Things are going very well here. I've taught a number of lessons. IT's very fun. We eat at a members house every night then we'll leave by sharing a brief message. I'm still learning a lot. Hmong is tough but I understand a little more every day. I could cry and how badly I just want to be my best. It's soo great what the Lord will do for us if we will just try our hardest. Yesterday was my first Sunday here. I got to translate the sacrament prayer for the Hmong people in the congregation. I have a headset that goes to all the headsets in the congregation when I speak. That one was a lot less tough then the closing prayer because I was just able to read it but the closing prayer was a running translation. It was good though. I received my Hmong name yesterday. Pob Tsuas which means cliff like mountain they say it is a very powerful name, kind of like rock solid. The man who named me came from Asia in the early 80's. He's very wise and humble. His name is Pob Zeb which means rock. There clan name is Vaaj. We pronounce it Vang. They take it seriously too. I'm actually their family. If I were to go anywhere the Vaaj would take me in. It's neat. These people are great. I love them very much. They speak really really fast. In the MTC I learned white Hmong which is the most common but now i'm in a ward that speaks a lot of green Hmong so i'm trying to distinguish the subtle differences.
We live in Olivehurst with a member. Our area is called Yuba City. If you ever have mail to send to me just send it to the mission office. The one that's in Antelope. We drive everywhere which is good and bad. No exercise. I do my best to eat healthy but they just wanna feed us:) It's ok though, I don't mind. The Hmong food is wonderful. My companion is great. He's getting ready to go home in early June but he's still motivated and wanting to work hard which makes me happy. He's from Kaysville UT.
I hope everything around there is going well. Tell my friends I love them.And thank everyone for the love, support, and prayers I feel. The work is the best. Thank you for that scripture too. Look up 2 Nephi 1:5-6 it'll talk a little about how the Hmong people got here. It's neat.
Love, Elder Paramore
