Moar Photographs (LOL Cats spelling)

Dear All,

Photos are first, The logs we carried up a mountain and arranged, with no idea what we were doing. We later climbed another mountain, and saw the result.

 "And the Lord called his people because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them" (Moses 7:18).

 Second photo is Our Zone, the Chugach Zone. You see Elders from Eagle River, Anchorage, Nome, Bethel and Kotzebue.

 I guess I'll just have to be quick.... (Photos are hiking Mt Baldy *(Dad, I can't get away from bald mountains, even in Alaska!) and Slingshot-ing at Zone Conference. Be it known that I rock at those things. It's great to talk again.

This week flew by with speed. I was shocked to see that there was already a week less remaining on my mission. There wasn't a lot to talk about until yesterday, which I loved. We had our little room in the church building FILLED with Hmong people at sacrament meeting. There were probably 50 people there. It was an amazing meeting.

I had been assigned to give a talk, which I did. I really couldn't thing of anything to speak about, so I fell back on What's important, and talked about God's love for us. I brought up Moses 1, which first shows God's power, his creations, and his works. Then I went on to the next verse: "Behold, Thou art my son". God has all these creations to thing about, yet he takes time for each and every one of us. he will never slack off on caring for and looking after us. Moses 1:39: The point of God Even BEING there is because he loves us. God is Love, And we can feel that wherever we are.

 It always makes me think about the Restoration in a new light when I think about The first word God said to Joseph Smith. He Called him BY NAME. God knows all of us on a "first name basis". Anyway, I didn't really think it was that great of a talk, but people said it was what they needed to hear, so that's good.

 I Got the second package from my family. The Sobe didn't explode, but the cereal did, a bit. Don't worry though, because I am so loaded on Cereal you don't need to send any more. Seriously. Don't.

 Anyway, The weather's been turning colder, and it won't be more than a few more weeks before we have lasting snow. I realize I never sent my family any winter stuff for them to send back to me, which is just as well. Don't worry about sending the socks back; I'm still loaded on those too.

Hmong is slowly progressing. It's slow, hard, and memorization is hardest, but it's coming. So, I'll leave you with an illegible testimony. Don't use Bing to translate, unless you want a laugh.

 Kuv paub hais tias Phau Ntawv Maumoos muaj tseev. Kuv paub hais tias Yexus Khetos yog Vajtswv leej tub. Vajtswv yog peleej txiv saum ntuj ceeb tsheeb, Thiab kuv hais tej yam no los ntawm Yexus Khetos lub npe, Amees.

  Hlub from the North

 Elder Dawbzaj  (White Dragon)

Glaciers and Musk Ox and Transfers... OH MY!

All

 First off, I'm on a bad computer again, so sorry.

Second, I just got transfer calls. I'm going to serve in the Hmong branch. I'm serious! I get to go and learn a language! (TAKE THAT, COUSINS, SIBLINGS AND SIBLINGS BOYFRIEND WHO ALL KNOW CHINESE AND SPANISH (and french; How's that going anyway, Dia?)...


 So, I'm pretty sure most of you are wondering what that is anyway, so I'll explain. Hmongs are from China, Laos and the surrounding areas, and they've been kicked out for various reasons.

Wikipiedia has it better; just check it out there. Anyway, A lot of them found their way to Alaska (and Tulsa, by the way) and there found us, the LDS missionaries. Therefore, the Hmong Branch was born. And now I'm going to serve there.

 "But Elder Darcey! What will happen to Brayton, your current area?

 I'm glad you asked, random questioner. The answer is that another Elder and his trainee will move in and work here. I trust that they'll do well.

 "Isn't it sad to leave Brayton?" Well, yes it is, random questioner. I'm very sad to leave this wonderful area, but the Lord has something else in store for me. Something that involves an 8-tone-language to learn. It will also be difficult, as my skill with languages is... lacking. However, It will all work out in the end. As one of my favorite scripture ever states: "Sanctify [yourself], for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you" (Joshua 3:5). As I have faith and work hard, it will work out. I will learn an impossible language, I won't get sick from Hmong food, I will Do Awesome.

 So, we had a great Pday the other day. We went out to the wilds around anchorage and saw awesomeness. Don't believe me? Check out the Grizzly bear photo.

OOh, OOH! Dia! I'm sending you a package that will reach you in the next couple days! Take out the stuff that's for you, then please drop the rest off in Kamas when you can! Check out the picture in the Bottom of the package! It's been fun up here. The sun is almost normal, which will remain for about another couple days before the sun stops coming up. I CAN'T wait for winter. I'll probably be in Hmong for a couple transfers, though.

 Any other questions, Random Questioner? "Nope, I'm Good."

 That's good. If you have any other questions for me, make sure to write it on a post-it note, stick it on some food, and send it to me.

 Or email me (I miss car-talk, if you didn't notice).

From the Asian North,  Elder Darcey

Zone C, Packages and Sharing the Warmth

All!

It's so good to again talk to all of Koh again.

Here in Hmong, it's been a rough week. Most of our investigators and less actives cancelled our lessons and shot down our appts, we mostly scrambled around and tried to not look like complete failures. :) But really, it was an awesome week. I need to tell you about our AMAZING Zone Conference, Stake Conference, and to answer a question I heard someone ask. so, ready GO!

(1)  Ib: I got a package FILLED with food. You have no idea how much that helps. Thanks so much for the food, and the notes.

(2)  Ob: I got a surprise package from the ATKINSONS! Thank you so much for the thoughts, letters and candy.

(3)  Peb: Our Zone conference this week was amazing. We went up to the reindeer farm in Palmer and did service, hiked around in our own Zion's Camp, and learned amazing things. The thing that stuck out to me was about keeping the armor of God on, especially the sword of the Spirit. Imagine going into a place where they said "no swords allowed in here; you'll have to drop it off, but you can pick it up on the way out". Then, when you came back out, your sword was missing. I wouldn't like that. Yet, that's exactly what we do when we go somewhere where the Spirit can't stay with us. We drop off the spirit, only to come back and find that it's missing. We need to only do things and go places where we're allowed to keep our swords handy. It wouldn't be good to get ambushed without our weapon or armor on.

(4)  Plaub: I wanted to answer a question about recognizing whether the Spirit is giving you promptings, or whether it's just you're own thoughts. I'll answer from Elder Bednar. "Don't worry about it. If it leads you to do good, it's from God, no matter who the messenger is".

(5) Tsib: Our Stake Conference was awesome. There were really two topics. First was being happy. We need to be joyful. We have the greatest thing on Earth. We need to enjoy it. We have the knowledge of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the "Marvelous Work and a Wonder" spoken of by Isaiah. Second, We have the duty, responsibility, and calling to share this happiness with others. We have to let our Light shine. We can't hide it; IT NEEDS to be on a candlestick. We have the complete and full truth; we need to give it to others, so they can be happy as well.

That's about all. I love you all, and pray for you always. I'm doing great, and hope you are too.

Love from the North,

Elder Dawbzaj