Email #9

NYOB ZOO! Oh My Lanta, I love you guys! This week has been great! T-minus 15 days until I am OUT OF HERE! I'm kinda nervous, but mostly excited. We've been working for what sometimes feels like aneternity to prepare ourselves to be able to teach with the Spirit and, you know, in the language, so I'm excited to just get out there and finally do what we've been talking about! It's going to be great!

 

So I've started to just write down little notes in my planner of thoughts I want to send home. Some of them are awesome, some incredibly stupid, but that's alright.

 

• So I've been told by multiple people that I look like President Barack Obama... not sure really how to take that...
• We had a really amazing week this wise in terms of teaching. Incredibly hard, but great! We've been teaching an 'investigator' who had already gone to Christian churches and said he was already baptized and that he didn't need to be baptized again. We had been teaching him about the priesthood and why it is important, but we were seemingly going nowhere, so we decided to stop being nice/beating around the bush and just straight-up tell him that his baptism wasn't done with proper authority and only our church had the authority to do so. It made me realize that the message we are teaching is bold, and as such I too need to be bold and unafraid in declaring the message. And plus, considering the language barrier, it sometimes forces us to be very bold because that's all we're able to say.
• Okay, this is another really stupid thought, but I've decided I'm hoping my Hmong name will be Zaj Dawb... It means White Dragon...
• I think I mentioned this last week, but me and an Elder from high school, Elder Eldredge, auditioned to play in the devotional in front of the whole MTC. Long story short, we're not sure if we made it or not so we have to audition again on Thursday, so I'll keep you posted on that (again).
• So that other day in class, the three of us Hmongs were getting really confused and hitting a wall in terms of how to make a lesson plan for one of our investigators, and our Teacher interrupted and talked to us about something that has been really meaningful. He asked us if we felt lost, then continued to explain how we were beginning to understand what it meant to be 'lost in the work,' and that we were progressing towards becoming the missionary the Lord would have us be. I'd never thought of it that way before - if we are to truly lose ourselves in the work, than an element of that is feeling lost! It was a much needed thought because I was beginning to get frustrated in that I wasn't sure how to best approach the situation, but I've realized it's just a part of the process of become the Lord's missionary. This week I read in Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." To me, that is such an incredible scripture because if we are the Lord's side, working to bring about His will, He will always be with us and never fail us.

I love you guys so much! I am so incredibly grateful for the love and support you continue to give me, and I can honestly say that I am working my hardest out here and will not let you down. This opportunity to serve has been the most difficult experience I have ever been through, yet also far more rewarding than I ever imagined. And this is only two months in! Holy Cow, just realized my 2-month mark was yesterday! Anyways, you are all in my prayers, and I'd love to hear from you, just shoot me a letter or a DearElder. Sib Ntsib Dua!

 

- Es Daws Tooj (Elder Doane)