P-Day 12

Hi Mom!

 

Okay so Joanna made me do this..... But we got into an accident. We are all okay!!! No injuries at all.**

 

I am doing awesome as always! It's supposed to snow here tomorrow and possibly Wednesday. It gets dark around 8:30-9. Nothing too bad yet. At its worst in Anchorage it will only be light from 10:30 am to 3 pm. Not bad though. 

 

Got my transfer call, I'm staying, as expected! So I'll be in Anchorage for the winter. Yay! Elder Perkins, one of my Zone Leaders, got his to Barrow LOLOLOLOLOLOL Look where Barrow is.. 

 

Pho is what you need to get. It won't be as good as Grandma Her's pho. I also prefer Thai Pho to Vietnamese Pho. Joanna will tell you about Grandma Her. 

 

I had to give a 35 minute talk on tithing yesterday in the branch.  It's like impossible to speak that long on tithing. I got through my talk in 10 minutes. Then I just had to wing it for 25 more. And I couldn't have been like, "President Lampert you fill in because you are conducting". Nope I was! LOL

 

Besides the talk there wasn't much this week besides this one girl, Bao, that we are teaching. She came to church for her first time last week and met the General Authority. Then she came to church this week and loved it and talked about all the new things she learned. It was awesome!

 

Love you

Your favorite son

Elder Frey 

 

**I had to write him back and get more details on the accident.  Here is a little of what I was able to piece together.

 

I finally got my license and I was driving.  Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving though.  It was late and Elder Vang was tired, so he let me drive home.  We were literally next to our apartment. The other driver was in the opposite turning lane and then decided not to turn.  We were turning and he hit us. It was a criminal hit and run.  The guy literally got out of the car and ran. The police never could find him. We are both alright.

 

 

Northern Lights

 

They aren't very clear, but still so beautiful.  Elder Frey said that usually the Northern Lights can't be seen in Anchorage, but they were for some reason (and they were as bright as you would see further up North).  He also said his companion has been in AK for 21 months and this was the first time he has seen them.

P-Day 11

Hi Mom!

I am glad you had a good week. We had Stake
Conference as well! A General Authority was there, Elder Blunk.  He talked to all of us missionaries then spoke at Stake Conference.
Funny story of the week! Okay so I was falling asleep during the first talk of Stake Conference. President Chadwick, our stake president was speaking. As I was falling in and out of a doze I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to stay awake. Let's say he answers prayers in interesting ways.. Not even 5 seconds after I finish.. I hear: "Can Elder Frey come to the front please?" I snapped up and walked up to the front and he had me speak for a little bit about my transfer story. I had so much adrenaline the whole rest of the meeting I stayed awake.

President Lampert called Stake Conference: The Elder Frey Show. The General Authority, President Chadwick and President Robinson all talked about me in Stake Conference and my experience being put in the Hmong branch.

Our mountains are covered with snow... There is between 2-4 feet of snow at the top apparently. Yesterday it was 25 degrees when I got up...

I may be leaving. Usually when Missionaries come here to the Hmong branch they come for 6+ months. President Lampert was talking to President Robinson joking around saying we need 4 missionaries because we teach so much and President Robinson said "Elder Vang is staying but I don't know about Elder Frey." So we will see Friday!  Don't want to leave!!

Love you!
Elder Frey

Haircut

I got a second email from Elder Frey with these pictures.  It just said, "Undercut and combed it over". 

I have been trying for YEARS to get Hayden to do this with his hair.  His Aunt Tisha tried to style it this way when she cut it before he went into the MTC.  He always said "no" and then brushed it straight down.  So I wrote him right back.

Me: LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Seems like someone has suggested this before.

His response: Elder Lancaster and Elder Vang?

He kills me!  I'm just glad someone has some influence.

 

 

He's wearing the tie I sent in his "Greenie" package when he first arrived in Alaska. 

P-Day 10

Hi Mom,

I am doing well.  Cars don't like you! I haven't
gotten my license yet but I will soon. I'll work on Garrett.
We had our primary program this week. We combined with Chugach Foothills
Ward to do it. They meet at the same time as us. We hold our sacrament
meeting in the Relief Society room while they meet in the Chapel.
Although we have been filling up the room almost full. We had 50 show
up and we were missing  families of 12 and 10! And a few scattered
active members as well. But all the Hmong kids were with the Chugach
Foothills Ward primary to do it because we combine our youth groups.

We did a ton of service this week. We helped the Boy Scouts and the
shipping center. We moved their shipments off the trucks from the
Lower 48, sorted them by order and destination, loaded them onto
pallets, then put them into trucks or planes to get shipped out around
Alaska. We helped Lori Vue move some stuff. Then we helped stain her
patio. We also helped the city wide food drive.

We also helped the Lee's because Tsakong got into a bad accident. One
of his jobs is at FedEx and they were moving a 9,000 pound pallet and
it dropped on his foot. He lost some muscle, nerves and ligaments.
They muscle and ligaments will repair but half of his foot will never
have feeling again because there is no nerves. We have been visiting
him all week and helping the family.

Tsakong served his mission in Elder Vang's Hmong branch in California.
So Elder Vang has known him for a while. He has to work 2 jobs to
support him and his parents right now so he can't come to church. He
always makes jokes that he is one of the less actives although he
comes to every single branch, ChuFoo Hmong activity, and he even took
off work to give a talk in church. First thing he said when we saw him
at the hospital, with a chunk of his foot missing, was "Guess I should
stop being less active." He just always cracks jokes!

Love you!
Elder Frey

P-Day 9 (with tons of hiking photos!!)

Hi Favorite Mom,

 

I had a great birthday. President Lampert was torturing you, mwhahaha. We had a ton of fun at Joanna's eating tacos and cherry gook. Everyone loved it! Picture proof I helped make it!! I remembered everything but the temperature! I thought it was 325 not 350 for 30. Oops. We also had a little party at the Xiongs and they gave me a card and cake and splattered me with whipped cream.

 

Almost as many baptisms as me hehehe. We had to push some dates back because everyone was out of town fishing for the last few trips of the summer. 

We went hiking last week and going today too.  It was 10 miles round trip. Mileage wise that is nothing but It is one of the toughest in the Anchorage area. We had dinner with Brother Shiers of the Chugach Foothills Ward with the ChuFoo Elders and we told him we hiked it and he was amazed. This is a guy in the military who does wilderness survival and some crazy 2 week Backpacking trips and he won't do it. I didn't think it was that bad. I've done worse. The initial few miles are very, very tough. It is almost vertical in some parts. Once you rise up it is just some ridges. You go up and down slowly climbing. Then you get to another decent rise. Then a ridge, then another straight uphill climb and you are at the top. It was so beautiful up there! You could just see mountain ranges and anchorage and the ocean. It wasn't too bad for me and Elder Vang, after the initial climb we ran the thing. Then we ran back. I'm proud of Elder Lancaster, he did it! A 5'10" 140 pound skinny kid finished it in decent time. About 45 minutes after me and Elder Vang and we even ran. 

 

Cool story of the week. So we were tracting and we pick up the loose change we see when we tract and collect it. We bent over and found a quarter in front of a house. We looked at each other and said we need to go knock on this house. We knocked and it was this young couple. I say everyone we find is Golden.... But they all are. The Lord really does put people in your path that are ready. This couple is awesome. They ask us tons of questions and have thus yearning for spiritual knowledge it is crazy! We spent about 2 hours there talking about the restoration and God and Jesus Christ. They wanted to know everything. Finally we were like, you can't learn all at once we will come back! As we left the house, there was another quarter on the ground in the exact same spot in front of the house. 

 

Going hiking so love you and have a good week!

Elder Frey

 

 

Wearing the new hoodie and sweatpants I had sent to him.

With Elders Vang and Lancaster

 Enjoying the view

 

 

SNOW!!

19th Birthday Celebration

(Sunday, September 6) Elder Frey spent his 19th birthday with Joanna Dickson, the branch pianist serving in the Hmong branch.  She had contacted me a few weeks ago and asked what she could do for him to make him feel at home.  She made him tacos and I had sent him the ingredients for "Cherry Gook", his favorite dessert.  I asked her to help him make it.  I had also sent balloons and candles, along with his favorite hoodie, some jerky and breath mints.  (He bought himself a guitar a while back and I had already sent him money towards that as his main gift.)

As I was sitting and writing to him Sunday night, the phone rang.  Alyssa didn't recognize the number and passed me the phone.  It was President Lampert, the branch president that Elder Frey serves with.  He said that Hayden had forgotten to bring the recipe I had sent him for the Cherry Gook and they needed some instructions.  I could hear Hayden talking in the background and IT WAS KILLING ME!  I also spoke with Joanna to give her the instructions as well.

 

 Elder Frey and Rudy

 Sister Lampert, Elder Vang, Elder Uisake, and Rudy

 Making Cherry Cobbler, aka "Gook"

 The cobbler was too hot to put candles in, so they put them in the ice-cream instead.

 Sleeping it off

Back row: Elder Vang, Elder Uasike, Elder Frey, Elder Lancaster.
Front/middle row:  Sister Lampert, President Lampert, Joanna's aunt and uncle. (Elders Vang and Frey are sporting their fast Sunday sheep ties.)