P-Day 76

Hi Mom!

I am doing good. Haha and setting up the equipment again for the Christmas party. It was funny because I got texted in Juneau asking how to set up the equipment. I just said "I will explain when it is closer because I might be back." But at this point I knew I was coming back because President Lee told me a week early lol. 

But yeah I cut my hair short. I do it myself now because I found a pair of clippers and learned to cut hair a little bit. Except around the ears.... I'm terrible at it. But I only have a 1" blade so when the top gets long, that is all I have. So I just buzz it short and let it grow out then trim the sides. 

Yes I got both the packages. And mmm... I'm just going to skip facetiming 😜 Because lucky isn't there. Also, what is grandmas address? I have a package to send for Christmas and I'll send it to Utah instead of Arizona. 

We'll we had a good week this week. We were busy and able to visit it a ton of people. Nothing abnormal like last week with the pig. It warmed up... "warmed up." It is now high 20s low 30s. Cold by Arizona standards but right now these feels warmer than below 0!

Last Monday we had a busy P-day shopping, haircuts, emails, and a good nap! I also had to give a baptismal interview to a young man all the way out in Bethel, AK. It is amazing how we can communicate face to face over such long distances with FaceTime.

Tuesday was just district meeting. It was a good district meeting. I hate training over technology and 2 of the companionships in my district are out in Nome and Bethel. Tuesday it just froze up a ton! It was a good meeting. We had a service afterwards where we went to the sports arena and we they set it up for the Neighborhood Gift program. So families with low income can come and get food and gifts that have been donated for their families. Turns out that there was a need for Hmong speakers to help out. Well, we had two right in the building. We talked to a ton of Hmong people. We knew some and didn't know some but we got our faces out there. It was a blast! Even picked up some new potential investigators out of it!

Wednesday we visited Dily and as we walked in he was talking to this Hmong Thaib Teb girl (Hmong girl in Thailand). Basically they just talked with people here in America and act like they love you.... they then ask for money. And they are usually married but he needed help how to talk with her. So we had to teach him how to talk to Hmong girls... We also taught him obedience and why we are obedient.

Thursday we went out with a ward mission leader, President Lee. He is crazy bold and it's funny something's. But he is an OG and can get away with it. We were able to meet some good people and try and raise our attendance.

Friday we had the Ward and branch Christmas party. It wasn't as good as last years but it was alright. We had some investigators come and enjoyed it. There was a pretty good turnout.

Saturday we had an emergency move. Mee Lee fed us, so it was good food. We taught some people so it was a good day!

Sunday was the sabbath. We had to do a lot of errands for our relief society president. We also prepared envelopes to send a letter to every member. We didn't have any labels and my handwriting sucks... But we did it.  But yeah we did a lot of ministering.

It was a good week. Love you!

Elder Hayden Frey

 Christmas party setting up

 We found the leftovers!

P-Day 75

Hi Mom! 

We had a good week this week! It was very cold but we stayed busy and had a productive week. The work is picking up! It is doing well. We were able to get 5 more people to come this week. So hopefully we can keep adding people! 

Last P-Day we just went to the church with the Zone and played card games and basketball. The normal... nothing too exciting. There is a new greenie in our zone who is 6'10"... basketball was a lot more difficult then normal.

Tuesday I got to see Kong! I haven't seen him in a while. It was a good visit. We caught up with him and invited him out to church! He is the same old Kong Lor.

Wednesday, we went and saw Dily! Haha Dily Vue. He is the same too... we talked about the Christmas Initiative! By the way, if you haven't seen it yet, it is amazing! We also knocked some doors and and while we were walking in the basement of this apartment complex, we heard a guy singing in Hmong in the laundry room. So I tried to open it but it was locked, so I knocked. I didn't think he heard so I knocked another time loudly. He opened it, and I peeked my head in and starting talking to him. Well, he was singing into the phone.. we thought, crap, we just interrupted. He started singing again and then finished and started cussing... well he called into this Hmong radio station and was singing to try and find some girl to talk to and we interrupted and he ran out of time.

We were standing there ready for him to come yell. Turns out he was a super nice guy. We talked for like 30 minutes. We got invited to his house renewing.... it is a shaman thing where they bless the house before the new year so they can have good spirits. Super nice guy.

We had to give a training at zone meeting on "teaching repentance and baptizing converts." Tsakong told me about a training he gave when I was here the first time. He wanted others to feel how it is like to be a convert, and how the process is difficult. So he created a good obstacle course. We did that food obstacle course, which involves things like: habaneros and the cinnamon challenge. It went very well. It was a spiritual training and had some fun.

We also got to meet up with Sengduan! He is a Laotian investigator but he is tricky to get a hold of. He works for 6 months out of town at a time. It was good to see him. His English is rough and my Lao is 100x worse so we have a hard time communication but we read from the BoM and he felt the spirit!

We went on visits with Tsakong and we went to this less actives house. He was chopping up a pig. So for service we helped him! I have a video but I won't send it to you because... you probably would want to watch. Only in the Hmong branch.

It was a good week. Attendance went up a little bit in sacrament
meeting. Hopefully it continues to go up! 2 more weeks! I love and miss you!

Elder Frey

P-Day 74

Hi Mom!

The Hmong branch is still awesome. It's sad. Attendance went from 80s
to 20-30s... a lot of drama and stuff.. but yeah. Time to go to work
and fix a lot of it. It is good to be back and everyone was excited as
well.

I am staying warm. 4/6 days have been below 0. The other two it snowed
so it warmed to the 20s. But I am holding my own. I got a package of 2
pants.

So last Monday we just balled and cleaned and stuff like that. We also
had to host Elder Wilson for the night, which was fun. We left on
Tuesday.

Tuesday was crazy!! The winds were 60-80 mph and it was raining. So
they boarded us on the plane and said we were going to taxi to the
runway and wait until the winds got to 60 or below to take off. So we
did and waited for 30 minutes. They finally got to 60 and we took off.
It was the bumpiest flight ever. The whole way up was scary. When we
got above the clouds it was alright.

So I got here and we were in a quadpanionship. There were 4 of us for
24 hours. Then Wednesday we dropped off Elder Meade to the temple and
Elder Crawford to the airport. Then we picked up the Nome elders and
hosted them. We had Zone Conference Friday so they flew down for that.
We took them shopping because everything is super expensive in Nome.
But yeah then we dropped them off Saturday at 3. So from
Tuesday-Saturday, we had 4 elders the whole time.

Saturday and Sunday we finally got to do work! Whew, it was an
exhausting week. My Hmong has been really good so far. I thought it
would be rusty but I picked up where I left off. I just have refused
to speak English! But Elder Vue is awesome! He's a stud missionary so
things will be good!

Love you!
TubTxib Fwm/TswjHwm

P-Day 73

Hi Mom! 

President Lee (from the Hmong branch) sent me an email and said, "Hey! We heard you are coming back! We missed you. See you soon!" I also received a prompting at the beginning of this transfer of where and whom I would be serving with. And it was all true! I will be in the Hmong branch with Elder Vue. I think I will finish there. My mission so far as followed the exact path that Ryan's did. 

I went and said good-bye to a bunch of people. I am finishing up tonight. I'll miss Juneau. It was all Tongans and Samoans and they are super loving people. But they aren't like white people with the whole mission mom thing, so yeah. 

I fly out tomorrow pending weather. The weather is unpredictable in Juneau. But looks like I should be able to fly out. So I'll have a Hmong companion this transfer and the new Hmong missionary comes out the next transfer and I'll probably train him. Then I'll only have like 2 months left. 

Last Monday was a good P-Day. We hiked to Mormon hill. Mormon hill was the place where the mission was dedicated. So we got a chance to stand directly where the mission was blessed. What a beautiful place. You could definitely feel the spirit and knew this was a special place. It was awesome. 

We are finishing up teaching Paepae. He will be baptized Saturday and then we finished teaching Joseph, who will be baptized the following Saturday. Then Koleti, who will be baptized as well in a few weeks. It will be exciting to see the 3 of them enter the waters of baptism. But I won't witness it, pictures only. 

We also received great news. The Ramirez family will be going to get sealed in the next few weeks! It is amazing how far they have come and are now going to be sealed for time and eternity together as a family! They are doing it in Cali but I am so happy for them!! 

The work is going great, it really picked up strong and there are several baptisms over the next few weeks. It is exciting to see the Lord hasten his own work. I know it  is true. I love you! 

Sau npe,
Elder Frey

(I finally got the tag picture I have been asking for!!!)

P-Day 72

Hi Mom!

I had a good week this week. It was successful and busy. I didn't have
a chance but I think you should just order those pants. Things here in
Juneau are overpriced so yeah. Just order them soon because I'm down
to 2 pairs! Also, black and grey please (:

But yeah so onto the week, it is getting cold! It is in the high teens
and low to mid 20s. Thankfully no rain and snow! Although, with all
the frost we are getting, it's piled up and looks like snow lol! But
not on the roads. But I have to start dressing warmer.

Monday- We had to do a lot of errands for P-day and stuff. But after,
we taught 2 investigators. Both from Samoa and hardly speak English.
So our ward mission leader translated and helped teach. It went very
well.

Tuesday we had district meeting. It was a good meeting. We taught
another investigator named Priscilla. She had denied me 4 times but
then came to church and accepted an invitation to take the
discussions. We taught her lesson 1 and it went alright.

Wednesday we went on exchanges with Auke Bay. Elder Stepp came here
with me. He came out with me and is from AZ too. So we had fun. We
walked and OYM'd. We also taught Jessica, an investigator we have on
date for Feb. 4th.

Thursday was same old same old too. We went to glory hole and cooked
for the homeless. Then exchanged back. We had a busy after noon
teaching. We taught 3 Samoan lessons in a row. While we were walking
out of one, we OYM'd someone outside and taught a lesson, and got a
return appointment!

Friday and Saturday weren't good days. We had lessons set up for every
hour of the day. And they almost all canceled. We did have interviews
with President Robinson. That went well. He talked with me about the
Hmong branch a little bit. Is that a sign?! I hope so (;

Saturday had a little glimmer of hope. We put a Joseph, a 12 year old
boy, in a part member family on date for December 10th. It was a good
lesson. He always has interesting questions that you can tell he
thinks about things. He is excited!

Saturday we also decided to go walking because everything canceled. I
was ill prepared. We were at the trailer making calls so I couldn't go
grab stuff. But it gets dark here at 3. And we walked from 4-9. We
walked a total of 10 mikes talking to everyone. We did teach a lesson
though! It was neat. Our branch mission leader drove by as we were
doing so too!

Sunday was a good day. Poppy, who is from Thailand, made me Thai curry
(: I love it and miss it since I've left Hmong. But we also put
PaePae, a 17 year old Samoan kid, on date for December 3rd. He is
excited too! Our WML will talk to his parents back in Samoa to make
sure it is all good!

Today, we don't know what we are doing but I'll tell you next week!

Things are good. We have 3 on date right now and possibly 4 more by
the end of the week. We have plans to at least! It's exciting. We have
transfer calls Friday, I am probably leaving because Elder Pew only
has 1 more after this.. sad, I have come to love Juneau. I love you!

Elder Haydonis!

P-Day 71

Hello!

We have another busy P-day today and there isn't a lot of time. But I
wanted to write in some detail so I will send a single email to
everyone. But we have already done a lot today. We have deep cleaned,
shopped, done laundry and Elder Pew needs a hair cut so we are going
to do that. Then we are hanging out at the Juneau trailer with Auke
Bay.

Last Monday we had the APs come down for exchanges. It was a blast. I
have served around Elder Bird and Elder Jensen and I were in the same
MTC district/room. So I know him very well. We hiked out to the ice
caves which was a blast. We miss timed it. And by the time we hiked
the 5 miles to get there, it was dark. We explored a bit and started
back while it was pitch black. It gets dark around 3:40 here.. but
that was an adventure. All the flash lights started to go out... we
all got back safe and sound

Tuesday we had district meeting and the exchange. Me and Elder Jensen
just walked around and talked with people. It was good. It rained a
ton and we were soaked.

Wednesday, we had to bring one of the cars in for tires and an oil
change. Instead of just sitting and waiting, we decided to walk around
and talk with people. So we just walked and OYM'd. We were able to
give our a lot of pass along cards for the new Christmas video, which
is amazing btw, we watch it in MLC a few weeks ago. We also gave out
some BoM. We talked with this native and he talked about how Jesus
came to America and visited and taught here too. Well, we actually
have a book about it! We gave him a copy.

Thursday and Friday and Saturday were all the same. We did a lot of
OYMing and tracting. Miracles are happening though, we were able to
pick up a bunch of new investigators, but not through contacting. We
had people call us with some and they just showed up the church. It
was amazing. Miracles happen when you sacrifice and work hard.

Sunday we had to give talks. We got called to do it on Thursday. I
ended up talking for a really long time... like 40 minutes. So Elder
Pew got off a little bit. He still gave a great talk. I talked about
faith and he talked about repentance. They worked well together.

Things are great here in Juneau. Elder Bird never sent the photos of
the ice caves... so I have no photos today. Maybe next week. We have
interviews with the mission president this Friday. We are excited for
besides that, not much new this week. Just teaching. Have a good week!

Til next time!
Elder Hayden Frey

P-Day 70

Hi Mom!

I thought I added you to the list.... awkward. I only had time to send 1 email. So I sent a massive one out and forgot to add you oops. But here is one this week (: MLC was awesome. I went through the temple for the first time in like, almost 6 months! 

 It was a good week. Last Monday, we had a Halloween party with Auke Bay! We BBQ'd and played some waffle ball. It was fun. I also cut my own hair for the first time. It came out great! I was impressed. 

Tuesday, we flew to Anchorage. Before that, we picked up a new investigator, Joseph. Our relief society President prayed about a family to give us and a less active came to mind. So we went and visited, turns out they wanted to come back and have a son who hasn't been baptized. Mm coincidence? But we had a booked flight. It was weird for a flight leaving Juneau... but the APs called us and said we didn't have to give our training as we were finishing it... 

Wednesday, MLC!! Like I said, we went through the temple hence, not having to give our training. It was amazing and I learned so much. MLC was centered around the temple and how we have the ability to seal families together forever, and that's the Lord's vision for us: happy at home, sealed for eternity. We focused on getting everyone to the temple. The APs training was our training as well... it was amazing how Presidents, and the APs fit into ours perfectly. It's like it was meant to be or something. 

Thursday- Since we were gone for Tuesday and Wednesday essentially, we had a booked day teaching everyone we would have visited those two days. While it was good, it wasn't. We had no time to plan zone meeting... We had some great lessons though!

Friday- We got up and planned, planned, planned. All the way up until zone meeting. 4.5 hours of planning. But it was a sweet training. It was one of my favorites. We talked about how to achieve success. We thought about success, and an equation came to our mind: Success= Motivation --(Goals)--> Vision. It was one big training. But of course, we went overtime. But it was awesome. The main point was "How to set small goals to achieve big ones." Of course we never trained on setting goals. We didn't even hint at it. But the spirit taught everyone that and it was amazing. We talked about doing the little things to do big things, like give out 5 BoM a week, talk to 10 people a day (Like Elder Ballard promised us.) and stuff like that. One of the most revelatory and worthwhile trainings I have given. We had some of the struggling missionaries call us and talk about new goals they set so they can find success. It was awesome, they are being accountable to us and achieving! It is awesome seeing them change. 

Saturday- we were able to teach Joseph and Maryann. It was an effective day. We walked around and talked with a bunch of people. 

Sunday- Same old same old. We went to church and had a massive Polynesian dinner with some LA, RC and our WML. Then we had FHE with the Latus. We created an Accountability plan with our DLs. So we can set goals and be accountable to them nightly. Since our zone covers 221,000 square miles. It's difficult to see everyone... as we are accountable, we will do our best. 

Today- The APs fly in for exchanges. We are going to hike to the ice caves again. Good P-Day planned. 

Love you and sorry again!

Elder Hayden Frey

With Elder Pew at the airport in Anchorage

P-Day 69

Hello Everyone,

So, I am just going to send one big giant email today. We have a busy
day today and have very little time to email, sorry! But it was a
stressful week. We have MLC coming up so we will fly to ANC for that.
We have been planning and preparing for that as well as zone meeting.

Last Monday: We were going to go hike, but since it was Deep Clean
P-Day, we decided to clean our apartment. It was nice and clean. With
the time we had remaining we hiked out to Nugget Falls and enjoyed the
view of the glacier. We hoped to see a bear and sure enough, 15
minutes after we left, a bear and 3 cubs came out. So Auke Bay
decided to hike it as well.  We then played basketball for the rest of the time.

Brother Sekona set up a lesson with some nonmembers for us, John and
Koleti. We had dinner over there and talked with them. Both are
interested in moving past the mistakes they made in life and looking
for a start over. Why not do that with the Plan of Happiness?

Tuesday: We had a good district meeting. Elder Stepp is doing a good
job as our district leader. After that we had a lesson with Ivy. It
went well! After that, we went and sang to a lady who is in the
assisted living home. She has been there for 7 almost 8 years... She
was happy for our company. Besides those two things, we walked around
all day in an effort to save miles, lose weight, and talk with
everyone. Our mission has a goal of talking with 10 people outside of
normal contacting, so we increased our efforts in doing so. We have
met some cool people doing so!

Wednesday: We began our MLC training. We just made some calls to
various members of our zone. Since they are all on islands within a
221,000 square mile radius, it is difficult to see them as you can
imagine.. but we got some good help. We we had a lesson with Brother
Adams and his wife, we talked about covenants and the sabbath day. It
was an inspiring lesson, as always. We taught John and Koleti again
after that. We taught the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness.
They lit up as we talked about families being together forever and
about how trials and mistakes, as well as Jesus Christ, play into
eternity. They responded very well. Other then that, more walking!

Thursday- We had a busy day set up but... everything dropped. Since we
have MLC, we just continued on our training. We started to figure it
out then. Also, our 1st Counselor in the mission presidency and our
vehicle coordinator was in town for Stake conference and checked our
apartment, it was 👌👌. Haha see Mom! I can clean 😜

Friday- We had a vehicle training with all the missionaries and
President LaVoie. It went well, those who didn't know about various
parts and functions of a car now know. So now we can be safe 500 miles
away in Juneau. We just continued on our training. We also prepared
our training for the Stake Ward Mission Leader training.

Saturday- Whew! Busy. So we had breakfast with Mary Ann. And there was
a lot... she is doing very well. After we had lunch with Nia.. like
right after. Then we had to stand up and give a training to Ward
mission leaders. It went well. We gave a chapel tour, and taught Andy
after that. Things went very well. The spirit was strong and it
definitely testified through us.

After that, we had the adult session of stake conference. It went
well! I learned a lot. But, miracle, our stake president wants to meet
with us now!

Sunday: Stake Conference and planning the training. We are almost
done. We have lots of content and ideas, now just what to share and
how to present it. The training is going well though! We also picked
up a part-member family referral!

Today!: We are throwing a halloween party with us and Auke Bay! Haha
we are BBQing basically. Yup, a party of 4. It'll be fun. We have
waffle balls and meat.

Yup, everything is going awesome! Busy day today so sorry there isn't
much time to email. I'll send photos for once in a separate email. I
love you all and have a good week!

Elder Hayden Frey