Subject: Tết Tết Tết Tết Đến Rồi!
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!
Or that is to say, Happy New Year! Or more specifically,
Hapy Lunar New Year! This is almost every Vietnamese person's favorite time of
year, when they go back to their hometown, visit with family and eat plenty of
traditional new year's food. A lot cooler than what Americans do for New
Years... I mean, you watch a ball drop, fireworks are cool, and maybe drink
some sparkling apple cider (no breaking the Word of Wisdom!), and that's about
it. You really mainly celebrate it at midnight, and that is about it. Unless
you count the next two weeks of keeping some of your new year's resolutions
until you give up. But here, New Year's is a multi week event. The main part is
the first three days (starting tomorrow) and those are mainly celebrated at
home with family and possibly a few invited guests. And many people take off
the week before and after it. It is a great time to meet with families! Though
it does limit our food options, as nearly every shop and restaurant close...
Thank goodness for the internationally run Aeon mall we live next to that still
provides food! But it is just a very exciting time of year. For those curious,
the title here means the New Year is already here! And they say the word new
year four times in a row. It is from a song that is played a lot in this
season. For anyone who wants to see it, below is a link to a video of the song,
as well as a sight that attempts to translate it to English. The translation is
okay, but not perfect. The one line talks about going to Buddhist pagodas, I am
not sure how they translated it to church or mosque... Also, I hope the video
is good, it looks like some kids singing the song. It was the first search
result that was not 35 minutes long... I have not seen it before.The song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lAOMqex8fA
The lyrics with translation: Tet song lyrics
Well, I have a lot to talk about, but not enough time. So I
am just going to copy and paste what I wrote to my mission president today
about our area.
In our area, a few of our investigators have gone out of
town, but will keep reading and praying. But for those in town, we got to help
several of them. We have Anh Hung and Chi Chi, and their six year old daughter.
We met them twice this week, and they are doing really well! We had a family
home evening with them that was really good, and Chi Chi came to church with
the rest of her family this week! They really love what they learn in the
gospel and will keep pressing forward! Elder Quoc and I had a really busy
Saturday, which was really cool, we were booked from 3 pm forward with
appointments! We met with Em Cuong, our investigator whose parents won't let
him be baptized, and got him in contact with Em Linh from another branch. She
is 16 and initially her parents would not let her get baptized, but she
eventually convinced them. Em Cuong really liked her experience and is going to
try to keep asking his parents. He even fasted this Sunday for the first time
for that! We have good hopes for him, and fasted with him as well. And we also
have a few investigators who are new to us. Three are people who were
investigating with the sisters, until they learned they are in our area. That
is Em Bang, Em Vy, and Em Nhu. All three are doing well, and we had a good pass
off lesson, so that should be good. We also got Anh Luan, who the sisters met,
and had him passed off to us in the same day. He is pretty nice, and says he
feels God sent us to meet him. He really wants to know more about God and Jesus
Christ. I think he will do good! And Chi Hoa now has passed her baptismal
interview and is on track for baptism on Sunday! We are really excited for her as
well! And everyone else is doing pretty good.
Whew, that was a lot to type in a short time! My hands are
starting to cramp up! Well, to finish off here, I want to briefly mention
Sunday! There were two more baptisms in our branch! The church is growing so
fast! The Lord directs this work! Our two newest members are Chi Thuong and Co
Yen, who have been learning with the other elders. They certainly have
experienced the joys of the gospel and have plenty more joy to come! And at
church, we had an attendance of 34! That is actually really good, considering
during Tet, many people go back to their hometowns and are unable to come.
Despite that, those who were here still came, and we had plenty of non members
too! Things are looking great! And, for a fun note, we got permission to wear
our Ao Dai's to church! I will attach a photo below.
Okay, I think I covered everything. This week, we are
visiting some families for Tet, and hope to get quite a few more families
learning about the gospel! Please pray for us! Also, Saturday is Elder Quoc's
birthday, so we will eat at Cowboy Jack's with some real American food... It will be good! Wish
him a happy birthday as well!
Have a great week everyone!
Elder Watson/ Nghiêm
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