Chuc Mung Le Phuc Sinh!! Happy Easter!!

 I'm going to pretend that I got this sent on Easter evening, as was my intent before the day got busier and busier.


What a glorious Easter! Christ is risen and He loves us all, and we get to be his representatives in Vietnam. We pinch ourselves often.

This past week was filled with travels for us, as we spent our p-day with our young missionary family on a hike, and then later in the week Allen and I took some time for ourselves to visit Ha Long Bay. The picture above is actually Ha Long Bay, but reminded me of Easter, and I needed a good picture for the blog intro.

Monday, we traveled to a place called Chua Tram, and this place had not only a temple but a cave; or a temple in a cave, and bats to go along with that! Also, it is purportedly where Ho Chi Minh lived for a while.



Bats made us a bit nervous to walk underneath...





After exploring the cave--and enjoying the squeaking bats--we headed outside for a hike on the green, goat-strewn hillside! It was the perfect day, not too hot yet, and we managed to see some beautiful views. It was very fun.







We were all very happy to get some fresh air away from Hanoi.

Tuesday is a busy day that begins with our District Council meeting, where we meet with our young missionary family in our apartment for training, teaching, and planning. It takes a few hours, and then in the evening we meet again at the church for game night, where we hope members and friends will come and play together and get to know each other.

The new addition to our District family is Elder Hoang, who was born and raised in Hanoi about 5 miles from our branch. He just started his mission 2 weeks ago.


This is Lam, a great guy who will be baptized this Saturday evening.

And this is Dung, who will also be baptized this Saturday evening. He is trying to convince Allen how easy it is to learn Vietnamese.



We turned into real tourists for the first time in Vietnam! We joined a tour of Ha Long Bay: we left home early Wednesday morning, rode the bus to Ha Long Bay by noon, boarded a ship, and had a wonderful time exploring this beautiful place!

 


We were fed lots of Vietnamese food as we headed out into the bay.




We stayed Wednesday night in a rather delightful berth...

With a rather delightful view!


The first adventure was to TiTop Island, purportedly the highest(?) peak in the bay, where we got to hike up 700+ STEPS (I've got to say that the Vietnamese like their steps!) to an incredible view.



We had the perfect day! It was sunny and clear and not too hot, and we had a nice breeze.


Can you say "Popular Tourist Attraction"???

We even had a few minutes to wade in the ocean!

We got back to the ship just in time to start the next adventure--Speed Boats! Fun!!






It was super fast and super fun. And we got back just in time for the NEXT adventure--Surprise Cave, also known as Sung Sot Cave. This was very interesting; halfway up the mountain, the cave opened up into a large cavern where the path wound around inside before exiting further around the hill.






Then it was down the steps and back to the boat.

That evening, the sun was going down as we approached out ship, and it was just beautiful.




Allen tried his hand at squid fishing; he almost got one, too!

The next morning, we were hoping for a beautiful sunrise, but it was a cloudy day. We realized then how lucky we had been the day before! But it was still beautiful. The early morning adventure for today was another cave experience, either by kayak or on a boat, rowed by a native. We chose the boat so we could focus on the beauty we would see.



The cave turned out not to have a large opening, and when the tide is high, it may be impossible to access the lagoon inside the ring of hills.



This is the one place in Vietnam that we have actually seen monkeys in the wild. 

It got pretty crowded with kayaks and rowboats on the lagoon in here.



Then it was back to our ship to begin the ride back to the dock. Once again, we got to eat while we traveled, but only after we'd stayed on the top deck to see the beautiful hills once more.




These 2 rocks are called "the fighting cocks".



It was an amazing trip; we were sorry it had to end.

Since it was Thursday, Allen had planned well, and we were home in time to help with the English activity that night; or he had not planned well, and we were home in time to help with the English activity that night. (We were tired! haha)  It was fun, and we were glad we were home in time to help.

Friday was spent getting ready for our district (think Stake) Easter activity to be held Saturday morning. Allen and I had the assignment to cook 50 eggs for kids to color, and to provide the pens to do it. 

Saturday morning, bright and early, we were at the park where the picnic and activity were to be held. I am sorry to inform you all that summer seems to have hit Vietnam. Actually, this is only a taste of summer, or so we've been told--it will be even more hot and humid than this. We survived the heat and enjoyed the activity in spite of it. Our days now are in the 90s, with humidity in the 70s, or around that.






I won!! (And it only cost me a pan of brownies; worth it!) (Don't tell anyone!)

Our Hanoi District (Stake)

And after the Easter picnic, we made it over to the church for my Music Class at 3 pm, and the second English activity at 4 pm. A missionary correlation meeting ended the day from 6-7 pm, and we finally made it home for dinner at McDonald's. Sometimes, even McDonald's tastes good.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, and we watched a special video made by the Asia Area Authority. Without my own family there, I needed to make my day more special, so we invited our young missionary family to come have dinner with us, a dinner of clam chowder and apple cake. It's always fun to share the love with someone who needs it, and I think sometimes these missionaries need it as much as I do.

We miss our family; we love them and hate when they have hard times, but we know they will always have help from heaven. We are so grateful for the great plan of happiness, for our Savior, and for His Atonement for us. We testify that He knows our pains, our struggles, our challenges, our joys, and our sorrows. And we know that He loves us so much that He was willing to bear it all because it gave Him joy to know He was making a way for us to be saved, if we will take it. 

May you all feel the joy of this miraculous event, and His never-ending love! We love you all!
































































































































































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