Letter from April 26, 2011

Dear Family,

  Ok, so first I guess I should say happy anniversary Ashley and Josh, I hope ya'll had a wonderful day yesterday! Also, Happy Birthday to Madison tomorrow, I hope you have a wonderful day! And now it's time for the rest of the story.

  So, most of ya'll know that I'm now a Hmong missionary, but I'd thought I'd enlighten you a little bit about them and about what I'm doing here.  So, the Hmong people are originally from China, but then immigrated to Laos.  During the communist take over they hid in the jungles and then swam across the river into Thailand whenever they got a chance.  Most of their lives the Hmong people have been the dust of society and their name for themselves in Hmong, means "free people" so they've always settled in places where they could be themselves with their own culture.  Mostly in the mountains in Laos to be out away from people and then split up here across the country.

  With that being the case my mission boundaries extend from the international border to the top of the Carlsbad mission, because their are so few Hmong people here in California.  Our branch has about 25-30 members in it but most of them are inactive because they only joined the Church for the welfare program.  Elder Insong and I are the only ones responsible as well for trying to teach and reactivate them and their families, so it's a tough job.  Interestingly enough though we found out that I was the only one allowed to have language study to learn Hmong since we just took over two areas from the Carlsbad mission and added them to our own, so Elder Insong might be leaving me soon and I'll have to learn the language with the help of some members that speak English pretty good and are just excited to teach us their language.
  A lot of the work is reactivating members, but there are two referrals we received earlier this week that we're planning on contacting today after meeting with Elder Perry.  It's tough though because a big part of their culture is drinking and smoking so the Word of Wisdom is a big issue that it's hard to change among the people, but we're working hard and relying upon the Lord for lots of help.

  Well, I've got to get going, today I get to meet and Apostle so I'm pretty excited to get going, I hope everyone is well, and I'm still waiting for pictures of my new little niece, whom I hope is healthy and well!  Hope to hear from ya'll soon!

 

Love,

Elder Wise4

 

Exciting News: Letter from April 19, 2011

Dear Family,

  Ok, so time for some big news!  As most of ya'll know last week was transfers and I'm now serving in my new area, so drum roll please!...I'm now a Hmong (pronounced Mong) missionary!  My area covers both the San Diego and Carlsbad missions and my companion Elder Insong (who is from the Philipines) get to learn the language.  So I am now serving a foreign mission on U.S. soil.  I'm in a new culture, new language, new foods and everything! I'm so excited!  And what's even cooler is I knew that I was going Hmong before President Donaldson announced that I was.  But, that's an experience I'll wait to share till I'm off my mission. 

  Other than that I'm so happy to hear about my new niece!  Make sure you give her lots of hugs and kisses for me!  Next week on Tuesday we'll be meeting with Elder Perry so P-day will probably be on Monday or Wednesday.  I hope all is well at home and give everyone hugs and kisses.

 

Love,

 

Elder Wise4

Letter from April 12, 2011

Hello from California! 

  Things have been going well here in the sunshine state!  The work is going great and things are looking up for us.  This month we actually have three Baptisms!  One is for Nathan, another is for the adopted sons of a Less active member we've been teaching.  Their names are Anthony and Ashton Hayes, and the third is for a new investigator we taught for the first time last week named Donna.  We commited her on the first lesson and she said yes!  We're excited for the decisions they're making in their lives!

  Today is acutally a sad day as well.  It's the day before transfers and Elder Ipsen and I found out this morning that our area is actually going to be "whitewashed" which means both of us are going to be transfered out and brand new missionaries are going to take over.  We don't know where we're going to be transfered yet, but we'll find out tommorow and I'll tell ya'll next week.  All I know so far is that neither of us will be training, so we're just waiting to see now, but both of us have to pack everything up tonight which is pretty sad. 

  Other than that things are great.  I'm totally LOVING my mission and I'm glad that I'm having the experiences daily that I'm having.  Thank you all for your prayers and your thoughts and know that ya'll are in mine daily!

 

Love,

 

Elder Wise4

Letter From April 5, 2011

Dear Family,

 

  What a wonderful weekend we just had!  I so much enjoyed hearing from a Prophet and Apostles of our God.  I hope ya'll will go back and listen and read their talks again, I know I will when I can. 

  This week I thought I'd share a spiritual experience with you that I had just this last weekend.  After the second session of General Conference Elder Ipsen and I took our second companionship study.  We have an hour extra because of the new training and towards the end Elder Ipsen asked me to practice for one of our Investigators Pamela.  During the practice it just seemed like I was going no where.  Every question I asked just seemed to rebound off of "Pamela" (portrayed by Elder Ipsen) and I was at a loss.  Finally, I just stopped talking.  I sent a prayer Heavenward asking for help.  Almost immediately I heard a voice in my mind and in my heart saying, "Peace my Son, for I am with thee."  I recognized this not only as a passage of scripture, but as a direct communication from my Father in Heaven.  After receiving this message I felt prompeted to speak, and the question that came from my lips was not of my own devising, but of a Heavenly source.

  I am greatful that I have a Father in Heaven who knows me, knows of my troubles and is there help if I only ask and seek that help.  I am doing His eternal work, and I know that this is where I should be. 

  I hope all of ya'll are safe and that everything is going great!  Hope to hear from ya'll soon!

 

Love,

Elder Wise4

Photo Time

Below are pictures of Adelina Gonsales, Sean's first baptisim. 

 Here is what Sean said about the day: "So last Sunday was the Baptism of Bibiana Adelina Gonsales the daughter of a recent convert Sister Lusson!  She asked Me to Baptize her! ME!  A fumbling, bumbling almost 20 year old who was so afraid I'd forget the words, or drop her in the water, or have to repeat everything, but what do you know, when the moment came to perform the ordinance I didn't even think, I just did and the words came and everything went perfect!  The Lord's hand is in everything we do and it is sooooo evident that he wants this work to get done." 

Sean with Adelina and her family.

The elders who helped teach Adelina's family: Elder Blatter, Elder Ipsen, and Elder Wise

And here are some pictures of what missionaries do when they aren't out teaching:

wrestle

service 

more service

sleep

play basketball

take pictures 

This picture is of a fire hydrant that exploded near Sean's home.

Letter from April 1, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

 

  Well, I guess I should start off with a song to my big brother.  "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JON!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!"  Well, I guess in three days, but it's close enough right?

  Things have been going good in old Lemon Grove.  We've been focusing on finding new investigators and so far last week we've found one!  His name is Glenn and we actually street contacted him right around the corner from our duplex so he's really close to us.  He's a great guy in his mid to late fifties who is pretty open to hearing the gospel.  We're looking forward to teaching him later this week. 

  The weather has finally turned nice, it's been raining for about three or four days, and I've finally gotten over being sick too, so I think Heavenly Father is telling me to get to work!  I hope everyone is doing great and I hope to hear from ya'll soon!!

 

Love,

 

Elder Wise4

(Just as a side note, Jon's birthday is actually MARCH 7.  Not trying to make Sean look bad, but I don't want to confuse anyone.  It was a nice thought :)