Revisiting Vietnamese Education--Old School.
This week, it had been a while since we visited the Temple of Literature--Vietnam's first national university, founded in 1070 and operational until 1779--so it was time to go again. Our District missionaries needed to check it out, and this time we had our Elder Hoang, who learned about this place in his history classes. It was fun that he could fill us in on some details we had not heard before.
These stele, on the backs of turtles (representing longevity) list the names of the graduates over the years. It was relatively small number, considering the hundreds of years that had passed!
This picture supposedly shows how fish become dragons, which I didn't know was a thing!
Used as the toilet facility...
A room full of prisoners...
About 100 prisoners escaped through this small section of sewer.
They had performed in Ho Chi Minh the Friday before, and then Monday in Hanoi. The audiences loved it. All the missionaries were encouraged to attend, and all the branch members were invited, as well as any community members. It was a free performance, and was a chance for the missionaries to listen to music they don't usually get to listen to, and they loved it. One of the dance sequences the team performed was to the music of Fiddler on the Roof. It was my favorite, and then I realized that probably none of these missionaries had ever seen the movie. And I felt very old. haha
Tuesday, we hold our district planning meeting in our apartment, as it's more convenient than having us all travel over to the church. The missionaries come at noon and bring their lunch to eat together, and then the meeting is from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. My favorite assignment (self-imposed) is to make cookies or other treats; it's a not-too-subtle ploy to be the favorite senior couple in the mission. Wicked, I know; I'll repent later. Today, the Elders had exchanges, so we also had our 2 Zone Leaders with us. Snickerdoodles was the cookie of choice today. We all get to contribute something to the training in these meetings, and it's always interesting and uplifting to hear the teaching the missionaries do. Something they've grown to love is to invite Allen to share a missionary experience from when he was younger; they also like his farm stories.
Tuesday night was another successful game night. Allen and I usually get invited to sit in on a lesson before or after the games, and we love to help the missionaries by doing that.
Wednesday morning was a devotional with the missionaries, followed by my Mission Health Council meeting where we discuss the physical or emotional needs of any missionaries. Fortunately, we have few missionaries with any problems right now, and the meeting was not long at all.
Wednesday evening, the missionaries invited all of the recent converts, all of the friends (investigators), and all the missionaries to come to the church and eat dinner together--all "Dutch treat". It ended up being a very fun evening.
Thursday, we had free time and ended up going for a long walk from our apartment to Hoan Kiem Lake, about 4 miles. I was able to buy some new shoes (I think they're a Skecher's knock-off) and some pants: total spent, $30. Not bad. Plus, we saw some interesting sights along the way...
About 90 degrees, but a common sight, as women especially don't want the sun darkening their skin, or the pollution affecting them. We call these the "ninja" outfit.
A load of sugarcane on the back of a scooter.
These little plastic seats are the seat of choice EVERYWHERE. I think it's because they're cheaper and take up much less space.
Every once in a while, we pass a mosaic tile picture on the wall. This was a classic one.
We still find small temples in many neighborhoods; they're so interesting to visit.
I especially liked this tree.
And this tree...
This is a different temple...
We walked past the street of murals again...
This woman set up her food stall in the middle of the intersection. First time I've seen that!
Thursday evening was another successful English activity, with lots of chatting with people afterwards. That's where the missionaries do a lot of their contacting/teaching/schmoozing. I have a favorite friend who is 63 years old, and she likes to practice her English with me. She'll also ask me what new Vietnamese phrase I've learned, and we'll figure one out for me to remember. Her name is Ngoc (Nope); perhaps I've mentioned her before.
Friday we were invited with the young missionaries to our friend Hoa's house for dinner again, where we ate Vietnamese spaghetti with hotdogs, fruit, and shrimp chips. Hoa was baptized a couple of months ago; her husband Dat is planning to be baptized as soon as he can hear the lessons; and their 7-year-old will turn 8 in a few months and will hopefully follow suit.
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After dinner, we rushed back to the church for the Book of Mormon reading club with the recent converts and investigators, where we had a good lesson and discussion with the newest members of the branch and other friends. The missionaries really pack in the activities and then squeak home just before their curfew! These busy nights tend to make us feel our age, but we wouldn't exchange this chance to be involved in missionary work for anything!
Saturday is our busiest day, and this day was no different. It began with transfer calls, which consisted of a zoom call at 9 am for 1/2 an hour where we learned that we'll lose one Elder and one Sister to the South; they'll be switching straight across, and we'll get one Elder and one Sister from the South. Transfers are bittersweet--good memories are left behind and new memories are made.
Then Allen has his branch presidency meeting at 2 pm; I open up my music room at 2 pm for Hoa to practice piano; and I officially start my piano class at 3 pm. This day, I actually had 4 other people there besides Hoa!
This picture is a bit deceptive; only 2 of the young men (the 2 on the right) were actually learning piano along with Hoa; they were having fun and were successful in playing some songs! The other 2 already play a bit and were just hanging out with us.
English activity followed music at 4 pm, and we had a good crowd with some new people. It was an energetic group.
And then we had our branch missionary correlation meeting at 6:30 pm for an hour. It was another late night, but who's counting??
Today was a busy day at church. I am the pianist in sacrament meeting; today I was sustained as the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society presidency; right after church we had our branch potluck lunch. Turns out that people love my banana muffins; who knew? From 2-4 pm the district had a training for all the R.S. presidencies, so that was good timing for our newly called (today) R.S. president! I got to play the piano for this meeting, too. I think my mother would be thrilled to know that my piano lessons paid off in a big way on my mission. Thanks, Mom!
Today is May 18 and is Lisa's birthday. She's #2 and thinks maybe we should have stopped at 2 but where would be the fun in that??!! (She's changed her mind about that as she's grown older; it was only when all the kids lived at home with us that she had that opinion!)
Happy Birthday, Lisa!
Happy Sunday, everyone!!
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