Wet, and Biking, and Wet… (Week 84)

Wet, and Biking, and Wet…

And - Happy Mother's Day!!

I love you Mom!!

Mon, May 13, 2019 (Week 84)

   

  
 

Hello everyone!

How are you all doing? How is life? Probably lots going on at the end of May as usual. Here we have lots going on as well. And the weather is definitely raining! And it does so fast! The other day, I was on exchanges in Thu Dau Mot City, and we visited a university. We sat on a bench, and it was a nice sunny day, and we stayed there for a while. Then we started walking around, still appearing very sunny. Then within ten minutes, these giant storm clouds blew in and there was a giant rain storm! That is how rain works here in Vietnam... Well, I have gotten wet quite a few times this week! And on top of that, I have been biking like crazy! We are still biking out to Di An for several investigators, and to top it off, like I said I went to Thu Dau Mot this week on emergency exchanges! Elder Duy called me and told me they had an investigator who needed some service help from a native English speaker. We were out in Di An, so after our appointment, we biked all the way back home, about a halfway point, to switch with the elders. As it was unexpected, I did not have things packed for an exchange, so I had to pack my stuff up in ten minutes, and then we biked crazy fast out to Thu Dau Mot, and I was exhausted! So much biking! But I did get in good exercise! And our appointment went well. The investigator does private English tutoring, and wanted his students to practice with a native speaker. He had not met the missionaries in a while, as he had been busy. It was a good opportunity to serve him and help him out, and then he came to church on Sunday! He wants to find out who God is. He is a very intelligent person, and believes there must be some Deity who orchestrated all that exists. So he wants to learn more about God. Very cool! And one of his students came with him to church too! Anyways, it was an adventure, but very good!
 

 

So, besides my exchange to Thu Dau Mot, there were a lot of other good things this week too. We got to meet a lot of our investigators this week. Chi Dung is doing awesome! We had planned on teaching half of the Plan of Salvation, but she was ready for the whole thing! And she is considering a baptismal date for June! She is really open minded and I can tell God has blessed her life a lot. We are excited to keep working with her! We had an interesting lesson with Em Thuan. She had a lot of questions, and we didn't get to share a lot. We hope she will be a little more open and listening next time. We had to take a step back with Co Hue. She does not yet have a testimony of the Restoration, so we restarted teaching about it. But we hope she will get more this time around. We did not see Anh Hung and Chi Chi this week, but will meet them this weekend. And our other investigators are doing pretty good. We also got one new investigator this week, Chi Nhuong! Her husband is a member and has been bringing her to church for over a month now. Now that we have a Chinese speaking missionary (my companion), she is learning! Her husband doesn't know Vietnamese, so Elder Bao can get him involved in the lesson through Chinese. She is doing good, and really wants her own testimony! So we are excited about that too!

Also, YSA is going good here. We ended up playing Telestrations. We had a good turnout, and it is growing! We hope to find new people through this activity as well!

And for a quick spiritual thought, I really enjoyed reading in Luke 14. It had several things I did not remember previously reading! And I was really impressed by the parable of the great supper. The first guests invited to the feast were all making excuses to not come, a new plot of land, a new yoke to test, or being married. And the funny thing is they were excusing themselves not from something hard or laborious, but from eating food! Why would someone do that? Clearly, they did not value that which they were invited to. And that happens to us too. The gospel has the greatest blessings we could possible receive, and yet each of us at times seems to excuse ourselves from doing what we should. Are we too busy? Do we have better things to do? Next time you try to excuse yourself from reading the scriptures, or to go to church, or to serve someone, consider if your reason is actually reasonable, or if you are just making an excuse. Evaluate where your priorities are. And as for missionary work, help people understand the blessings. Because if we truly understand what Jesus Christ offers us, there is no excuse. People will come when they truly understand. Try to find a way to help someone better understand what the gospel of Jesus Christ can offer them.

And it is time to log off. I had a great call with my mother for Mother's Day. Make sure to thank your mother for what she has done for you! Because pretty much everyone has a mother... I mean, it is how you exist... And really try to think of specific things she has done for you.
 

 
Thank you to all who are reading this!

Elder Watson/ Nghiem
 

District Conference! (Week 83)

District Conference!

Mon, May 6, 2019 (Week 83)

Hello everyone!

Wow, this has been a busy week! First off we had district conference! That occurred this last weekend, and all the members in southern Vietnam met together for it! On Saturday, my companion and I got to watch the adult session with some investigators broadcast at our church building, and on Sunday, we got to go to the Metropole hotel to see it in person. There were a lot of people there! And I got to see some people from Quan 6 and it was cool to see them again! Also, district conference is when they sustain new Melchezidek priesthood holders, so from Binh Duong we had Chu Tu get the Melchezidek priesthood! We are really excited for him and the new responsibilities and opportunities he will have to serve God. Also, Anh Khang and Anh Quan got the Melchezidek priesthood in Quan 6, so I got to talk to them a bit too since they were at the event! Also, Anh Hung and Chi Chi came and enjoyed it, as well as Co Hue and Bac Dung. And we had a few Chinese people come, so Elder Bao translated for them! Overall a very good event.

Well, we were busy every day this week! I don't think I have ever had more meal appointments in one week! It was really good! But we also had to bike a lot too, and my companion and I were pretty worn down, so we will relax a bit today. On Monday, we visited Chi Hoa's and Em Dat's house for dinner. And we got to share the gospel with their sister Em Thuan, and she said she would read the Book of Mormon and wants to learn more! On Tuesday, we got to go to Anh Ha's house for dinner, and that was really good too! Also, his wife had a baby last week, and he is really cute! Then on Wednesday, we had interviews with President Chiles. My companion interviewed for a while since it was his first time, so I only got a few minutes. But it was really good, and I got some good advice to help our investigators more and to help as I train Elder Bao. President Chiles took us out for potstickers since he loves Chinese food. And then for dinner, we met with an investigator named Eric at Cowboy Jack's, an American restaurant, and I got a full pizza! We also talked to him about the Book of Mormon, and he will try to read more. And that evening we met with Chi Dung, who is a friend of Chi Chi's and we shared about the restoration. She really wants to know the truth, and is excited to learn more! Also, it was YSA night, so we helped out since this is the second time they have had it. Everyone had to build a bridge out of paper. Both groups did really well, but the other team's bridge held more... But ours looked better! On Saturday, we had a bunch of other appointments that again got us biking out to Di An. I think we biked out there almost every day this week. Because we also biked out there on Sunday too. But it was really good, and we are sharing a lot with a lot of people! But now we are exhausted with all we have been up to...

Elder Bao and I are growing a lot together. We are really trying to focus on communication. It definitely is not easy, as we are from different cultures, and have different mother languages, but as we are more open, we have seen more unity and success. But we are doing well together, and are really excited to see things progressing here in Binh Duong!

And I wanted to share a spiritual thought of course at the end of this email, so I will just copy the scripture I shared with President Chiles in my email today. "And for scripture. This is an interesting one I found in 3 Nephi 1:5-8.

5 But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite.

6 And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain.

7 And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar throughout the land; and the people who believed began to be very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass.

8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.

There is a lot that can be learned from this scripture, but when I read it, the thing that stood out to me was the faith of those who believed. While those who did not believe used the sign as a reason to not believe, and were trying to tempt God with a sign, the believers "did watch steadfastly". They did believe the prophesy would come, and eagerly awaited the coming of the Savior. But something else to note is they too did experience disappointment, when they thought it was possible that their faith had been in vain. A lot of us feel like if we doubt our faith at all, then we don't have any. Or that if we wish to see a sign or miracle, it is a show of lack of faith. Some might think that in this story. But I believe it is the phrase in verse eight that shows the people's belief. Yes, they became sorrowful when they thought it might be possible they were wrong, but they still had trust in God and waited. Elder Holland also had a quote on this to "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." These people stuck to what they believed and then as we know, the prophecy was fulfilled and they still believed. And those who did not after seeing the miracle hardened themselves. We need to have the right reasons to believe, but for those who believe in God, His promises will be fulfilled, and we need not to worry. It is okay to be sorrowful sometimes, that is normal, but we need to hold on to what we know." 

That is not as eloquent as I would like to make it, but alas I am out of time. But I really do know we need to hold onto what we do know and believe and wait for more to come, as God has promised to give us more. And I want to say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 Elder Watson/ Nghiêm

May is Coming! (Week 82)

May is Coming!

Mon, Apr 29, 2019 (Week 82)

Hello everyone!

Super fast email. My companion is starving, and doesn't like the food at the email shop, so we need to go get him something... But I just finished talking with my family! They are doing really good! Sounds like everyone is busy with the end of the school year coming up. Tests and all. And my sister Kate is setting up her housing and such for BYU, which she will be going to later this year. Very exciting!

 

Well, things are going well here in Vietnam. We now have three investigators with a baptismal date for May. We have Anh Hung and Chi Chi on track for May 19th! They are so awesome, and we just taught them the law of tithing. They have really strong faith, and Anh Hung noted the line in Malachi 3 about tithing that says to "take in all the tithes and try the Lord if he will not open the windows of heaven that you have not room enough to receive it" (sorry, that is a paraphrase from my memory.) He noted the word "try". He, like so many others who have come to know the gospel is true, has been willing to try the word of God. To follow the commandments and see if the blessings are true. That is the way to know, you need to "experiment upon the word". And that is when you will see the blessings. Having knowledge and information is good and important too, but some things we just have to trust the Lord in and then we will see that our trust is good. For anyone who is questioning the blessings of the gospel, I invite you to "try the Lord" and see if the promises are true. Because I know they are.

 

We also have Co Hue, who wants to get baptized on the 12th of May. We are trying to help her solidify her testimony in Jesus Christ and the resurrection, but we have seen a lot of progress in her, and she loves what she has learned.

For others, Em Dat should be able to come to church regularly once he finishes testing in a few weeks! But his father recently got in an accident and had to go to the hospital, so any prayers for his father are appreciated. Em Cuong is still doing good, and now has been reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon and the Bible daily! And Em Vy is doing good, though a bit busy with school. But she still reads the Book of Mormon regularly, and is now in Mosiah!

 

We had a few former investigators come back recently. One, Anh Dat, was taught over a year ago. Our district leader had us call up former investigators, and he agreed to meet! He is really cool, and says he is looking for something to make his life seem happier! And a few others came to church, and I will tell you more of them next week.

Cool experience at church. First off, the topic was tithing, and the speakers gave really good insight on sacrifice and why we need to live the law of tithing. But, something I felt was really cool was that during the Sacrament, it started to rain. It has not rained here in quite some time. It was really cool listening to the rain and the calm feeling it brought. I thought of how God created the Earth with all things we need. And I also thought of the cleansing property of the rain and how the Sacrament also cleanses us from sin as we come forth with "a broken heart and a contrite spirit". I really love partaking of the Sacrament every week as I am on my journey to improve myself and become more like the Savior, and I know that is something we can all feel. When you next partake of the Sacrament, try to think of what it truly means to you.

And that is it for this week. We really need to go now...

Talk to you all again next week!

Elder Watson/ Nghiem