Launching Pads and Landing Strips

       

  

The Bitexo Building in Ho Chi Minh City is iconic due to it's 52nd story-level landing pad for helicopters or whatever, that juts out from the rest of the building like a huge shelf in mid-air. We have yet to see any air-traffic come or go there, but that may just be our limited opportunities for observation. On the other hand, we do see lots of "landings" and a few take-offs, or "launches" of another sort, the touch-points in the lives of young people who come to serve with us in the Hanoi Vietnam mission, and then move onward in their lives following the completion of their mission here. Just as they are the critical times in aviation or rocketry, we have come to regard them as crucial times in the lives of these beloved young people.

                   

                                   

  (New arrivals of late at Noi Bai airport are more surprised by the cool temperatures than previous ones were shocked by the heat and humidity.)

A young person, or in fact, any person who is sent out to represent Jesus Christ as an authorized representative, is called "by prophecy and the laying on of hands." The calling portion is becoming more of a public celebratory event, a rallying point for family and friends to celebrate the beginning of the passage into a new state of mind and service.

                                   

              (Hanoi Branch members react as HTA opens the large white envelope with her call.)

We have enjoyed watching some of these ceremonial call openings as posted by some of our missionaries or their families, and chuckled at the recent anticipation-building lottery our friend Dennis Christensen posted offering a $40 dinner gift certificate to a noted steakhouse for whomever was able to correctly guess the specific mission to which his son would be called. Madrid? Brussells? Panguich? (I think that last mission has yet to be announced...) No doubt when the opening ceremony arrives the anticipation will be high- but will the furor be to celebrate a prophetic call, or moan that one's guess was not a winner?

                          

             (Newly arrived elders mingle tastes of home with fresh fruit "sinh to" in exotic flavors.)

In contrast, the "laying on of hands" or setting apart portion of this sending forth process, is more often more private and personal, conducted by a stake or in the case of the missionaries sent from an area like Vietnam, by a mission president. Words of advice are offered. Parents, siblings and others express thoughts and hopes for the new missionary in sincerity and love, and then "the fuse is lit" as responsibilities are formally conferred, words of prophecy and promise are solemnly spoken and affirmed, acting in the authority and office of the Holy Priesthood. The missionary is "set apart" from others, from the world, and duly invested with the authority to preach the gospel and administer the ordinances that bring salvation to others. Having spoken such words of authorization and blessing for a few missionaries recently and previously while serving in Maine, I am always impressed with the great feeling of love from a heavenly source which is felt and hopefully well-expressed in these blessings. And I am also impressed with how individual are the other gifts, blessings and promises spoken in a spirit of promise, counsel and prophecy. God does not deal with us as a group, class or bunch, but in tremendous individual detail, one by one, each in our time, according to our needs, and measuring our talents singularly.

                                      

(Two wonderful sister missionaries, one adapting to home, one embarking share an embrace following the setting apart.)

We have tried to make arrivals in our mission, and the related orientation process, very upbeat and positive experiences. We don't get a second chance to make a good impression. But sometimes those first shock waves are far more overwhelming than Dorothy's confession that "we're not in Kansas anymore Todo" from The Wizard of Oz. Vietnam actually is not far from Oz, and sometimes we wish we could use a bit of wizardry to identify courage, find hearts and instill the wisdom of a brain! The adjustment to a new culture can be just as intense, we learned recently, whether one is encountering missionary life coming from Dong Da or Idaho. We are enormously grateful for the "Adjusting to Missionary Life" tool that is now available in English and Vietnamese to help missionaries learn appropriate ways of coping with these stresses.

(Members and friends gather at a far-flung location, several hours and a couple of ferry-crossings off the beaten path.)

The missionary experience should also be a launching pad into the next phase of life for a young person as well. But this transition is just as challenging if not more so than the entry regimen. So we have devoted considerable thought to how we send a missionary on, what "systems checks" we do, what new operating manuals we provide, and what impressions we make again in their minds and hearts.

(Tender farewells bid to departing Sister NTTD by friends and beloved members as her 18+ months of adventure come to conclusion.)

While many missions in the world are able to use the new on-line "My Plan" resource to help missionaries set goals and make plans for their future, we have not yet seen that program introduced here. So one of the first things we did was to craft a surrogate, which we titled "Bringing to Pass Much Righteousness..." that our departing missionaries begin to work on during their last transfer or two.

(Travels to Binh Dinh to honorably release Sister NTTD with her family members present were a treat.)

It's a dialogue and workbook that is mostly introspective, allowing them to consider skills and talents they have gained that will apply in new ways going forward. It is also a heavy dose of my own philosophy that increasing in "wisdom, stature and in favor with God and man" is a lifelong process, a pattern that can enable us to more fully follow Christ's example.

                                   

(Sister NT and Sister CW share a humorous moment before she departs back to a new and very challenging life in Lao.)

                                

(Loving families can often help ease the transition, but may also inadvertently complicate it as well. It is a path fraught with stumbling blocks and pitfalls.)

Sending a missionary home with the sense that they have accomplished their purpose as a servant of God is also vital. This week we will bid farewell to Elder Quach, and in a few short weeks to Sister Lynguyen. We have established a standard by which all our choices are to be judged, one that defines success not in outward metrics or performance, but very much in terms of inward commitment, personal conversion, and becoming. We have successful missionaries. But sometimes they are still tempted to measure themselves against an external standard, or compare their results with those of another. In consequence, we'll often invite other "witnesses" to come and share an evening with a departing missionary, to offer perspective on the influence and mighty change that has occurred both in the missionary and as a consequence of their efforts. In themselves, these quiet evenings of reflection and celebration, not unlike another "Last Supper," are sacraments, and often further the missionary's purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. Not a few have been motivated to change their lives in one way or another after such encounters.

                                       

(Maintaining contact and support with former companions is often helpful to returning missionaries.)

While we will defer evaluation of our success in influencing these marvelous young people until we can see evidence of lives turned unto Christ expressed in their children and grandchildren, that deferral does not dampen our celebration of their progress today or our anticipation for what is ahead. We also become keenly interested and prayerful for those other leaders, spouses, friends and family members who will greet them as they go through the "re-entry" process and begin a new phase of a very multi-tasking kind of life, juggling many purposes and goals, as they seek to lead the life of a man or woman of Christ in a world with many conflicting and sometimes cacaphonous voices. It is our hope that we have taught them to, as King Benjamin said, "Oh, be wise! What can I say more?"

Take time to enjoy the romance and adventure

Going through a very busy time in the mission- the arrival and orientation of new missionaries, the division and creation of new branches, and the associated training of new leaders- one can easily become overly wrought with the press of things to do. Not infrequently in my life both professionally and in my service in the church, I have lived from one deadline or project until the next. Christ did say to "take no thought for the morrow" and "sufficient is the day" unto its needs. Mary Bliss has at times chided me for my inability to tolerate a less-than-packed schedule. And the advice from Stephen Covey to avoid being caught up in the "thick of thin things" seemed particularly apt to me.

                                

So the recent training from the missionary executive committee which announced a change in the missionary daily schedule, also included a change in the mission president's schedule. One week in every six is to be devoted to reflection, renewal, and pondering. This week-long type of Sabbath experience is made for just such as me. But the issue is will it work here? Will it work for me and can I  really adjust the (self-imposed) training schedule for the member leaders that follows a monthly schedule such that we have time and temperament to seriously ponder what is going on. If I ask self-discipline on the part of the young missionaries, I suppose I am going to have to exercise the same myself.

       

We divided the Hanoi congregation into three uneven parts just before the Tet holiday, and they are beginning to function, waiting patiently for registration papers on their new buildings to be approved so that they can assemble and operate as a religious body of believers. The new meeting sites are wonderful, and will enhance their spiritual lives and opportunities to serve. Importantly, one can already see the growth among the members who are learning new roles in their smaller units, and reaching out anew to strengthen friendship and fellowship with each other. And operating on a two hour less complicated schedule also will allow some extra Sabbath time for those personal spiritual renewal things we all crave.

         

         

 


Our friends from our time together in Maine (though they are most recently from Texas, just as we are from Oklahoma) Russ and Betty Jo Lee visited us over the Tet holiday, taking a break from their English-teaching duties in Tienjin, China. The weather was pretty cooperative and we were able to find a willing driver to take us along with Elder and Sister Vanwagenen on a visit to some of the area west of Hanoi. This was really more like one of those prolonged sales pitches you get when you sign up for a free visit to a time-share (not that I would know.) So we were pleased when after only a few hours of regaling them with adventures from both sides, Russ admitted we didn't need to twist their arms any longer. They were going to start their papers even before they returned to the US.

                                 

                                 

 
In the course of our journeying, we enjoyed seeing some of the kinds of places where the locals go when they are on holiday, the old portion of the town in Son Tay, BaVi national park, and the National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism. And we made it home in time for dinner. As we were the  only westerners in these locations on the day, we were able to grace many a "selfie" with others who seemed as awed by having their photo taken with blond or tall or otherwise strange foreigners as they were by the cultural or recreational attractions around them.

Being around the energetic young members of our congregations does a lot to keep our outlook youthful. And it inspires us to remember how happy we are to be married. The romantic travails of some of our missionaries is certainly a big distraction at times, and at the same time seeing the joy on the face of one of our  recently returned missionaries when his proposal of marriage was accepted is a sweet reminder of that youthful fresh joy which we also felt, and which has now mellowed into joy in serving together with a common goal.

                                     

It also has inspired us to begin a new series of classes/firesides on preparing for an eternal marriage, starting this weekend. Hosting it in our home is likely to bring a few additional curiousity seekers, but we think it will also be a good way to encourage change (repentance) and preparation for covenants, both for our members and several other friends.

        

Some of the stories that unfold here are almost too sacred to tell. Our afternoon visit with Don Skanchy and his family included several such. But perhaps it should suffice to tell that the spirit of Elijah is working on people here, and the work on this side of the veil is just as vibrant as the work among those who are waiting for gospel blessings over on the other side.