NYOB ZOO FAMILY!!!! First things first, HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!! Woot woot!!! Super crazy to think that you're 16 now and can date and drive and everything.... you were 14 when I left haha. That is crazy.
But YUBA CITY IS GETTING A TEMPLE!!!! AND ST. GEORGE IS
GETTING ANOTHER TEMPLE!!!! GOD LOVES ME!!! haha. But really though, I'm so
excited for the people here. It's hard for the people pretty much north of Wheatland up to the north of my mission.... the temple isn't a very big part of
their lives at all. Most people go once a year if they're lucky, so having a
temple in Yuba City will be such a blessing for these people and will really
just help everyone be a lot stronger in living Christ's Gospel. We were
watching at the church when he announced it... there was like 8 other people
there but everyone got super stoked when we heard it. It's super cool that the 2
temples announced in the US directly affect me, haha.
I'll tell a little about my week before talking more about
conference, cuz you all watched it already. I can't remember if I told you
guys, but we've been teaching a lady who lives up in Washington. There's no Hmong missionaries up there, so they Facebook Skype us to teach her. The
lessons have been going really well, and we have been bringing one of the
members of our branch to Skype in too. This past week, we had a good 2
lessons with her, and by the end of the 2nd lesson, we had put her on date for
baptism, with approval from her husband!!!! So that was super exciting!! Nov.
17th is the date, but we might move it up depending on how quickly we can teach
everything. What is even cooler though, the member down here has a son who
lives up in Washington and is super solid in the church, and so he is going to
go meet the lady and talk with her, and said he could translate the baptismal
interview, and our member even said that he would go up to Washington to
baptize her if she wanted. So that is super exciting that someone is on date
for baptism, even if they are in a different state. Still Hmong though, haha.
Other news, let's see.... Wednesday was zone conference. That
was lots of fun, kind of like a pregame warm up for general conference.
Talked a lot about working with members. The longer I've been out, the more I've
realized that missionary work is really up to the members. But yeah mostly
focused on how to help members invite nonmembers to natural events in their
lives. Also had a re-emphasis on the rules that I think was well needed. It was
fun to see all of the Hmong missionaries and to all be united again. After the
conference, we went with some of our zone and the assistants to Buffalo Wild Wings... it was good, but it's like a ripoff in my opinion, haha. Too expensive. But then again, nothing in California is cheap.
Friday we spent pretty much the entire day just planning and
studying, creating a baptismal plan for Chee (the person in Washington). Also,
other stuff about people we're teaching, Thaomee and Yang (a little while ago, Thaomee was on date) are doing well. We weren't able to see them this past
week, but Thaomee came to the self reliance class which was awesome. Their dad
had to go to the hospital last week, so yesterday they were having a
"party" to, in the words of Thaomee, "lift his spirits."
What was actually happening was they hired a Shaman and he came and was doing a
ritual all day long and they were providing food for everyone from like 8 in
the morning till like 4 or 5. They invited us to come, but we decided it
probably wasn't the best idea if there is going to be a Shaman in there doing
his Shaman thing... but after the mission, I would definitely hit that up. We
came up with a good plan for them though to talk about getting a new job so
that they can receive the blessings of church attendance.
Ok, back to conference. Probably one of my favorite
talks..... well, I had so many favorite talks, it was all great. But I really
loved Pres. Ballard's talk, when he explained Pres. Smith's life leading up to
the revelation of D&C 138. I thought it was so tender that God had
impressed Pres. Ballard to speak about that with him losing his wife. In
between sessions yesterday, I was able to go back and read D&C 138... wow.
Take his invitation and thoroughly and thoughtfully read it. I really learned
so much about life after this and how God loves us. Great section. I thought
Pres. Nelson's promised blessings were pretty profound, and all we have to do
is correct the name of the Christ's church. Pretty awesome. I really liked
Pres. Eyring's talk about taking Christ's name upon us. That was really good.
Also, something cool, they had the sessions broadcast at the church in Hmong,
so we were able to listen to Elder Christofferson's talk in Hmong, but after
that went back to English cuz my comp didn't understand too much of it, haha.
I'm also really excited for the family-based
church-supported curriculum they are introducing. I think for some people, it
will just be an hour less of church, but for the people who take it seriously,
this will make people learn the Gospel in the home and give them way more time
to minister. It will also be a lot easier on the branch here, and we probably
won't have to teach ever again, so that is cool. Gotta wait till the new year
though I guess.
Also, I loved the talk 2 days ago with the story about Pres.
Hinckley choosing the spot for the temple in Canada. That was a cool story.
Also, it was really amazing to just see how God is hastening his work and has
been preparing us for this for a long time now, like Elder Bednar said, and
that Pres. Nelson is really just calling everyone to step up their game. It's
amazing. What a great time to be alive.
I love you guys so much. I hope everyone has a great day and
week. Mom and Dad, thanks for the razors and shirts and food. My comp. and I
really like the shirts, haha. They are a little big, but as soon as we wash them
I'm sure they will fit great :) Love you guys, and oh, good luck reading the
Book of Mormon before the end of the year, you can do it!
Also, something super exciting, Hmong new year is this Saturday!! It's like the biggest event of the year for the Hmong people. They will get
together and everyone will be there. It will definitely be the place to be.
There's gonna be tons of good food and lots of cool Hmong stuff to buy, so I'm
glad I have a ton of cash that I haven't spent since coming out here. I'm gonna
get some cool stuff, haha. Also, it's gonna be such a good opportunity to just
meet new people and invite people to learn about the Gospel. I'm so excited.
Anyway, love you guys!!
Love, Elder Muaj Koob
We came back and Oroville 3rd ward Elders had made this for us. They stayed with us until Friday, and then moved in with the zone leaders... basically, their apartment still isn't fixed. They're going on the 3rd week... it's pretty rough.
Hmong missionaries
No comments:
Post a Comment