P-Day 24

Hi Mom,

It's not cold at all right now. It's been above freezing 2 this week and sits in the mid to high twenties. Dudley has a lower average temperature then Anchorage. Although, Christmas Eve is supposed to be -5 as  the high.

The Hmong people are awesome! I don't see much of anybody else. Mee Lee bought me a really neat book. It tells a story of a Hmong refugee which is basically the story of the Hmong. President Lee as a similar story, Sister Her has an amazing story. The Hmong people were running from their lives from the Laos communists and the North Vietnamese. They fought with the US and when they pulled out they ran from place to place and tried to escape in Thailand. They guy in the book paid his way across the Mekong but President Lee, along with most of the Hmong, floated across on trash bags, hiding from the soldiers, to go in Thailand. There they waited in horrid conditions until they could be sponsored into other cities.

Friday I can skype home with you all. I will call you on the phone and we will set a time and set it up. I will probably just use FaceTime because it is easier and both you and Dad have it. Can you send me your phone number and I will do so Friday.

What a wonderful week this was. Every week is good up here because guess what?! I'm still in Alaska. The greatest place on earth. I don’t think you can get tired of a place like this. There is something new almost every day.

It was my first week with my new companion. 6 months out and I have had 1 companion! He was my trainer and then I "killed" him off and he went home. Apparently I'm a serial killer or something because my next companion, Elder Vang, is going home after this transfer. We have no more Hmong speakers coming out as of right now. I will probably train
a brand new missionary and he will get the best surprise ever! Like I did.

Lately I have been asked a lot what speaking Hmong is like. It is a tonal language. Not only does a word depend on pronunciation, but also the tone and how you say it. In Thai and Laotian, there are 5 tones. In Hmong there is 8. It's a pretty interesting and fun language to speak. It is also an unusual language. How many people do you know can say they speak Hmong?!

This week we did a lot of service for the storehouse. We helped them load pallets with food and onto the trucks. Then we helped them unload and distribute. It was an amazing thing to do during this Christmas season. I hope it made the difference in many people's lives.

We also went "Carol Tracting." We got a few missionaries together and we went around Anchorage and knocked on people's doors and sang to them. It was awkward sometimes but as a missionary, nothing is ever awkward. A lot of people appreciated it and a lot of people.. Not so much but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed some hot chocolate and
volleyball afterwards!

Elder Vang, or "Elder Vaj Me" (Small Elder Vang) as the Hmong people call him, is awesome. I've known him for about 3 months now and we knew we would serve together a long time ago. He is a funny man. He is care free and doesn't stress. It makes me not stress about anything too! We have a lot of fun and work hard.

Sorry if my English is poor. Writing, and even sometimes, speaking in it is funky!! Have a good week! 
Love you, Sib ntsib dua
Hayden