My Calves Have Finally Recovered...


 Now I can tell you about our p-day trip up the 1000-step mountain!

Our District Leader/Zone Leader has known about this hike up the 1000 steps and we have been waiting to do it for a few weeks now, and finally the timing and the weather were right! It was a hazy day, but it was lovely to get away from the city for a little while. And the mountain was beautiful.


At the bottom of the mountain were some temples, of course...
I'd like to hear this drum be played...                            

And here we go...!

About 1/2 way up the staircase was a Temple complex that was quite amazing. Staircases crisscrossed as we climbed down to the courtyard. The architecture and construction had my engineer-husband staring in awe.





And then we continued and the stairs went on... and on... and on...


And when we finally reached the top, there was a huge monument to the man who saved Vietnam. If you're interested in his legend, you can look up Thanh Giong; it's a cool story.
 
We were sad it was a hazy day because the view would have been spectacular.

And down we went...

And as we went down, we met another District hiking up! 


And we bid farewell to a beautiful place, with pictures as reminders, and aching legs...


 

This was Thanksgiving week!  Our Hai Ba Trung Branch didn't have any plans, so our missionaries didn't have any celebrations planned. Well, we couldn't have that! We invited them to a Thanksgiving lunch, and they chose to do it before District planning meeting on Tuesday. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, rolls, watermelon, and chocolate cake really have never tasted that good!


It was the best Thanksgiving because we could give it to someone else.

Wednesday morning, we went hunting for the Yen So Park. We walked and walked and walked... 

... around a lake that we thought would be more inhabited before we finally made it to the HUGE Yen So Park! At one point in its history, it looked like it was a very nice place, but it had fallen into disrepair.


I'd love to have seen these fountains working.



It was a beautiful park and lake, but it seems the water isn't even safe to play in. One part of the park is used as a campground--glamping for the Vietnamese!


It turned out to be a pretty good adventure, at the end of the day.


And then Wednesday night Allen and I were invited to the Ha Dong Branch for Thanksgiving dinner! They have a lot of fun young adults who attend, and they were very excited to have us be their guests.

The members thought it was so funny to see us eating apple cobbler with chopsticks!

They served spaghetti with chicken, fried chicken, baked chicken, taro root, salad, green beans, and soda. They are a fun group. (My banana muffins were a big hit, especially among the missionaries who wanted a familiar taste.)

We will end with our Family Home Evening activity on Friday night: decorating the Branch    Christmas Tree!


We had many people from English activity who were invited and came; that was pretty exciting, to have so many friends come--more friends than branch members. And that is our challenge--to get more branch members coming.

Happy December!!

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Rachel!!






 























Comments

  1. Dave LindseyDecember 1, 2024 at 8:57 PM

    Hey Elder and Sister Adams! Wow, this looks like you're truly engaged in The Work. Nice! Just found your blog and we're excited to get caught up on all you've been doing to serve the wonderful brothers and sisters in Vietnam. Thank you for your examples of love and sacrifice.

    ReplyDelete

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