Wisconsin Report Day 5: Time to Come Back Down to Earth

Day 5:

A lot of Hmong people asked me why we didn’t just make plans to stay with them. I guess that would have been less expensive, but I felt bad, as if I were already imposing on them. So on our last day we checked out of the Red Roof Inn and headed out for our last visit to Milwaukee. I was sorry to receive a message from Milwaukee member Ka that she, her husband Jimmy and her three adorable daughters were still in Appleton (where Jimmy had been playing in the football tournament and where Ka’s parents live), so they wouldn’t be able to make our Monday morning appointment. This is probably the one thing I regret about the entire trip, not being able to see Mala and Nali (I actually ran into Jimmy, Ka and their newest baby, Hayden, whose chubby baby picture you can see me kissing on Day 3 at the Oshkosh, tournament, but OMG, those two older girls…), and I’m afraid the next time I see them they won’t remember me! Though Ka says they talk about me and Johns quite often and with much fondness. The feeling is mutual, girls, believe me. We drove around, taking in a few sights and getting a good feeling of the beautiful, dirty city (although I’m afraid to say I don’t remember it nearly as well as I once did!), looking at the skyline from the North Avenue park, passing by Marquette University, seeing the Frank Lloyd Wright-esque art museum and checking out the lake, even passing by Dep’s Hall of Fades on 27th Street. We stopped by a couple of houses and places to find people not home (“Here’s your taste of missionary work,” I told Mom and Dad) and places closed (due to Labor Day—no Safe House or Sprecher root beer… tsk).


We stopped by Molly Moua’s house to say hello to her and her two daughters Emily and Brittany, both now much taller and getting ready to be in middle school together, and then made for one last visit to the Barretts and then the 1 ½ hour drive back to Chicago.


We didn’t have time to stop by the temple or do any sight-seeing there, but we were ready to get on the airplane and get home to recoup as much as possible before going to school the next day (EEP! Moving! Books! Classes! *dies*).


After a minor crisis involving security not letting me past due to my temporary license (even though it had been allowed at three checkpoints prior) and a detailed security check, we were boarded, and now here I sit. The adorable toddler boy in the row ahead of me spent several minutes expressing just how unhappy he was to be traveling, but his dad is now walking around the back of the cabin while the little one falls asleep. I’m sitting in on the aisle in between groups of people who don’t speak English and Mom and Dad are sitting behind me. My eyes are tired, but my heart is happy. It wasn’t too, too weird to go to Wisconsin as a non-missionary, and it was the perfect time. Any sooner and it would have seemed like I never left, and any later and I might have been forgotten already. It was just amazing to see the fruits of the work I did there, and even though I know that the work isn’t mine, it was nice to know that I might have made a difference in the lives of some of these children of God. Everyone said just the nicest things about me to Mom and Dad, but I tried not to hear. That’s not why I was doing it. Some of these people I want to be friends with forever. And now my laptop battery is about to die.

Sib ntsib dua.

Wisconsin Report Day 4: The Beautiful and Dirty City

Day 4:

Sunday morning Seethong made breakfast of scrambled eggs and french toast and I made ready for church, then went to pick up Mom and Dad. It had been a sort of struggle to decide if I was going to go to church in the Appleton Hmong branch or the Milwaukee city branch, but when it was made evident that Suying and Pang Kou were going to be confirmed, Seethong was going to be sustained and four elders were going to be in town, my answer was clear. It was great to see the small but solid branch, this time with a couple of babies that had been bumps in their mommies when I was last here. I was looking forward to just sitting back and relaxing while the elders took the weight of the responsibility I had felt for six months (especially since I knew they would make a big deal and gush about me visiting, since they always do when the elders return to visit), but they didn’t let me rest long. Seethong asked me to sing with him while his brother played guitar and one of the elders played violin to I Am A Child of God, and I was also put on the spot to translate the excellent talk of Sister Johnson from the Appleton 2nd ward. It was a pleasure, and I found that while I stumbled a couple of times, my Hmong was not too terribly rusty. We stayed for Sunday School but felt like we should take off after that. We said hello to a couple of Miskas families in the hall, including the exuberant Stephensons, who I loved so much when I was here, and who are also expecting.


Then after sampling the much-anticipated deep-fried cheese curds, butter burgers and frozen custard that Culver’s provides, made our way the 1 ¾ hour drive to Milwaukee!\


I had some serious indigestion on the way out of Appleton, and while Dad insists such a cause is unlikely, I maintain that a lot of it was psychological because I was so sad to leave. It’s a weird feeling, to be there as a “civilian” as it were, but not unpleasantly weird. It was just exciting to be able to see everyone again and look forward to when we would see each other again. We checked into our final motel and headed right back out, stopping by the old apartment (still with the barred windows and faded portrait of Jesus) and the beautiful European-looking church building in the city, and then stopping by various points of interest (the yard-art house on Cherry Street, the undeniable ghetto, the many day care centers and afro-hair salons, the Miller Park baseball stadium, etc.) until we finally made it to Yeng and Mao Lee’s house.


For those who don’t know them, these are basically the Seethong and Mai Chou of Milwaukee. Yeng was baptized as a kid, but Mao and her two kids from a previous marriage, Cindy and TJ, started taking the lessons officially when they moved out of Yeng’s parents’ house, having been to church many times already, and set a baptism date days later. I was also blessed to participate in their baptisms and confirmations the first time I was in Milwaukee, and even more blessed to attend the temple when Yeng and Mao were endowed a year later in Chicago.


Mao is serving on the Relief Society Presidency and they recently had their first baby together, Victoria, who is much bigger and absolutely, breathtakingly adorable. (See for yourself!:)



We had some barbecue, but didn’t stay long as to wear out our welcome. It was interesting to me that I felt so completely at home and comfortable lounging around their yard and house, lying in the hammock, watching TV with the kids (Cindy with her PhotoShop projects and TJ with his currently not-in-use bluetooth headset). We stopped at the “Mormon Cul-de-sac”, where live several young families going through dental or medical school, to see the Jolleys, fellow Disney and Harry Potter enthusiasts who always were so great to the elders, and who also recently had a baby (good heavens, Wisconsin is welcoming a new Baby Boomer generation!), who they named Harry (Harrison), and who they insist was not named after the Boy Who Lived.


We stopped, though it was late, at the legendary Ua “Tiffanie” Vue’s house for one of her famous haircuts, and I must confess it’s probably one of the best haircuts of my life (though Mom gets offended when I say so, and her haircuts are also awesome). It was hard to let go of my long hair, but like Ua said, "It's okay, it's only hair."


Ua’s life hasn’t been easy lately, as her husband left her some two years ago for dubious and devil-inspired reasons, but she’s holding strong, and she and her family can now go back to church and move on with their spiritual lives.


Everywhere I went I kept thinking of Johns and how jealous he would be, but I’m sure what goes around comes around, and I’ll be sufficiently jealous when he visits here, and with a wife, so as to avoid the constant questioning about dating I faced! It was late, and we had less than 24 hours left in Wisconsin, so we decided to get some rest and make the most of them the next day…