Farewell, Vietnam

It’s February 2018.  The end of our mission has come. Everyone has been so generous in their kindnesses to us, with Tet meals in their homes and surprise farewell parties to beautiful remembrances and lots and lots of hugs.

Traditional Tet dinner at the home of one of our investigators.

Surprise farewell party guests

Beautiful Memory Book

Us with Mission President Lewis Hassell and his wife Sister Mary Hassell

Today was our last Sunday here. They asked us to speak in church about miracles.  We have seen many miracles in the lives of the people, powerful miracles that bring the power of the Atonement into sharp focus - miracles that testify Heavenly Father is always mindful of His children and is in the details of the details of our lives.

A few of our miracles

We sang God Be with You Till We Meet Again, Vietnamese and English lyrics ascending together in a harmonious symphony of unity and praise. There was lingering affection and that “one last hug”. Tears flowed, hearts ached.

Farewell photo with branch builders from our district

With soul-rending affection, we bid our dear friends farewell. Then we turned and walked away. 

All endings are simply new beginnings in another time and place. 

It’s a bittersweet experience.

We wouldn't trade our mission experiences for anything in the world.

"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth;... glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth!" (verses from D&C 128)

Combined East and West Saigon Zones with 26 young branch builders and 10 seniors
(2 not in photo), plus our mission president and his wife, February 15, 2018

Celebrations of Tết, Then and Now

Happy Tết!

It’s Tết here in Hồ Chí Minh City.  Tết is the Lunar New Year, often known as Chinese New Year in other countries.  The city is bustling with activity as people clean their homes from top to bottom, buy new clothes, pay off old debts, give gifts to employees and friends, and prepare for the holiday itself with flowers, specialty foods, veneration of ancestors, and visits to their hometowns. Tết officially begins on the 16^th, but many people leave early to head to their hometowns in the countryside. In another week, the streets will be nearly deserted.

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It was fifty years ago this Tết.  The plane carrying my mother, brother and me began its slow, calm descent to the Saigon International Airport.  We were joining my dad who was living here working for a civil engineering firm.   I was nine years old.

I still remember the unexpected lurch of the plane and the steep surge as the plane rapidly changed direction and climbed upward.  We were shocked and stunned, frightened and confused.  Then the news – the Saigon airport was under attack, and we were headed elsewhere for safety.  The Tết Offensive of 1968 had begun.

Hong Kong graciously housed us and many other stranded travelers until it was deemed safe enough to travel to Saigon.  Ten days later we finally made it safely on the ground at the small terminal in Saigon.  As Customs officials meticulously scoured through our belongings, I explored the area around my seat.  Damaged walls were visible from the earlier attack, and I found an empty bullet shell on the ground.  But my dad had been safe during the attack on the city, and now we were there to join him. In a strange war-torn country,  and in an odd kind of way, we were “home”. 

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  Scenes from our Tết of 1968

Barbed wire across the streets

Presidential Palace

From the roof top of our house, watching
 attack scenes like this were not uncommon

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Fifty Years Later - Celebrations of Tết Today

"̀50 year anniversary of the general offensive and rebellion 1968"

Today, however, Tết is definitely the happiest time of the year. It is kind of a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years all wrapped together. The festive spirit couldn't be brighter. 

The beautiful wide Nguyễn Huệ Street, or Walking Street as it is known to foreigners, transforms into a garden paradise at Tết. 

The pink water lily, or lotus blossom, symbolizes resurrection, purity, and enlightenment.  Growing out of muddy ponds, the flower emerges perfect and beautiful. It closes at night and opens each morning with the sun.  Truly a remarkable symbol.

Everyone's doing selfies! Buying new clothes for Tết is a popular tradition.

More selfies!

Tết gift bags lined up for sale at a local shop

Celebrations continue on into the night with song, dance and  festive foods.

 Tết lights outside the Catholic Archbishop's Palace

One of our branch members decorating the church building for Tết

Tết dinner celebration

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But for us, Tết just means continuing our service in trying to bless people's lives. Our last two weeks of mission time have arrived, and between Tết celebrations and mission assignments, we are fairly swamped.  There are more branch builders arriving soon, and Elder Coffey and I have the blessing of finding, renting, and outfitting 4 new apartments (2 as replacements for already existing branch builders and 2 for new branch builders), moving them to their new apartments and cleaning and closing out the old apartments - with help of course!

When we first arrived here, there were 3 branch builder apartments.  Now there are 11. There were 8 branch builders.  Now there are 26, with more on the way.  We think these are by far some of the top missionaries in the world. They are incredibly faithful, funny and fearless, like the stripling warriors of old. We just love working with them!

Moving into a new apartment, cleaning out the old.

The apartment is now all clean!! Branch builders and senior couples pitched in together.

So Happy Tết from all of us here! Some may wonder if miracles still happen in today's world. We know that the greatest miracle is the one that occurs in a person's heart when they discover the pearl of great price.  Well, here in Vietnam, miracles happen all the time.

The work moves forward like a stone cut out of the mountain.  Truly, hurrah for Israel!

Holiday Season for Senior Missionaries

The holidays are rolling around again. Our fourth Thanksgiving without children and grandchildren has just passed.  Because we served a two year mission in Hong Kong immediately prior to the one we are currently serving, it has been a long time since we have spent the holidays at home. We are facing our fourth Christmas.

Many senior couples might wonder how they could cope being away from loved ones during these tender moments.  Some may find that to be a key deterrent to serving a mission.  Admittedly, it is tough.  How does one do it gracefully?

First and foremost, we strive continually to stay focused on Jesus Christ and serving Him.  We might not be perfect as this yet, but day by day we remember Him as we pray individually and as a couple – praying for those who we miss at “home”, while praying for those with whom we are working here at this “home”. We work to remember that we are here just for a short time, just for one and a half years or two years, to possibly make an eternal impact on someone in helping them come to Christ.  Indeed, if we can be the means of even one person finding faith in Jesus Christ, the sacrifice will have been worth it. 

What if many come to Christ through our efforts?

Secondly, getting through the holidays is made infinitely easier when we stay focused on the people.  These are not their holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas are full of memories from childhood that spark powerful emotions and warm fuzzies for us – but not for the Vietnamese.  To them the fourth Thursday of November is just another work or school day.  

Turkeys are not a thing here and cranberry sauce is hard to come by. 

It’s actually kind of easy to nearly forget about the holidays here. Largely because of the people. It’s always the people – people who bring us back to reality as we see their sacrifice, their faith -their simple, powerful child-like faith – that teaches us what it means to serve.  Rather than us serving and helping them, we are pretty sure we are the recipients of far greater blessings than we could ever leave with them.  They are teaching us so much about courage, faith and devotion to the Lord.

Though we might not be in the full spirit of the holiday season, nevertheless our hearts to “home” are always tender as we visit by Skype those sweet little family faces and share via email, Facebook, Viber, Skype or Instagram. Senior missionaries have privileges, and we take advantage of them!

So you scrounge up some quazie-holiday dishes and invite some of the young branch builders over to share in your bounteous “feast”  - and the turkey-lacking-football-missing holiday is filled with warmth and love anyways. We are creating memories of a new kind.

Our Thanksgiving guests!

It is nearing time to return home.  Christmas will come and go, the New Year will roll in quickly, and we will soon return to the arms and lives of our dearly-missed children and grandchildren. It will be so healing to be with them again.

But a part of us will always remain here, where our lives have been forever changed by the powerful, faithful saints of Vietnam. 

So how do senior missionaries pass the holidays on their missions? 

With the Lord, and with the people. As it should be.  

Hallelujah!!!

When we arrived brand new in Ho Chi Minh City on September 5, 2016 we were so amazed to see the Church functioning so well here – two active branches, eight young “branch builders”, a District (similar to a diocese) with a District presidency.  We stood in awe that here in this part of the world the church was growing and thriving and doing so well.

Our first day in Ho Chi Minh City, with our eight branch builders
and two professors from the United States.

Little could we have imagined the changes that would take place in just one year. Today, there are 25 young branch builders and 8 "seniors", as us older folks are called. 

Branch builders serving in the Ho Chi Minh District - September 2017

There are now two Districts in Vietnam – the Hanoi District and the Ho Chi Minh District.  Ho Chi Minh City and outlying areas now has six branches and several church buildings to accommodate them.

The Ho Chi Minh District was created in a special meeting held on September 17, 2017.  The energy was electric and only surpassed by the power of the Spirit.  The chapel was overflowing for this special occasion. 

September 17, 2017 on the occasion of  the creation of the Ho Chi Minh District

The Tan Son Nhat branch president, President Thinh, was called to serve as the first District President (center).

 

President Thinh then stood to speak.  “Hallelujah,” he began. “Heavenly Father is the author of this work. I commit myself to help establish Zion wherever He needs me.”

Surely the field is ripe already to harvest.

Courtesy of flickr.com/
World Bank Photo Collection

Our two branches have now grown into 6 little branches, and new leaders are being raised up, trained, and established. Last week in sacrament meeting a 17 year old young man who was just baptized a week earlier was one of the main speakers.  Another speaker was a recent convert of only a few months, now newly called as the Primary president.  Their talks were just as doctrinally sound as if they’d been in the church for many years. 

Outside of the Tan Son Nhat building

The Tan Son Nhat branch meets in a large house.  The ground floor has a large open room which serves as an activity center, dance hall, meeting room, and general gathering place. 

Multipurpose room that serves
 as a chapel on Sundays

But on Sunday’s the plastic chairs are lined up and the room transforms into a sacred chapel, a room worthy of the sacred ordinance of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  Today 66 people attended sacrament meeting. Many are new converts or friends who are investigating the church.  Even with all the recent new branch divisions, the Tan Son Nhat branch is still one of the largest branches in the Ho Chi Minh District. Foreign visitors also often join us – travelers trekking through the country, business executives, families of Vietnamese descent coming back to see the roots of their ancestors, and many others.  

I can’t pinch myself enough – this is so amazing to see this all unfold.  A great foundation is being laid, and it is a great miracle.  The people here are so happy to find answers that bring peace to their lives, stronger families, and good values.  We are blessed to be here and watch this all unfold from the side lines.  There is far more work that can be done than we have people to do it.  Instead of the work moving forward one step at a time, it does so in leaps and bounds.  We truly “stand all amazed!”

We are witnesses of the prophecies made in holy places regarding this land.  The Saints rejoice today, saints on both sides of the veil, as this great work moves forward.  Hallelujah indeed!!!