Transfers, a New Companion and Teaching the Hmong to Ride the Bus

July 18: Transfers were today! Elder Ellestad (who was in the MTC with me) and I are companions! We are super excited! We are the only set of Hmong Elders in Fresno! This means we have a lot of people we are teaching and a HUGE area! We are super excited though! We are now on a late schedule so our curfew is later at night so we can do more teaching. Also, today, we were able to go give a blessing to a pregnant member of our ward. She had the baby a few hours later! Super cool!

July 19: Today we had a TON of teaching appointments! It was super fun though! Having the number of people to teach basically double is super sweet; it just means you have a lot more work to do!

July 20: Today was the same as yesterday. 

July 21: This week has been crazy! We have had so many lessons it feels like a month has gone by! We have also gotten 7 member referrals to go teach people so far, this week. It is crazy how much the Lord blesses your area when you work with the members of the ward you are serving in!

July 22: Today there was a big sewing activity at church to make blankets for local children's Hospitals and stuff. It was super fun. We also helped a guy push his car off the road after several hoses in his engine blew up from over-heating - struggles of triple digit temperatures. 

July 23: Today we rode the bus to take three old Hmong women who can't drive to church. There are a lot more that want to come and the end goal is to teach these people how to ride the bus so they can take people to church in the future. It seems to be working super good so far! The work is going awesome here in Pioneer Park!!

-Elder Yskes

Sewing Service Project

Happy Birthday to Me!!

July 11: today was a solid Birthday! Went to 7-11 for free Slurps twice. Also did a lot of missionary work. Pretty sweet!

July 12: So today we got a random call from a Niam Tais (Hmong word for a Hmong woman) who made us lunch and was like " I think you all are hungry so come over and eat!" So, we had a member make us lunch and dinner! The members here feed us all the time and help us out a lot. It is super cool! 

July 13: Today Elder Baconawa was on his way to a wedding of one of the investigators he taught in his old area. They were stopped at a red light and someone crashed into them! Wrecked the car and they had to be towed back. They are okay though. I was going around with a member doing missionary work. Even though we had to bail on our plans and go deal with a car accident we still got missionary work done! Always a good thing. 

July 14: Today we rode the Bus!! Met some super crazy people! It was fun though. We have some investigators who can't drive so we are going to teach them how to ride the bus! We rode it today to get familiar with the routes! Hopefully it works out! 

July 15: Today we got transfer calls. Elder Baconawa will be leaving but we don't know where yet. 

July 16: Today Elder King and I rode the Bus to church! (Elder Baconawa had a meeting) We were able to take an investigator and a member to church on the bus. It was super fun. Took about an hour and a half but was worth it! 

Everything is going good here in the CFM! Miss you all and hope everything is going well!

-Elder Yskes

Happy 4th of July

July 4: Today was super fun! We met our new Mission President and his wife. They are super awesome! We also were able to hang out with some recent converts and YSA for Independence Day! Way fun! (in the pictures, it is apple juice, not beer)

July 5 -7: Pretty Normal missionary days. Not too much that is interesting happened. 

July 8: Today was my companions Birthday! Yay him! He is 21! Also, we saw a house catch on fire! CRAZY RIGHT!

July 9: Today we had 3 investigators at church! Super cool!

July 10: Today we did an Escape room! We were locked in a zombie lab for an hour trying to break out. There was a live Zombie in there! Every 5 minutes the chain that held him to the wall got longer! Yup we all died... It was fun though!

-Elder Yskes