P-Day 34

Hi Lovely Mother,

I am doing alright. Elder Meade and I haven't gotten along
particularly well. There is a saying that, “There are no hard companions,
only hard hearts". I am trying as hard as I can. But at this point,
Alyssa at her worst was easier than this. There is a lack of effort
and I am trying hard, but the last two weeks I have noticed my effort
has gone down. I am going to try and talk to President Robinson and
see if we can try and unify our companionship so I can have more joy
in this work. I know it is the Lord's work and I am giving up these
two years so that families can be together forever.

We did finally have a lesson with Cher, the guy who drove up to me and
Vang 1 back at Halloween. The CMA (Christian) Hmong church grabbed him but he still hasn't "joined" yet. We taught him the Restoration and talked about finding the truth. We can hopefully get him back. The CMA Hmong church likes to throw money around.... So they attract a lot of people. Even if they don't believe in God because they throw money
around. But we teach the truth. It was a good thing we have Tsakong because he really brought the spirit in there. I love you!

Love,
Elder Hayden Frey

P-Day 33

Hello,

So the service I was stoked about... Didn't work out. I was unable to translate for the parent teacher conferences. But it's okay! Maybe next time. I did use my Hmong skills to the max though. Sunday was absolutely terrible weather. It was raining frozen rain hard and winds were 30-40 mph. It was legit raining sideways but the roads were a ice rink. Later on it changed to snow and made everything worse. It was a mess. Our speakers were supposed to drive from Eagle River from another Ward. Since the weather was so bad... They didn't come... I had to give an impromptu talk in Hmong. It ended up going 25 minutes. The worst part was I have been sick all week and I was up there coughing and sneezing. I also had fever chills going on. It was not fun but I thank the spirit for the magnifying of my words!

I was sick all week pretty much.. Between me and Elder Meade being sick, we lost a lot of proselytizing time. It will get better. It was a good service week. We did wayyy over the "limit" for service and did a lot of good things. We saw a car pulled over broken down and stopped to see if he needed help. Turns out he was Hmong and a member! He wasn't interested in returning and his Hmong was.... Terrible... Haha but we helped him out. 

We also had a branch activity in Palmer. It's fun seeing that part of the country. I got to meet some people down there... Let's just say some are the crazy hicks. Crazy..... Like Straight off of TV crazy... Haha it was a lot of fun!

Besides impromptu talking in Hmong, temple, service and sick all week, there was absolutely nothing. No cool interesting stories. Maybe next week! Also some pictures from a few P-Days ago. We visited an old Catholic Church. It was a short hike to it and then we looked around. 
Have a good week!
Love, Elder Hayden Frey

P-Day 32

Hi Sister Mother

I got your package and loved the pun!** That was a lot of Chocolate.
Just like missionaries do... They stole a bunch. But I still have
quite a bit. I haven't gotten Mindi's yet.

I got a neat service opportunity for this week that I am stoked about!
President Lampert was picking up his granddaughter from school and
said "Nyob Zoo" to a Hmong family at the school and the principal
heard. She asked him if he would translate for Parent Teacher
conferences. He doesn't know Hmong at all so of course he turned it
down. He asked us to ask Tsakong but Tsakong said no he couldn't. And
no one else was free so I am the translator now. Looks like President
Robinson can't transfer me now! I am now translating for the community
as well!

We had a regional stake broadcast yesterday. That was a neat little
broadcast to the Northwestern United States and British Columbia. They
taught a lot about being examples in our faith and how doing the
little things can increase it. They emphasized the First Vision and
Book of Mormon being the foundation of our church.

My trainer, Ryan Vang, came into town this weekend! He visited for the
weekend. On Saturday we went out to eat with him then Sunday he went
on visits with us from 2-9. We caught up and had a fun time doing
missionary work. He's going home today so after this I am going to
drop him off at the airport.

We had a super sweet lesson with Kia This week. Kia was someone
Ryan and I met at our Thanksgiving party and talked to. After meeting her,
we knew she was super golden or gunna be a basher. Ryan and I tried,
then Jamal and I tried and we could never meet with her. Finally Elder Meade 
and I just went and we met with her and it was a spiritually
amazing lesson. We talked with her about churches she attended and
none of them were the LDS church.

We taught her the restoration and when we got to the part about the
Great Apostasy she just got it and understood. She had always wondered
what happened after the apostles were killed and why there were so
many churches when we have one God. We then talked about Joseph Smith
and how he wanted to know the truth. She really loved this part
because it was the same boat that she was in. She really wanted to
know. We recited the First Vision to her and she said she heard it
somewhere and didn't know where. It was the Light of Christ. She
wasn't hearing anything new, the truth was inside of her. We asked her
to be baptized and she agreed. We do not have a set date because she
wants to discuss it with her husband first.

Another Miracle this week. We were sitting in the church building
waiting for our lesson to arrive. They texted saying they would be
late. Then a random person knocks on the church door and tries to open
it. We open it for him. We start talking to him. He told us how he is
trying to change his life around and fix his marriage. He was driving
and he felt like he needed to go to this church building. He even
pulled to the back where we were and not the front. We taught him the
restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon and left him with the
promise, this is what you are looking for and it will change your life
for the better.

That's it for the week! Have a wonderful week! Love you!
Elder Hayden Frey

** I had sent a box full of different sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and cookies with Reese’s in them, with the saying- “Good luck with your new “REESE’s”ponsibility. (Meaning being the only Hmong speaking elder and teaching Elder Meade the language.)

P-Day 31

Nyob zoo,

Elder Meade is from "The Factory" (Utah). He has been out for 15 months and he is interesting.... We get along for now... But there is only hard hearts not hard companions.

What a week this was. It was my first with an English companion and I am the Hmong elder. We meet a few interesting people this week. The first is a relatively young guy named Adam. He isn't super interested (right now) but knows lots of Mormons and met the missionaries before. He asked a lot of questions and we gave him a Book of Mormon. He was a fun dude to talk to. He will be ready in the not so far future, just not the elect right now.

Another one is an old investigator named Puab. Uhhh yeah.... I didn’t know her at all so we went to go visit her. She was 90 something and half deaf and she was hard to understand when she did speak... And she spoke green Hmong... Most missionaries learn white Hmong because it is more universal and Ryan Vang spoke white Hmong. But green Hmong can speak and understand white Hmong but white can't understand or speak green Hmong.... I somehow could understand her and had a conversation with her... She asked us to pray for her so I did. And she fell asleep in the middle of the prayer... Finally Elder Meade said "Amen” really loud and she woke up. When she woke up she asked me to pray for her again. So I said 2 prayers in 3 minutes.. That was interesting.

Elder Meade got up and bore his testimony in Hmong on Sunday. The members don't care if it's good or bad, only if you try. So I told him no more English. And he did alright for his first time! I'm proud.

That's the week basically. We have some really solid investigators and a lot of good things should be happening here soon! Have a good week, love you!
Your favorite Hmong elder, 
Elder Frey

Earthquake Photos

I’m not sure who is in these photos (or even who took them), but Hayden sent them to show some of the damage from last weeks’ earthquake.

P-Day 30

Hello,

This week is transfer week. Another transfer, another companion dying! Elder Vang is going back home to California after his 2 years. He was a fun companion and funny dude. He taught me a lot. I'll miss him and I was sad I couldn't be with him longer than 1 transfer. 

I have gotten my transfer call. I am getting Elder Meade as my companion. I am officially the only missionary who knows Hmong. I don't know how long Elder Meade (out for about 15 months) will be here but all I will say is it will be interesting and I have mixed feelings about it. But I will work hard and continue to learn and grow and serve the Hmong people. 

We had branch conference yesterday and for it, there had to be a special musical number. So Joanna asked me and Elder Vang to do a number with Qaze and Gao. So we did the "Child's Prayer" duet but in Hmong. That went well. Me and Elder Vang just sang softly .

Not much besides that this week. No rebuking people in Hmong or earthquakes. Speaking of which I have some pictures from that. Also this earthquake was bigger then the one that destroyed Haiti, just this is Alaska where things are built for earthquakes!

Love you,

Elder Frey

At Elder Vang’s Birthday dinner