Chicken Feet Anyone?

December 12, 2017

Well another week.

Committed three people to be baptized. One on Christmas Eve, one he 31st and one January 7th. They're all super solid and we've been teaching them for a while so they're ready. 

I went on exchanges which was pretty fun. I really learned the importance of members in missionary work, and also the importance of having members reach out to their own friends and family to share the gospel. It really makes a difference. 

We had a zone pday today. Played volleyball and made a snowman. We went finding in a Hmong store, went pretty well even though it was awkward, we found two new investigators. Also passed a church with a long name like ours, but not quite the same, it was "The Shadow of The Almighty Prayer and Deliverance Church". 

It has not stopped snowing since last pday...at first it snowed lightly, and didn't really stick, but after a few days it started to get bad. Apparently since the people out here are so used to the snow, they don't shovel the roads unless it's bad. So we drove in 6 inches of snow and looked at the sidewalks, which they shovel for some reason and prayed we wouldn't die. 

I tried to give my chair to a woman, and just kneel and eat from the table, because that's like a perfect height for me, but apparently it's SUPER rude, because it's as if you're telling them you're their slave...so that was awkward for a bit. 

Lastly their were a couple miracles this week where we went to people's houses, and on two separate occasions they said they had prayed that day for us to come over, and that they needed our help. Tender mercies of the lord. 

This is our branch boundaries outlined in purple...it's about the same size as mass, Ct and RI combined. 

Ate some chicken feet, which were actually pretty good for some reason. Just not a lot of meat.

And a shaman shrine thing which was pretty cool looking.

Is Your Name Kong?

December 5, 2017

Well this week was pretty bomb.

We pretty much only find women who are interested in the church, so this week we were praying for guys, so we could have some priesthood holders. Then there was one day where all our appointments fell through, and our backups didn't work either, so we went finding for a while. Literally every single person we found that day was a guy, and they all seemed super interested in the church. Prayer, answered. 

Also it was pretty funny their names were like, Kong Vang, Kong Xiong, Kong Yang, Kong Chang, and another dude whose name was surprisingly not Kong. We also met this cool guy named Sylvester Williams, he's not Hmong, he's from Liberia and he works in the ministry of sports, apparently he's in charge of scheduling FIFA games, and so he gets to go for free. 

(Don't worry Trevor, I got the hookups for ya') He was in the US for medical attention, and was staying with his nephew, but he'll be going back soon, and meeting the missionaries in Liberia. He also wants the missionaries here to meet with his nephew's family, so that was pretty sweet.

We had a Christmas party, that was awesome, and we got some less actives out, and even met some new investigators.

One girl, Sandy, is getting baptized, Sunday at church.  She told us her spirit said she's home. Yes girl!  Her boyfriend is currently less active, but not for long. He came teaching with us, and we had a really cool experience where we were prompted to see this one investigator, who is having trouble keeping any commitments. Turns out he delivered pizza to them once, but then when his shift ended brought them another pizza for free, and talked with them, she even tried to hook him up with her cousin. So suffice it to say, they knew each other. 

Later we met this girl named Pakou Khang, apparently she lived in Willimantic CT, and even went to a Mormon church with her brother there...HHAAhahah! Connections, I used to live in CT! So pretty cool, haven't met anyone from CT in a while and definitely not someone who lived so close. 

Spiritual thought of the week: we were wondering why it always seemed that our investigators prayers were so strong. Through study and prayer we found that basically we need to be more sincere when we pray. Alma 39:11 says when they see your actions, can they believe your words? And we realized that basically everything our investigators know about the church, are things we teach them, both through our words and our actions. And if those words and actions seem insincere or careless, they notice, and it makes it harder for them to believe our words. 

So this week we've been focusing on sincere prayer and really trying to bring the spirit. The day we started to do that three lessons in a row people were like, 'wow, the room feels lighter', or 'I just feel so much more peaceful or happy'. And I was like dang...we should've been doing this the whole time. I invite all of you to have more sincere prayers and really think about and mean everything you say.

Elder Hwj Chim

This first and second picture was this fairy tale like house there were squirrels running around and birds and everything about it was like, dang, I bet there's a dwarf in there, or something The third is this weird peachy tasting orange texture fruit, and then those spiky fruits are different, but they were all super good. Some food from the Christmas party. My adoptive mom singing a Hmong song. Lastly, us meeting Santa with some people who are going to be new investigators

Haha, honestly I haven't even had time to eat all the food you sent out before, I just don't have a lot of time, but I do carry them around as snacks. So I don't even know what I want for Christmas...real converts maybe?  I found this super fairytale house while tracting. It was like normal house, normal house, WHAT THE HECK? Then back to normal, there's like a line in the front yards of leaves where the normal people rake, but this guy just lets it go. So that was cool. Have a great week, I love you guys.
Elder Lauj

Cool, and Not So Cool.

November 28, 2017
Listen up folks. Crazy week.
We taught investigators and less actives for Monday-Wednesday. 

Super awesome, but they really need to gain a desire to come to church. Our sacrament meeting attendance is trash. The missionaries can only do so much, people need to act for themselves. And the members, they need to befriend the recent converts, that's why so many fall away, their only friends are the missionaries. 

But on a brighter note we taught people for 12 hours straight on Friday, and then again on Saturday. 

We went to the Hmong new year, so we had a booth and it was right next to this hall which connected the 2 giant rooms so perfect position to talk to everyone. Also great opportunity to practice Hmong. Only downside was that I was screaming at people, because it was so dang loud. Needless to say I lost my voice very quickly. Good thing was, I'm tall and
white, I was wearing Hmong clothes and can (somewhat) speak Hmong which attracted a lot of attention, and started a ton of conversations. 

It was also a downside, because a bunch of girls came over asking to take pictures, or to play ball with them. After that I tried to talk to guys, but there were just way more girls than guys. 

Also learned that there are albino Hmong people, not a lot, but we saw a few. On another note there are also albino squirrels, which isn't important, but cool.

Apparently there's also a bunch of deaf, or very nearly deaf Hmong people, and they speak sign language, pretty cool if I say so myself, but not cool because I have no idea what's going on...kinda like Hmong sometimes. Hahahahaha 

This thanksgiving I ate the least amount of food of any thanksgiving I've ever lived for. Elder Vang kept telling
people we'd maybe or probably come by for dinner, but we never made set appointments....as a result we had none. Sad, but hey, we taught people instead and personally I thought it was better.

Freaky Spiritual People

November 24, 2016

     Well, this week was interesting. It snowed. It hailed. It rained. And then it snowed again. And we rode our bikes in all of it. We didn't have p-day Monday, because thanksgiving is basically a p-day, so they switched it for this week.  Also Friday and Saturday is the Hmong new year,  the really big one that apparently my clan, the Lauj clan runs.

     So that should be fun, we have a booth there. A less active paid for us to enter a football tournament with him, so we played for a little bit, had some fun, I lost my magnetic name tag, which womps. Then today,  (Thanksgiving), we played a turkey bowl at our ward, which was fun, but both times we played football, it was in the snow, and everyone has cleats, but me, so I was sliding all over the field...sorry team, but I did catch some touchdowns.


For lessons and stuff, we were tracting, and found this 23-year-old who was a golden investigator. We taught the restoration, and she 100% receptive to it, so at the end we asked her to be baptized to which she responded, "oh I already got baptized". So we were thinking, "well, okay, even if you got baptized in a different church, you need to do it under
the correct authority", but her mom walked by, and was like, "oh yeah, my brother-in-law is a leader in your church, and he's who helped us join". And we were like, "DANG...no baptism, but It was a MIRACLE we found you right now when all of you are home". 


     Then we found a woman named Mim Lis, she's been going to a 
Hmong alliance church for 30 years, but she and her husband were 
super open, apparently their nephew is possessed by a demon, and 
they've tried everything to help him...everything short of the priesthood of course. 

     Forgot to say, the Hmong people are SUPER spiritually in tune...
it's CRAZY scary. Like they can see ghosts, or see your "light", or
how bright your spirit is. One lady saw a picture of the temple and was like, 
"WHERE IS THIS?  This is a holy building, and there are a TON of spirits gathered 
outside trying to get in.  Some are good, some want to destroy it". I was like,..."dang...
that's actually super scary". 

     Another lady can literally read your mind, my companion
won't take me to see her because apparently she likes to surround
herself with evil spirits.  So this is some freaky stuff.  

     But we also, took a member to teach Mim Lis, and the member talked for 2 hours...I kid you
not. And then when we said we really had to go, he prayed for 15
minutes...I was like, "man this has got to be the longest prayer I've
ever heard". 

Not taking a chance with this!

     Lastly this one investigator couldn't be baptized, because
she can't make it to church, because she committed to an internship,
but that ends soon, so she set a date for January 21st. Awesome stuff.

     Culturally, we met a guy who has one of those cool bamboo instruments.
I couldn't play it because it's basically a wiji board or however you
spell it. It guides dead spirits around, so they can find rest, and if
you don't play it right they come, and take revenge on you for
misleading them. Needless to say I was not taking chances, and just held
it for the picture. 

     Hmong new year is tomorrow...sweeeet. Some food I
ate this week, was this rice drink. Imagine cooking rice in too
much water, and then taking the water out, and drinking it. That's basically what it was. It was white, warm, and tasted like water with a slight hint of rice, plus it was thicker than water, so all together...it was weird. 

     We're learning a Hmong dance, because next week we are doing it in the branch talent show. It's basically the
Hmong version of the electric shuffle. 

     Also, every Hmong person is connected. We met a lady who's husband was best friends with my companion's grandpa, the less-actives we found were baptized by my
companions uncle, he's related to like everyone, so it's all one big family.

It's getting cold. Not as cold as elder Orton for sure, but still
cold. I'm doing good. I'll write again in a few days.

Elder Hwj Chim Lauj

Are You Up For The Laxative Challenge?

November 14, 2016

     Well, this week was great. You know that scene in the Lord of the Rings
where they talk about eleventh breakfast...I had a day where we
literally went from meal appointment to meal appointment, for the
entire day. Some of them weren't appointments, but the investigators
made us an entire meal while we were there. We ended up with 2
breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners, not to mention all the food they
gave us to take home. 

     I felt like I was about to explode. Also the day before we did this "Laxative Challenge" as a companionship.  We basically just drank a bottle of magnesium nitrate, which tasted like cherry
soda, but then spent the day in the bathroom, and cleaned out our
systems for the next day, where we ate a ton. 

We found a few new investigators, some old ladies who are super hard to understand,
because they're super Hmong. 

     Apparently one guy from church went to Laos to buy a wife he'd been talking to on facebook but she really didn't want to marry him, so he tried to capture her like they do in
Hmong culture, but she got super mad, and sent an axe gang to kill him,
so then he bought a different wife, and somehow got back to the us
safely. Crazy stuff. 

     We met the people our teachers were pretending to be while we were in the MTC.  One of them was Nraj Nyuam, and I had to translate for him, which was cool, but super hard, because I don't
really know Hmong that well.  Plus people were talking about how
science supports God's existence, and they were like God is manifest in
every aspect of the universe, and I was just sitting there thinking
dang....I got nothing. 

     Nee and his family came back to church, which is great because they're such a strong family and can help the branch out a lot. 

     In fast and testimony meeting, like half the congregation
was on the stand waiting to bear their testimony, and it went half an
hour over.  They are all like a big family, they have so much love for
each other. 

     Still don't have winter clothes...it's starting to get a bit chilly... 

     I got to see the temple a few times, not go inside yet, but just see it. It's super tiny. 

     Not much else, but I'm learning every
day. 

     Elder Hutchins

Adoption

November 7, 2016

     What even is Minnesota? There are 6 languages here, some people get
called to English, and then in the field get called to learn other ones.
English, Hmong, Cambodian, Spanish, Koran, and Chinese. 

     There's so many Hmong people here. The old people only speak Hmong, so it's pretty
hard to understand them, but the younger people speak both. They also
are always offering to feed us, which is great, but it's a ton of
food. 





     The first night I got adopted into a Hmong clan, the Lauj clan,
or Lo in English. So I have a new mother now, her name is Tas Kab
Yeej. 

     Hmong people's names are hard to remember...anyways, I had to eat
4 spicy peppers to be adopted. My mouth was on fire for hours. 

     We taught a few lessons, and I invited a new investigator to be baptized
and she said yes, which is upper awesome.

      Hmong people are so cool, they love everyone. I already feel such a love for the people. 

     Also we went finding, and right after praying found a guy, who was interested in
learning more. 

     I already know that God knows his children, and has his
hand in their lives helping guide us to them. 

     My companions are elder Vang and Thao, and they're Hmong. They're super funny, and really
helpful. People say my Hmong is super clear which is good, but there's
SO much I don't know, which was clear when I tried to translate
sacrament meeting. 




     There were 3 baptisms this Saturday. A mother and 2 of her kids. I had the privilege of confirming them members and giving them the Holy Ghost, which was super spiritual.

      Right now I'm in north Minneapolis, and there's a lot of work going on, people are super ready
to hear the message. 























     We went to a Hmong New Years party which was super cool, we got to see some Hmong dancing. Also handed out a few BOMs. There's a bigger party at the end of the month that we'll be going to. 

     Lots of good things in the future, so I'll try to remember to
write about them. Also Elder Thao, is literally the guy, Yao I think,
from Mulan. He looks and talks exactly the same.

Elder hwj chim lauj

Time To Go!

November 1, 2016

     Well, last week here.  I think at this point I have heard "Called to Serve" over 50 times.  It is my new LEAST favorite song. 

     They sing it all the time, and I mean I know we've been called to serve and all, but we don't need to sing it every. single. day. 

     Also they reuse jokes all the time, because people are coming and going, so often, so I've heard them all...multiple times.

     The worst is when they talk about elderly missionaries and say, now Elders and Sisters, this is where you should be in 40 years, but then you can choose your own companion. Literally hear that every Sunday and Tuesday. 

     This week we got 35 new people in our zone, so I helped orient them, and get them settled. Finally got released as zone leader, because I'll leave tomorrow at 3 am, so that's fun. 

     My 2 companions left this morning, so I am a lone man in the MTC.  I just joined another companionship, but I am the only Hmong elder here. 

     This week in in field orientation I met Sister Doney from the Cromwell Ward, which was cool, because there's like a total of 5 people from New England here, and my dad set 2 of us apart. 


     Also one of the things we read was a case study from the Boston Massachusetts Mission about using members to help in the work, which is cool because everyone who comes through here reads it.

While we were teaching an investigator this week, we were looking out a window and the trees were shaking back and forth because people were putting lights up in them for Christmas, so that was pretty funny.  They haven't turned them on after that night, because I think they want it to be a surprise. Oh well, we won't be here for that. 

     In gym this week I spiked a ball on this kid that played in high school, but milliseconds after I sent it on the way to the ground, his swing followed through on my hand in the most epic atomic high five ever. It was super loud and hurt pretty bad, my hand was a little swollen, but my pride was cool.  I still got the point. 

     Yesterday for halloween a bunch of elders made homemade costumes and came around the apartment to every door asking for candy, and they actually got quite a bit. I don't know them, but I got a picture, cause they were funny. 

     Lastly we sang in sacrament meeting, 4 of us are leaving soon, and we don't have many elders in our district, so we didn't want to sing alone. Anyway, it sounded really cool, cause it was 4 parts, and we sang in our mission language.

Until next time-

Elder HWJ CHIM

Practice, practice, practice!

I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go , If I Like It

October 25, 2016


     Well, This week was nice. We learned about one of the Hmong creation stories, which involves Eve birthing a living chunk of meat, which grows until she cuts it into 36 pieces, and hangs pairs of the slices on random things like a broom, a tree, a fence. 



Then when she wakes up they're all babies, and that is how the 18 hmong clans came about. 

     This week we taught our last TRC's (which basically means we skype members who speak hmong and teach them). This week we were going to teach the restoration, but when we got there, we instead taught of the importance of the Book of Mormon. 

     Turns out, when our teacher talked to her afterwards to review, she said she hadn't been reading the B.O.M. lately since she was a busy with her new baby.  But during the lesson we had talked about how the Book of Mormon can help families, so she said it really helped her remember the importance of reading.

     ONLY ONE MORE WEEK! Then, I leave for Minnesota. Not ready to translate the sacrament meeting into Hmong my first week. My teachers said it took them 6 months to feel comfortable translating....I'm about to be hit by the bus of humility. Still excited though. 

     This week we get 35 new missionaries in our zone, so that's cool, although I won't really get to know them that well. 

     Oh funny story about the Mongolians who leave this week.  A few got reassigned to missions in the US while they wait for Visas. They were bummed out, and they were supposed to sing a song with the Indonesians in sacrament meeting since they're all leaving.  Well, since they weren't going to Mongolia they didn't want to sing. Turns out the song they'd chosen to sing together was............"I'll go where you want me to go".....

     Wow...more like, "I'll go where you want me to go, unless its somewhere I don't really want to go, in which case, I'll still go but have a terrible time".  So that was quite ironic in my opinion. They left the 2 indonesian sisters to sing alone.  It was still pretty good though.

     Not much else really happened this week, we got flight plans, and we got name tags with our Hmong names on them, so that's great, but we can't wear them until we're in the field.

Have a happy halloween! 

Elder H

Carry on in the merrymaking and cider drinking!

K

Middling Position is the Worst!

October 18, 2016

     So, last Tuesday, we heard from David A. Bednar, maybe you've heard of him? Cool guy. Anyway, he talked about how we can make our study of general conference or any gospel message effective. 




     As we listen, look for 1. The doctrine (or principles) being taught.  2. The invitation to act,  and 3.  The promised blessings.  He said they are in every effective talk, and as we focus on the basics of the message we'll learn more. 

     He also said, it won't be an effective strategy for everyone, so don't stop looking for what suits you best. 

     This sunday we heard from Vai Sikahima or something, he was in the NFL,and has been a sports reporter for 22 years. He talked about the Philadelphia temple, and the opposition it faced before being built, and how those problems were overcome. 

     Anyway temples are the best.  

     This week we started to practice a special musical number for when we leave, and one day as we were going past the practice rooms, I saw a bunch of guys gathered around a podium arm wrestling. So I opened the door, walked up to the podium and put my arm down. Only after this did I realize how giant this guys arms were. Well, we wrestled, and I was surprised I actually won. Then, without saying anything, I walked out of the room holding up one finger to celebrate my perfect record. 

     Also In the residence at night the elders literally waterboard each other. They turn the water fountain nozzle over the side, lay on the ground and see how much water they can drink before they can't take it anymore.  I've seen 7 seconds and I've seen 48, but either way it is pretty dumb. People have thrown up because they've drank so much....why would you do that? 

     In other news Hmong middle children are the treated the worst, I feel their pain. The oldest takes over the family when the dad dies, like everyone including the mom has to ask him for permission to do anything of importance. And the youngest child lives with the parents, and cares for them until they die. Middle kid is left out. 

     One of the most impactful things I learned was "Wo, be unto him that is at ease in Zion". We should never be slacking off. There is always work that needs to be done, and as elder Bednar said in an MTC address, missions are forever, if we come back home and go back to how we were, we did something wrong.  So we need to use all the time we have to be doing productive things

Elder H

Switching suits with Elder G, we're the same size and height, but my feet are 2 sizes bigger.