The Adams' Mission Adventure - Phở real

 ...The ongoing saga of Ong and Ba Adams on their way to the park to be more visible and recognizable to people...  We may get there yet! We did!  And this was the park... And this park was full of older men playing the game of Chinese Chess, which Allen was told he should learn so he can play with the older men in the park, I guess! And then we walked home again and found other treasures on the way home...  Dragons for Sadie... These are bats again. Someday I'll learn why bats are a big deal around here. And Allen's alter-ego. This was begun and finished on Wednesday, November 6. Thursday, November 7, we had a friend from California arrive in Hanoi in preparation for his gnarly motorcycle tour in the north. We had the afternoon with him and his friend so we hurried over to the famous Water Puppet show and got in at the last minute.         It's the crane, sacred in Vietnam. This is hard to see, but the turtle is giving the sword to the ruler. Thi...

 Not being young missionaries--and not being "fluent" in our language--our opportunities to engage with people are limited. So we decided we should walk to a park and be visible to anyone who was around. We enjoy walking down the narrow alleys, always being alert for scooters and bikes and even small cars that may come around any corner any time. As we walked down one street, Allen saw a door open and what looked like a temple on the other side. Well, we love temples, so... More dragons, Sadie!! As we were walking around this very quiet and almost uninhabited place, a venerable looking old-ish monk came out and was helped down the steps toward us. Wondering if we had done something wrong,  we waited as his assistant motioned for us to come forward. It turned out that this gentleman was Thich Dao Thong, and his assistant told us he was the Vice President of the Buddha Sangha of Vietnam. Well, it sounded very impressive and we were very intimidated as the young man told us that...

 Our p-day adventure last Monday was under the direction of Barbara Adams, who chose to go check out the Vietnamese Women's Museum. This was an interesting place on 3 floors that included: 1. Women in Family, 2. Women in History, and 3. Women in Fashion.  Our Branch President thought we (me especially) might enjoy seeing the museum. It really was a nice tribute to the women in Vietnam for all their dedication to and hard work for their families. The displays were generally showing the hard work the women did in the fields, in the home, and supporting the family by working as vendors on the streets. It was impressive and also very sad that such hard work by women was necessary. Many women leave their husbands and children in the country and go to work in the cities, selling fruits and vegetables and anything else they can, to support their families, only going home sometimes once in two weeks. I thought how dedicated they all are, and determined to provide for their families, n...