Happy Fourth of July! (Week 40)

Monday July 9^th, 2018

 

Hello everyone,

This week was very good. As those of you in America know, this week we celebrated America's independence from Britain on the Fourth of July! They didn't really do too much here for that, but we found our own things to do... Not too much, but we had a few decorations, such as a red white and blue star banner my family sent me and an eagle. I hung those up on the wall.

And, we went to McDonalds for dinner of course! It was my first time in Vietnam. I got a McChicken, and it tasted pretty close to one at home! The one small disappointment though was I thought I had ordered a combo, but only got a burger... We tried the drive thru for fun, and I think that is where things got a little confused. It is hard enough to order in Vietnamese in person, let alone in the drive thru! Oh well, better luck next time I guess... And the other cool thing related to America (though not on the 4th itself) was that I ate a TON of American candy this week. Earlier this week, Sister Hong Linh got a package from her parents with a lot of American candy in it, and she brought it to the church on Saturday for those helping clean the church. She insisted it all be eaten, "forcibly" handing us some more after we ate some and said we were good. It was really good, I had four candy bars, but felt really unhealthy afterwards... It was really worth it though. And then yesterday, some previous missionaries here who live in Australia decided to visit. I actually know one of them, Elder Khiem, who served in the north while I was there. He has been back for about two months now. It is cool to see he is visiting some members he served while he was here! Well, the funny thing is that they brought Australian candy, so we got some of that too. I have had a lot of foreign candy the last two days... I better watch my diet... Though Anh Nam, a member from Ha Dong, says I have lost a lot of weight from the photos he has seen. I am not sure about that, but certainly wouldn't mind it if it were true.

Well, we are still out looking for more investigators. We have contacted a bit, but have not found anyone too interested in the gospel. On the bright side though, two members here have brought some friends to activities lately! They were really excited to tell us their friends were coming, so we will try to talk with them and see if they have any interest! Members are the best way to find the people God has prepared to receive the gospel, as they live among the people here and give a good influence to help others see the light of Christ! Besides finding we are also still helping all the members here! We had an exciting day on Saturday, where we got to bike an hour to a members house, an hour back, and then forty minutes to visit a member in the hospital and then forty back all in the same day! We had a nice visit with the members, talking to them about preparing to go to the temple, and then Anh Phuong was looking a lot better in the hospital. I think they were all glad to see us when we visited each, but I have to say, my legs were really tired after that! We also ran into a member, Anh Thai, on our bike ride home! He offered to let us hold onto his motorbike so he could pull us home, but we told him we could not do that. It was nice seeing him though, and kind of funny too! We almost didn't recognize him! I guess though him recognizing us wasn't too hard with the white shirts and ties...

 

Well, English class was very good. This week, the other elders were getting back from a meeting in Hanoi, so we had to employ member help. That meant I taught advanced class while Elder Thong taught intermediate. It actually was very good! I taught a lesson on honesty, and we discussed the idea of white lies. They really enjoyed role playing it, and they were so creative! The first scenario, I told them they were at a birthday party. Two students came up. On the spot, I handed one a marker, and said he was going to gift it to the other student whose birthday it was, and that this marker was a prized possession of his. In the role play, this student, Richard, went on and on about how much this marker meant to him! It was super funny! The other student took it graciously and said thank you (the white lie). The class agreed the white lie was appropriate in this scenario. The other scenario that was super funny was one where I said one of the students bought an ugly dress, and asked the other student how it was. She started it very creatively, rather than ask how it looked like I suggested, she used her own phrase, do you see anything new? The other student initially tried to avoid it, saying, "makeup?" As the conversation went on, I found the student's response to be very creative. Rather than tell her friend the dress was ugly and not to wear it, she told her friend it was "a night time dress" that you wear when you sleep. The whole class was laughing really hard! The other part of the class that they really enjoyed was that we played two truths and a lie! It was quite funny, and one of my truths a lot of the class didn't believe was that I can twist my feet back at an angle greater than 180 degrees, which I then showed them. They were quite impressed. All in all, it was a great class!

I also got to meet President Chiles this week! He and his family are from Canada, and they seem really excited to be here! He previously served a mission in Louisiana Vietnamese speaking, and told us some experiences that he thinks the Lord gave him to prepare him to serve as mission president here. He also seems to have great vision for Vietnam, with a goal of having two stakes in Vietnam before he leaves. Also, he has one son, Reid, here with him as well as the family dog. I am sure I will be able to learn a lot from him in the upcoming months.

Oh, and the Holts will soon be moving up north. It has been great getting to know them while they are here, but they have a new assignment to do in the north and will be helping some people where it is currently flooding in the north. I wish them luck in the new assignment!

I think that about does it for this week. As mentioned, we are still looking for new investigators. Sometimes it is tough trying to find people to share the gospel with. Sometimes it feels like no one out there wants to listen. But I know the gospel is true, and God is preparing people out there to receive it, we just need to keep looking and rely on him! Well, I will talk to everyone again next week!
 

Elder Watson/ Nghiem