humid as the bathroom after one of my showers, it sometimes smells like wet
diapers for no reason, and I'm almost exactly 1200 miles from home, I actually
feel myself loving it already! As Elder Vang and I were out tracting the other
day, we got a call from a name we didn't recognize, Brother Clifford. I guess he
was just put into the bishopric, and you know what that means... Yeah, I get to
speak next Sunday!! I was pretty surprised that he asked me, but even more
surprised when he asked me if I would try to do the majority of it in Hmong! I'm
trying my best to prepare for it, and my topic, "How seminary has prepared you
for a mission" is a pretty easy one to speak about. I met some of the Hmong
congregation this past Sunday, and they really are a sweet group of people. They
asked me to introduce myself in front of the Hmong only Sunday school group, and
I did. Afterward they asked me how long I had been a missionary. When I told
them that that was my fourth day in the field they were pretty shocked!! So I
guess my Hmong is progressing pretty nicely. Anyway, after church ended,
somebody asked me "Koj puas muaj Hmong lub npe?" Do you have a hmong name? I
told him that I had one given to me in the MTC, but I didn't recieve one from a
real Hmong person yet. He then wrote down on a piece of paper my NEW hmong
name........ Meej Mom Yaj!! Pronounced Mang Mah Yah!! We looked it up, and to
the best of our knowlege it means respected or honored. That pretty much
describes me to a "T" right??... The biggest thing that has surprised me about
my mission is the fact that up until 1:00 pm, you are in the house studying,
exercising, eating etc... We only have really about 1-8 to go and contact people
because that's when we come back to eat and to plan. I guess it makes sense
that everything would take that long, I just thought that it would be a lot more
teaching and tracting. I'm so sorry that I've been all over the place in this
letter, I just keep thinking of things to say! But I'll leave off this week by
saying how much I love everyone! Your support has really been one of the things
that has kept me excited and enthusiastic for this mission! I love you all, and
here is my new address...
319 E.
Harris Street apt #6
Appleton Wisconsin
54911
LOVE
YALL!!
Elder
Yeej Mom
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