Lack of Food = Increase in Blessings (and Stomach Growls)

The blessings of fasting are REAL! Every time we fast with our
investigators, miracles happen. We had a total miracle of the century:
Sarah doesn't like to come to church if Ruth doesn't come, so since
Ruth was working we figured she wouldn't show...wrong! We called her
that morning to see if she was planning on coming, and she was like
"I'm getting ready now, I'm so excited!" She caught a ride with a
member and was there right on time. What?! It was fast and testimony
meeting, (for all my non-members, that's when members of the
congregation get up to bear their testimonies during service) and she
started crying! She said their stories really touched her and she felt
the spirit. #spiritualmanifestation Fast forward to the Sunday school
lesson on how we receive answers to our prayers, and Sarah was eating
up the student manual and intently listening the whole hour. She
walked out of it going, "I learned so much, I think I know why God
hasn't been giving me my answers straightforward now- I have to work
for it!" Then right before Relief Society, Sister Xiong had a strong
impression to take her to Young Women instead. I am so grateful she
followed her prompting, because the lesson was EXACTLY what she
needed! It was all about the priesthood, why it's important, and how
it blesses us. The teacher challenged every girl to get a priesthood
blessing, so we asked Sarah if she wanted one. She said she
desperately wanted one to help her pass finals, so we got some of the
Elders to do it, and it was the most beautiful blessing! Walking out
of church she couldn't stop beaming, she was so filled with light. She
said it was so worth it to fast, and when we called her to break her
fast with her before dinner, she kept going on about how great church
was (and how great food was haha!). It was one of the best Sundays
I've ever had on my mission- actually just one of the best Sundays in
general! Even though she missed her baptismal date because of her
parents, we're praying they will soften their hearts to let her do it
soon!

We went to visit a grandma at the nursing home, Tais Amy, and she is
so funny. Not because she tries to be, but because she's always out of
it and doesn't know what's going on. We came by to sing to her, and
the whole time she kept offering to pay us hard cash to help her
escape. We told her we couldn't do that, but we would take her for a
walk in her wheelchair. Other than the fact she tried to roll away
from us every 4 seconds and make her getaway, it was a pretty walk and
she enjoyed the sunshine. She really hates the nursing home and says
the food is terrible, so we're planning on going to the Hmong market
this week to get her food she'll actually eat instead of tossing it
out her window. Tais Ntxuj is an equally cute old lady, but a little
more lucid. She was showing us all these pictures of her from when she
was younger, and lamented about being old. So we did an impromptu
mini-photo shoot! We dolled her up and she picked out the outfits and
took the photos on my iPad (photos attached on the email!) We're
surprising her by printing them out today and taking them over to her.
Our service as the cultural center continues to be playing pool and
getting schooled at it by senior citizens, and singing karaoke. I
never know what I'm singing, but I'm just excited I can finally read
Hmong now #retrainingmybrain. And they get a kick out of it, so if
they're happy I'm happy!

So we tried out tracting at a new location, and this place is a black
hole for missionaries- there should be a giant "do not enter" sign at
the front of the community.  We knocked on a few doors and the people
were CRAZY. This one lady tried to spit her drink at us, another
screamed at us, and another one condemned us for playing with her kids
and trying to trick them into coming to church. Yes, how DARE we try
to bring your family to CHURCH! We're just despicable! I find it
ironic how people will say terrible things to us and claim they
already go to church, yet they're acting about as un-Christlike as
possible. After that we were a little discouraged, but as we were
biking away I saw a Mississippi license plate drive by! So I tell
Sister Xiong we're going after it and we follow the bike about half a
mile down until they pull into a liquor store...as they're getting out
of the car I try talking to them, but these two ladies are drunk as
skunks, so unfortunately I didn't get to bond over Jackson and grits
with them. But it was a little tender mercy to see someone from home,
even if they weren't sober :)

Speaking of not sober, we've been on a roll teaching high people on
the street! We figure they'll never remember our conversation, but we
happened to see one of the guys again by his house! He remembered our
names AND asked about The Book of Mormon we had talked about earlier.
It was a shocker! We gave him one and he said he would read it and
come to church Sunday. Will he actually? Probably not, but it's worth
praying for!

Quotes of the week:

Me: "Sister, I love you, but with your hair braided like that you look
like a Jehovah's Witness."
Sister Xiong: "No I don't!"
*woman steps on the elevator with us and looks straight at Sister
Xiong* "Are you girls Jehovah's Witnessess?"
(Holding in that laugh was the hardest thing I've done on my mission)

Sister Xiong: "I need to get better at my journaling. My last entry
was in April...'Yo journal, I really need to get better at keeping a
record.' See how well that worked out?"

Breaking My One-Transfer Companion Streak!

Happy Memorial Day! Can't believe it's already transfers again...no surprise I'm staying in St Paul since it's one of the only Hmong areas in the mission. So happy to stay with Sister Xiong! This week was such a blast! We got to go to the temple to see one of the YSAs, Cindy, get her endowments! She's leaving on her mission to Japan soon, we are so excited for her. While we were there I saw the Stoltz, one of my favorite families from my last area! Their son was getting his endowments since he's leaving on his mission to California next week. It was such a sweet surprise! I love the temple so much, and love continuing to further my understanding of the Savior and Heavenly Father and our potential to one day to become like Them. We had such a huge miracle with Mor!! She asked us to fast with her to help her stop smoking, so we did, and the next day she called to tell us that cigarettes taste nasty to her now! She went to smoke and just had the grossest taste in her mouth during it. God is so good!! Fasting brings forth mighty miracles. Ruth and Sarah continue to grow in the gospel, and are progressing so well! The only thing stopping their baptism is parent opposition, but we're praying their hearts are softened and they'll let them join the church. We had branch conference at church yesterday, and they focused on a topic that was so inspired for the branch! The stake president talked about culture and how we use that as an excuse or a defining factor in our lives. A lot of people have been using "old culture" or "Hmong culture" as the reason for their inactivity or inability to accept the gospel publicly. It's not typically the norm to be Christian in Hmong society- most are Shaman or Buddhist. But he said something I love, "You can CHOOSE what the culture is. Don't let that word define your religious and family beliefs."  It's so true! I love the people here, and I feel like that's something that they can really improve on. I know they can do it if they take that leap of faith! Two of our elders, Elder Vang and Elder Gardiner, are going home this week. 2 years completed! It's sad to see them go, they're such great missionaries. The branch threw them a going away party, so we got to eat good food and talk about our favorite memories of them. Elder Gardiner was the AP when I first came in the mission, so I've known him my whole time here. But they have a life to get back to at home...that'll be me in 11 months! Not trunky or anything :) Yesterday was a major thunderstorm- we didn't have any miles left on our car, and our ride couldn't take us home, so if you can imagine the stereotypical scene of missionaries walking in the pouring rain getting splashed by cars going by, that was me and Sister Xiong....and it was awesome! I've definitely learned how to dance in the rain on my mission, literally and figuratively :) Gonna go celebrate Memorial Day, but shout out to my parents for having their 42nd anniversary today!!! Love you guys! -Sister Brett

Goodbye English....Hello Hmong

*** This letter from Sister Brett's Mission  is out of order...It is actually from five weeks ago***
          The little elves who post Sister Brett's letters each week forgot to post it....sorry.
 

Transfers JUST came out this morning and I'm still processing everything. I am no longer an English speaking missionary....I'm being reassigned to the Hmong language! I'm opening up a brand new area with a Hmong companion and we start in ONE DAY. I am so excited, but I know it'll be a lot of hard work- good thing I love egg rolls. I am so sad to leave behind Eden Prairie, there was a lot of great work to be done here! But I know the next missionaries to take over will do awesome.

This week was crazy fun. We taught the Restoration to some cool druggies who only knew about the Mormons from South Park and The Book of Mormon musical (more to come on that later). They were super chill and had more tattoos than bare skin, but weren't really keen on coming to church at the moment (cuz, you know, drugs). But they were really nice and have a lot of potential when they're not busy with their illegal substances. 

We had another lesson with Tony with our mission president and his wife, who used to be Catholic like him. Her testimony was so powerful and brought him to tears. He's currently in the Philippines, but we'll continue to Skype teach him while he's gone. I love him!

We picked up a new family to teach, the Van Marters. They're the landlord of a recent convert, and they're legit. They're both covered in tattoos and met in VERY.....VERY...unorthodox ways. I think one of the hardest parts about being a missionary is all the confidentiality you have to keep, even when you know disclosing certain things to others would help them. But they have a beautiful newborn baby named Heaven Reign and are looking for a church to accept them and help them get back on their feet. They're so funny and great people!

All the missionaries serving in the cities went to a Twins baseball game on Thursday which was a total blast. I got to see Sister Peterson again! It was the best reunion getting to see her and my old district. The Book of Mormon musical is coming to Minneapolis, so they had posters everywhere advertising it. Maybe that'll send some people over to the real missionaries! After that we taught mission prep for the Young Women a few towns over and it was great! They all really want to serve. I'm so thrilled when I think of all the righteous young women and future mothers going out to serve. IT'S AWESOME.

That was basically our week! I'm a little bummed to be leaving an amazing area, but I am so so so excited to open this new area and experience a new culture and people. Let's hope the gift of tongues comes in handy! I love this gospel, and it's for all people, all around the world, even the ones right here in Minnesota. Love, Sister Brett

Hitting the Six Month Mark

It doesn't seem like I've been on my mission for 6 months! It feels
like a week ago I was still home, but it also feels like missionary
work is all I've ever done. It's definitely been the most worthwhile
thing I've done in my life. This week was full of miracles!
Ruth's parents said she could come to church, and now their whole
family is investigating! We brought some of the members who use to be
part of the Hmong Alliance Church before they were baptized, and it
really helped her parents accept it! And not only to let their
daughters come, but for them to come as well. I am so hopeful for her
family. We also had stellar lessons with Angie and her 2 friends Pa
and Sundy. Their parents are Shaman and don't believe in Christianity,
but they really want to learn about Jesus Christ. They're super cute,
and we're going to their school talent show to support them this
Friday! Angie and her sister-in-law Macy committed to be baptized on
June 5th! Macy has a baby on the way and wants the best for her
family, and thinks the church will help her family become closer.
She's right about that :)

Speaking of babies on the way....I'm going to be an aunt!!! My brother
and his wife are expecting a little girl in October! I'm so excited
for them, but a little heartbroken I won't get to see her until she's
already 7 months old! But God works everything out for a reason. 

Yesterday we had zone conference with all the missionaries in our area
and talked about the differences between sin and weakness. It was
super inspirational to hear that weaknesses aren't necessarily sins,
but actually an opportunity to grow closer to God and rely on Him to
strengthen us. Ether 12:27! Our medical missionary said something
really cool  "For sin he offers us forgiveness, for weakness he offers
us grace." We need all the forgiveness and grace we can get! I'm so
grateful that the Atonement covers our sins AND our weaknesses. Later on we
had a safety seminar on ticks and the Minnesota state bird- the
mosquito. Basically they told us we'll all probably get Lyme disease,
but it's treatable, so it's all good. Can't wait for summer! #killme.
Today is zone pday (which is why my email is a little short today), so
we're doing games and stuff at the park together. Our zone is all
foreign language missionaries, so there's always 4 different
conversations going on in different languages and no way to keep up
haha. BUT the other day Sister Xiong was in the bathroom and a member
of the branch started talking to me, and praying in my heart the whole
time, I was able to understand her AND respond with her understanding
me! I was on cloud 9 all day about that. Little victories :)

Shout out to my parents being member missionaries and helping out with the full-time missionary effort in Mississippi! They shared a really cool experience with me about fellowshipping someone in need, and now she's coming to church with them! Proof you don't need to serve a mission to be a missionary :)
Miracle of the week: Our entire mission has been focusing on setting
solid baptismal dates. Usually we average around 30 date-sets a month,
so we fasted to increase our teaching pool, and so far this month we
have 90 DATE SETS! The power of fasting and prayer is real.

Quote of the week:  "When you have trouble loving someone, love them
for who they can become."

-Sister Brett

Lessons Learned From A Sketchy Aisian Slaughterhouse!

Where did the week go? I can't believe it's already Monday again! It's been a jam-packed 7 days. We picked up several new investigators and have 2 baptismal date-sets! One of them is a 19 year old girl named Ruth. We tracted into her and taught her about the restoration. At the end of the lesson we felt prompted to invite her to be baptized at the end of the month, and she said yes! Her parents go to the Hmong Alliance Church, and are already showing some pushback to her joining the church, but we're planning on teaching her whole family tonight! We're praying so hard that it goes well. We're also teaching this cute old lady named Pang Vang. We help her garden and go on long walks with her, which she really appreciates since she's alone most of the time. She is so hilarious and wants us to come to Bingo with her....contacting opportunity? :) Our other investigator Mor is awesome! She's the girlfriend of a less-active member and they're currently living together. She's also a smoker and drinker, but she is the most committed person, and once she found out those things were wrong she made a game plan to resolve it. We set her baptismal date for July so she has plenty of time to stop smoking and drinking, and find a place to move. The dedication is unreal. She took us out to eat pho, and when she opened her fortune cookie it said "The goal you want to achieve will be accomplished shortly." It was so cool! She got super emotional and said she was going to tape it to her goal sheet that she has on her bathroom mirror. I'm telling you, she's solid!

So we got invited over for dinner at a member's house, and he asked if we could do some service for him beforehand. So we met him and the elders over at his house and he drives us to an unknown location to help him out. The second we pull up, this overwhelming smell of death and manure fills the whole car. I look over at this poorly hand-crafted sign that says "Meat Slaughterhouse" and he informs us we'll be catching, killing, de-gutting, and bringing home our dinner. In my head I'm going "No no no no absolutely not," but outside I'm like "Yeah, sounds fun!" because offending someone you're trying to get referrals from probably isn't the best idea. So we indeed caught, killed, de-gutted, and took home our very own chickens. I named mine "Joseph and Hyrum" because the scene was definitely a set-up of Liberty Jail. I internally sobbed and externally shed a few hidden tears...first rule of food- don't name it if you're planning on eating it. We got home and cooked it, and I was able to force a few bites down so I didn't look rude, but there was NO way I was finishing off a chicken that I had just pet not even 2 hours beforehand. I felt like such a monster, and am eternally grateful I'm serving in the states so I never have to kill my own meal again. But when the zombie apocalypse comes around, I'll at least know how to kill and cook food for my family #survivalskills 

Shout out to my mom for sending an awesome Cinco de Mayo package! It was filled with lots of good stuff (Horchatta for daysss!), and we turned it into a make-shift pinata. I love having the Hermanas live with us! We pillow-talk for hours after bed, which isn't great for our energy levels, but great for our comp unity levels. We went fishing with the elders and went shopping at Hmong village (the best place you will ever go) and found out that I've been missing out on Boba tea, which to my surprise, isn't actually tea! So I found a new love. I got to Skype my family on Mother's Day which was so sweet! I've missed them so much, but this time next year I'll be home! I just want to take a moment to publicly thank my mother for all the things she's done for me. She is the most Christ-like woman I know, and I would give anything to one day be the kind of wife and mother she is. She is my best friend, and I thank Heavenly Father every day for making sure she was stuck with me! :) -Sister Brett

Kuv Hlub Hmoob!

I don't think there's enough space on this email to write about how
much I LOVE Hmong work! This week has been miracle after miracle. Most
of the time I only know 10% of what's going on, if that! Most of them
don't speak English unless they're second generation and have lived in
the States their whole life. So I do a lot of smiling and head nodding
during lessons haha. The language is pretty tough, there's a lot of
tones and dialects that if you get wrong, you're completely messing up
the word and it means something else. I'm very slowly learning
different phrases, but as of now, the only thing I really understand
in conversation is when they point at me and say "mika" (aka pasty
white person). But it's coming along! The branch is so AWESOME!
They've been praying for sister missionaries for a long time, so we
got the biggest warmest welcome with lots of food and hugs. We all
made sushi together with the Relief Society which was totally fun,
then there was a sleepover with all the YSA sisters (who all speak
English #halellujah) where we cooked pho (my new best friend) and
spicy stir-fry. Hmong people know how to eat! In Relief Society we had
croissants and muffins and brownies and cookies....mission addition
will be happening in this area. Sister Xiong is HILARIOUS! She is the
funniest spunkiest ball of fire, but at the same time the sweetest
person on the planet. We have such a blast together, I am so grateful
for her. I couldn't have asked for a better companion OR area! We
actually don't have a set area, we cover all of the Twin Cities and
whatever Hmong sisters the elders can't teach, so we do a lot of
driving!

Our first few days together were crazy! We were all packed up at the
mission home ready to transfer to our new area, and the APs tell us
our apartment isn't ready yet because the elders hadn't finished
moving out. We were super confused because we didn't know we were
taking over an elders apartment. A sister's area got shut down, so we
stayed in their abandoned apartment for the night since there wasn't
room for us anywhere else, which was a lil creepy but fun. All our
stuff was packed in the car and trunk to the max, and on top of that
it was pouring rain, so we couldn't get any of our stuff out for
overnight! We just slept in our clothes and wore the same thing the
next day...classy haha. The next day after a gps fiasco, we finally
found our apartment! The elders were just leaving after clearing out,
and we saw 4 beds in the living room. Turns out the Hermanas were
moving in too- they had to emergency transfer out of their area
because they were being stalked. So now it's like we're living in a
dorm! But it's a lot of fun, we have such a great time. The first few
days the elders took us out with them to appointments and passed us
off a lot of solid investigators! So we finally tried to do some stuff
on our own, and lo and behold, our car battery completely dies in a
Chipotle parking lot. We went around to random people asking if they
could jump the car for us, and these super nice Jehovah's Witnesses
went home to get cables for us and came back and totally saved the
day! It was such a miracle. After that, we went to an appointment and
locked the keys inside the car. We were freaking out and had no idea
what to do. This sketchy guy comes up with a coat hanger, a washcloth,
and a screwdriver, and is like "step aside ladies I got this" and IT
WORKS. It was another miracle from God. Heavenly Father is so good!

Last night was President's fireside with Larry R Lawrence, one of the
Seventy. He gave my favorite general conference talk last October
called "What Lack I Yet?". He gave a really inspiring talk, and I sang
in a quartet with some other sisters! It was such a spiritual night. I
can't express how much I love this work. I love being a missionary,
and I love learning about the Hmong culture and sharing the gospel
with them (jk, Sister Xiong does most of the talking, but still!).

Sidenote: Prince passed away in his Minneapolis home, and he was
totally in my last area's Ward boundaries! So if he'd joined the
church we would have taught him. That's okay, he'll hear the gospel in
the next life!

Love, Sister Brett (Paj Zhuag Lee)

Commodes and the Como Zoo

This week has been all kinds of crazy. (In a good way). Our district went to the temple, which was great. I love that we have a temple in our mission boundaries and are able to go as often as we do. It's a wonderful time for personal revelation for your life. After that we went to the zoo! I haven't been to an actual zoo in ages, so it was a lot of fun. Also...DEON IS GETTING BAPTIZED! A little background on him in case I haven't mentioned anything in a while. Deon is (well, now was!) Hindu, but his brother joined the church and he had the desire to learn what he believed. He's so intelligent, and LOVES the Book of Mormon. He's date-set for May 28th. Woohoo!

We had another lesson with Tony. We watched the Restoration movie with him and a young couple from the ward. The spirit was so strong, especially when Joseph Smith was martyred. Afterwards when we asked him what he felt, you could tell he was pretty emotional and really felt the spirit. Tony never verbalizes how he feels, and it's usually a constant guessing game. But his emotions made it clear that he knew what he saw really happened, and that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God. Tony has come leaps and bounds, and for him to tell us he would finally, with real intent, pray about it, is huge.

Our other investigators are good, but I wouldn't really call them progressing. You can definitely tell who has the desire to learn, and who just wants to use the missionaries as therapists or for slave labor haha. Which isn't bad, because we love to help people with their problems, and we love to do service- but there's a difference between wanting to learn about the gospel and just wanting people to talk to. We fasted yesterday for some solid people desiring to come closer to Christ, and I know our prayers will be answered in God's perfect timing!

So if you thought winter was over for us up north, you thought wrong- we had a massive white-out the other day. I mean, humongous. Luckily we weren't out driving around in it this time, but in a matter of 2 minutes the parking lot outside our window went from nothing to BAM! a foot of snow. It's getting ridiculous, I am soooo ready for spring!! Your girl ain't cut out for the Eskimo life. On the bright side, it was good we got snowed in, because our toilet decided to EXPLODE. Our whole bathroom got flooded- it was pretty nasty. Coming from a girl who's never even held a plunger before, it was gross. But yay for missions teaching you how to be self-reliant, and we figured out how to make the flooding go down. It's always an adventure!

This time next week transfers will have been announced, so this might be my last week in Eden Prairie. I am so grateful for the gospel and for all the ways it's blessed my family. The church is true! Love, Sister Brett