I Thought My Tongue Was Going to Catch on Fire

Dear peeps,

     So this week has been really sad but also really great. (my shift button is broken so im not capitalizing anything by the way.) it has been pretty sad because brother brewster has been on my mind a lot. i respect him and love him so much. he was one of the reasons that i got my eagle and also that i am here right now. ive been praying a lot for him and even though it is sad i know without a shadow of a doubt that he will be with God. i have come really far in the language this week and it has been a huge boost for me. i teach a pretend investigator about four times a week now and my compaion and i can teach about a fifteen to twenty minute lesson which is crazy. there are defintely some awkward pauses here and there but it's so cool to feel the Spirit when im testifying in a language that just six months ago i never even knew existed. i have had a few classes on the hmong (or hmoob whichever you prefer) culture and i am starting to really love them. they've had such a hard life and have been so humbled by the challenges they've faced (according to my teachers who i completely trust.) But one thing that will be pretty difficult for me is their food. its the hottest thing on the planet. they had us try one of the peppers that they sprinkle on top of pretty much everything and i thought my tounge was going to catch on fire but hopefully ill get used to it.

     one funny thing that happened this week was during the sunday night devotional they showed a short clip from this movie called ephraims rescue. in one of the scenes two people kiss and all the elders went crazy. one of the kids in my district covered his eyes and he's one of those kids where he might be serious but i couldnt tell so i started laughing for like ten minutes but he didnt know that i was laughing about him so its all good. on tuesday night i had the chance to sing in the choir at the devotional. there was so many missionaries that we had to go to the marriot center (byu's basketball arena) for it. we sang Joseph Smith's first prayer and i don't know if all of you know this or not but it turns out that angels sing with you at the MTC whenever a hymn is sung. the spirit was so strong and im pretty sure every single person in the whole room knew that Joseph Smith really did see God and Jesus Christ in the sacred grove at fourteen. it truly is amazing when you stop and think about the fact that God, the Creator of absolutely everything, chose to show Himself to a teenage boy. That must have been pretty suprising for Joseph. 

     At the devotional the speaker talked about how he served as a mission president in russia and how he was watching two missionaries in a chapel one day. one of the missionaries was on his last week on the mission and all of the members in the ward were giving him letters and saying goodbye to him because the elder had become part of their family. the other elder was sitting on the side reading his scriptures by himself. he then talked about how studying the scriptures and your language is awesome. the best thing that you can do as a missionary is to serve and love the people. when he said that i got so pumped up to go see the Hmong people (even though I can't talk to them.) that i just wanted to run all the way to minnesota to meet them.

     As his wife was speaking she read us a quote that got me thinking a little bit. an elder she knew once said "you'll spend every day of your mission thinking at least for a second about your home. but when you get back you'll spend the rest of your life thinking about your mission." that made me realize that the best way to serve is with everything i have because ill miss it when it's over. i definitely miss all you guys but it hasn't been to much of a distraction for me. however one or two of the elders in my district can't do anything because all they do is think about the people back home and it's really sad. i've told them that the best way to be happy isn't to worry about the things you can't have but to work hard to show God that your grateful for the things that you do.

     I'm glad that uncle Tom got to hangout this week he's such a great guy and I've learned a lot from him. also tell james that i think stump grinders are pretty awesome too. Libby tell your turtle squeak hi for me and also keep up the good work on making those messes i never liked it when are house was clean it just didn't feel right. Also it would be cool if i got an update on baby Moose. please tell bishop brewster that i love him and that ill miss him. i love you all and ill see you soon.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    -Elder Huav Vam

P.S. mom everybody loves the nerf guns and the football game we had a huge tournament today so thanks for the package.