Three, Two, One... (Ba, Hai, Mot...)

What a beautiful day we had for our last great p-day adventure in Vietnam! Our junior missionaries all told us they would do whatever we wanted to do, but we didn't want to do the same old things over again. Allen searched and searched, and he managed to find a new pagoda we hadn't seen, and it was near a mountain where we like to hike. Yay! So we rented a 16-seat van, invited a few extra people to come along, and rode about an hour away to a place called Tram Gian Pagoda.

It was a beautiful place in a rural area, and we explored for about an hour. It's always fun to see new things, even though they look eerily the same as every other pagoda we've ever seen--generally speaking. There are always some things that are different, but there are always flowers, incense burners, drums, storks on turtles, offerings, Buddhas, heroes, stern soldiers, happier solders, etc., etc.

When we finished looking around this pagoda, we drove 8 minutes away to Chua Tram and Nui Tram. This is where there is a cave at the bottom of the mountain where Ho Chi Minh hid out during the French war. We like to go there to hear the bats. And then we like to hike the mountain for the amazing views. It seems that most of the time when we hike here, we see the rice fields either when they've just been planted or just been harvested, but this time they were all green and lush and beautiful.

This is Alan Van Patter, formerly the branch president of the Cau Giay Branch, newly called as the first counselor in the District Presidency. He was free to come hiking and was invited by Sister Huyen, in the previous picture, who is rooming with him and his family.

Chi Cao and Chi Datiles, who is from the Philippines.

Our awesome--and final--district.

Anh Hoang (Brother Hoang), who was greatly influenced by us, especially Allen.

Tuesday morning, Allen didn't sleep well and so he went for a walk EARLY in the morning.

He got to see the streets waking up and beginning breakfast...

He saw the meat markets...

And maybe saw too MUCH of the meat markets... I don't think I'd patronize this one.

This is life on the streets of Hanoi...

And this is how the cooking is done in many restaurants in the city; the small restaurants on the streets.

And everywhere, there are small lakes that add beauty to the scenery.

We had our regular--and final--district council meeting this Tuesday. It's hard to believe it was our last one. It's hard to have a week of "last ones". Leaving is hard; it just is.

Tuesday evening, we had a special dinner appointment with the Howells and the Smarts. The Smarts are the Humanitarian Aid missionaries who are leaving one day before us, and the Howells wanted to take us all to dinner. We managed to not take any pictures (boo), but we ate at an Argentinian steak house and it was delicious; it was really fun to be with such amazing people. This also emphasized once again how hard it is to leave this place and these people.

On Wednesday, our branch president, Chu Tich Hieu (President Hieu) invited us out to lunch as a thank you for our service in Vietnam. It was a really nice lunch with a really nice man.

After lunch we went walking to a place President Hieu had told us about; it took a few minutes to find it, and we passed a few things on the way.

Below is the entrance to a water park, which looks pretty nice. Tickets were $8 for the day, but we weren't there for the park.

We passed a very nice looking restaurant with a beautiful koi pond...

...that sported water buffalo in the pond, as well.

This was the spot we were trying to find--the piggy banks.

And the very cool and amazing banyan trees.

We continued our walk and found a colorful addition to the landscaping...

And another.

And finally ended up back with my favorite dragons at West Lake!

We actually were heading to a pagoda that was right there on West Lake that we hadn't seen before. It was in another beautiful setting.

Sometime I'm going to figure out the relationship between the dragon and the fish that he's breathing(?) into...

This shows the view of West Lake out the front gate of the pagoda, but you can't get in this gate, you have to go around to the street on the other side.

Jack Fruit growing on a tree! They grow right out of the trunk. Personally, I don't care for the taste too much. Allen agrees.

I have to do a quick "aside" here and show you the view from our apartment before the smog comes back in!

We are going to miss this view!!!!

Thursday, we walked to the church just so we could get a closer look at all the demolition going on. The houses on the front of the street have been or are in the process of being torn down, and it has happened in the span of just a few weeks. It's been amazing to watch. It's a good plan, we're sure, because they're going to widen that way-too-narrow and busy street, but it looks like a war-torn city and is very sad to think of the many lives disrupted.

I would NOT want to be standing on that ladder, cutting any of those wires!

This home had a room decorated with horses on the wall--shiny horses.

Also on Thursday, we started in earnest on packing to travel home. This meant going for a walk for about a kilometer to find some bubble wrap, then walking home with it. The roll that Allen bought cost us between $3 and $4 dollars. And we had to walk through a very narrow street to get to the store.

When we leave, we won't be replaced by another senior couple, which is really too bad. Vietnam can really use the help of senior missionaries, and it would be wonderful if anyone who is considering serving as a senior missionary would consider requesting to come to Vietnam. We are so grateful that we were sent here; it's not a perfect country and there are many things we wish could be different, but the people we have met and the experiences we have had have been life-changing. We would not change this experience for the world.

If we were being replaced, we would leave all of our belongings here for the next couple, all of the things we have purchased over the past 20 months. But since no one is going to be taking over our apartment, we are giving away many, many things. It's hard to give up things we have loved over the past year and a half, knowing how another couple would treasure having them if they were here. I guess it's all a part of the experience. We also find ourselves saying "If only we had known, we never would have brought so many ______" or "we never would have bought _____". Hindsight is always 20/20.

Friday came at last. The days are rushing by. Our first item of the day was to be at the church at 11 am for lunch with Quynh, who invited all the missionaries to eat together. She returned from her own mission to Australia almost 11 months ago, and she loves to support the missionaries. She wanted to do something special for us before we left, and she wasn't able to invite us to her home, so she brought lunch to us at the church. She had done that one other time a few months ago; it's so very nice of her, and also her mom, who I guess does the cooking and Quynh gets to treat her friends.

Next, we met the Howells at the mission office at the same time as the Walkers, who are the new Humanitarian Aid missionaries who are replacing the Smarts, and the Smarts brought them in to meet us all. It was one last chance to tell the Smarts goodbye; goodbyes are hard.

Friday was my day to make sure that Sister Howell remembers how to request a Guarantee of Payment for any missionary going to a doctor. She had to do all of these for 3 months after she got here and before I got here, which is why she loved it when I got here! And now she'll have to do it again for 5 months until the next Mission Health Advisor finally arrives at the end of September. But I helped her out a lot--I forbid any of the missionaries from getting sick for the next 5 months. That should take care of it.

The "big ticket item" for Friday was our branch Family Home Evening, where Allen and I were asked to give a presentation on Raising a Family in the Gospel. We showed pictures of us when we were young, our family when they were young and older, and all our grandkids, to show them why we had to go home now. And then we pointed out that families are not perfect, but as long as they do their best to follow Jesus Christ, they can always succeed. I think they enjoyed our examples of how our family is not perfect. We had fun with it and felt good about how it went.

When our presentation was finished, tables were set up for everyone to write us notes and thank you cards as a gift to take home, rather than sending us home with many, many items that would be difficult to pack. We so appreciated this idea, and we now have dozens of cards to read on the plane ride home next Tuesday.

After the notes were written, the food came out: delicious spring rolls, fruit, and lots of cookies from Ba Adams.

It was a really fun evening.

Saturday was our regular busy day with more "last times"--Allen's last branch presidency meeting, and my last piano class, and our last English activity.

One thing that complicated this week is that Thursday, April 30, was Reunification Day, when Vietnam celebrated the joining of North and South Vietnam again, and May 1 is Labor Day in Vietnam, another holiday. Many people get the whole week off, and many get some combination of days off and go home to their home villages. That meant that we had very few people for English today. But I still had 7-8 people in my piano class! And 2 of them were new and had never been before.

Tuan practiced Nearer My God to Thee; Khang practiced Hark All Ye Nations; Hoa practiced I Am a Child of God; and then I got a surprise when President Hieu told me that for Sunday, Hoa was going to play the opening hymn, I would play the sacrament hymn, Khang would play an intermediate hymn, and Tuan would play the closing hymn. What an amazing tribute! Because that's what it was, a tribute to me and my piano class. Yes, I cried.

We were anxious to go home after English and pack, but I helped the Sisters with a lesson and Allen helped the Elders with a lesson. He had also helped with a lesson before English activity, while I was with my piano class. We don't mind taking time to help with lessons! And then after these lessons, there was a branch missionary meeting. It was a little hard to sit through only because we knew how much packing we still had to do. Still, it was good to hear of a new idea for the branch, and then we made it home and had a plan for how we can fit our packing in on Monday, so I didn't need to panic any more.

Sunday morning, we had so many things to take to the church to give away that it was an answer to prayer when one set of Elders asked if they could Grab with us due to a broken bike, and they were able to come over and help us carry things down to the car.

Once we got to church, we were kept busy by people greeting us and gifting us small things--and at least one large thing--and notes and shaking our hands. We received so much love from our branch today; they are wonderful people here. Anh Duc gave me a Vietnamese cook book. Co Thao gave me a beautiful silk scarf with a dragonfly and a bottle on it. Chi Duong gave us a package that Chi Vy had knitted for us. Chi Cao gave us a commemorative plate of Vietnam that can be displayed. Chi Datiles had sketched the two of us as a gift. Chu Vo gave us a large, heavy serving dish that is beautiful. Anh Dung gave us a bag full of snacks--2 boxes of a Vietnamese candy and 2 bags of sweet rice balls. Yesterday, Com Tam gave us a metal bike/rickshaw that is perfect.

Then I had to hurry around and help get the simplified hymn book for Hoa to play her song. Her husband Dat came to church today for the first time in quite a while. He has been so busy, but he told me very seriously that he will take good care of Hoa, that he loves her and his family very much. He was very sweet and very sincere. Allen and I are so anxious for him to be able to be baptized, but we realize that he needs to do it in his own time. I feel sure that one day, he will. Hoa will be a big help to him. She has been the chorister for a long time, and she was just called and sustained as the first counselor in Relief Society.

Then church began, and Hoa got to play the opening hymn. She was nervous, and found out how difficult it is to play when people are singing along, but people are also very supportive and forgiving, and she did just fine.

When it was Khang's turn, he was too nervous to do it all himself; I helped Khang by playing the left hand, but only because he was nervous. He could have done both hands if he was a bit braver.

Tuan played the closing hymn and did a great job. Like Hoa, I think he learned how hard it is to play when people are singing, and you have to keep playing even when you make a mistake.

No one was perfect, and no one needed to be. It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.

And then since it was fast and testimony meeting, I was able to bare my testimony one last time, with Chi Duong's help. I love my Vietnamese family.

I also helped in Primary for the last time as their "Music Specialist". I have gone into Primary 3 or 4 times to teach them songs (I Am Like a Star, and Smiles). They get to hold up stars while they sing and wave them around. And they're getting good at recognizing the smily face and the frowny face. Our Primary consists of mostly kids from 18 months to 2 years, with one 3 year old.

I couldn't put in all the pictures that were taken, but here is a good sampling!