P-Day 3

Hi Mom!

I SAW A MOOSE AND I ALMOST PET IT!  We were at the scout office doing service. Some worker was like I saw a moose out by the porch in the woods. I'm like heck to the yeah I'm going to see my moose. So I go to the back door where the porch is. I open the door and step outside. I turn around and BAM The moose and I are like an arms length apart. I could reach and touch it's nose he was so close. We stared at each other then he moozied around. He wasn't aggressive. BUT A MOOSE. I could literally feel him breathing.  My iPad was in the car because we were doing service so no picture of a moose.

I ran into the Hmong Jesus.  So the Hmong people have some folktales (which are basically bible stories). One of them is about Shiv Yis. He came and taught and healed the Hmong people and he died and will come back again. This guy insists he is him.  He wants to team up with us. We do need a ward mission leader! Change some of his doctrines and baptize him. He has potential! 

We tracted into 4 potential families this week. The aren't super receptive now but they will in the future. We are only spending about an hour a week finding. We are so busy getting everybody who is on date ready for baptism. In the next month or so when everyone is baptized we have about 6-7 families plus Jainey and Anthony we can start focusing on. We are so busy! I came at a good time when the work is hastened. I love the Hmong branch!! 4 more are being baptized next Saturday! Va Me Jimmy and Alisa. 

So words in Hmong are set up in the same way for every word. There are three parts to a word. The first part is the consonant. The second is a vowel. The third is the tone. The first two parts make up the pronunciation. The last part is how it is said. It's weird Fwm and fwv are pronounced the same exact way. The m is a short quick tone. The v is a falling to rising tone. So they are pronounced the same but said differently. Fwm is honor, while fwv is charismatic, or cool! Then there are some words like Vajtswv are two words combined basically (Vajtswv is God and I think literally it means Holy Father) It's basically Vaj and Tswv but combined. So you pronounce Vaj with the tone and then Tswv with its tone. It's simple but hard. There are like 10 different tones.

Birthday.. We had to give one of the guitars back. It was a loner for a while so I think I am going to buy a new one. Could you put my birthday money in my acc? I think I'm going to get it today then save the birthday money.

Glad to hear that everything is going well! What about your job?

Shib Ntsib Dua!

Your favorite missionary (and son :P)

P-Day 2

I started back to work today and was so glad I had an email waiting for me when I went to lunch.  Sounds like he is still doing great and loving every minute of it! (I had told him that his passport came the day I had already sent him a package.  The funny thing was, I had held off sending it hoping the passport would come and finally gave up.  It was a "Greenie" package- everything was green- and if I waited much longer he wouldn't have been "green" by the time he got it.  Oh well...)

Nyob Zoo!

Yay passport!! And that's funny about the package! But I just got your package. Ps don't send gum. Can only chew in the house or car. Not in public so that'll last two years. Send mints though! Duos :P Also Baptism this Saturday for Kenyu and Kimsheena! 

We started playing a new game in Morning Sports. It's called scatterball. So basically a free for all dodgeball game. And we play it every morning now! We also played it at Hmong night and the Hmong people won't play with me anymore :( they say "American throw too hard" I left a welt on one of Chugach Foothills elders.... Oops!

This week has been crazy! Soooo many meetings. District meeting, Zone Conference and Trainer Trainee meeting! We had 6 more commit to baptism!! That's 14 total right now. We also have a Vang family that told AJ, the guy who gave us the referral for them, they want to join so we will commit the parents then the kids later. Also we have two more that have hinted joining but they are out of town. We could have 18 baptisms!!! Crazyyyyyyyy I can speak Hmong really well and read it! I have tricked some into thinking I can speak it because my tones are perfect. 

H&M opened here and my companion Elder Vang and one of the Chufo elders planned this for a year so I am getting dragged into going.... I think the sisters in our district are going too so it's a district thing now apparently.... Clothes shopping. Guess I'll get some hip clothes

Haven't seen a moose yet :/ soooo many bears and other animals. Waiting for that moose!! I have been on the military base a few times. Apparently it is a tradition to wear a sheep tie on fast Sunday in Alaska so I was gifted a sheep tie! Now I have a sheep tie and a moose tie. 

Going hiking a few times in the next couple weeks. Branch hike, and we get to go because I am a counselor. We have some P-Day hikes planned. One in 2 weeks. Another the week after. Then the best one on my birthday! (As well as Texas Roadhouse). The life of a missionary. Need to find time to fish too! Salmon are about to run. Most interesting foods I have tried so far: Caviar and Octopus. Asian food back home will seem like McDonald's compared to all this authentic stuff here! 

I love you!

Shib Ntsib Dua

Elder Frey

Alma 37:38-47

P-Day Picture

 

Elder Vang and Elder Frey

First Assignment

I heard last week (unofficially from another missionary momma on facebook) that Elder Frey had been assigned to the Hmong branch- speaking Hmong.  I learned this while I was at girls camp and didn't have time to learn what Hmong even was.  But, given the fact that 1. I had never heard of it. 2. Hayden was called to an English speaking mission and therefore was not taught any of it in the MTC. and 3. Hayden had been so excited to be in an English speaking mission~ I was a bit worried about him all week.  More like in a panic.  Today's email (with confirmation of his assignment and also his feelings on the matter) could not come soon enough.  I learned that I need to let go.  He is in the Lord's hands and he will be fine.  I was worried for nothing.

Hi mom!
Alaska is so beautiful! At first I thought it was freezing being in the low 70s. Now anything above 75 feels hot! We are really busy.  We have 8 investigators with a baptism date already! And 4 more this week hopefully. They are ready, now it's time to commit them. We have a few more families we have found and are ready to teach and commit soon. We are really, really busy!
Yes I am speaking Hmong. I found out Tuesday. I am also in the bishopric of the Hmong branch: Second counselor. Elder Vang is Hmong and knows the language and is teaching me. I can read already and it's been a week. I introduced myself in sacrament meeting in Hmong and they loved it! They smiled and laughed!!! I may have butchered it or whatever but they loved it. Teaching is hard but we are working through it. They feed us well. We haven't bought groceries or lunch or
dinner because they feed us or pay for us at Walmart. They are good people. 
My companion is the second tallest in the branch and I am taller than him by 7 inches.  I tower over everybody! I have been working out hard every morning and taking protein and eating healthy (as I can control) and I have gained 15 pounds. You won't recognize me soon.
We are going hiking after I email and I will send pictures. I have seen lots of bears and no moose yet. We were at morning sports and a bear was running around the parking lot!!  Nobody cared. I have a hard time sleeping. I don't know why but hopefully it'll get better! I am doing well though!
Love
Elder Frey

Oh yeah and my companion is awesome! We workout and we have two guitars that we play and sing it's fun!!!!!

I found out by emailing back and forth again that his companion is from California.  The branch is in Anchorage, as is their apartment, but their area covers the entire state of Alaska- wherever there are Hmong people.  He doesn't have his drivers license yet, so his companion drives them everywhere.  He said the 15 pounds is all muscle (haha!) 
There is a woman in the branch named Mee Lee who takes good care of the missionaries.  When I asked if he needed anything this was his response:

We have everything. Mee Lee took care of us. She feeds us like everyday. Others have to fight to get her away from us. She also gives us like 50 each for dinner and refuses to take it back. 

First Photos

In the MTC with Elder Johnson (his buddy since the 4th grade)

With Sister Casagranda-

a women I met on facebook who said she would be at the transfer meeting in Anchorage and would look for Elder Frey. She said she would send a picture.  She did!

 

 The Fabulous 15

(as the mission president called them)

The new missionaries, after being assigned, are at the airport heading off to their new areas.

 

First email from the field

As I mentioned, I was tracking Elder Frey's flight to Alaska.  As I saw the little plane land, I immediately sent him an email saying "Welcome to Alaska"!  I didn't know if he would get it until the following week's P-Day, but a few hours later I got a response.  It wasn't long, but he was letting me know he had arrived.

Mom,
Yup!  Just got here!  The flight is incredible and so far I absolutely love it here!!!!  It is everything I have imagined so far!  Lots of mountains, water, and trees.  I haven't seen a moose yet :(  Soon soon.  I love you!

Flight

I'm tracking Elder Frey's flights using a "Flight Aware" app.  I didn't know flight numbers, but I knew the approximate times after our phone call and found the flights on the app.  So fun to watch him traveling!  (It will be ever more fun in two years when I watch that little plane flying towards HOME!)

 

 

 

The Airport Phone Call

Hayden (Elder Frey) had told me in his email he was leaving for the airport at 3:30 am this morning, which meant 2:30 am in AZ.  That meant I didn't sleep much because I kept waking up and checking my phone.  At 4:44 am (AZ time)  I got THE call. We spoke for about 25 minutes.  It was AWESOME and here is some of what I learned:
*Just like at trek he had "the best district ever!"  He said his friends from home (Kruz and Jacob) kept trying to join them.  There were 12 missionaries in his district.  Half are going to San Diego tomorrow and the rest are headed to Alaska today- 3 sisters and 3 elders.
*Kruz (Elder Johnson) is headed to Finland, but he was in the same building, just one floor up, so they ran into each other quite often.  He ran into Jacob (Elder Martinson) too, but not as often, usually at meals.
*As I said before, Hayden's companion was going to San Diego, but the 2 other elders in his room- Elder Jensen from Wyoming and Elder Younger from Utah- were the other 2 elders going with him to Alaska.  He said they were great friends and they reminded him of his friends Jacob and Chandler.  They are flying to Portland and then on to Anchorage.  He has an hour layover in Portland and said he would try to call, but I'm sure he won't have time.
*He took 2 pictures in front of the temple with his district on their one and only P-Day at the MTC.  He hasn't sent them yet, but will once he gets another P-Day.  I told him to label the pics so I would know who Elders Jensen and Younger were.  He said I'll know them because they're wearing a suit and tie.  (His sense of humor kills me!)
*He said his Zone had 58 missionaries- one of the largest (if not the largest) ever.
*He asked me to thank the Battaglia's (our home teachers) for the package they sent.  I asked about the chips and salsa (I had sent him a package for the 4th of July) and he said he loved it!  I found out later in the conversation that is what Battaglia's sent him too and he was talking about theirs- he never got mine.
*He asked me to send him 2 more ties.  (He must already be bored with the ones he took).
*He said that it's been 100+ degrees in Utah and most of the missionaries having been dying.  He and his companion (from Surprise, AZ) weren't even phased.  He also said he's headed to 76 degrees in Alaska.  (I'm so jealous!)
*I asked about the investigators he taught while he was in the MTC.  I wasn't sure how that worked, but they bring them to the MTC to be taught.
*For Aunt Tisha- they didn't take much off when he went in for his mandatory haircut before leaving the MTC.  They just shaved his neck and took a tiny bit off the top.
*Hayden's luggage weighed 38 lbs. and 20 something pounds so he didn't have to pay extra (YAY!)  He did well!  My packing lessons with him paid off.
*He wanted me to tell Lucky "Hi". 
That is pretty much it, but it was awesome!  He got to talk to Garrett for a minute too (because I guess I got really excited and was loud enough to wake him), but Alyssa slept through it.  Hayden felt bad and told me not to wake her (although I should have anyway).  He had to go so he would have time to call his dad and then get something to eat before they started boarding.  I didn't want to let him go, but I didn't cry (until after we hung up and then they were happy tears).  I'm so happy I got to talk to him.  I know some moms don't get to, so I feel very blessed!

First email

Hi Mom!

Just got a P-Day, my district was jipped out of it...The first week was awesome!  I have an amazing district.  My companion is great and my room mates and I get along really well.  I currently teach 4 lessons a day.  We got 1 investigator committed to baptism, one getting there and another...She isn't ready for the gospel but we are preparing her for the future of possibly having it.  Everything is good!  They catered us with Taco Bell and Costa Vida etc... It was better than the Cafeteria!  Glad to hear from you!  I sent you a letter by the way.

Elder Frey

**This is his first email in 8 days.  I was able to email back and forth with him while he was still at the computer and found out a little more.  He flies to Alaska early Monday morning.  His companion is Elder Alger from Surprise, AZ who will be serving in San Diego.  The other 2 elders in their room are Elder Younger and Elder Jensen.  He said he has seen his 2 best friends, Kruz and Jacob, who just arrived at the MTC yesterday.  They eat their meals together.  He asked for me to send him his consecrated oil because he has given a number of blessings and he has had to go looking for oil each time.  He was headed to get another haircut, even though Aunt Tisha cut it REALLY short before he entered the MTC.  He said it's a requirement to get it cut within five days of leaving the MTC.  And, shaving every day sucks (his words, not mine).

MTC

Elder Hayden Frey entered the MTC on Wednesday, June 24th 2015 at 10:15am.  He was excited to be starting his service to the Lord.