We had to change up our week a bit this time, as we had a sister missionary who needed some help at a dental appointment on p-day, and helping missionaries trumps fun days of exploration. Plus, we had a special senior missionary dinner Monday night after the regular missionary devotional. This devotional takes place each Monday at 6:00 pm, and signals that the missionaries' day of preparation and relaxation has now ended and it's time to take up the reigns of missionary work once again. The missionaries take turns teaching the rest of the mission a lesson from Preach My Gospel (PMG) over a zoom meeting.
Today, we watched from the mission president's home with the Howells (mission leaders) and the Bertins, another senior couple who have been acting as the mission office couple, and when it had ended, we all walked to a nearby restaurant for a farewell dinner. The Bertins had arrived just 6 weeks ago. They had been assigned a year ago to serve at the Jerusalem Center, but it was closed, so they decided to fill a position in Vietnam in the interim until their assignment opened up in Jerusalem. We thought they'd be with us for a year, but an amazing thing happened--Jerusalem opened up! And so the Bertins left us Tuesday morning to fly home, unpack, then repack as they leave for Jerusalem at the end of March. Wow!! It was GREAT to know them, and they'll have a wonderful time in their new assignment in the Jerusalem Center. We were sad that no other senior couples could join us that night.
Tuesday we had our District Council Meeting with our young missionaries from 12 to 2:30 pm, and Game Night from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. It's fun to be with all of them! And fun to see them playing and interacting with some of their investigators and some branch members in the evening's activity.
Wednesday was now our free day, and Allen found a last-minute spot for us to go visit: Viem Xa Village was holding a 2-day festival that we decided we should see! Festivals are fun, and there's always a twist to them when we're the only white people the villagers have seen. This seemed to be the case, as we drew a lot of attention from the crowd; not as much as at the last festival we went to, but we were still grabbed for at least one picture. It's funny to see people positioning themselves so that we show up in their selfies, or so that we're the subject of their pictures. Ah, celebrite... haha.
The festival surrounded a lake and is supposedly the oldest place--or first place--to have done the Quan Ho Singing, which was also done at the Lim Festival where we went and saw so many colorful costumes. This seemed to be smaller, but perhaps more authentic, as some of the singing was done from boats...
...as well as from pavilions...
As is mandatory with all festivals, the streets were lined with food to buy and every knick-knack you could possible want.
(Or some food you might not want...)
There were games; this one was like hitting a pinata, and the novelty of an old white lady swinging a stick got me 2 free tries! I hit their little pot at least a little bit on both of my turns and was rewarded with a bag of chips for being a good sport.
And there was this game! A full-sized version of Chinese Chess...
As always at these festivals, there were temples to see:
In one temple there was the Jade Well. You were welcome to walk down the steps to the well and scoop water to drink or to carry to the top to wash your face, but considering the koi that were in the water, we politely declined.
One of my favorite things anywhere I go is to see the Vietnamese people enjoying themselves.
Thursday marks the busy part of our week, as always. We walked a bike down to the shop to have a chain fixed...
And since the bike now needed to be checked...
It was a short ride back to the church, and I was quality control today and discovered that the helmet would only fit a child. Either Vietnamese missionaries are VERY small, or someone just bought the wrong thing! And now we know. :)
Our FHE Friday evening began with a great relay race where the class had to push a balloon across the room with only their heads, and later they had to balance blocks on their hand at the same time. It was a bit of a challenge!
Our happiest happening of the week was on Saturday evening, after Music Class and English activity: another baptism! Our new friend is the Bao Ve, or guard, of the building, Cong Tam. It was a wonderful evening, and he is SO very excited to be a member of the Church now!
This font takes approximately 4 hours to fill, and there is not a large enough water heater in the building to make the water warm. Our dedicated Branch Missionaries and Branch Mission Leader/Elder's Quorum President boil many pots of water to pour into the font to make sure the new member and missionary are not too uncomfortable. This is our third baptism in a month, and we have two more scheduled for next Saturday. The Hai Ba Trung Branch is having wonderful success lately, and we love it!
Our newest member bore a strong testimony; even though Allen and I didn't know what he was saying, we could feel the Spirit in the words he said and the way he said them. It was powerful.
And here he is in his work clothes today after he was confirmed a member of the Church. He is a happy man. (You may need to take my word for it as he is not very demonstrative.)
We are so happy to be serving in Vietnam! The Lord loves these people, our brothers and sisters, and we are hopeful that this is just the beginning of great growth in the Church in Vietnam; we hear it from our leaders, and we see it in the accelerating missionary work in our own branch.
We are so blessed that our family and friends support us being here, no matter how hard it may seem for them or for us.
We love our family and miss the special times they experience, but we know the Lord will bless them and watch over them, and we know He is helping us.
Thanks for your love and support! Have a wonderful week!
Gap lai sau!!
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