Tuesday was my 11th month mark. 

 

Wednesday was my 20th birthday.

A Birthday cake from the Elders 

A loaf of bread with a KitKat as the candle; from the sisters

Basically, in terms of real age and missionary age, I am old.

In good news, we (sort of) have an investigator now! The elders met with this girl named Anh 2 times, but then she ended up moving back to her hometown in the middle part of Vietnam. She'll be there for a few months but will return to Saigon. They felt like it would be better for Chi Phuong and I to teach her, so we inherited an investigator! 

With the rest of our time, we have just been contacting, contacting, contacting, and then visiting with less-actives and members. We have built up our pool of potential investigators, so HOPEFULLY it's just a matter of time before they feel comfortable enough to learn about the gospel.

This Sunday was.. EASTER SUNDAY. My first Easter in Vietnam, and man, was it different. Turns out instead of doing and easter egg hunt with plastic eggs filled with candy, Vietnamese people prefer to hunt for hard-boiled quail eggs. Healthier and smells better, too (jokes). In relief society, we had a birthday celebration for everyone with a birthday in April, but unfortunately the cake they bought was coffee flavored so no one could eat it. Instead everyone ate what looked like hard-boiled eggs but was actually vietnamese jelly with pumpkin inside. Probably not my favorite thing that I've eaten here, but it was worth the experience. But the most important thing about Easter, is that we were able to celebrate the Savior. Jesus Christ atoned and died for our sins, and then overcame physical death, making it possible for all of us to do the same. This life isn't the end - I know we will be able to be reunited with our loved ones that have already passed away. And if those two simple sentences aren't comforting enough, the church came out with a video for Easter that is absolutely wonderful. I'm attaching the version from Youtube that a member translated, so that those of you that speak Vietnamese (or want to see Vietnamese) can enjoy it as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeIKS_HLoCY

Thì con sẽ nói bằng tiếng Việt. Ngày thứ ba là mười một tháng cho con với tư cách là người truyền giáo. Qua thời gian này, con đã học rất nhiều về phúc âm của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô và về bản thân con. Thật ra, cuộc sống của một người truyền giáo không dễ. Mọi ngày con gặp một thử thách nào đó, và đôi khi con cảm thấy như con không thể nào tiếp tục nữa. Nhưng, mọi ngày là một ngày mới. Mọi ngày là một cơ hội nữa để tiếp tục cố gắng, bất luận hoàn cảnh của con đi nữa. Hiện tại, những thử thách của con là khó nhất. Nhưng mọi ngày, con nhận được sức mạnh từ Thượng Đế để thức dạy và kiên trì. Con biết rằng Thượng Đế và Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô hằng sống. Con biết rằng họ biết chúng ta là ai, họ biết những yếu kém của mình. Con biết rằng công việc truyền giáo sẽ không bao giờ dễ bởi vì cuộc sống của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô không bao giờ dễ. Con yêu thương mọi người ở Việt Nam. Con yêu thương phúc âm của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô và niềm vui phúc âm mang đến cuộc sống của mọi người chúng ta. Con yêu thương Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô, Đấng Cứu Rỗi của con.

The quote from this week would be, once again, from my dear companion Chi Phuong: "I just can't tone." Sometimes the tones in Vietnamese just get to one's brain. I feel you, Chi Phuong.

Hailey's favorite smoothie lady 

This is Chi Phuong!!

Half a miracle is still a miracle

The first day that I got to Saigon, Chi Thuy Anh gave us 2 records of investigators they currently had that my companion and I would start teaching. One of those investigators told us she was going to the Philippines and wouldn't be back until May. The other investigator, Joseph, wouldn't answer us back - all 3 times that we tried to contact him. But then last Thursday, we received a call from our district leader who said another elder had received a prompting that we should try to contact Joseph again. we both figured there was nothing to lose, so we gave it a shot and called him again. No answer - so we texted him a short message. Then the next night at around 9:15pm, we received a call from Joseph! Turns out he didn't want to answer the phone because he didn't recognize our number, but after reading our text he decided to call us back! AND EVEN BETTER, he told us that he would be willing to meet with us on Friday of next week! WE WERE SO PUMPED - FINALLY, A LESSON. Here is when it turns into a half miracle: two days after, we were informed that he lives outside of our area because the boundaries got rearranged again, so the other sisters will be meeting him instead of us. So no appointment for us. I was super bummed when I found out we wouldn't be able to meet with him. I was feeling really jealous and upset because we haven't been able to teach any investigators and this was finally our opportunity to do so. BUT Heavenly Father's plan rules out my plan, and this is what will be best for Joseph. 

This week consisted of my companion and I flying to Hanoi for MLC, attending a vietnamese birthday party (my first one ever. Best part was that someone was announcing the program the whole time over a really loud microphone even though there were only 20 people there and we totally could have heard each other without it), setting up appointments with PI's, getting appointments with PI's cancelled, eating delicious vietnamese food, and best of all - WATCHING GENERAL CONFERENCE. All day Saturday and Sunday we watched General Conference at the church. It was AMAZING. My favorite talk was from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in the Saturday morning session. The theme of his talk was emphasizing the line from a hymn, "Jesus listening can hear the songs I cannot sing". Sometimes in life, things come up that make it hard for us to have a good attitude or a positive outlook. We don't feel happy and have a warped perception that things will never get better. I have definitely felt that this past transfer. Being new to the area with a new companion and not having anyone to teach has been SUCH a struggle. There have been so many days where I just don't have a good attitude or feel like we will never be able to find anyone in our area. But I know that Christ knows how I feel - exactly how I feel. He knows the days that I'm struggling, and He knows the feelings that I have. And because He knows how I feel, I know for a fact that He knows how everyone else feels. He knows when we have bad days, when we can't get ourselves to think positively. He's not upset with it. He's sad that we are sad, but He knows He can help us overcome these feelings, these trials. He feels all the things we feel, understands all the things that go through our minds, and hears all the songs that we can't sing.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference?cid=HP_SU_2-4-2017_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng

The quote for this week would be from my darling companion, Chi Phuong: "Do you think that by the time I get home they'll have new episodes of Say Yes To The Dress on Netflix?" This is what happens when you go contacting all day and have tons of time to talk. Yes, Chi Phuong, I sincerely hope they will have new episodes of Say Yes To The Dress on Netflix.

This is the building where Hailey lives.  Their apartment is on the 16th floor!

It rains hard in Vietnam!

Một tuần nữa trôi qua

This is the month that I turn 20. This is so weird. I also hit my 11th month mark in a week. That is also so weird.

This week my companion and I saw so many miracles occur.

90 year old woman who sells clothes on the streets of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city)

It was a very exciting week - full of straight up contacting! We still don't have any investigators, but we have been working SO hard to find people. I know that if we just keep on trying, we will find someone. OUR TIME WILL COME. Chi Phuong and I have been going contacting for a few hours every day and we have meet some crazy, wonderful, awesome, interesting people (to say the least). We've been talking to everyone from lottery card sellers to people in bookstores to people in markets to the guys that try to get you to take a motorcycle ride from them (it sounds creepy but it's basically just like uber). We've had some appointments set up for potential investigators, but we've gotten stood up with almost every appointment. It definitely is disappointing at times, but we both agreed that we can't let those disappoinments shake our faith - we just have to keep going! Miracles definitely come when you just try your hardest and trust in Heavenly Father. Even though not all of the miracles played out as I would have liked them to (aka not getting stood up and having 4 new investigators), it was still a  blessing to be able to meet people in general. This past week I have contacted and invited more than I ever have in my WHOLE life. It's been insane, but it's been fun.

This past April Fools' Day was also the one year mark of when I went through the temple!

Payson Utah Temple 4/1/2016

So crazy that it was a year ago. Being in a mission that doesn't have access to the temple has definitely made my love for it grow even more. Temples truly are the house of God, and inside we can feel His spirit strong than ever. I'll attach a link for those of you that haven't seen a temple yet - take a look, they're the prettiest things ever. https://www.lds.org/church/temples/gallery?lang=eng

If there was one quote for this week, it would be this: "Bảy giờ? Ồ Ba giờ??" (meaning: 7 pm? Oh! 3 pm??) We have been going through lists of less active members in our branch and we able to schedule an appointment with someone for sunday. We invited her to come to church with us and SHE ACTUALLY CAME despite how weird she said it would be. When church ended, I was trying to ask her if we could meet right now (the word for that in vietnamese is bây giờ) but because my pronounciation is still far from perfect, she thought I was asking her to meet at either 7pm or 3pm. Man, I love language barriers.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! If you didn't get a chance to see General Conference (or have no idea what that is) take a look on lds.org. I'll be seeing it next weekend so no one spoil anything for me :)))

Last p-day in Hanoi (3/20/2017) 

Co Hoa and Em Khue's baptism in Hanoi from 3/25/2017.

Xin chào sài gòn

The first part of the email is in Vietnamese.  English portion below so keep reading!

Xin chào tất cả mọi người. Hôm nay con sẽ nói bằng tiếng việt bởi vì khả năng của con kha là kém, thì con phải tạp. 

Thì tuần này con đã được truyền qua Sài Gòn. Một khu vực mới! Bạn đồng hành mới của con là Chị Phượng, hoặc là Sister Lawton, từ Virginia. Chúng con đang phục vụ ơ Bình Thạnh, chi nhánh Tân Sơn Nhất. Sài Gòn và Hà Nội rất là khác nhau. Sài Gòn rất là nóng, đồ ăn rất là ngon, và mọi người rất là thân thiện. Một vấn đề là con không biết khu vực này và cũng phải huấn luyện một người truyền giáo mới, thì cuộc sống cũng khó! Nhưng không sau. Con biết sự thay đổi này sẽ giúp đỡ con rất nhiều. Thượng Đế có một kế hoạch cho tất cả mọi điều, thì con phải kiên trì và cố gắng hết sức. 

Cách đay 3 ngày, con đã đọc An Ma chương 32, câu 12. Con sẽ thay đổi lời nói đó một chút để sử dụng với hoàn cảnh của con: "Thật là một điều tốt khi Chị Kim Thư bị đuổi ra khỏi ngôi nhà của chị ấy ở Hà Nội, và có thể chị ấy mới trở nên khiêm nhường và mới học được sự khôn ngoan." Con đã sống ở Hà Nội cho sắp 9 tháng, và đã thích Hà Nội rất nhiều. Con đã có những người tầm đạo rất tuyệt vời và rất thân với những tín hữu ở chi nhánh đó. Vậy thì khi con đã biết con phải đi Sài Gòn, con cảm thấy rất buồn. Con không muốn nói tạm biệt với mọi người mà con yêu thương. Con không muốn đi bởi vì con không biết gì hết về Sài Gòn, và không muốn sống ở một chỗ mà con không biết! Nhưng con biết rằng nếu con luôn luôn sống ở Hà Nội, con sẽ không bao giờ cải tiến. Con sẽ không bao giờ học hỏi thêm hoặc là phát triển. Thì con phải sử dụng thời gian này để phát triển khả năng của con và học những cái điều Cha Thiên Thường muốn con học. Con biết với thời gian này, con sẽ biết khiêm nhường và kiên nhẫn, và đức tin của con nơi Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô và Thượng Đế sẽ gia tăng. Mạc dù đây là một thử thách rất lớn đối với con, con biết Thượng Đế có một kế hoạch cho tất cả mọi người, và Ngài sẽ giúp đỡ con.

For those of you who don't want to use Google Translate, I will briefly say it all again in English :)

I am officially in Saigon! It has been the craziest week of my life. My new companion is Sister Lawton/Chi Phuong from Virginia, and she is an absolute fireball (not just because she has red hair, hahaha). We are in a new area and currently don't have any investigators, but that's okay. We will just work super hard and do our best, and Heavenly Father is right there with us every step of the way.

Saying goodbye to everyone in Hanoi was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. It was especially hard because Co Hoa and Em Khue got baptized on Saturday, and I knew I wouldn't be there to see it. But I know that Heavenly Father has a reason as to why I need to be Saigon. I have a purpose here, and I know that I will figure that out when I keep on keepin' on.

The other day, I was reading in Alma chapter 32, and came across verse 12. I changed up the wording a bit to fit with my circumstance: "I say unto you, it is well that Sister Graviet was cast out of her house in Hanoi, that she may be humble, and that she may learn of wisdom; for it is necessary that she should learn wisdom; for it is because that she is cast out, that she is brought to a lowliness of heart; for she is necessarily brought to be humble."

 After living in Cau Giay, Hanoi for almost 9 months, I was very very comfortable. I knew the people, I knew the area, and I loved my investigators. It was so devastating to hear that I had to go to the south because I didn't know anything about the area. I knew that I wouldn't have any investigators, and to make things even more challenging, I would be training a brand new missionary! But I know that Heavenly Father is watching over me, just as He is watching over every one of His children. Even though this will be hard, He will help me every day. This change will help me to be more humble (I need that) and to learn to have more patience (I really need that). 

Thanks for all the emails, everyone! I hope everyone has a great week :)

God be with you til we meet again

The next time you hear from me, I will be writing you from the spirit world. Saturday night we received our transfer call, and I will be heading down South on Wednesday. This means...

1. It's so much hotter there that I will probably die of sun stroke.

2. The language dialect is different so I will probably die of confusion

3. I don't know the area so I will probably get lost and then die

4. I will be training so the both of us will probably die (so sorry to the parents of my dear companion)

All joking aside, I am pretty excited to go to Saigon. I will be serving in the Tân Sơn Nhất branch (don't ask me where that is because I have literally no idea). On Sunday I had to say goodbye to all of the members and investigators here and it was SO tough. In the MTC, I thought saying goodbye to the other missionaries was hard, and then I thought saying goodbye to Chi Cheney was hard, and then I thought saying goodbye to Chi Man Nghi was hard, but then saying goodbye to the members and the recent converts I used to teach was the HARDEST THING EVER.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I started thinking about how I got to know them so well, and why it's so hard to leave them, and I realized that it all comes back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ unites people, and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to share it with everyone here in Hanoi. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/the-gospel-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

Anyways, back to the normal week stuff. Co Hoa and Em Khue had their baptismal interviews before church on Sunday, and everything went perfect! They are all good to go for this Saturday. Pretty sad that I won't be able to see it, but I am so happy for them. They have been prepared for a long time now, and I am so grateful that I was able to meet them and help them, even though it was only a little bit. 

This week we were also able to meet up with the new Relief Society president for lunch to talk to her about things we can do to help with the program. Once again, sometimes you have to sacrifice your tastebuds for the work because 1) she chose to go eat Bun Dau, which is one of my least favorite foods and 2) the Bun Dau was so hot that I burned my tongue and literally don't have any taste buds left.

The quote for this week is.. "Chị thấy có 3 người làm chứng về sách, sau đó 8 người nữa, thì chắc là sách này là có thật." (First 3 people testify about the book and then 8 other people, so it must be true.) This was spoken by one of our new investigators, Chi Thanh, during our first lesson with her. We had just read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and then the testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses when she looked at us and said that. Afterwards it was followed by a, "There's probably a lot of other people who think this way too, right?" IF ONLY ALL OF OUR INVESTIGATORS COULD BE AS ACCEPTING AS THIS. It was awesome.

Last email writting from Hanoi, Vietnam, my home for the past 8.5 months. I hope everyone has a great week, and when you have the time say a quick prayer for me while I'm out in Saigon.

8/3 là ngày của phép lạ

THIS PAST WEDNESDAY WAS AMAZING. The whole week was amazing, but Wednesday especially.

1. Chi Truc Ly got her Visa!! We biked over to the US Embassy Wednesday morning for her 2nd interview. Chi Thu Hong and I weren't allowed to go inside the building because we didn't have an appointment, so we waited in a cafe until she finished and... SHE GOT IT! She'll be reporting to the Provo MTC on April 11th (one day before my 20th birthday, holla), so we get to keep her for a little while longer.

2. We taught more lessons than I have ever taught IN MY LIFE. We had a lesson at 5, 2 lessons at 6 (had to do splits, lol), English Class at 7, and then a lesson at 8. Let's just say I was exhausted by the end of the day.

3. Co Hoa and Em Khue accepted a baptism date! Wednesday we had an amazing lesson about the Plan of Salvation (more to come on that later), and they both agreed to be baptized on that day! The 25th is coming up quick, and so it was a bit of a surprise to everyone that the baptism would be that soon. After we invited them to be baptized on that day, one of the members helping us said "Ồ, sớm thế!" (that's so soon!). BUT NO WORRIES. Co Hoa and Em Khue have been prepared since before they came to this earth, and I know that the 25th of March is the day that they need to be baptized. It's going to be amazing.

Now to talk about things that didn't happen on Wednesday.. Saturday, one of the elders' investigators got baptized! His name is Supreme and is only 18 years old, even though he looks like he's 25. He's from Nigeria, so shoutout to Dallin & Cason who are both serving out in Africa. Just 3 weeks ago was the first time that he came to church and he couldn't understand why we didn't have pastors, why we had to call each other sister & elder, and why I had stopped going to school for a year and a half to live in Vietnam. And now, here he is, the newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. MIRACLES. The elders also asked me to speak at his baptism, and I managed to speak in English with proper grammar, no stuttering, and not switching into Vietnamese halfway through. (that was the first time I've ever spoken in english at the church). MIRACLES.

Now to come back to the Plan of Salvation. The Plan of Salvation is something that I have known for my whole life, but for some reason it hit me hard when we were teaching it to Co Hoa and Em Khue. Before we came to earth, we lived with our Heavenly Father. While we live here on earth, we go through experiences that will help us become more like our Heavenly Father. And after this life, our Heavenly Father wants us to return to live with Him again. During the lesson, Co Hoa was summarizing the Plan of Salvation and really emphasizing that the whole plan has to do with us being able to return to where we started - living with our Heavenly Father and the people that we love. That hit me like a brick - THAT'S EXACTLY IT. We are going home, right back to where we started. Heavenly Father loves us so much and wants every single one of us to come back home safely. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/our-fathers-plan-big-enough-for-all-his-children?lang=eng

The quote for this week is one of my favorite things to say: "bỏ tay". There's no direct translation for this one, but Chi Truc Ly just taught it to me and Chi Thu Hong. You can bet that's all I'll be saying when I get home to the states. Bỏ tay.

TRANSFER CALL

This past Monday, President Hassell surprised us with a transfer call! No one got transferred. BUT Chi Thu Hong and I did receive a new companion! Her name is Chị Trúc Ly - She's currently waiting for her Visa to go to the Provo MTC, and then from there she'll be off to the Japan Kobe Mission (shoutout to Elder McEwan). Being in a trio has definitely been challenging, especially since Chị Trúc Ly isn't familiar with any of the missionary rules, but we are doing our best to teach her :) 

 

Last night we had the opportunity to attend the Hassells' Eternal Marriages class with some of our potential investigators. During the class, they talked a lot about how the covenants we make when we are baptized apply to our marriage. When we are baptized, we promise to serve others by bearing their burdens, comforting them when they need comfort, and even crying with them when they need it (I'm not a big fan of that one because I don't like crying, but it's okay). When we are baptized, we promise those things with our Heavenly Father. But, in our family lives, we also need to promise each other those things. President and Sister Hassell then brought up the point that if we continue to do these things with our spouse, parents, siblings, or children, our relationships will improve. For me, I always focus on serving people OUTSIDE of my family. Buying chocolate for my friends when they're having a bad day, playing piano at the nursing home, etc. But last night made me realize that I was extremely lacking when it came to serving the people INSIDE my family, who in reality are the most important people! I would love to set a goal and commit myself to serving them more often, but I won't see them for another 8 months.. SO FAMILY, I promise that when I get home in November I will be serving you all like crazy. Until then, I get a break for 8 more months.

On Sunday we had an AMAZING first lesson with two new investigators, Cô Hoa and Em Khuê (mother and daughter). They remind me SO MUCH of when Chị Mẩn Nghi and I taught Cô Tâm and Em Linh. Cô Hoa truly is someone that Heavenly Father has prepared to accept the gospel. She loves everything about the church and is so willing to learn. And Em Khuê, who is only 9, is the cutest thing ever. Such a chatterbox and made the lesson so fun. Heavenly Father is preparing people all over the world to receive His gospel, and it is our job to help them receive it.

In other news, Chi Thu Hong and I biked to a member's house in 30 minutes this week. It normally takes us 1 hour, but we were running behind schedule and only had 30 minutes to get there. Heavenly Father definitely blessed us with strength to do that, no doubt, no doubt in my mind.

The quote for this week would be "Nói bằng tiếng Việt đi! Điều gì làm cho em bực bội?" (Speak in Vietnamese! What's making your frustrated?). Chi Thu Hong and I were taking a taxi over to the Hassells' home to pick up Chi Truc Ly, and I was a bit frustrated about something that had happened and was speaking English WAY fast with Chi Thu Hong. Then our taxi driver asked me to speak in Vietnamese so that he could help me feel less frustrated. Suprisingly, he had very good advice and was very comforting.