On the Road Again

 With our air conditioner fixed (we thought), we were able to go enjoy a p-day again, so today we took our district missionaries to see the Temple of Literature, which we have displayed in a previous blog, and which is a very interesting place to visit. 

We began our day with lunch at an Indian restaurant, which was a tasty change from Vietnamese food.

And from here, we started walking toward the first national university in Vietnam, founded and built in 1070 A.D. and dedicated to Confucius.  But first...

The restaurant was about a mile from the temple and there were things we wanted to see along the way, the first being Quan Thanh Temple; we got there just before an unexpected rain began, so it was a good place to hang out and wait out the storm.

We've walked past this temple a few times, but never gone in. It was very interesting...

And the rain came down...

                                                                       This statue is 13 feet tall and weights close to 8000 pounds.

When the rain let up enough, we continued on our way. We next walked past the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. One day, we'll have the time to visit the museum there.

It's a beautiful area.

Just around the corner was our next stop--One Pillar Pagoda.

That was a beautiful setting for a very interesting pagoda, but we needed to continue our journey toward the Temple of Literature. After the rainstorm, it was really muggy and warm--it felt like we were swimming through the air as we walked, and that is very sapping to the energy.

We made it!

They didn't want to admit defeat, but we wore them out. Actually, the heat and humidity wore us all out.

Monday became Tuesday very quickly, with it's usual District Council meeting and game night. And the next day we had an errand for the Mission Leaders and got to wander around West Lake for a little while. That's always interesting. The government is building a larger memorial on the east side of the lake to commemorate the rescue of John McCain after he crashed his plane into the lake. It's right across the street from the Hanoi District Center (stake center).

This will one day be a great memorial, I'm sure...not yet.

This is the section of lake where he crashed.

I had to include this picture here because I am very proud of myself for being able to get down into the "Asian squat" as I call it. Vietnamese people hunker down like this whenever they're outside at their stores, or waiting for something, or working. It's hard for me to do, so I'm keeping this as proof that at least once, I did it! Go ahead--try it! You may be surprised that it might not be that easy! (Especially if you're 66 years old...)

It amazes me that July is already 2/3 gone when we were just celebrating Independence Day. Each week goes by so quickly, and we always feel so busy that we don't notice the days passing. We enjoyed helping the young missionaries, as always. This past week has been one of struggle for them as they've tried to contact new people to teach, and their lessons have sometimes fallen through. The English activities start out small in number, but seem to grow as the hour goes on. This week, the attendees were rewarded with a rousing rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." It made it all worth it, I'm sure. :) 

Allen and I have tried to be more outgoing with our Grab drivers, asking them (in Vietnamese) if they know English, and then telling them that we are trying to learn Vietnamese (also in Vietnamese). We can ask about their name, their age, if they have a family, and tell them how long we've lived in Hanoi and how much time we have left. Some drivers are engaging and like to communicate with us through their limited English or through Google Translate. We've invited a few drivers to try out our English activity, and occasionally we've invited one to church. One driver did come to English a couple of times, but he hasn't come for a month. Hope springs eternal!

Today was our branch pot-luck for lunch, and it's always a fun time to visit and eat. Today my contribution was clam chowder, which turned out to be a great crowd pleaser! I was delighted!

One minute the pot was full...

Twenty minutes later, the pot was empty.

The branch has begun to buy a birthday cake to celebrate all the birthdays in that month.

The proper way to eat pizza? With chopsticks, of course!

We're now looking forward (?) to a typhoon this week, with around 14 inches of rain in the next 5 days. We may be drowned rats at the end of the week, but we will  certainly have had an adventure!

We wouldn't trade it for anything, 

even though we miss our family and friends. 

We are grateful to know and love these people in Vietnam.

And this is the message we are here to spread. 

It makes it all worth it.

Have a wonderful week!