Hello everyone!
Wow, what a crazy week! There is so much happening, I hardly
know where to begin!
This week marks the start of a new transfer. No one moved
around this time, so I still get to work with all of the awesome missionaries
here! We had lots of things going on though. On Wednesday, we had exchanges,
where we traded companions for a day to learn more about how others teach and
do missionary work. I got to go with Elder Duy and we had a good day. We got to
go to Long An, a province where one of our members lives, and got to meet with
her family. They were very nice and we shared about the plan of salvation. They
are interested in having there son meet with the missionaries and to be a good
influence on him. It was a good visit. We also got to visit a less active member,
Chi Trang, and shared about family history. She was baptized a while ago, but
since her father passed away she has gone less active. She really seemed
touched by the message we shared about family history though. And I actually
got to teach about family history several times this week, and have really seen
the power it can have in others. Family is so central to each one of us, and
when we remember our ancestors it can bring us closer to God. Especially in
Vietnam, ancestors are really important, most everyone has a place in their
house where they have an alter set up for their ancestors, often with painted
photos to accompany it. I have really seen how powerful a tool it is in the
gospel, and hope to be able to share more about it with others in the future!
Here is the craziest part of the week though, as of Saturday morning at 6:50 a.m. we thought it was a normal day, and I believe I was eating breakfast when President Hassell calls the zone leaders and says they need two missionaries to go to the western province to help with a baptism. They didn't want to leave an area without missionaries, so Elder Duy and my companion Elder Thong packed their things on the spot and were gone by 7:30. Talk about crazy! So that left Elder Thien and I to cover both areas, but it went well. We taught a lot of lessons, and visited a lot of people. We also got to give a lesson in elders quorum on Sunday (with a that morning warning about it, so we had to prepare it fast...) and we taught again on family history! Seriously, it was a theme this week. We also taught another member how to use family history on familysearch.org, and each time he entered a name, we asked if he wanted to keep going or do more later, and he kept saying "more" until he had entered seven or so names! It was really cool seeing how excited he was to add the names of his ancestors and relatives and then see the joy he had in that. We also had one memorable lesson with an investigator who is really smart, and loves to talk a lot. And I mean a lot. We did a Book of Mormon reading with him, and I swear he was teaching us, not vice versa. It was really funny. He talked as if he were a teacher of it, despite not having read it before. He had really great incite though! He is currently Catholic and does know a good bit about God, and is very familiar with the Bible. He also likes quoting Bible verses he knows that relate to the Book of Mormon, just showing how much the two books really do work together! It was a long lesson though with all the insight he had, but we also had plenty to testify of with him too!
Here is the craziest part of the week though, as of Saturday morning at 6:50 a.m. we thought it was a normal day, and I believe I was eating breakfast when President Hassell calls the zone leaders and says they need two missionaries to go to the western province to help with a baptism. They didn't want to leave an area without missionaries, so Elder Duy and my companion Elder Thong packed their things on the spot and were gone by 7:30. Talk about crazy! So that left Elder Thien and I to cover both areas, but it went well. We taught a lot of lessons, and visited a lot of people. We also got to give a lesson in elders quorum on Sunday (with a that morning warning about it, so we had to prepare it fast...) and we taught again on family history! Seriously, it was a theme this week. We also taught another member how to use family history on familysearch.org, and each time he entered a name, we asked if he wanted to keep going or do more later, and he kept saying "more" until he had entered seven or so names! It was really cool seeing how excited he was to add the names of his ancestors and relatives and then see the joy he had in that. We also had one memorable lesson with an investigator who is really smart, and loves to talk a lot. And I mean a lot. We did a Book of Mormon reading with him, and I swear he was teaching us, not vice versa. It was really funny. He talked as if he were a teacher of it, despite not having read it before. He had really great incite though! He is currently Catholic and does know a good bit about God, and is very familiar with the Bible. He also likes quoting Bible verses he knows that relate to the Book of Mormon, just showing how much the two books really do work together! It was a long lesson though with all the insight he had, but we also had plenty to testify of with him too!
Lately, we have not really been able to meet any of our
previous investigators, so we need to put more emphasis on finding new people
if we are going to continue to be teaching. Wish us luck with that! One thing
with that, we have been asking people for lots of referrals. We are also trying
a different approach with that. Often, when we ask members if they know anyone
interested in the gospel, they either say "not right now", or, as one
member told us this week "don't worry, if I knew anyone of course I would
immediately tell you!" Which is great of course, but we thought maybe if
we asked in a different way, we could help them see more ways of how we can
help the people they know! So first off, we implemented family history again,
and are asking if people know anyone who would be interested in that, as well
as teaching members about how they can get their families involved in that
work, and we are asking them if they know anyone we can serve. They found this
interesting, and several people said they would look out for it.
Well, overall things are still going good here! I am really
excited to be able to serve the people here in Vietnam! This week, President
Chiles got here, and he will be coming down south on Thursday, so I will get to
meet him then. I look forward to meeting him, and learning a lot from him over
the next year and three months!
Thank you so much to everyone out there, and I also want to put out a special happy birthday to both my sister Paige on June 28th, and to my father on July 1st! Happy Birthday! I love you both!
Elder Watson/ Nghiem
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