Beginning the beginning

"Làm Tốt Ngay Từ Đầu" proclaim the signs posted on many a construction site around this country. Essentially it means "Do it right the first time" or "Do it well from the beginning." How we start off with something matters greatly, whether that is receiving a surgical resection specimen in the lab, or starting a marriage, or teaching a class. It isn't just first impressions that matter, it is the cultural map we adopt to use as our "software" for interactions, our first steps that determine our orientation, direction, and even final destination. Thus as we began a new mission over the past week or so, we were keenly aware that how we began things would be influential in where we go with this and what kinds of issues we have to come back to fix later (or sooner.) We want this common Vietnamese bit of workplace propaganda to link with the prophetic admonitions of Elder Holland last August and so many others before and since to "Do it Right, from the Beginning." We want the young missionaries, the members, and everyone associated with us to both want to do it right, and learn and act so that they can do it right.

When silk is made in some of the small craft villages here, the process involves a lot of preparation before the loom begins to work. Indeed the most important work is setting the threads and preparing the pattern that will be followed as the production proceeds. The stamped cards reminiscent of the stacks of computer code used by the early computers I recall working with as a student, each provide instructions to the loom to indicate the features desired in the final pattern. Set it up right at the start, and put the loom to work and voila! A facy brocade, or a delicate floral or other pattern appears from the threads.

     

These punch-cards are anything but high fashion, or fine fabric in this form, but add the loom with the threads in the colors of your choice, and out comes this:

     

Beginnings are often marked by "Grand Openings" with bouquets of flowers and well wishes from friends and associates. While the flowers were not highly evident, the interest around the visit of Elder Stevenson from the Quorum of the Twelve, and Elder Gong from the Presidency of the Seventy at the end of February marked a kind of celebratory event in the creation of the mission that was appreciated by both the missionaries who will serve here to start, and the members who were able to sit at the feet of an apostle for the second time in less than a year. The mission begins with some symbolic combinations- 12 young missionaries, the number twelve being indicative of "completeness" or "sufficient" and three senior missionaries plus ourselves. That is the same number who served in the course of the first "mission" to Vietnam in 1973-5.

         

Looking into the eyes of these missionaries, and over the past few days into their hearts as we have interviewed them, one sees the miracle of missionary work in these days. The Lord does indeed take the weak and the simple to proclaim his word before kings and princes, nobles and great ones. These are young men and women with no special credentials aside from a commitment to obey God's commands, a love for Jesus Christ that drives that obedience, some portion of a testimony of God's love and this work's divine origin and purpose, and the energy of youth to engage in something greater than themselves. They have their fears, their doubts, and their weaknesses, but they also experience that being united with Jesus Christ quickly eclipses any of those into insignificance. As a result, they can talk in first person pronouns of miracles, "coincidences," and manifestations that indicate God's direction and support for what they are trying to do. They also speak with great love and compassion for the people they have met, spoke with or taught, and watched open their hearts to the spirit of God themselves.

Each of them recorded in their own words what the experience meant to them that night after meeting with Elder Stevenson, and the following morning in a first "Mission Conference" each contributed to what the new mission would be like- "here we.... are obedient and are fully worthy, follow the spirit, love and deeply respect those we serve and their culture, teach repentance, baptize those who are converted and desire to follow Christ, live as examples of Christ ourselves, sing praises, make sacrifices to serve while honoring and respecting the sacrifices of those ahead of us." The conference was a formative experience and none of them wanted to part, they seemed to draw great strength from being together to begin. With the small size we begin from however, we'll have the luxury of meeting together for more such conferences for a period of time.

     

 The first baptism of the new mission occurred this past weekend in Ho Chi Minh city, a sister from Tay Ninh. Her humility and joy in beginning again with a determination to do it right, yet with the assurance that baptism, the covenant to take upon us Christ's name, to continue to repent, to serve and love others and so forth, would be enough to allow her to have many such new beginnings as she continued to learn of him and follow him more determinedly, all were encapsulated in the symbolic act of immersion in the waters of baptism and the confirmation or baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost that Christ spoke of as being our key to being born again into God's Kingdom.

The first new grandchild of the new mission also appeared this week, following a mold and model pioneered by his two siblings before him, The model appears to be working as he was born healthy and happy, though as his oldest brother said on the way home from the hospital "Sometimes babies cry because they need their brother to hold them." Be careful what you wish for! But our wishes are granted in seeing Niels Henry join the Fjeldsted family in New Hampshire!

       

So we have enough of what is needed to begin in ithe right way. We'll add some of the other accoutrements like a mission office and some sort of financing support as we go along. But for now we are moving ahead, and the view is marvelous.