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