Good Morning
Vietnam!
This
week was especially delicious. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the
Priesthood!
We had
an appointment this Monday with a less active member named Chu Sa
Line and his family. They are always so nice and fun to be around. We came over
and things were looking grim. Chu Sa Line was laying on the ground and seemed
to be in a lot of pain. His wife was too. He said that he didn't know why, but
his stomach was killing him and it had been hurting for 4 days.
His wife
Co Nga, said her head has been hurting a lot recently as well. We asked them if
they wanted to go to the hospital. They said they would, except that they are
afraid because hospitals here are really sketchy. Many people die in the
hospitals, even with minor operations for a lot of reasons.
So they
asked us for a blessing… I was insistently the most scared I have been in the
mission so far. I had no idea what to say or anything. After trying to explain
to them that blessings were very special and asking them if they had the faith
to be healed, we proceeded to bless them.
I was so
scared of messing up, but as I started to speak I felt the spirit guide me. The
spirit was really strong that night. We thanked them, wished them the best, and
then left. Two days later they called, explaining that after we had left that
night, their pains went away and that they had slept well that night.
I know
that Priesthood Blessing are powerful. I know that through the priesthood we
can not only be healed of pain, but through the power of the Priesthood, we can
perform the ordinances essential for Salvation. I am so grateful for that
experience.
Tuesday,
we had two Elders who are serving in Vietnam come down to our neck of the
woods. They had to renew their Visas so they stayed with my companion and I.
They are so much fun… Elder Hieu and Elder Bao. We took advantage of this newly
found manpower and went on as many splits as we could.
Elder Bao and I went to
the upper Kilos. We stopped in Kilo 7 and went contacting. Something about
Elder Bao… is that he is not the smallest Elder around. We had to walk on a lot
of Monkey Bridges so I asked him if he felt comfortable. He said yes, and after
agreeing that if one of us fell in, the other would jump in after him. That
made me a little scared.
After
about an hour, we went all the way to the end of the bridges to a house
floating on the water. We stopped and asked the man there if he spoke
Vietnamese. He said yes and invited us to climb across his boat and over to his
floating house. I jumped across and Bao waited on the other side. They asked me
who I was, so I introduced myself and why we were there. They became really
excited and told us to go over to their other house. Across another boat was a
big blue house. They led us across some more bridges and up some stairs. We immediately
began teaching their whole family. We taught them how the gospel blesses
families. I bore my testimony to them and asked if we could leave them with a
prayer. They said "Yes Please!". First, we taught them how to pray… it
was super cute because they all had their arms folded and eyes closed even without
us telling them to. They said they wanted to learn more, and asked us to come
back another time.
Wednesday we
had English class! It was so good! Bunthy came again and he told me that he had
accepted Baptism… and would be getting baptized on October 5th. WOW! Then
at the end of class, we had a new member of the class ask to learn with the
Khmer Elders. English class brings miracles for sure.
Thursday,
we went to get some breakfast at a member's food cart. While we were waiting
for the food, an old lady came up to me. I said hello and she did the strangest
thing. She called me beautiful and then slapped me really heard and then started
laughing. I think I've seriously missed something about the culture here (haha).
Lastly,
Sunday, we had a lot of people come to sacrament meeting. We had one of the
Presidents presiding named Ong Dung. Whenever I see him I am reminded of the
time we went to their house and he was watching a 007movie from like a million
years ago when Sean Connery was James Bond. At least I think it was 007.
Anyways, we had a great sacrament and due to the fact that my companion was
called to give an emergency talk; I planned the entire priesthood lesson! It
was so hard. My companion saw that as a learning experience for me and decided
to let me teach. That was so rough. A bunch of old guys judging your terrible
Vietnamese for an hour was pretty tough. But I thought it went well. I taught about
Family Home evening and the importance of it. I kind of called some of them to
repentance though when I used D&C 68:25 “…(the sins be on their parents)… They
took it well though.
All in
all, a great week! This gospel is true. Every day that I am out here, my
testimony is strengthened. I know that Christ is at the helm, leading our
church. I shared a spiritual thought in Branch Missionary Meeting. I shared
from D&C 31, one of my all-time favorite sections. I know that Heavenly
Father does prepare the hearts of the people (verse 7), I have seen it first-hand.
It’s real. I know that there is no reason to be afraid, for the Lord is with us
(verse 13) and if we rely on him and keep a prayer of gratitude in our hearts
always, we will be blessed. I love you all and can't wait to start this
next week better than the last. :)
Love,
Elder Morris
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