NYOB ZOO . . . . WEEK 1

August 8, 2017

Nyob zoo family and friends! I suppose by now I probably don't exist to some of you, but I'm actually still alive haha!! Everthing is zoo (good) up here at the MTC. Kinda crazy to finally be here, but it's exciting. There's a special spirit up here.

The MTC is good, but it's super hard. I probably eat healthier here than I do at home hahahaha. My companion is Elder Tayler, the one with the curly blond hair in the pictures. The other people are my district, Elder Hinckley and Elder Israelson are our roommates. Our district is all the Hmong speakers, and were in a zone with all the other elders speaking southeast Asian languages. Thai and Vietnamese, and we'll get two Lao elders next week. I haven't really met anyone going to Roseville yet, my comp is serving is Sacramento, my roommates are serving in Fresno, and  everyone else is either going to Wisconsin or Minnesota. 

The people in my room are really cool and my comp is super kind, I really like him. The people in my district are honestly a little strange, but we have a good time. 

My District

  

The tiny classroom where all 13 of us study.

In case anyone is curious, my schedule goes something like this: wake up, get ready, plan, breakfast, companion study, language study, exercise, shower, lunch, Hmong class, personal study, dinner, Hmong class again (usually we teach Phiab, our investigator), then get ready for bed and lights out. The first couple of days weren't like that, but we're beginning to settle into that schedule. Hmong is incredibly challenging though. After being here for 2 days, they had us teach a lesson to an investigator who only speaks Hmong. In case you didn't know, Hmong has 8 different tones, and a lot of the letters are pronounced differently. I'm really not sure if he understood anything, but it was an awesome experience to use the language to actually teach someone, especially after being here for such a short time. I did feel kinda awkward for him though because we were flipping through pages of a Hmong manual for most of the lesson haha. 

Definitely the highlight of the week was Sunday though. It had been a long few days, and Sunday was fast Sunday. Not gonna lie, it had been pretty hard. We were sitting down for about 10 hours on Sunday because of meetings and what not, but at the end of the day we watched a talk by Elder Bednar about the Character of Christ. It was an amazing talk! And then after that talk, Elder Bednar came and answered questions for an hour. It was honestly an experience that could be life-altering, if I take to heart his teachings. I've learned a lot since being here, and I've certainly prayed a lot. The biggest takeaway I got from it is that the nature of Christ is to turn outwards and serve others. When things are tough and the natural man turns in and worries about himself, Christ turns outward and looks for ways to serve and bless the lives of those around Him. I strive to emulate Christ in this aspect, and I think it's a great goal for everyone. My mission isn't about me, it's about the people that surround me. It's about the investigators who want to learn more, it's about my fellow missionaries, it's about inviting others to come unto Christ by teaching His doctrine, but it's not about me. 

That being said, I wanna say ua tsaug (thank you)  for all of the support and love and kindness you have shown me over the past few weeks... and for all the prayers for the missionaries. It's a special work, and we can't do it alone. 

Also if you have any questions or you wanna say hi or really anything, I can read emails all throughout the week, and I can respond on Tuesdays.

Love, Elder Muaj Koob (pronounced like "moo-uh" in a high falling tone and "gong" in a high tone) That's my Hmong name, and as best I can figure, it doesn't mean anything. 

Found my cousin, Elder Bleak

Elder McArthur, Elder Bleak, Elder Lemmon, Elder Welch