Four Baptisms

Dec 5: today we had 3 investigators and their 8-year-old brother get baptized! It was awesome! It was super fun because I was able to baptize two of them! It is always a good week when you start it off helping such cool people come unto Christ!

Dec 6: Today we had exchanges! They are always fun!

Dec 7: Today we moved! They are moving my companion and I and the other Hmong companionship from two separate apartments to one combined apartment. It is a little bit cramped but a way nicer apartment. We also contacted a bunch of Hmong guys playing pool. They were listening to Hmong rap and one of the songs was by a guy who used to be a Hmong missionary here in Fresno. We used that as an excuse to join the party. We were able to contact a lot of people and it was awesome! 

Dec 8: First day in the new apartment. Spent a lot of time unpacking but were able to still have a few lessons so that was good! 

Dec 9: We had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators! He moved to Fresno from North Carolina with his family for church related reasons so he is super tied to his current church but he is willing to learn and loves having lessons with us so that was good! 

Dec 10: Today was amazing! Our investigator and his family came to church along with his family and also a less active member that we have been teaching came with his daughter. It was cool to see all of them at church. Also, the 4 that got baptized this week received the Gift of the Holy Ghost!! It is amazing to know that now they will always have the comfort and guidance that comes from the Holy Spirit with them! Overall it was an awesome day!!

-Elder Yskes

Happy Birthday text to Mom!!

A Parade Float

Nov 28: today we went on an exchange with our District Leader! I was with Elder Sparks. It was super fun! We got to teach a few people and get some baptismal interviews done for the next week!

Nov 29: Today we went on exchanges with the Assistants. It was fun. They talked with us a lot about the Hmong work and with a new Hmong Elder coming in in a few weeks and what the direction of the Hmong work is looking like. 

Nov 30: Today we had Interviews with our Mission President! Those are always fun! 

Dec 1: Today we got to help out at a Toys for Tots drive! It was super fun to see everyone being so generous during the Christmas season! 

Dec 2: Today our church had a float in a parade! So, an hour before the parade we got to walk around and talk to a TON of people about the Church's Christmas service initiative! It is a super cool way for everyone to get involved in helping others this Christmas season! There is a daily activity everyday leading up to Christmas on ways to help others! For info go to Mormon.org or text @light25 to 81010 for daily updates! 

Dec 3: Church was pretty sweet today! We also got to teach several lessons so that was pretty sweet! 

Hope everyone has a good week!

Elder Yskes

A Visit to the Temple and Thanksgiving

Nov 21: today we were able to go to the Temple with our recent convert Jose! It was a super awesome experience! also, today we were on bikes and I snapped the chain on my bike in half> It was pretty frustrating.

Nov 22: Today we went farming with Hmong people! It was super fun! We were on bikes again so I had to use a mountain bike that I got a couple months ago with a flashlight rubber banded onto it so I could kinda see at night. It was a little bit of a struggle but we made it work. 

Nov 23: THANKSGIVING!!! It was really good! We played basketball with some members in the morning and football with some missionaries after that. We then headed over to a Hmong Party for lunch. That was pretty fun! We ended the night at our Bishop's house. It was really fun! 

Nov 24: This morning we took missionaries that just arrived in the mission this week on something called “Open your Mouth”. Usually it is right after you get off the plane but because of Thanksgiving it was today. So, I took an Elder from Peru out street contacting. His is still learning English so it was pretty fun! 

Nov 25: Today was a good day with a solid amount of teaching.

Nov 26: Church was really good today. A lot of people came so that was good. We were also able to have a couple really good lessons! 

Love y'all 

Elder Yskes

Ice Skating and Another Baptism

Mon: today we went ice-skating  It was super fun!

Tues: Today we knocked doors for 5 hours this morning! It was super fun! We weren't able to find too many Hmong people but it was still fun! We also had a question and answer session with all of the Youth of our Ward today! It was super fun! 

Wed: Today we knocked some more doors and met a guy who was suuuuper high/ He talked a million miles an hour and said his religion was south park. Pretty funny hahaha. 

Thurs: We met a super cool guy today. We knocked on his door. We taught him the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on his doorstep. He felt the spirit so strongly as we were teaching him that halfway through the lesson he went, "Whoa, you are giving me goosebumps, what are you doing to me?" We then taught him about the Holy Spirit and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He agreed. Only sad part of this story is the next day he moved to Colorado. Bummer, but oh well. He is going to meet up with missionaries there probably. 

Fri: Today we had a bunch if super good lessons. Talked a lot about the church’s Christmas Light the World program. It is going to be awesome! 

Sat: Today we went on a half day exchange. It was good. We were able to teach a little bit.

Sun: Church was awesome today! We were able to sing as part of our ward choir. We also had a ton of families we have been working with come to Church! Also, Elder Biggs and Bagley who went home a few weeks ago came back for a baptism. It is a girl in a family that the missionaries have worked a lot with who turned 8 So now she got baptized. Super fun! 

Hope everyone has a good week! 

Elder Yskes

Visit with Elder Echo Hawk

Tues: Had an awesome lesson with a member about Temples! I love the Temple so much! It is so awesome to have a temple here in Fresno!

Wed: Had a ton of lessons today! It was super awesome!

Thurs: We had a super awesome Zone Conference with Elder Echo Hawk, one of the leaders of the church. After that we had a super awesome experience. We were going to meet with one of our friends and when we went over to their house her daughter was in town. She came back in town for her friend’s wedding who is getting married in the Temple! It was super cool! We were able to explain to her what Temples are and why we have them!

Fri: Another day with a bunch of lessons. It was pretty sweet. 

Sat: Today we were able to meet a lot of people. We went to a party, taught a class on missionary work, and ran into a group of 7th day Adventists going door to door in between some lessons. It was pretty fun! 

Sun: Today was awesome! We were able to meet with some really fun people! We had lessons with some of my favorite members. They are always fun. We also had someone who we didn't know come to church. As we were talking with them our stake president and Elder Echo Hawk walked over. The Hmong man said our church was number 1 because they have people like us who learn Hmong (speaking about my companion and I). It was super cool! Elder Echo Hawk and the Stake President were pretty pumped!

Love y'all

-- 

-Elder Yskes