Tate-MTC week 5

 Nyob Zoo!!!

This week was lit. On Sunday i gave a talk and me and elder winitana performed love at home. The talk topic was how i've seen God's love for us. I pretty much said i've seen God's love through other people like my family. Since God loves all of us and we are his children then we should love each other. 

Anyway iv'e been grinding hard in Hmong. I've been trying to learn coupletes. They're pretty much phrases that repeat a word twice to enhance the meaning. The title is an example of a couplet. A very common one is txuas leej txuas tus which means every single person. 

The devotional tuesday was cool, it was about to put your whole heart into everything you do. And a theme of loving others even your ideals are different. It was funny because my friend from the tahitian district had to give the prayer and he looked nervous and a got a picture. He looks like a roblox character.

I also played a good amount of piano that was fun. It's always nice to be able to have a break on the piano. All the days blend together now honestly. 

Dont worry, I'm still a beast at ping pong and have humbling lots of elders and sisters that thought they were the best. Maybe they were good in their family but their in the real world now. 

I miss watching movies so bad. The sound track, the character development, and the picture. I miss it all. One of my favourite kind of movies is slice of life movies. One of my favourite movies is, "Still Walking" everyone reading this that is not a missionary should watch it right now. Listen to the acoustic guitar score. It's too good. I wish i lived in this movie. I wanna go to japan. 

Quote of the week: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." I've been working trying to think outwards more versus inwards for myself and it's hard at times but it makes me feel so much better when i help others before myself. It seems like your problems almost get solved on their own when you put others first.

I miss all of you, Kuv cia siab koj zoo tshaj plaws

Tub Txib Porter

 

Tate-MTC Week 4

 Nyob Zoo kuv tsev neeg.

I hope you guys are all doing OP-ly. This week was pretty fun. We learned a lot of hmong per usual, but this week we have definitely worked harder at Hmong specifically. I could maybe have a convo with someone if they were nice and slowed down for me.

I've gotta couple stories.

1. The elevator 

2. Never washing my hand part 2

3. July 4th

4. Tones suck

So me my companion Elder Loughmiller and Elder Bulpitt, who is gone:(  we were going to schedule a haircut for Elder Loughmiller, and we took the elevator. Going up was fine we pressed the floor and arrived at the the barbershop. Coming back we were going to the elevator again and I was like "what if someone actually needs to use the elevator and were taking it from them?” We laughed and then pressed the down button. Right after we pressed the down button a very old couple who had a cane and were hunched over asked us if it was going up. Then we were like oh no it's going down but you can come. And then they were nah we'll use the stairs. So three 19 year-olds are using elevators and two 90 year-olds are taking the stairs. Oops.

Next was the 4th of july which was fun because we got to watch freworks from the top floor of our building. Not much of a story but still fun.

We had a devotional on Tuesday and Elder Bulpit had to say the prayer which meant he had to sit up with whoever was speaking and it was a quorum of the seventy dude. And he needed a companion so I sat with him. The only thing was I stuck out like a soar thumb because I forgot to wear my suit. So every guy was wearing a suit except me with a short sleeve button shirt. After the devotional, the quorum of the seventy dude shook my hand and asked where I was going on my mission. I said Wisconsin, then he quickly replied, "Where’s  your suit?" I told him I spilled milk on it which idk why but that was the first that came to my head. Then he smiled and said we'll just pretend your going on a foreign mission. 

In Hmong we learned a sentence that is the same word but different tone. It's Pog pom Pov pov pob. It means, “The grandma sees Pov throw the ball.”  Pov is a common name. The last letter of every word is a tone. So it's G tone, M tone, V tone, then B tone.

I'm excited to go to Milwaukee, but I don’t know enough Hmong yet so that makes me nervous. I miss being able to listen to music, although it's being to play the piano here all the time since theres a lot of them. I have played a moderate amount of ping pong this week but not as much as I would like. 

Quote of da week: At the devotional Elder Robbins was talking about how we need to balance all of our virtues. If we are patient we need to balance it with it's complementary virtue, dilligence. Here's some more that balance each other. Justice and Mercy, Science and religion, Uniformity and flexability, submissiveness and braveness, dependence and independence, faith and works, asking and working it out in our minds. He specifically was saying that Justice is not the opposite of mercy it's complementary. He also said all these traits act as checks ands balances for each other. It reminds of traditional Chinese medicine I learned about in my medicinal plant class. The way they treat people was if someone had a stomach ache they would give something to balance it. It's all about balance in T.C.M. Just like Yin and Yang.

I have learned a lot being here and I know I have a lot more to go and I’m excited. I wanna hear from you guys so please lemme know how your doing.

Tub Txib Porter

Tate Week 3 MTC

 Nyob Zoo tag rhno cov phooj ywg. Kuv kawm lus hmoob ntxiv thaib kuv nyiam lub MTC.

Ok so this week was super quick. Monday we played ping pong per usual, then we said bye to our friend group from our zone. It was kinda sad. Then Tuesday, we played volleyball, basketball in the morning. There was also a devotional with one of the quorum of the seventy. He pretty much was saying the importance of building relationships with others, and if people don't accept the gospel, still keep the relationship you have with them.

Also we shook Elder Gong’s  hand, I haven't washed my right hand since. Dag xwb. 

Hmong grind has been getting better. I have been studying with Elder Winitana the Hmong vocab. The way we study is by playing heads up.  Also we learned about the Hmong clans. There are 18 different clans/last names. If one of them likes you they can adopt you in the clan. I hope I get Thor clan. Except it's pretty rare. 

Also on Tuesday I accompanied Elder Winitana and Elder Te kira and Elder I, in a Tongan version of love at home. Don't worry I snuck a couple jazz chords in. I've got to play lots of volleyball and I blocked Elder Rodriguez Lucero so I’m pretty much a pro! 

And I’ve played a lot more jazz piano. I was playing and these two elders were like teach us! So i was like sure, then as I was showing some stuff more people gathered and it was like a master class lol. 

Elder Winitana: Still OP at Bball, he's also gained 40 lbs since the beginning of the mish. But don't worry he's letting me hold him accountable. I make sure he doesn't eat 8 plates anymore. He also has done 3 haka's this week. New Zealand culture is lit. 

Elder Loughmiller: He's district leader, and still writes a lot. We also found someone who looks like him if he came from the multiverse. He is the version of Loughmiller who chose a different path in life.

Elder Plate: He's definitely settling in and is adjusting now. If your ever bored just ask him any question it doesnt matter what, you will go through every topic ever.

Quote of the week: The past is behind learn from it. The future is ahead so prepare for it and the Present is here, live it. -President Monson

That's it for this week sorry it's a little mundane. 

Sib Tham dua!!!!!!!!

Tate Week 2 in the MTC

 Nyob Zoo kuv neeg!

This week was up and down fo sho. The way I will lay out the email from now on is going through the week then talk about companions and friends. So I met some people that all speak french and it's fun to talk to them and refresh my vocab. They are all going to Tahitia.  When I get back I will learn more french and I will learn chinese. It's nice because French people all know somewhat how to play chess. The chess tables are in the same area as ping pong. Also Hmong is coming along, but I haven't been working on vocab as much I should be. I keep losing my key to my dorm and my card for the buildings. I'm on my third key now. So i'm down 6 bucks. Also all the apostles have been here so that's lit. Elder Bednar gave an OP talk about obedience. He said Intelligence is applying the knowledge we have towards obedience. Then he explained the difference between transactional obedience and transformational obedience. 

Also DO NOT EAT THE MEATBALLS! Elder Winitana and I ate them and our stomachs hurt for like 3-5 hours. Then we played basketball. But seriously, I hadn't felt that much pain in a while. My stomach was on fire and the pain was also stabbing.

Update on Elder Winitana: He eats a lot, I bet him 2 dollars that he couldn't eat more than 8 plates of food. I lost 2 dollars. Elder Plate the big guy got a little jealous. Me and Winitana have been working on a song to perform too. He's pretty good at singing. Elder Plate said me and Winitana couldn't break his stress ball. We broke it and it blew up everywhere with a purple slim shot out onto the walls. Hey, we were stressed! Also we had to do a service project and clean some bathrooms.

Update on my companion Elder Loughmiller: He's writes in his journal for hours. Idk if i said this but he has diabetes so his pancreas sucks. Whenever we play ping pong and he starts losing he says his blood sugar is low and he is losing his fine motor skills. I don't not believe him it's just funny to me. 

Elder Plate update: He's funny to other people, just not to me. He's been making more friends and putting himself out there so that's cool. He has a lot of knowledge about stuff but I think most of it is pseudo-knowledge. He has a girlfriend he texts a lot, and that's why he came on a mission. I think it was because her mom wants her to date a return missionary. Kind of a frail reason to go but you do you. He's definitely grown a lot since last week.

I hope everyones weeks were OP and lemme know how your guys' weeks were.

Signing off,

Tub txib Porter

Also smells bad in Hmong is Tsw Phem which means evil smell.

Nyob Zoo kuv neeg

This week was up and down fo sho. The way i will lay out the email from now on is going through the week then talk about companions and friends. So i met some people that all speak french and it's fun to talk to them and refresh my vocab. They are all going to Tahitia.  When i get back i will learn more french and ill learn chinese. It's nice because French people all know somewhat how to play chess. The chess tables are in the same area as ping pong. Also Hmong is coming along, but i haven't been working on vocab as much I should be. I keep losing my key to my dorm and my card for the buildings. I'm on my third key now. So i'm down 6 bucks. Also all the apostles have been here so that's lit. Elder Bednar gave an OP talk about obedience. He said Intelligence is applying the knowledge we have towards obedience. Then he explained the difference between transactional obedience and transformational obedience. Also DO NOT EAT THE MEATBALLS. Elder Winitana and I ate them and our stomachs hurt for like 3-5 hours. Then we played basketball. But seriously, I hadn't felt that much pain in a while. My stomach was on fire and the pain was also stabbing.

Update on Elder Winitana: He eats a lot, I bet him 2 dollars that he couldn't eat more than 8 plates of food. I lost 2 dollars. Elder Plate the big guy got a little jealous. Me and Winitana have been working on a song to perform too. He's pretty good at singing. Elder Plate said me and winitana couldn't break his stress ball. We broke it and it blew up everywhere with a purple slim shot out onto the walls. Hey, we were stressed! Also we had to do a service project and clean some bathrooms.

Update on my companion Elder Loughmiller: He's writes in his journal for hours. Idk if i said this but he has diabetes so his pancreas sucks. Whenever we play ping pong and he starts losing he says his blood sugar is low and he is losing his fine motor skills. I don't not believe him it's just funny to me. 

Elder Plate update: He's funny to other people, just not to me. He's been making more friends and putting himself out there so that's cool. He has a lot of knowledge about stuff but i think most of it is pseudo-knowledge. He has a girlfriend he texts a lot, and that's why he came on a mission. I think it was because her mom wants her to date a return missionary. Kind of a frail reason to go but you do you. He's definitely grown a lot since last week.

I hope everyones weeks were OP and lemme know how your guys' weeks were.

Signing off,

Tub txib porter

Also smells bad in Hmong is Tsw Phem which means evil smell.

Nyob Zoo kuv neeg

This week was up and down fo sho. The way i will lay out the email from now on is going through the week then talk about companions and friends. So i met some people that all speak french and it's fun to talk to them and refresh my vocab. They are all going to Tahitia.  When i get back i will learn more french and ill learn chinese. It's nice because French people all know somewhat how to play chess. The chess tables are in the same area as ping pong. Also Hmong is coming along, but i haven't been working on vocab as much I should be. I keep losing my key to my dorm and my card for the buildings. I'm on my third key now. So i'm down 6 bucks. Also all the apostles have been here so that's lit. Elder Bednar gave an OP talk about obedience. He said Intelligence is applying the knowledge we have towards obedience. Then he explained the difference between transactional obedience and transformational obedience. Also DO NOT EAT THE MEATBALLS. Elder Winitana and I ate them and our stomachs hurt for like 3-5 hours. Then we played basketball. But seriously, I hadn't felt that much pain in a while. My stomach was on fire and the pain was also stabbing.

Update on Elder Winitana: He eats a lot, I bet him 2 dollars that he couldn't eat more than 8 plates of food. I lost 2 dollars. Elder Plate the big guy got a little jealous. Me and Winitana have been working on a song to perform too. He's pretty good at singing. Elder Plate said me and winitana couldn't break his stress ball. We broke it and it blew up everywhere with a purple slim shot out onto the walls. Hey, we were stressed! Also we had to do a service project and clean some bathrooms.

Update on my companion Elder Loughmiller: He's writes in his journal for hours. Idk if i said this but he has diabetes so his pancreas sucks. Whenever we play ping pong and he starts losing he says his blood sugar is low and he is losing his fine motor skills. I don't not believe him it's just funny to me. 

Elder Plate update: He's funny to other people, just not to me. He's been making more friends and putting himself out there so that's cool. He has a lot of knowledge about stuff but i think most of it is pseudo-knowledge. He has a girlfriend he texts a lot, and that's why he came on a mission. I think it was because her mom wants her to date a return missionary. Kind of a frail reason to go but you do you. He's definitely grown a lot since last week.

I hope everyones weeks were OP and lemme know how your guys' weeks were.

Signing off,

Tub txib porter

Also smells bad in Hmong is Tsw Phem which means evil smell.

Tate Enters the MTC in Provo

 Nyob zoo Everybody,

This week has been a bit crazy because now it's in person MTC. So now our district (Elder Winitana, Elder Loughmiller and Elder Plate) are all sleeping in the same room. It's bunk beds. I am on bottom and Elder Winitana is top then the other two are on the other bunks. Elder Plate is very energetic and a little childish. He's starting to get on all of our nerves so were gonna have to talk to him. 

So we have a fridge in our room, because Elder Loughmiller has diabetes, and Elder Plate was complaining that it was hot. I was like maybe it is because we have a fridge and it pumps out hot air (that is how a fridge works). He was like "Dude, I worked in construction all my life fridges do not produce heat." So yeah that's him. Plus he's a little stinky.

Elder Winitana and I have been playing some early morning b-ball. That's been fun even though he's actually good and I Sam trash. He played on the BYU team so he's ‘Aight.” Also he's taught me some Maori, He taught me paru, which is stinky. You can prolly guess why we use it. We have been also practicing Hmong a lot. Oh yeah we played knockout and Winitana came in last and I came in second to last which means I can make it on the BYU bball team.

We had to teach our first lesson all in Hmong. It was awful. Plus Elder Winitana was laughing the whole time while Elder Loughmiller and I were trying to teach. So we were laughing too. So the title of this email means to regret. But we thought it meant sorry, so we kept saying that to the person we were teaching in Hmong.

 Elder Loughmiller is like super smart. He brought his 2nd place debate champion trophey. So he can argue pretty well. Good thing he's my companion. He usually tests out his argue skills on Elder Plate. 

Quote of the week: "Before you try to persuade someone,  you have to be genuine friends." 

I'm having a blast out here and can't wait to hear from my fans. 

Kuv hlub nej, 

Elder Porter

Week 2 Home MTC

 Nyob zoo!!!!

So I have been doing a lot more Hmong and I have started reading The Book of Mormon in Hmong but honestly have no idea what is says. 

Quote of the week: “Inch by inch, life is a cinch, yard by yard life is hard” 

Another week ✅

So this week was fun because one of my missionary friends (not from my district) played pickle ball with me. We also played badminton and we played card games in our free times and breaks. We only live 5 minutes away from each other. He is going to Philippines. His name is Soren and he has very defined eyebrows. He was in a barrel stigma movie so if you wanna check out “you toe pee ya” then yeah u know what to do.

This week for class our district is becoming really close. Its me, Winamitana, Loughmiller, and Plate. Me and Elder Winitana are really good friends and we want to room together when we get back from mission at BYU. I guess you could say I am popular because he is on the BYU bball team. I think this week since were all getting closer and with that we’ve been a little more naughty. For instance, during a meeting with our branch president we were all texting each other because we saw a kid’s face on zoom who looked like he was crying. It was funny bc it looked like he had the crying filter on. Then the Branch President was like, “Elder Winitana, Elder Porter! Something funny?” And I was like, “yeah I thought of a joke” 

And the President was like “share it with the class”

And I said, “ knock knock” and he was like nvm lol.

But I am getting a little sick of zoom. I kinda have Adhd when it comes to paying attention in zoom. 

Also I went on a hike and it was liiiit. My teacher Tate Seely has my name. That is pretty cool idk if i said that last time but yeah.

I’m having a blast tho and am soooo excited to meet my friends from my district. I go in the MTC on Wednesday. If you have any questions lmk.

Your Friend, 

Elder Porter

Tate Begins Home MTC May 30

 Nyob Zoo (Hello in Hmong).

It’s pronounced Nyaw Zhong btw. First week of being at the MTC, and for those of you who are noobs MTC=mission training center. Its online for two weeks then we go in person which im really excited for because then I will get to meet all the guys in my district. First we got Elder Winitana who is from New Zealand and has an accent so that’s cool. He likes basketball and played on the Byu team. He used to play rugby so i talked to him about that. He said he could beat me in ping pong… he must be from the loony bin. I wish I had all you guys to back me up that I am good at ping pong. It’s ok I’ll beat him for you guys. 

Next up is my companion Elder Houghmiller from Minnesota. He’s really smart and uses big words. Like indefinitely and “In lamens terms,” so yeah he’s a little bit of a 🤓. But he’s actually pretty cool tho.

Last but not least we have Elder Plate. Yeah you heard me plate. Like 🍽. He kinda talks too much but always says he does before speaking. He is like, “guys I know I talk a lot so stop me if I am going to much hahahaha” and were all like :|. But he’s nice tho so i can’t be too mean.

I’m having a good time, eating well, playing piano on my free time, and learning hmong. They havent started teaching us hmong yet, I’m just using an app right now.

Quote of the week:

“Our happiness is not dependent on out situation, it is the focus if our lives.” -Russel M Nelson

Ok bye