Learning About the Hmong New Year

Hey everyone!

      So, last Tuesday the speaker had everyone born outside of the US come to a special meeting afterwards. My companion and I were both invited because he was born in Korea and I was born in Germany. He had all of us say where we were from and it was cool to see all the different countries represented. After the meeting an Italian sister came up and talked to me. Turns out my brother served in her home ward in Italy!! It was so cool to meet her! 

      Then last Friday one of the Elders in our district went home :( 5 weeks ago he got laryngitis and lost his voice. He still wasn't able to talk after 5 weeks so they sent him home for speech therapy. He is going to be serving in Fresno with me in a few months when he has his voice back so I will be able to serve with him again!

      On Saturday we had a culture lesson on the Hmong New Year. It has already passed this year but next year we will be in Fresno during the Hmong New Year so I can't wait for the festivities! I hope everyone back home had a good New Year! 

Elder Yskes 

Look who I found at the MTC

Elder Lor is a mobster and we his body guards

Christmas in the MTC

Hello everyone, 

      So this week was really fun! Christmas in the MTC was really fun. Christmas Eve I was in a Christmas Nativity that we performed in front of the 1000 or so people here. I played a Book of Mormon prophet named Nephi son of Nephi. My character was in the Americas during Christ's birth and spoke of the signs of His birth in the Americas. It was really fun to be able to perform in front of everyone. I didn't mess up my lines either so that's good. After the Nativity when I walked onto the floor where my classroom is and my whole zone (the MTC is broken into zones of between about 20-60 missionaries) were like screaming and clapping and congratulating me and stuff cuz I wasn't horrible at acting and it was really cool. 

       Christmas morning a bunch of Elders and I got up early to open presents. It was really fun. We also had a bunch of devotionals that were really cool.

      The first devotional was with Elder Dallin H Oaks and his family. They had a bunch of musical performances and some really good talks. It was really fun to watch. They also stayed for sacrament meeting with the entire MTC. That was a really cool experience to have. 

      After the devotional we chilled in our classroom and watched the movie “The Restoration”. We chilled and had a good time hanging together. Later that night we had another devotional. We didn't really wanna go but we did anyway and we're pleasantly surprised.

      David Archuleta came and sang for us! It was really cool and he was really good! He sang a bunch of songs from his Christmas tour and also talked to us about his mission and his experiences on American Idol. He was really fun to listen to. He also brought someone who played this ancient Chinese string piano thing. It was super cool. Overall Christmas was really fun! Email y'all next week!

-Elder Yskes

Christmas Nativity Cast

Christmas Morning

It's What's for Breakfast

Our District

A Visit from Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Hey everyone, 

       This week was a crazy awesome week. Last Tuesday an Apostle named Elder Jeffery R Holland came and spoke to us. He is an outstanding speaker. He spoke of the importance of the Book of Mormon in our church. He spoke about how the Book of Mormon is central to our beliefs and how it is the reason our church has grown so large so fast. When he spoke I could feel the Spirit so strongly and I knew he really was called of God. 

      Then last Sunday we had an amazing devotional. The Piano Guys came! They are a super famous YouTube group and they are all Mormon for you people who don't know. They performed and it was super cool. All four of them also spoke to us and it was really cool to see how strong their faith is. They are really good at preforming too. 

      Overall this week was fun! My knowledge of the language is slowly but steadily increasing which is good. Also we are starting to have culture lessons which have been really interesting. I am learning so much about the Hmong people. I love it.

      Anyways I'll write y'all next week. Don't be afraid to send me letters or emails whenever!

 -Elder Yskes