Hello Again!

A good good good week!! Funny enough I spent nearly as much time with a different companion as I did with my own. For 3 days this week we went on exchanges. It was my first time leaving the Appleton area for the first time since I arrived here. While on exchanges we really experienced miracles. Within the 3 days we exchanged, we met 8 new investigators and we were able to speak with a family we hadn't spoken to in months. First off, we have a list of about 100 Hmong people that we along with missionaries before us have collected. When we have nothing else to do, we bring out this list and just start working through it. While on exchanges and through working on this list, 8 people were interested in the message that we had to share. Amazing! We are prayerfully approaching how best to meet the needs of these people and (even though many of them I haven't even met yet) I already love them. The other story is a very interesting one. It's one I'm probably going to use in my talk when I get home, so try to act surprised when I re-tell this. When I got to Appleton, we were taken to the house of a member family who was struggling and was becoming less active. We had a good lesson and were looking forward to coming back to speak more to them. However for 4 months we tried at least once a week, but more often two or three times, to begin teaching them again but visit after visit yeilded no answer. Often times we could see one or more of them as we walked by their house. But after knocking with no answer as we left, the curtains were closed and the lights turned off. We decided again this week to visit again and miraculously we had an answer! He ushered us inside and we taught how the gospel blesses families like the tree in Lehi's dream. Then my companion at the time, Elder Croft, asked "how has the gospel blessed you in your life". He broke down. He told us how much he missed church and how much he loved God and wanted to come back, but felt that some things that he had done were keeping him from coming. I was prompted then to give him a blessing of comfort. The feeling in that room was sacred. I will forever remember the Holy Ghost testifying to everyone in the room at that moment the truthfulness of this gospel. After the blessing, this man told us that the things he trusted us enough to know, were things that he hadn't even told his extended family. He told us "That makes you family. I love you guys." I was deeply touched and honored by this compliment. Family means everything to Hmong people, and I will always remember this well. We will now be visiting every week and hopefully there will be more updates to come, but as for now... I'm off to the dollar store to try and snag some sweet deals!! LOVE YOU ALL

Meej Mom

McFamily McEmail

Hello everyone!! Sooooo sorry that I didn't write a family E-mail last week! Not that you're all hanging on my every word or anything, but I still should have written. Anyway, there is a lot to update everyone on. First of all, this week is transfers (everyone's favorite time of the month...) and the news is in... I am... Staying in Appleton for another transfer!! WHAT?? Everyone thought that I was leaving! I thought I was leaving!! But if God needs me in appleton, Who am I to disagree? I will be staying with my companion (the district leader) and I will experience things I didn't think that I would experience in Appleton. I thought I'd be somewhere else when the snow started to fall... I didn't think that I would be here for October conference... I didn't think that I'd even have to unpack my cold-weather clothes!! But, I'm all in all relieved that I get to stay. The ward has really grown on me to the point where every dinner, I leave telling my companion, "Man, they remind me so much of my family!" I didn't think that it would happen this soon, or at all, but I don't want to leave this area! Other than all of that boring stuff, we've seen some pretty amazing miracles in Apple-Town recently. First of all, while on exchanges with one of our zone leaders Elder Beech (He's from England and totally has the accent) we decided to go visit a family near a dinner appointment we had. We had arrived to the member's house with over 30 minutes until the appointment, so we wanted to fill that time with anything that might be affective. We went and knocked on two houses with no answer, and with 20 minutes until dinner, we seriously considered just being early. We decided one more door wouldn't hurt so we went up the stairs of a small apartment complex and knocked on the door... No answer. We turned to walk back down the stairs, when in the apartment accross the hall we heard Hmong yelling. We knew this was a great opportunity to teach and knocked. A young boy answered the door, and we began to teach. He seemed extremely interested and we were prompted to teach about the book of Mormon. He told us he actually used to have and read a copy that he lost in a move! In talking to him more, we found that he had met with missionaries before and had lost contact! We offered to give him the copy and he responded surprisedly "To keep?!" What a miracle right? Not quite yet... The next day, we set up a lesson with him and found out... HE HAD ALREADY BEEN BAPTIZED 6 YEARS AGO!!! We found a lost sheep!! We are so excited (and as soon as we find his baptism records) we will re-activate him. Miracle #2... More of just a very special experience. We were asked to give a priesthood blessing of healing to a man (the brother of an old member of the ward). He had refused for so long, and his family had been very against the idea of a blessing, but miraculously this past week everyone consented. We didn't know what to expect as we went in. What we saw nearly broke my heart. In a wheelchair, laying his head down on the couch next to him, was the most sickly and trial-worn man I have ever seen. He found out that he has Leukemia and has been experiencing the pains and sorrow that come with the awful disease. My companion annointed him and the brother-in-law of this sick brother offered him the blessing. My understanding of Hmong is minute, but I have never before been so touched by anything said in this language. This truly was a sacred time and a sacred blessing. I don't know what will happen, but what I do know is that that day, my companion and I were able to act as representatives of Jesus Christ. I know that through faith in the priesthood and Atonement of Jesus Christ, we all can overcome the trials and sicknesses in our lives. I am immensely blessed by this power. I love you all, and can't wait to see what another week brings.

WHEW!!

So much happened this week, my thoughts will probably be scattered, so I'm just going to try my very best to get as much down as I possibly can.

First, the bad news... This week we had scheduled 4 dinners, but of the 4 only 1 ended up happening. Two of the three that canceled were actually going to have investigators there, so that made it even MORE sad! We also were extremely low on miles (down to about 8 miles per day) so we felt like we were being extremely extremely ineffective. But then, at church we were asked to go to a member's house for dinner and a lesson for their daughter who is almost ready to be baptized. We were so excited!!.... BUT we found out that they live in a town that's about 30 miles away, and we told them that we wouldn't be able to. They were nice enough to offer to pick us up and drop us off, this all on Labor Day mind you. They have 12 kids, 7 of which are still at home, and as soon as I walked in I could tell that it would be one of my favorite dinners yet. We had so much fun playing "the missionary game" where everyone tries to guess our names, and then we try and guess everyone else's. It took us about 40 minutes to get all of theirs right! After that we had a cinnamon roll cake (I totally knew they got it off pinterest, and I was right!) Then we had our lesson, which was really cool, because everyone in her family gave little tiny testimonies about baptism. Overall a very fun night, one that reminded me of being home with my family. Other than that, we have 7 referrals that we need to contact this week. That's more than I had all of last transfer! We are really excited to teach these people about the gospel. I'll probably have more than one interesting story to tell next week, but until then... Sib ntsib dua, thiab kuv xav neb paub tias kuv hlub neb heev thiab kuv yuav saib neb thaum kuv tsis ua tub tbxib.... kev hlub kev hlub kev hlub!!!   (Gina google translated this..."Goodbye, and I want you to know that I love you and I will see you when I do not tbxib son .... love love love")

Work on FIRE!!!!

Time is flying by! I can hardly believe that it is almost September already! We are doing very well in Appleton and we have brought back to life an area that seemed to be dead! As a district we have been extremely blessed the last couple weeks and I'm so excited to have even just a small part of it. While we are still low in the category of baptisms, we recognize that this isn't about numbers. We have some very exciting very good things happening and we realize that with continued diligence and obedience, the Lord will bless us and soften the hearts of those we are teaching. I love being the companion of the district leader. One of the best parts is that I get a full picture of what is happening within the entire district. I love being able to see what is and what isn't working for different companionships, and how it affects the work in its totality. Another awesome thing about being "district monkey" is that I get to go on exchanges with everyone in the district. Usually I am the one who goes to the new area, so it gives me another interesting view on how the work is going in everyone's respective areas. It's basically like having a slumber party as a missionary!!! I get to check up on other people's investigators, try and resolve their concerns, and finally put a face to all of the names that I hear about each week. I also love that I am able to be an aid and advisor to my companion in his work, and I feel extremely blessed to be able to do so.

Unfortunately while the work here is picking up, for some odd reason I have felt like I have just been in an odd funk for the past week or so. I don't know whether it's like a marathoner hitting the wall, or if I need to do something to try and shake up the daily routine, but I can't seem to pinpoint anything that could be wrong! I know that I am being watched over by the lord, and like I said, I have been more abundantly blessed than perhaps at any time in my lifetime, but I don't know what could be causing this fog!! I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer, and I have already experienced many instances on my mission where prayer has been a deciding factor in some decision, so I know that through prayer I will be able to overcome this strange feeling. Every day I look forward to the time when I can kneel at the foot of my bed and offer up to the Lord an accounting of my day. I love the time that I have with my Father in Heaven, and again, I believe that this is just a minor obstacle that I'm going to be able to overcome. I love you all, and until next week... TTFN, ta-ta for now!!

Love TUB TXIB MEEJ MOM
(which I found out ACTUALLY means "a quality of someone who has the natural apperance of superiority or leadership... I DON'T WANT TO BE AN AP!!!!)

August 19th

Last week, getting my new companion set up and ready to live in appleton for at least six weeks took a little bit more time than we expected and I didn't have the time to write a family email... Thankfully I have more time today and I'm excited to give everyone an update on what is going on! First of all, for those who didn't know, this transfer I stayed in Appleton, but my companion of 12 weeks, Elder Vaj, left to train in Green Bay. My new companion's name is Elder Thompson. He has been a great help in improving my Hmong already, and boy did I need it! I'm excited to see how much he can help me grow! He's the district leader, so that means that I get to be the little helper (or the District Monkey as we call it). It hasn't been too bad yet. Anyway... The first lesson he and I taught together was very interesting and unexpected... We were walking home from a bust referral when somebody on a bike stopped us and said he had some things to say. He proceded to tell us what he thought Mormonism was all about, and what he thought was true. We were able to give our testimony multiple times in the conversation, and from starting with no desire to listen to us, by the time we finished, we had given him the number of the English Elders in the area to teach him more. While it was very weird hearing somebody talk to us about the Illuminati, different dimensions, and "the Christ Entity" it was very cool that he accepted our invitation to pray with him. I'm not sure what happened with him, but who knows?! He could be a solid investigator. Unfortunately, not all of our experiences like that have been good ones. Last week as we left the library, there was a gentleman waiting for us outside with a paper with notes he had taken about everything that he thought was wrong about Mormonism. He talked at us for about 30 minutes, and every time either I or my companion tried to say anything, we were pretty rudely interrupted. Eventually, and sadly, we stopped him and told him that we couldn't continue to listen to him talking about our faith that way, and we just left. He stayed behind, and talked to 2 more companionships in our district about the same things. The similarity between the good and bad experience is that by the end of both my faith had been strengthened. I couldn't believe it, but walking away from the second experience I felt proud that I was able to withstand somebody tearing down everything I love. I was able to see myself as a disciple of Christ, one who would be as Christ said "Hated for My sake". I know that I have been blessed immensely for teaching of Christ, and even though not every experience is a good one, I know for myself that it is true, and I am willing to stand up for these things.

Now, here is an update of some of the people that we are working with.

Cher: Cher was a referral from our district leaders. They met him in Kaukauna while tracting and gave us his number and address. We went to visit him and found out that he was interested in learning more because "if God made the earth for us, he must have a plan". We have tried to meet with him a few more times since, but he hasn't been home... We're still very excited about him!

Suzy Lucky and Christy: These kids we met while trying to contact their grandma, a less active. They live with their mom at their grandma's house, and we've met only a handful of times, but the kids seem ready for baptism. They love to ask questions (and even though we do get distracted sometimes) we love to answer all of them. The only problem has been getting them a ride to church. Their mom works Sundays, and we haven't found anybody yet. But things are looking better because now we have the relief society president and the primary president looking out to help us.

Mathinoe: (pronounced Mateeno) He is probably my favorite investigator just because how funny he is!! He loves to mess around with us, and not to mention he likes to feed us. He and his wife are about to have a little baby boy named Nathaniel, and we are so excited for them. He's been having lessons taught to him for quite a while but has been in and out of jail for various things. We are very hopeful for him as well...

These are some of the best people we've met yet, and we're excited to see who else we can talk to. I love you all so much and will talk to you in only about 18 months!! (or something like that?)

TRANSFER WEEK!!!

There must be a huge spike in texts between missionaries during transfer weeks because EVERYONE wants to know if anyone has gotten any news. Thankfully, we get the news on monday mornings. It looks like I will be staying in Appleton, but I'm going to have a new companion, Elder Thompson. He will actually be the district leader, so I'll be the junior companion going on all the exchanges. This will be an exciting change, but I can't help but feel sad for elder Vaj. He's leaving just when the work was beginning to pick up, and we had just gotten a new and progressing investigator. We had a talk the other day and I was glad to find out that he doesn't feel bad about being a sower. He knows that this is the Lord's work and his hand is in everything. I too am glad to be a part of the work, and I'm very blessed to be in appleton at this time. Currently we have 6 investigators, all at different points in the process. It is so cool to be able to give them this gift, and to see the conversion taking place right in front of my eyes. Coming out on my mission I knew that it (the gospel) was true, but actually teaching it to people has only worked to strengthen my conviction. I know for a certainty that this is the only good thing that I could be doing now, and I am so glad to have had wonderful parents who raised me well, as well as family and friends as supportive and amazing as you! I know that this gospel blesses families, and I can certainly see that in mine. Be good and know that I love you!!!

hastening the work of salvation!

HEY!   This week has been up and down and all over the place... Just like the weather here too! Last I reported we were having some record highs, but now we've been at an average 55 degrees!! It's chilly and reminds me of fall! For the sake of time, today I'll keep it short. We have been experiencing many changes to missionary work and the way we deliver our message. We will be getting tablets, we are encouraged to text, and eventually we will be allowed on social networking sites. Throughout all of this change however, one thing has remained constant. That is the message that we preach. God is unchanging, he is infinite. The same things that I am telling investigators like Xue, Lucky, Suzie, Kristy, and Amanda are the same things that were being taught to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I am so blessed to be a part of this revolution, but I realize that while there are new ways God has given us to share his message, the message is unchanging. I love you all and can't wait to see you! Transfers are coming up so if by chance anything does change, I'll let y'all know!