Refill. Reboot. Rejoice.

 

I'm late with my blog, and that's okay. Today is Vietnamese Women's Day, and this is what my companion got me as a reminder that he loves me. He gave it to me on Saturday, and I'm using it every day to remind me that even when we don't understand each other (what?!), we still love each other. 

P-day was not rainy for the first time in ages! And when I say it was not rainy, I mean we didn't get rained on very much. We were able to have lunch at a BBQ place where the food is cooked at the table, and it's an all-you-can-eat buffet. It's good, but lunch lasts a looooong time, as it takes a long time to cook that much food a little at a time.

We'd been waiting for a not-a-rainy-day for a long time so we could go exploring with the young missionaries, and we grabbed this chance to go to Lang Van Phuc, or Silk Village, again. 

The old entrances are the coolest things about some of these places.

We took great pleasure in showing a new generation of young missionaries how the silk looms work.

It's just fascinating how these punch-cards (if you're old enough, you'll know what these are) let the loom know what pattern of silk to make.

This loom had something wrong with it, and the woman on top was effecting repairs. At least, I hope she was!

Here, the "punch-card" patterns are being stitched together.

Many looms make this a very noisy room.

Watch out!

Tuesday was Zone Conference, and I love Zone Conference. Not only does it break up a sometimes monotonous routine but it gives some much needed spiritual refilling and rebooting, which is just what I needed this week. Allen and I had been struggling with a decision and one of our young Sisters had mentioned that a sister who was planning to be baptized was feeling more opposition as the date drew near for her baptism. This Sister pointed out that, of course she's going to face more opposition as she gets closer to doing a good thing, and now I realize that this was true for Allen and me, as well. 

We have decided to extend our mission for two more months: instead of coming home March 2 we will be coming home May 5. Our own opposition was making that choice difficult, but once it was made it was a relief, and it gave a feeling a peace and a cause to rejoice. And I remembered what that young Sister had said, and realized the truth of it in our situation. We are happy to be able to stay a bit longer and serve the Lord and these young missionaries and our wonderful branch members, whom we have grown to love. And we love the Howells, too, and are happy we can help make their lives easier for a little longer.

The Hanoi Zone--above and below

Our District: Ong Ba Adams, Cac Chi Mayberry and Duong, Cac Anh Ca Nguyen and Romans

Our own Chi Duong on her baptismal day!

And here she is, pointing at her Missionary "Plaque".

On Wednesday, we had a treat and got to accompany the Elders to teach a new-member lesson to Anh Dung--Brother Dung--whom Allen had baptized back in April.

A scooter ramp going up all 4 floors...

The shoes come off...

What he has, he shares.

New bike; broken seat.

He walked with us over to the church building.

In front of the church building.

Off they ride, into the sunset... so to speak.

Elder Romans doesn't let a moment pass him by!

We had a fun experience Thursday morning, after I had my blood drawn for a cholesterol check (I'm good)--we walked to the Lotte Mall, which is rather large, and which has the Hanoi Sky Observation Deck for anyone willing to play tourist and pay a small fee. It was an incredible view; we enjoyed trying to figure out where things were, and we weren't always successful. Hanoi is BIG.

These metal bonsai trees would be fun to have.

On Friday, we had free time in the afternoon and decided to go for a walk around Ocean Park 2, a place where we've been before but didn't have time to see all we wanted to see. We went with the young missionaries the last time; this time, we were intrepid explorers and didn't plan ahead. Oops. That's okay; we discovered the things we wanted to and didn't make too many wrong turns!

We wandered through Sake Town and, once again, found the streets mostly deserted. It felt so strange to be in Vietnam, a country of over 100 million people, and in this beautiful, new section next to Hanoi, to have empty streets.

This is a little plaza in Sake Town; it looks well-used, or at least well-weathered.

Empty streets...

This really caught our eye and is the main reason we ended up at Ocean Park 2 again. We had seen this ancient ruin down a side street when we were here before, but didn't have a chance to see where or what it was, and we were very curious. It turned out to be on top of a hill in the amazing community water park!!

Here's the dragon at the entrance of the water park.

And the magical unicorn creation... and the rainbow bridge. This water park was something else!

I had to put this picture in here to show a very typical Vietnamese sidewalk--not for how nice and tidy it looks, but for how it has a tree growing in the middle of what should be a place to walk. Now you're forced off onto the road to walk on a stable surface. Everywhere we go, sidewalks are an afterthought, if they're a thought at all.

Another sample of emptiness. This is a teacup ride like you'll find at many a carnival. Allen and I could have ridden this all by ourselves--the operator was laid out on the sidewalk, doing something on her phone.

No one.

Here we could rent a robot and have a robot battle with each other. They looked well-used, although no one was around at this time of day.

I LOVE the colorful buildings!!!

The river had a ship, and gondola boat rides up and down the length of it.

Whimsy and Star Wars.

More whimsy.

Saturday was a special day for our District (Stake) in Vietnam, where the District Relief Society celebrated Vietnamese National Women's Day with a special program and dinner and a gift. I was able to still have music class Saturday afternoon, but I had to leave the English activity to get to the District Center on time. I helped by playing the piano for the program and for the choir numbers. And the reward was a very nice Vietnamese dinner.

My friend Hoa, who came with me, along with her son and his friend, and another branch member, Chi Thao. The woman standing on the left in the blue skirt is our R.S. President.

Yes, this is like a stake R.S. meeting.

The best surprise waited for me at home, where Allen had bought me my bouquet. Sigh.

Sunday, our branch also celebrated Women's Day with us by giving us a rose and a chocolate bar. And in Vietnam, if you don't take a picture, it didn't happen.

It happened.

I hope you are all treated like Queens and Kings, and have a wonderful week.