Three Days Late, But Who's Counting?

 I am definitely behind on getting this posted. Last week was busy with a visit from Elder Teh of the Seventy (a leading authority in our Church who has leadership over parts of Asia), coupled with our District Conference, which is the same as Stake Conference back home.

The week began with Father's Day! But there were no kids around to shower Allen with affection, and as he likes to say about moms on Mother's Day--He's not my Dad. But our branch just happened to be having a nice pot luck lunch that day (they don't have a Father's Day) so Allen got some food beyond what I would have given him. Lucky man!

Flowers in our apartment lobby

Don't ask me to name what these foods are--I don't know. I only know if I eat them or not.

I was so disappointed to miss a picture of our branch members eating pizza with chopsticks!

Monday was a harbinger of the p-days to come--hot and humid; too uncomfortable to do anything outside. So we went inside!

There's nothing like bowling again after a bazillion years to keep a person humble.

Tuesday was the first day of Mission Tour, and began with online meetings with Elder Teh, his wife, and President and Sister Howell, our Mission Leaders. It was a good meeting, and the emphasis was on being more bold in inviting people to come to church and learn about the gospel, not just to come to English activities; trust that God is preparing people to hear about the gospel--they are looking for it and just don't know where to find it. 

And Tuesday night was Game Night, as usual.

In our walking around for errands Wednesday, we saw a flower we've never seen before. If this is a new discovery, please name it Leonardo after Allen.

Wednesday night, our Branch Relief Society president arranged for an activity where we used the creative talents we didn't know we had, or which had lain dormant for eons. She and her husband run a business where they make ties, headbands, bags, bowties, etc. They do beautiful work; she brought all the supplies and made sure everyone was engaged and learning and enjoying it. She is brand new at this calling and doesn't feel she can do a good job, but she's killing it!

Thursday was our big day for Mission Tour because we got to meet with Elder Teh in person in Hanoi. (He had met with the missionaries in person in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.) We left home at 6:45 am to make sure we beat the traffic. Turns out there was no traffic that morning and we arrived at 7:15 am for an 8:00 am arrival time for an 8:30 am meeting start time, which was pushed back to 9:15 am start time because traffic was bad (or something) for the Tehs. And that's a microcosm of how time works sometimes in Vietnam.

We enjoyed the day, the talks, the instruction, the lunch...  

I made banana muffins for the missionaries; Elder Hoang in our district donated bananas that his mother gave him. I also made chocolate chip cookies for the missionaries; Sister Johnson (who went home last transfer) came to Vietnam for a visit already and brought me brown sugar (YAY!) and Sister Taylor (who will come next month) has a generous father who came to visit in April and who brought a BIG bag of chocolate chips which found their way into my cupboard. All these combined to make these treats, which were greatly appreciated by the missionaries.

Elder Teh

Lunch!!

Here is our District... Elder Hoang, Elder Anderton, Elder Adams, Sister Adams, Sister Ngo, Sister Vy

And Elder Teh hurrying off...

We got to have dinner with all the senior couples in Hanoi, with Elder and Sister Teh and President and Sister Howell. Catfish; squid; chicken feet.

As we got ready for bed that night, the crown on my tooth popped off; a poor way to end a nice day. I called in the morning and got an appointment to fix it the next day after our final Mission Tour online meeting, which was held Friday morning.

The meeting with Elder Teh, et al, was great. The meeting with the dentist, not so great. Lots of decay meant a root canal. 

But I will say that dental care--and physical care--in Vietnam is nothing to complain about! I had my root canal finished in 1 1/2 hours and was fine by Book of Mormon class at 7 pm.

We got to help with a lesson afterwards, all about temples and the importance of families. It's always nice to be reminded of where ours began.

This weekend was District Conference, with leadership meeting Saturday afternoon, adult meeting Saturday evening, and Sunday meeting in the morning on Sunday. I often get to play the piano for branch and district meetings. I often think--and now I can't remember if I've actually written this in a blog or not--that my mom is up in heaven saying, "See? I told you you'd be glad you took piano lessons someday!" And boy, was she right! And Barbara Elison was right that I shouldn't have quit. Sorry. (Disclaimer: if I've already said that in another blog, blame it on an old brain and too much cheap Vietnamese food.)

It's fun to get together as a district, but sad to see how small our district actually is. We have 4 branches, and each branch probably has 30-40 members attend on a Sunday (ours is 25-30), and the district conference on Sunday had around 130 attend. It would be nice to fill up the room! But we are confident that things are beginning to change in Vietnam, and blessings are coming to this country. This is the message we are getting from visiting Church authorities. The Vietnamese people of this day are the pioneers for tomorrow, and in a generation, there will be wards and stakes and a temple...  It will be amazing to see!

Sunday evening, we were invited to a wonderful dinner by a brother-in-law of the counselor in the mission presidency. President Vuong really wants his family to learn about the gospel, as he is the only member in his extended family. He invited his brother-in-law, Ban, to district conference, and Ban really liked what he heard. He invited us over for a delicious dinner with fish, squid, pork,  and salad. I wish I could cook like that! If all Vietnamese food was like that, I would love Vietnamese food!

And they had a really cool aquarium, too!

It was a good week; busy and a bit stressful at times, but we have survcived. This coming Saturday is the next transfer call, when the missionaries will find out where their next assignments are. It's crazy that it's already been 6 weeks!

We love working with these young missionaries, and we love working with these old missionaries. If you haven't yet considered being a missionary, young or old, we think you should. You will be blessed.

Have a wonderful week!!

P.S.  If anyone noticed that the pictures of us with our district missionaries at our district conference look like they might be color-coordinated, you are absolutely correct! Our young Sisters take delight in designing our color schemes for just about any meeting we attend. Allen is delighted(?) to wear pink.