Baptism

April 17: We went farming again today! It was super fun! then we had our weekly missionary meeting.

April 18: This morning we sung at a Hmong funeral. We sang “Nearer my God to Thee” in Hmong. It was super fun!

April 19: Today we had lunch with former Elder Biggs who came back into town to visit. It was pretty fun! Then we went on exchanges for the day so I was with Elder Hinckley. It was cool to be able and go back and teach some of the people I used to teach. 

April 20: Today was a pretty normal missionary day. Our investigator was interviewed in preparation for their baptism tomorrow, so that was exciting! 

April 21: Today our investigator Ntxawm was baptized! We are super excited for her! It was an amazing experience! 

April 22: Today Ntxawm received the Gift of the Holy Ghost! It was a good day at church. After church, we had a couple really good visits with some members of the church that come and some that don't. Overall a really good week! 

Here are some pictures from the Baptism!

-Elder Yskes

Armed with Smartphones!!

April 10th: This morning we went farming. It was really fun. We helped plant lemongrass  After that we went and taught some lessons. We then went over to the church and had a barbecue so that was pretty fun!

April 11th: Today was pretty crazy! We got our smartphones so now we can have better communication with those were teaching and have access to Facebook. It is pretty weird being back in the real world but we will figure it out.

April 12th: Today was a pretty normal missionary day. Went around trying to teach people and ended up having a really good lesson with a family. When we left the dad was just watching random Mormon Messages so that was cool!

April 13th: Today was really good! We were able to get a couple members out teaching with us so we had some really good lessons. One with an investigator, and one with a less active family.

April 14th: Today was a really busy day. We started off doing some landscaping at our Bishop’s house and then went to a party and met a whole bunch of family members of one of the members in our ward. They challenged us to basketball but we won so it was good! We ended the night visiting someone who lives way out in the middle of nowhere. They had just shot two pigs and we went to go look at them. It was right next to a chicken fighting ring! It was pretty sweet! Hahaha 

April 15th:  Church was really good tonight. Some of the people we are teaching came so that was really cool. After church, we went to the hospital and gave the daughter of one of the families we are teaching a blessing. It was really good. After dinner, an investigator family invited us over for a BBQ. Then we ended the night teaching our Recent Convert. It was really good! It is exciting to see the progress of people. 

Took a couple selfies of some of our friends and of service. Also, one of Elder Israelsen kissing a frog at the Children's hospital. 

-Elder Yskes

11,400 Eggrolls!!!

April 3: Had a couple lessons today then had our MCM meeting.

April 4: Contacted some cool people today. Had a lesson as well so that was good. 

April 5: We went door knocking today. It was pretty fun! We met some cool people and not as many wackos as normal so that was good! After that we visited some members and a couple people I used to teach. It was good! 

April 6: Had a couple more lessons with some people who will probably come out to church this week. Also helped cut vegetables in preparation for the Eggroll fundraiser the youth group will be doing tomorrow. When we were cutting onions, they brought in pizza and after the prayer on the food every single person in the room was crying because it hurt to close your eyes after cutting the onions. It was pretty funny! 

April 7: Today we had our annual Eggroll fundraiser! We made 11,400 Eggrolls!!! It was insane! It was super fun too! It was raining so we had like 10 pop up canopies covering the deep fryers so they wouldn't explode hahaha. Pretty funny! 

April 8: Church today was good! Had a good turn out and saw a couple people who moved about 8 or 9 months ago so that was cool! They came back to visit. It is pretty crazy that I have been in the same ward for this long but hey it is fun! 

Hope y'all have a good week! 

-Elder Yskes

Hard Boiled Baby Chicks Appetizers - DISGUSTING

March 21: We had a ton of lessons today! It was fun to be teaching a lot. We had a lesson with a member and his wife who recently switched to Christianity from Shamanism. We taught them with 5 members of the Ward including the Bishop. We basically talked about how in the beginning when the world was created God gave power to Adam so he would be stronger than Satan. Pretty interesting way to help them leave the Demon worship stuff behind. It seemed to work really well though!

March 22: Today we took some new missionaries who flew in yesterday out street contacting! It is super fun to see someone who has never taught the Gospel before just walk up and be like "Hey! We teach about Jesus!" Hahaha it is super fun. 

March 23: Today was pretty fun! President Mackay came over for a little bit to talk about our area. It was pretty fun! Then a member made us Squirrel for dinner! They didn't skin it so it was pretty not good but we lived! 

March 24: Today we headed out to the Vineyard! We tied the grape vines up to the wires so when they grow they don't rot. Then we had our Ward Easter Party. It was super fun! Several of the people we are teaching came out so that was awesome. There were several activities that were fun but the most intense was "Watch people eat hard boiled developed chicken eggs!" So, they had us white guys crack open some eggs and inside was a hard-boiled baby chick. Wings, feathers, bones and all! Three of the 4 of us ate it. I swallowed it but it didn't stay in my stomach for very long hahaha. They thought it was pretty funny to see a shite guy throw up some nasty baby chick so they had a good time. I, on the other hand, don't think I will be doing that again!

March 25: Today was a pretty good day! Sunday's are always the best! Church is always fun in Hmong! We were able to contact some pretty cool people after church. One of them was an Old Hmong Lady who was teaching us what kind of vegetables you can and can't eat during different seasons of the year. It was pretty interesting. 

Well hope everyone has a good week! 

-Elder Yskes

Riding the Transit System to Church

Tues: Today the members who we had dinner with told us that their son is turning 1 this week. I was in the Ward before he was born... That is crazy. I have been here for a long time hahaha.

Wed: This morning we had a temple trip! It was awesome! Temple trips are the best way to do our morning studies!

Thurs: Had a meeting this morning. It was really good. President trained us on how to use the missionary handbook more effectively and what the purpose of leadership is.

Fri: Today was super busy and we got to teach a lot! It was really good! We have some awesome people we are working with and are excited for them!

Sat: We were out knocking doors and one of the doors we knocked into was a Hmong Women who invited us inside to meet her husband. Her husband created a modified written language and he has written several books and dictionaries in it. So, after teaching us how to read it he gave us about $200 worth of dictionaries and other books. It was pretty cool. 

      Then we had a party with the missionaries that live next to us! We made brackets of transfers as we awaited transfer calls! Aaaaand I am still not getting transferred!! Transfer 11 in the same area, here we go!

Sun: We had an awesome day at church today! 4 of our investigators came and 3 of them we rode on the bus with to and from church. It is really fun! Except the bus was late so we missed our transfer bus and ended up at church 20 minutes late... Thank you very much "fast efficient transit system" for that! Hahaha.

      Then we had another party awaiting where everyone will be going who got transferred. It was fun! 

-Elder Yskes

Couch Moving and Smart Phone Training (Boring....)

Mon: We had a super fun family home evening with a member family that doesn't come to church that often. It was super fun and a really good lesson.

Tues: Another Exchange! Today I was with Elder Lawrence in my area. We had a good exchange and were able to teach a pretty good amount. Also, we had a church BBQ tonight and a 16-year-old we have been teaching came out and afterwards we did a church tour. He had a really good time and thought our church was super cool! 

Wed: Today we had Zone Conference! It was the most boring Zone Conference I have ever been to because all they did was play training videos about the smartphones we will be getting. We got through it though! After Zone Conference, we had a little time before dinner and heard a member that lives nearby was getting rid of a couch. We told her we would take it and she was like alright. After we took it out of her apartment she was like "So.. Where is the truck?" We then picked up the couch and carried it a quarter mile to our apartment. (Don't worry we took turns so we wouldn't die, there were 4 of us) She thought we were insane but hey! We have a couch now! Our gym memberships have been working! 

Thurs: Spent most of the morning helping decorate the church for a women's conference and filling out missionary paperwork. We had a lesson with some members who have an orange tree. Elder Israelsen had never picked an orange before so he was pretty excited! 

Fri: Today we helped move in 2 couches for the member we took the couch from earlier this week. It was a struggle because it was just Elder Israelsen and I because the other Elders were busy. We made it though! A couple more weeks of this and we will have the biggest fore-arms in the mission! 

Sat: Today we met a 91-year-old Hmong guy! He is the Oldest guy I have ever taught! Him and his wife said they would be willing to ride the bus to church tomorrow as well so that will be fun! 

Sun: This morning Elder Strong and I went together to go teach a lesson so the other Elders could go to Ward Council. We were able to teach a super cool family then go ride the bus with the 91-year-old and his wife! It was fun! 

Hope everyone has a good week! Till next time! 

-Elder Yskes