Stake Conf, Techs, Investigators and More

All,

It's great to talk again, on this beautiful and rare non-holiday Monday. I have some things to say, mostly hilarious, some less so, I'll leave it to you to judge which are which.

First off; Anyone remember our Investigator I talked about a while ago? She was married in the Hmong culture, but not legally, but culturally, and she was very, very interested in learning about the book of Mormon? We lost contact with her for a while, then reconnected and have been teaching her since. Right?

 WRONG!

We've been teaching her younger sister who looks just like her. oops. Elder Darcey, who is a great martial artist, reader, and expounder of random trivia, CAN'T tell faces apart. They look pretty similar, but not enough that any competent person shouldn't be able to tell them apart.

On the upside, it means we just got another investigator... I guess. On the Downside, we haven't had any contact with our original investigator for almost 6 months. We'll fix that.

Next on the benefit discussion list is Stake Conference. We as missionaries got to go, and it was wonderful. Want to know the best part? Check out the Photo.  We are the controllers.  We came early to check out the camera and broadcasting equipment, and next thing you know, WE'RE in charge of "The" cameras for the ENTIRE Conference. It was Crazy! Entrusting the Broadcast to Nome, Bethel, and Kotzebue to 2 missionaries! It was crazy! Again, it was Crazy!  The Lord trusts us!

It was also Crazy fun. We had a great time learning all the things to do. (Their setup was similar to what we do for trainings, but much more intricate. For example, they control each camera with a joystick (4 of them), can do captions, picture in pictures, and many other things that we cannot. It was great to learn about each thing. In the End, I invite you to watch a session of General Conference, paying attention to the Camera work. That's what our Broadcast looked like.

Except, you know, a lot less professional and a lot more mistakes.

But anyway, This week has been great.

My birthday is coming up. I feel I should remind you that I'll be coming home shortly after my birthday. I would ask, therefore, that no one sends up any large, bulky, heavy, or in any way cumbersome presents for my birthday. I was at my Weight limit a year ago, and I've only gotten more weighty (ha ha) since then.

Kthx.

I'm about out of time, but I have a great spiritual thought from Conference. One of the testators asked a great question. When God separated the light from the Dark, he "saw" that it was good. Didn't he know already? If He did it, wouldn't it automatically be good?

Answer: God Already KNOWS what is Good. He knows that what he does is good. He is our example and he wants us to know, because He is Good. Whatever God gives us, no matter what it is, is good. It cannot be Bad. We might think so, but it cannot be. Whatever God gives us, is for our Good.

That's all. Think about what's happened to us. God gave it all. Think about how everything, even the "bad things," are for our Good.

Anyway, I love you all. See you.

Love from the North,


Elder Darcey

Lots More To Say This Week, So Don't Worry

All!

It's great to talk this beautiful winter morning. I'm going to stop saying how the weather is, because it all changes before I finish typing the sentence. Groundhog Day does not affect Alaska.

Anyway, I have a lot to say this week. first off, transfers are tomorrow, and...

I'm staying. YAY! I get to spend another transfer with the Hmong people! It makes me super happy. My companion and I are also the official Tech Elders of the mission, which is also awesome. We're now in charge of everything technological in the mission, such as cameras, broadcasts, slideshows, computers, Webcasts, and so forth.

I'm also excited to still be in the Hmong branch. The people up here are wonderful, and I love teaching them and living around them. I also LOVE the FOOD. This week we had Meat Buns GF!!! They are some of the greatest things ever.

This week was great for work as well. We had Elder Christiansen of the Seventies come and speak to us as missionaries and mission leaders/bishops. It was a wonderful experience. He really talked about how the Lord has been doing his part to hasten the work; now we need to do our part. 

Miracle Time! After emailing last week, the next day I found that my USB with ALL my pictures from the past year was lost. Terrified, I looked everywhere. We went back to the Place of email, and someone had found it and given it to the lost and found. It was great to see that people are still honest and decent. Makes me happy.

anyway, I need someone to look into BYU majors about cyber security. People were talking about it up here, and I think I just found my major, whatever it may be. Please check, someone, whenever you have time.

We went to a fireside yesterday. It was incredible to me how many of the members in the Bear Mountain ward still remembered me, even though it's been over a year, and I was only there 3 months. They are such nice people.

Anyway, The weeks been great. I love it up here.

Finishing up;

Love from the North,

I dislike long-sleeved shirts. Just to let you know. 

And me, with my favorite food up here; PHO!!!!!! LOVE IT!!!

The bowls, full of soup, weigh about 6 pounds apiece. GOOD!

Elder Darcey

Lots of things to Say! (Lie)

all,

First off, Phil the Groundhog is the Beast that rises out of the Earth in Revelations. Just to let you all know...

This week has been great. First, some fun things that happened:


We were recording a Training that was being broadcast out to the mission. We had been working hard to get it all set up, and it was going great. We write it onto a DVD, and everything looks great... until we realize that the sound cord wasn't plugged into the DVD player. We recorded 2 hours of soundless training. Oops.

Well, Murphy's Law was, once again, vindicated.

I forgot a tie one day. So the Tech Elders in the library took it upon themselves to make one for me. It's made out of construction paper. Go figure. Turned out pretty well.

The big thing that happened this week was the time we spent with the Older people in our Branch this week. After a MASSIVELY hectic day, we ended up at our Member's home for dinner. From there, we all trooped over to the Church, where my companion and I taught the Branch to sing Hmong Hymns. It was beyond fun.

OH! DIA! My companion needs you to get in contact with a Teacher at the HTC (Hyperbolic Time Chamber), and get his address so my companion (Michael Crowther) can write him. Steven Beheshti.

  My Wookiee Fist is GREAT at scraping ice. Thanks a lot, Dia. And thanks so much for the Hmong hymnbook. That was EXACTLY what I needed. :)

Thanks.

Anyway, I need to leave. We have lots more stuff to do. I love you all, And wish the best for you. LOVE LOVE LOVE from the NORTH,

Elder Darcey

 And a service at the library! we were getting the mascot out... and that's that. No, I didn't wear it.




This was not a 100$ letter. Sorry, sorry, sorry. But maybe next week.  

Blessings and Miracles in the North

all,

I'm writing from a stand-up computer that only lets me on 15 minutes at a time.

Writing the above took up 30 seconds of that.

Anyway, This week has been great. The weather's bottomed out at -20, but it's not that bad.

Whoop, hold on. A computer opens...

OK, I'm back. And sitting down.

There's a great jump happening here in the Branch. I don't know what's caused it, but we're riding it as best we can. This week our Investigator came to church; The first one I've ever had in the Branch, and it was fantastic. We also managed to contact two of our investigators who have been busy for the last couple months.

The Branch is really doing great. Most awesomely, Elder Crowther and I are doing great at learning the Language. I do need that Pocket Reference, due to the App not being allowed up here. We have a good amount of language learning stuff, such as blue books from the MTC, a "hmong for missionaries" book and large dictionaries that go from one language to the next; What we need is a true dictionary that goes through both languages, is handy sized and has a LARGE amount of words.

As the pictures might suggest, This was also a monumental time for knives. Hmong Knives are some of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life; Hmong people use them for everything: from cutting down trees to killing/butchering animals, to cutting greens, to killing evil demons in your dreams... The works.

Blessings up here are abounding. We're finally getting to see and teach the people like we've been trying for a long time. Elder Crowther and I work well together. It's been fun.

Here's a random miracle: I was made one of the Tech Elders a bit ago. (that's not the miracle) We were doing a training last week, and everything  that could technologically go wrong, went wrong. (think Murphy's law on Steroids.) Anyway, we finally got things running (miracle 1,2, and 3) only to find that all the doors were locked to everywhere in the church we needed to get to, with none of us having the keys!!

Insert miracle number 4! My last companion left me a set of lockpicks, and I was able to get into all the doors we needed! YAY!  Haven't been able to do it again since.

Coincidences don't just happen, especially not all at once like that. Miracles are real, all. Of that I know, as surely as I know the sun rises (it still does, even up here). They may not be angels coming down from heaven, but they're just as powerful.

One last experience up here. We were going to visit some people up here, only to find ourselves interrupting a Shaman-ing (basically Satanic. Whatever religion you are; these things are SCARY. Any of you who know me know that I don't scare too easy) ritual. To quote the Scripture in 2nd Kings 7:7

 "Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life."

Don't forget to flee. ;)

Love from the North,

Elder Darcey

Weather, Socks and Scriptures

all,

 It's been an awesome week up here. Awesome as in that it fills you with Awe, not all of that necessarily good.

 Nothing bad, mind you, just annoying at points.

 First, the Weather. It's been warm. I'm not talking Alaska warm, where 10 above is Shorts weather, I'm talking 45! The Cursed Chinook Winds have come again!

 How bad was/is it? We cancelled church yesterday because it had rained all Saturday, and the roads were freezing. It didn't help that the rain continued all Sunday as well. We're going to die if this ever gets around to freezing again.

 But anyway, Life's been great up here. I am in constant awe of my companions spirituality. He is amazing. This week we went all out learning Hmong and seeing people and we were blessed with so much Success! It's amazing to only think about the people we're trying to help, trying to see. Our Hmong has been blessed so much as well! People who don't believe in the gift of tongues and the interpretation of the same haven't seen my me and my comp (bad grammar, but I have an excuse: I'm speaking Hmong!) learning Hmong.

In one week, My companion can already read, write and has a lot of phrases down. Blessings abound. We were told by our teachers that we sounded like Natives, which is the most awesome cool thing ever. (Insert picture here, blog mom).

 Anyway, we were grounded yesterday, so nothing was really accomplished there. These Chinooks are crazy. Speaking of Crazy, Everyone go to the Mormon Message "your day for a mission" and listen hard for a very familiar cry.

You'll freak when you hear it; I did.

 Socks: Mine are starting to all far apart all at the same time. Goldtoes, Dark grey, not black, I'll send you a picture next week. (mom, remember that sort of "unconventional" way we got all gray socks at the store by replacing the other colors? You think you could grab aidan and make it happen again? I probably only need a few pair, but I do need some)

 Also: I had a cool thought while reading the Scriptures a bit ago: Picture the most amazing, happy, fun, cool, awesome place on Earth. (Disneyland with all my family) Now are you ready for a cool thought?

 1 Corinthians 2:9 : But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

 Isn't that a great thought? The greatest place we can imagine can't even come close to how great it's going to be in Heaven. Think about that for a bit. Out of time.

 Love from the Not-so-frozen-North, Elder Darcey

Awed, Not Odd, But Awesome

All,

It's been an awesome week up here. Awesome in that it fills you with Awe, not all of that necessarily good.

Nothing bad, mind you, just annoying at points.

First, the Weather. It's been warm. I'm not talking Alaska warm, where 10 above is Shorts weather, I'm talking 45! The Cursed Chinook Winds have come again!

How bad was/is it? We cancelled church yesterday because it had rained all Saturday, and the roads were freezing. It didn't help that the rain continued all Sunday as well. We're going to die if this ever gets around to freezing again.

But anyway, Life's been great up here. I am in constant awe of my companions spirituality. He is amazing. This week we went all out learning Hmong and seeing people and we were blessed with so much Success! It's amazing to only think about the people we're trying to help, trying to see.

Our Hmong has been blessed so much as well! People who don't believe in the gift of tongues and the interpretation of the same haven't seen my me and my comp (bad grammar, but I have an excuse: I'm speaking Hmong!) learning Hmong. In one week, My companion can already read, write and has a lot of phrases down. Blessings abound. We were told by our teachers that we sounded like Natives, which is the most awesome cool thing ever. (Insert picture here, blog mom).

Anyway, we were grounded yesterday, so nothing was really accomplished there. These Chinooks are crazy.

Speaking of Crazy, Everyone go to the Mormon Message "your day for a mission" and listen hard for a very familiar cry. You'll freak when you hear it; I did.

Socks: Mine are starting to all far apart all at the same time. Goldtoes, Dark grey, not black, I'll send you a picture next week. (mom, remember that sort of "unconventional" way we got all gray socks at the store by replacing the other colors? You think you could grab aidan and make it happen again? I probably only need a few pair, but I do need some)

Also: I had a cool thought while reading the Scriptures a bit ago:

Picture the most amazing, happy, fun, cool, awesome place on Earth. (Disneyland with all my family)

Now are you ready for a cool thought?

1 Corinthians 2:9 :  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Isn't that a great thought? The greatest place we can imagine can't even come close to how great it's going to be in Heaven. Think about that for a bit.

Out of time.

Love from the Not-so-frozen-North,

Elder Darcey

Dear fam,

Dia sent me some questions which i will now attempt to answer:

Do you eat out or in for lunch? 

• We usually eat in for lunch. Lots of rice in the Apartment

How often do members feed you? 

• Almost every night! Score! 

image property of mormoncartoonist.com



How long do you have to drive to get to church? 

• we drive about 15 minutes to church. Anchorage is very spread out. 

How long to get to the closest member's house?

•  in our area... about 15 minutes again.

Have you ever seen a police officer up there? 

• We got to sit in the back of a police cruiser when I wrecked the car! We see lots of police up here.

Does your house have a Jesus picture on the door? 

• yes. And some Hmong writing.

Did you know Mom dressed up Squeaky for ...everything, actually? 

• I saw 2 halloweens ago when he was a ghost... thing...

What did you think of the Hobbit? Oh, wait. (BWHAHAAA) 

• A CURSE UPON YOU AND YOUR SARCASM, INTERLOPER!!!! MAY THE HORSEMAN OF BAD TIMING INFLICT UPON YOUR SOUL!!!  I mean, not really.

LOVE

your EVIL Of that, today, we can agree big sister, Dia

And right back at you, Your humble subservient, quiescent, little bro, but powerful in the Lord, 

Elder D.  

hi, all,

This week has been a whirlwind of awesome. First, let me tell you about my companion, Elder Crowther, or Thajyeeb, (means peaceful; it's a powerful name.)

He's from West Valley, UT, he's been out 3 months, and he's my 3rd companion who's been trained in the Alpinglow Ward. Alpinglow trainees are a powerful bunch, and this one's no exception. He's most awesome.  

We are actually extremely alike, which is a little creepy at times. The days are spent learning Hmong, quoting Homestar runner, seeing people, and randomly singing acapella. 

Anyway, did you hear about the guy who was addicted to brake fluid? 

He said he could stop whenever he wanted.

*bdonk chss

My new years resolution is 1280x720.

*bdonk chss

But seriously, not much has happened up here besides that. We've been going all out learning Hmong, because I've got a sneaking suspicion that this will be my last transfer in the Hmong branch, at least for a while. I'm ok with it, as long as I get to come back sometime.

I need questions from you all, because otherwise I run out of things to say.

Oh. The fourth Horseman of the mission Apocalypse is misplaced. Seriously. 

So, in order, that makes The Three Horsemen and One Pedestrian/Cyclist of the Mission Apocalypse: Bad Timing, Flat Tires, Insufficient Postage and Misplacement. 

Love all of you, need to go. Miracles happen every day; just look out for them.

Love from the North,

Elder Darcey

Hai people, 

Yeah, new years messed everything up...

Ask Dia how she's doing at French, BECause, I've realized the importance of Just knowing languages and being able to talk to people, and Dia was basically fluent, so she shouldn't give up on it.  Please, people, everyone within eyeshot of this page, learn a language, grow brain cells, be cultured. 

Good Luck

A letter is even now in the Mail for Aidan. Knowing the 3rd horseman of the Mission Apocalypse, (insufficient postage) it will get there next year.

LFTN

love from the north

Me

So Many Things To Write

All,

Happy new Year!  Christmas Zoo Siab! I have many things to say, and not many times to say it.

 

First, some things I forgot to say to my family during the phone conversation:

Aidan, I can't get over your voice.

Spicy food is REALLY deadened by salt. try it out.

The 1st horseman of the Mission Apocalypse is Bad Timing. He arrived late.

You really were prophetic with sending up that watch. Mine emitted a horrible scream (literally; I've never heard my watch, or any watch for that matter make a noise like that before) and died a few weeks ago, just a week after getting a new battery. So now I'm using the new one. :)

If you want to buy me a tie that would be nice.  I love the chinese one that Grandma Bezzant gave me.  The blue is not my fav.  I hate blue.  And the CTR is nice too.  

Now for something completely different:

Transfers came. Elder Greer, my companion for two weeks, is going to Fairbanks, which is the only place I would want to go right now if I had to leave the Hmong Branch. However, I stay here. I'll get an Elder who just finished getting trained, and teach him all I know before I go. I have a feeling this will be my last transfer here in the Hmong Branch...

I'm about Out of time; New years has messed EVERYthing up this week. I'll have a better email next week.

Oh yeah, I have to tell you about the new adventure, though. It wasn't even my fault this time...

We were just driving in a parking lot, making a turn, and POW. We get clipped from behind by another car. Everyone is again good, and everything is ok. This bodes ill for the remainder of my mission, however... It wasn't even me driving, since I'm red-dotted (unallowed to drive) for the rest of my mission.

Anyway, that's all. Love you all.

Love from the North,

Elder Darcey

The Best Back Massage Ever!

...was given to me a few days ago, by a chair in a members home. I feel so good it's not even funny.

 All:

I'm happy to talk again, from the cold north.

How cold is it up here?

It's so cold I saw polar bears wearing mink coats and beaver hats.

(badonk chss)

It's so cold I can outrun my own words, because they freeze coming out.

(badonk chss)

 It's so cold that freeze tag is taken literally.

( badonk chss)

Mostly, it's so cold that it's too cold to snow, which is why there isn't snow on the ground.

I love everything up here. The work is still going on. Hmong people seem to disappear in the cold. I need to remember that they were repatriated from the tropics. It's been harder to get meetings to go through without people. Still, everything's still going great.

I'm already out of time. You can rebuke me for this horrible email next week.

I promise that it will be better next time,

Love from the North, Elder Darcey

Rose Tinted Happiness

Family,

 Well, I really am doing good here.

Even if I weren't, I wouldn't notice. You know me: I see through the world with rose-tinted contacts, and hear through rose-tinted... ears? Get the Pratchett Color of Magic quote for me, will you?

 [Sorry, couldn't do it, I'm a Pratchett ignoramus, sorry no chance--Mom]

"Twoflower didn't just look at the world through rose tinted spectacles, he looked at it through a rose tinted brain, too, and heard it through rose tinted ears." Pratchett  Proof that Mom has evolved during this mission too.

 But really, everything is great. I love it up here. I'm already stressing that a year has gone by; it simultaneously feels like a day and an eternity.

 Love Northward Elder Darcey