Tet and Beyond! (Weeks 20 and 21)

 

 

Monday Feb 26th, 2018

Hello everyone!

Sorry I did not send out an email last week, but I was in a city called Thanh Hoa about four hours away from Hanoi and was unable to email then. So, as implied in the last sentence, Tet has been quite interesting. The coolest thing I got to do for it was travel to some member's hometowns and visit their families! I went to three cities, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, and another city right by Ninh Binh (we did those two in the same day). The members were awesome for inviting us over, and we got to meet their families! With some, we got to talk a bit about the gospel, and you never know, but their good influence could someday lead to the others in their family learning the gospel. Oh, and of course we got to eat some awesome Vietnamese food with everyone. It was a really cool experience, and I really just enjoy the whole atmosphere of Tet. It is super exciting, and I love how everyone goes back to their hometowns to visit with family. Family is a really important part of the culture here. And hey, family is also central to the gospel, so it fits perfectly...

 

Well, because of Tet, a lot of people have been out of town including our investigators, so we haven't had a lot of chances to meet with them as of late. But they all are doing well, and should be coming back this week, which is great! We have been able to keep meeting with Chi Thu though. Actually, she was in Hanoi earlier this week, and we did some things with her. She is still really excited about the gospel. Currently we are trying to get a baptismal date for her. She is a little anxious about that, but we know if she will rely on the Lord, he will help her prepare for that central covenant in her life. Oh, and we also have a new investigator. His name is Anh Huy, and we just met him this week. Off hand, he told us he wanted to learn the gospel, which is amazing! We met him once after that and introduced him to some members. We will try to meet him again this week to learn the gospel. Wish us luck with that!

 

Oh, I should also mention that transfers happened this week. Well, Elder Danh is now back in Cambodia. A lot of the people here are sad about that, myself included. He has done a lot for Ha Dong and the Vietnam mission as a whole. He was sad to go as well, but I know he will be going forward with his life, and he served the Lord well in his two years. Well, as Elder Danh has gone home, I do have a new companion now. His name is Elder Dong Quang. He is from the foreign land known as California... So not really that foreign or far away. He is pretty cool. He has been here for a year and a half, so he has some good experience. I look forward to getting to know him better in the upcoming weeks, but from what I know about him from before (He used to be a zone leader, and I actually did an exchange with him once) he seems to be a hard-working missionary, and I think we will be able to do a lot of good things together!

Well, these last few weeks sure have been interesting with Tet going on, but things should start returning to normal now that it is done. Still, the work here is always exciting. Certainly not easy, but the right path is never easy, is it? I will keep trying to do my best here serving the Lord. And I wish everyone else out there luck as well! Put your trust in the Lord, and he will always look out for you!

Elder Watson/ Nghiêm