Now What??

 The title of this week's blog was indicative of how our week went--when it was rainy, we had to think: Now what do we do?


(Unique Vietnamese signage--we love to find examples wherever we can.)

With all our enthusiasm, we headed out to find our hope shining brightly--somewhere...

For our p-day, we couldn't go outside for an activity because of the rain, so we headed to the mall for...yep, lunch first, and then a  Box Dance Fitness Gaming place! This is a place where you pay to go in and chase the colored squares on the floor: stomp on the blue squares, avoid the red squares, and the green squares are safe. You have so many lives on each level, and if you lose your 20 lives, you lose. It was surprisingly fun; and surprisingly exhausting.



And then treats afterwards, of course!

In this mall, there are at LEAST 3 different photo booth stores, with a wide variety of accessories to dress up for your photos. The missionaries like to take advantage.

But after the photo booth, the young missionaries had places to go and things to do, and Allen and I still had a rainy afternoon to deal with, so...  Now What??

We found a Billiards Room! It's been over a year since we've had a chance to try our hand at a billiards table; it was fun to see if we could pick it up again. We could, enough to have fun, anyway.


Tuesday was not our regular District Council day, as it was transfer day and we were losing our District Leader. Now What? We decided to take advantage of the Vietnamese pricing for a dental cleaning: $12 for each of us.  And on the way there, we saw an interesting sight...
It's so amazing to see these motorcycles loaded down; we always hope to catch up for a better view...


After the dentist, we went for a walk in the area. These cars were just parked in the road.


Further around the road is a small pagoda, just over a bridge.




And a bit further around is a new monument that was just finished, commemorating the capture of John McCain after his crash into West Lake in Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

This is the part of West Lake where he crashed.



Tuesday continued to be a busy day. A member in our branch gave birth on Monday to a baby girl, so the missionary sisters, the RS president, and I all had an adventure finding her at the hospital for a visit. It's always fun to make these visits, especially when the branch members are so pleased to receive the visit and the attention.

After the visit was game night. This continues to be a successful way for new friends to meet and have fun with branch members, or other new friends. (Friends being the term for investigators these days.)


It is always hoped that these friends who come just for the fun will stay for the Spirit they feel. That is the hope with English activity, as well, and historically that has been the result in many instances. Our own Elders' Quorum President is a success story through the English activities.


I spent some time Thursday afternoon recording a video that will be available for missionaries to learn how to conduct music in church meetings. I may stay in Vietnam for years to come this way! Who knows? 

Saturday was a good day for me; Allen had a last-minute cancellation of his branch presidency meeting when he was already at the church and it didn't do him any good, but I had a full house for my music class: two 7-year olds (one who tries to show off for the other, who happens to be his girl friend), 3 regulars, and a new student who appreciates the opportunity to learn piano.

Then our English activity had a good group for a Saturday; it's fun to end the week on a good note.
We actually ended with a missionary correlation meeting for an hour--still on a good note.

Sunday was another good day, with the same American family visiting for one more Sunday, so I was a Primary teacher again. Primary is a challenge in a multi-lingual class with ages from 2 years to 10 years. I did my best and hope the 2 Vietnamese boys in our branch will have a chance to learn about Joseph Smith from their father, who was baptized a few months ago. The gospel is true in any language!!

May you all feel the joy of the gospel in your lives! And if you don't, may you learn about it enough that you can invite that Spirit in and keep an open mind! Allen and I wouldn't be here if we didn't love the gospel and love Jesus Christ, and we certainly do love all of you. 

Have a great week!









































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