2 years ago I went to a "Come and See" program, and they showed everyone a video of "Finding your cousins" - all about family history work. Well, this week I FOUND A COUSIN! Technically not a cousin - She's more of a friend of my grandparents. But it works nonetheless. My companion and I were able to go over to her home for dinner on Thursday night, look at baby pictures of my mom, and talk about family things. It was so much fun. 

Dinner at Bac Phuc's house

 

Dessert at Bac Phuc's

This week I've been trying to read more out of the Bible, because I'm a terrible person and always neglect it. One of my problems though is connecting to the verses in the Bible - the Book of Mormon is easier for me (maybe because I've read it more?), but for some reason I get a little bored when reading the Bible (should I admit that?). Anyways, Yesterday I came across a verse that, with some word changing creativity, I was able to apply to my life:

1 Corinthians 5:6 - "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" 

I've never been good at this "leaven" analogies, but that's okay because my version doesn't use that word: 

1 Corinthians according to Chi Kim Thu 5:6 - "Your whining is not good. Know ye not that a little whine ruineth the whole day?" Over the ALMOST ONE YEAR that I've been a missionary, that statement has been true every single day. There are some days when I wake up at 5:30 (hello new mission schedule) and think "There is no way anyone is forcing me to get out of this bed today. Not even Ben & Jerry's ice cream would convince me." I start thinking about how hot it is outside, how tired I am, how I don't want to ride a bike anymore - basically I start whining about every little thing in the book! However, on the days that I wake up and think "Okay it's way too early, yes, but today is going to be a good day" it's so much easier for me to have motivation. A little bit of whine truly does ruineth the whole day, so let's just not whine anymore. Let's also not wine anymore, because Word of Wisdom (https://www.lds.org/topics/word-of-wisdom?lang=eng). My family and friends are going to kill me for that tie-in, but that's okay.

In other news, Sunday night we were able to go over to Em Doan's house to bake cinnamon rolls! Our investigator, Chi Phung, came with us. It was so much fun and we were able to help Em Doan's family learn a little bit more about the church. We are praying that the family liked us so much that they will give Em Doan permission to be baptized!!

The quote for this week is.. "Bạn có yêu người hàng xóm của mình không?" Translation: do you love your neighbor? Flash WAY back to my very first week in Vietnam. Chi Man Nghi, Chi Ha, and I went to the YSA activity where they played that game. I still remember that I had ABSOLUTLEY no idea what was going on because my vietnamese vocabulary was not large enough to understand, "I love everyone wearing red socks". Thankfully, this time I was able to understand. That's how you know your one year's worth of missionary service has paid off.

Việc tiếp xúc ở trên máy bay

There's more to the subject line if you stick around 'til the end of the email - Napoleon Dynamite

This whole week can be summed up by my experience on Saturday. Saturday I made the journey over to a hospital to get a booster for Japanese Encephalitis. After getting there, my companion and I waited for 2.5 hours before seeing the doctor - I got my height measured, weight taken, blood pressure taken, the whole 9 yards. Once we finally got into his office he took one look at my medical records and said, "You don't need any booster for this." I was definitely a bit frustrated because I had waited there for soooo long - half of our day was gone and I didn't even get the shot! My companion and I had two options: 1. Bike home when it was boiling hot, get home all tired and sweaty, and be grumpy. or 2. Go to a nearby American imports store and stock up on all the random american food you can't find any where else, such as Special K, wheat bread, and raspberry jam, and then go home when it's boiling hot, get home all tired and sweaty, but feast on American food to cheer you up. I no longer have any money in my wallet, if that helps you figure out when option we chose. 

So what's the point of that story? Well, sometimes in life we wait around for things, do all that we can to prepare for something special to happen, and then NOTHING HAPPENS. We get let down, the opportunity gets given to someone else, we miss our chance - basically we don't get the Japanese Encephalitis booster that we waited 2.5 hours for. When we feel like this, feel like we didn't get something that we deserved, we have 2 options: 1. Turn around, go back to where we started, and be grumpy about it, or 2. Find something good about your situation and make the most out of it (such as blow all your money on food you haven't eaten in 10 months. There may be a hole in your wallet, but at least your heart will be happy.)

One of my favorite sayings, something that my good friend Elder Duffy said to me recently, goes, "Come what may and love it." So that's my advice for this email, something that I struggle with and am still trying to apply - Come what may and love it. It'll be easier to love it when you have Special K, wheat bread, and raspberry jam. I promise.

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng

In other news for this week, Thursday and Friday my companion and I flew to Hanoi for an exchange with the sisters there! This exchange was so special because I was able to be companions with Chi Trang, one of the investigators I taught who was baptized in October. She is an amazing member and an even more amazing missionary. Serving with her for the day was so surreal - so much fun! Because she's 29 this year, she's too old to serve a full-time mission, but she still volunteered to serve a mini-mission for 6 weeks in Hanoi. SHE'S THE BEST. 

The quote for this week would be, "Teach him the restoration". On our flight home, Chi Phuong and I were sitting next to a random guy. Chi Phuong engaged him in conversation, and since she was sitting in between me and him, I just leaned over and said, "teach him the restoration", and then proceeded to take a 2 hour nap until we arrived in Saigon. Basically, my trainee is the best ever and doesn't even need to be trained because she taught the whole restoration and a little bit of the plan of salvation, and we will be meeting with him on Thursday night to give him a book of mormon. So when in doubt, just teach the restoration and everything will turn out fine.

Hieu & I trading vehicles for the nigh.  Bike vs. Motorcycle!



Reunited with my BFF, Em Linh



Exchanges in Hanoi, Chi Tam, Em Linh, Chi Trang

Em Linh

Tuần cuối cùng của tháng 4!!!!

It's the last week of April. How weird is that. 

To start off, I want to share a scripture I read in my personal study this week, 3 Nephi 21:10 - "But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil." This scripture was brought to life for me this week. My companion and I have been trying to get to know the members better, and so we have set up more appointments to visit them at their homes. Friday we had planned to visit an older couple out in the Go Vap district, which is about an hour away from our house. And then, we received a referral from Temple Square to contact, and so we set up an appointment with her at her house that same night. Unfortunately, she lives about 30 minutes away from our house in the opposite direction of the elderly couple. We set up our appointments so that we would have enough time to get there on time, but everyone that knows me well knows that something always goes wrong when I'm the one that has to navigate/give directions. I lived in Nampa, Idaho for 18 years of my life, and I only knew how to get to the high school, Walmart, and sometimes the mall (sometimes Nathan (age 11) had to help me out with the mall..). That morning we mapped out the route we were going to take so that the chances of me getting us lost would be minimal.. Just like this scripture says, "the life of my servant shall be in my hand" - we made it out alive, and on time to both appointments. And, just like this scripture says, "although he shall be marred" - our adventure was definitely not free of near-death experiences (like realizing the road you chose to go down was a one-way and now you have to pedal against Saigon traffic, having to stop to ask for help 20 times, and showing up completely soaked in sweat). 

The moral of this experience is that Heavenly Father protects us. He watches over us and guides us. That doesn't mean life is always going to be easy (going against traffic was definitely NOT EASY), but He will helps us pull through it.

In other news, we got a new investigator this week! He has taken the discussions before with the elders but stopped for a long time. We were able to meet him on Wednesday and he agreed to continue investigating. Our next appointment with him is on Tuesday, so wish us luck! And speaking of the referral I mentioned earlier, we were able to meet with THEE CUTEST woman who has such a strong desire to learn more and eventually join the church. Right now she is super busy (she's going to Thailand this week and then Pennsylvania and then who knows where else) but she has such a strong desire. After she gets back from Thailand she said she wants to meet wish us, so FINGERS CROSSED! (actually, don't cross your fingers. Apparently that's a really bad hand gesture here in vietnam). When we met her at her home, she was teaching english to her students and 2 of them happened to be nuns in training. When we started talking about the church, the nuns started asking amazing questions that ended up in us being able to informally teach the restoration lesson. Holla. 

This week we also got to pretend to be tourists at the Saigon Zoo to help out this group of students trying to learn English. We walked around for about 3 hours while they explained the animals to us and we explained the gospel to them. It was a wonderful time.

The quote for this week would be from the best mission president's wife, Sister Hassell: "Not only did we happily celebrate your birthday, but we have happily celebrated a year of your being covered by the japanese encephilities vaccination you received in the U.S." Unfortunately this means I'm off to the clinic for another shot that will make my arm feel like it's dead. Yay :))

Thanks for all the emails, prayers, thoughts, pictures, videos, EVERYTHING. Life is hard but I'm learning a lot, so what more can you ask for.

The Pygmy Hippo

 Friday night dinner thanks to the Temple Square referral

Hailey's favorite church member in Saigon, Hieu



Photo opportunity with Hieu.

người bà già rồi

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 :)