Deja Vu

 Deja Vu--the feeling that you've experienced something before. 

But we like it! So we keep doing it!

This time I am referring to lunch at Chops for p-day and then a walk down Hang Ma Street toward Hoan Kiem Lake, each one an oft-repeated activity.

Chops is the popular burger joint that makes you feel like you can handle Vietnam when you're missing American food. It's a favorite among the missionaries and we take advantage of it every once in awhile.

From there it's a short walk of sight-seeing on our way to Hang Ma Street, and on our way we stumbled across a pagoda...

I love the decorations/paintings on the walls.

And then it was on to Hang Ma Street...

...to see what's left of the decorations from the latest holiday or celebration, in this instance: Moon Festival (Mid-Autumn Festival).

Here are lion masks...

And beautifully colored fish...                                                                                                    

We hadn't realized beforehand just how important a part these stars play in the celebration.               (This one is wrapped up against the rain.)

So colorful!

This is just a divider put up in the middle of the street--a place to park your scooter. 

I think I want it for the fence in our backyard... or to cover our garage wall.

As we walked from Hang Ma Street to Hoan Kiem Lake, we found the missionaries from the Cau Giay Branch! It's always fun to see other missionaries out on the town on a p-day, although we're not allowed to plan anything together for fear that we'll have too much fun together and get rowdy, I guess.

We continued on; it was dripping from the sky just enough to require an umbrella, and it was beautiful at the lake.

It's been quite a while since we actually visited the pagoda on the island, Ngoc Son Pagoda. It's a beautiful little place with a fascinating story of Vietnamese history to it.

"In folk culture, Turtle is one of the Four Sacred Animals, a symbol of longevity. The image of Turtle is associated with the heroic history of the Vietnamese nation through the legend of the Golden Turtle who lent his claws to An Duong Vuong to make a magic crossbow to defeat the Trieu Da Army in the 3rd century BC. According to the legend, in the 15th century, thanks to the golden turtle... King Le Loi... won the resistance war against the Ming invaders and gained independence. After ascending the throne, King Le Loi returned the magic sword to the golden turtle on Luc Thuy Lake (Hoan Kiem Lake or Lake of the Restored Sword now), and the turtle living here is called Sword Lake Turtle to associate with this event." This is from a poster on the island, near where two large turtles from the lake are mummified and on display. The story seems to be 2 different mash-ups of the same story, but I put it in pretty-much as-is.

This really was a live turtle in the lake, and now is a reminder of the folktale.

We held our District Council as usual on Tuesday. It's fun to have the missionaries come over for a couple of hours for training and treats. 

And then we went to game night at the church...

Wednesday night, our most recently baptized member, Vu, very kindly invited a few of us out for dinner. That was a special treat--beef steak. Vu is closest to the camera, across from Allen. Minh, furthest from the camera, was one of the first baptized in our branch this year. They are both very kind men, and both have good knowledge and testimonies of the gospel.

English activity was another success on Thursday night. Our friends are really enjoying having a beginners class and a more advanced class where they can speak a bit more English with others. Today's topic in the advanced class was Fashion: What's your favorite color to wear and why? Do you like shopping online or in the store best? What are some expensive things you need to purchase in your lives? What are some less expensive things you need to purchase each day? You may think these are very simplistic questions and topics, but they resonate with people, and give them a common ground to discuss things. They really enjoyed it. And at the end of the hour, we always bring the 2 groups back together for a simple game together. Today it was Family Feud: Name a word using the word "snow". Great game!

Friday night was YSA, and we spent some time trying our hand at origami--some of us (not me) were more successful than others.

They had to toast to their successes! Or even efforts!

Earlier that day, Allen and I had walked past the open market so I could get some fresh fruits that I've been wanting. It's kind of fun; I didn't get much and don't go often, but the prices are good and so is the produce.

The thing we were looking forward to this week was listening to General Conference. We'd heard from many people that it was very good, but since Utah is 13 hours behind us, it was pretty hard to listen to anything at the time it took place, and this weekend was set aside for the Vietnamese translations to play in our branch meetinghouse. Allen and I were set up to listen to conference in English in the chapel upstairs, while the Vietnamese editions were running downstairs on the main floor.

On Sunday, the time in between sessions was filled with a potluck lunch for our branch.

The birthday cake for all the birthdays in the branch during the month is especially enjoyed by each of the kids who, no matter when their birthdays, get to blow out the candles multiple times.

Sunday evening, Allen and I traveled with our 2 Sister missionaries to find the home of a sister in our branch who is serving a mission right now in England. We met Chi Hang (the missionary) when we first came to Vietnam and got to know and love her before she left in February. Her family has not joined the Church, but they have said in the past that they have seen blessings in their family from her serving a mission. 

We were able to visit with her mother, brother, and cousin, and they treated us to a delicious dinner on their lotus farm.

Trying to find the house...

Sipping Lotus Tea.

Chi Hang's mother took us walking around her little village, which was basically around the little lake near their home.

The village pagoda.

And then after showing us around their beautiful little town, they fed us a delicious dinner.

Fried spring rolls...

Fish...

Winter melon soup...

A little of everything.

And then they told us how they make lotus tea from the flowers, and poured us some.

We had such a nice visit, and the Sisters were convinced that they need to return for a photo shoot with the lotus blossoms. 

And then we had to go home.

It was a lovely way to end our week, remembering our friend Chi Hang whom we haven't even seen in almost a year, and visiting with her family again. They were so kind and thoughtful to us, and made us feel so welcomed.

May you all have a wonderful week, and remember how much you are loved.