COVID Christmas

 

We are healthy. Perhaps that is enough to say in a year as full of excess deaths and loss as this has been. Though members of our family have crossed the bar, my sister in March, my cousin's husband in October, and several others, none of them were directly related to the novel coronavirus. We have sacrificed any hopes of visiting family in Korea, and probably any likelihood we will be present for the birth of grandchild number 10 in February, but we have found other ways to connect and build family culture and memories either virtually, or by enduring frenetic driving trips, preceded by COVID testing and some combination of quarantine, and social distancing. Thus we can begin to count some blessings that have come from this experience of pandemic. Here are several:

    The switch to virtual sacrament meetings via zoom enabled us to join in worship again with many friends in Vietnam as their sacrament services were 12 hours in advance of ours. That was sweet.

    Moving to virtual teaching in pathology sparked a major foray into video production of short and some longer teaching videos on pathology topics. While initiated for our own program residents, it is now evident that the value to both trainees and public far beyond our program is not insignificant. And that has led to the consideration of how the cumulative efforts of many peers in doing the same might be turned to solve a major public health problem looming down the road as cancer incidence in the developing world accelerates, even as we curtail infectious and communicable disease (or think we have.) Most of these video releases have been announced via our Facebook group devoted to promoting pathology development in Vietnam and other developing countries, an effort that was an early launch when we began giving lectures at the Vietnamese National Cancer Institute. (For the curious, here are the links to the channel https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCSlhvdzIe8AXLKb-dWO8jhg/videos/upload?filter=%5B%5D&sort=%7B%22columnType%22%3A%22date%22%2C%22sortOrder%22%3A%22DESCENDING%22%7D 
and the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/568498066621912 )

    We have been able to give equal time and attention to our missionaries as they approach marriage. Our commitment and mantra to "Do it right from the beginning" that we taught and emphasized over and over again when speaking about how we build branches seems even more apt as we contemplate their looming task of building a family founded on the gospel. But sweet Zoom sessions with as many as will accept have made the relationships richer and compensated for our inability to witness sealing ceremonies or participate in celebrations.

    We have seen our hearts stretched as we have ministered to others within our own ward and stake. While often the 80/20 rule means that a Relief Society president will spend the bulk of her time attending to problems among an often recalcitrant 20% of her sisters, the efforts over the first 10 months of her service have seen several reasons to rejoice, both in terms of training and modeling offered to her counselors (several have already gone on to other callings better prepared) and in the signs of progress among the sisters in struggles. Hooray for small victories! 

    We have missed singing, or at least I have, even though my voice is showing its age. While listening to others raise a joyful noise is good, and we can resonate inside with their efforts, there is something wonderful about exulting or mourning or praising in one's own voice, and in harmonizing and synchronizing with others, whether for a funeral, or wedding or just a weekly worship service. And that brings me to the backdrop for this year's Christmas carol. It expresses this need to sing when the news is as good as Christmas is to me, and I hope to you. I'm not a composer with accomplishments or much in the way of training. But once I started this and the words were beginning, the mournful beginning in a minor key had to be resolved with a change in mode to major as the good news of Christ's birth and His plan is affirmed. Perhaps you will hear the quote or allusion in the first line to the tune for "There is a balm in Gilead" (not done consciously I will add) which likewise comforts with His message. 

May you be well and whole. May music of praise and thanksgiving and joy fill your heart in this most different of years. And may a COVID Christmas come to mean more than loneliness or isolation as you come to see what God has done in your life this year.

For those who may not wish to struggle with my notation, you can get an idea of the carol by listening to me sing it through. Blogger won't support the mp3 file upload for some reason, so contact me if you want me to send it directly.. (Not ready for the recording studio yet, I know.) But here are the words, so you don't need to squint.

Will there be no carols sung this season? 

No choirs to tune their voice as one?  

Will only solos sung in isolation. 

Tell the birth of Him, God’s only Son? 

Will only dirges played to mourn the dying

Pierce our ears and speak of only sorrows?

Is all the joy we had false and beguiling,

Drain'd hope today from each of our tomorrows?

Not so for me! Not so for you! 

Angels His birth announced!  

Disciples Saw Him Rise,  

And He will come again. 

This Hope is Sure! 

So I will sing my carol bright this season!

With choirs above tune notes to seem as one,

Thus will my carol sung midst isolation

Sing praise to Him, God’s new born Son!

Sing hope for those who’re lost or dying!

Sing joy for all who’ve suffered sorrows!

Sing Truth and Grace defeating all beguiling!

Sing Christ our hope for now and all tomorrows.

'Tis so for me! ‘Tis so for you!

Angels His birth announced!

Disciples saw Him rise,

And He will come again.

This Hope is Sure!

    

Thắp Sáng Thế Gian

 It wasn’t exactly the splash of the “Ice Bucket Challenge,” but the first foray of an “official” church entry into the prevalent social media world of Vietnamese culture did reach remarkably large audiences and demonstrated the value that social media could add to missionary efforts and to public esteem for the Church. It started when the mission was given approval  (thank you Hong Kong Public Affairs) to launch a group or page under the above title during the Christmas public affairs efforts of 2017. The page would be the landing page for the daily videos released by the church in the campaign. Elders Michael Williams and Kevin Huy Phan were charged to build a plan to bring meaningful messages and traffic to the page to help spread the message of #LightTheWorld for Vietnamese saints and their friends. They produced a few video clips in Vietnamese illustrating how they were following the theme of the campaign, and then they challenged a few people to do likewise, and again share their efforts and challenge more of their friends to engage in the social media sweep. Perhaps because the demographics of their friends was that of a highly social media conscious young adult group, the results and engagement from members in both the North and the South, was remarkable.

The success of this effort in building a community and an audience interested in using social media to share gospel concepts was significant for individuals and the church. President Hoang Van Tung of the District Presidency, and Chairman of the legal entity charged with representing the church to the government, had been regularly sharing images and messages about the church, ranging from pictures of temples, to inspirational messages from Church leaders, intent on raising the standing and awareness of the Church and its value to Vietnamese society. I felt that the value of the community created could be enhanced by extending the concept of a social media campaign into the traditional season of celebrations in Vietnamese (and East Asian) culture surrounding the lunar new year, Tết Nguyên Dân. So with some help from the Communications Committee and other members, we identified gospel truths that were embodied in traditional practices associated with that holiday. Then each of these were developed into short posts with traditional photos of the practice. The campaign was headed under the hashtag #lẽthâttrongtruyềnthống, or #TruthsinTraditions. The posts were popular and often got a significant (for the church population size) number of shares and likes, with an estimated reach of several thousand viewers. One such was this about the tradition of giving "lucky money" or Ly Xi at the new year.

#lẽthậttrongtruyềnthống
Chuẩn bị cho hoặc nhận được lì xì:

Truyền thống tuyệt vời này là một cách thức để các người cha mẹ có thể ban phước cho các con cái, để các ông bà có thể bày tỏ những cảm giác và ước mong cho các thế hệ về sau, và nói chung để những người lớn tuổi có thể trình bày các ước mong đó một cách hữu hình cho năm mới. Thông thường tiền này được cho trong một phong bì nhỏ màu đỏ, để nhấn mạnh màu sắc đỏ mang sự may mắn đến xã hội này. Nó được cho một cách vô điều kiện, một biểu tượng về một tình yêu thương vô điều kiển nên phải là gì. Phúc âm của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô dạy chúng ta rằng “chúng ta yêu mến Ngài, vì Ngài yêu mền chúng ta trước” hay để nói một cách khác, lòng yêu mến của Thượng Đế mà được biểu tượng một cách hữu hình bởi máu cứu chuộc của Dấng Cứu Rỗi, đã được ban cho chúng ta mặc dù chúng ta đã không được hưởng. “Thương Đế yêu thương thế giới [chúng ta] đến nỗi Ngài đã gửi Con Trai Độc Sinh của Ngài.”

Prior to the 2017 Christmas media effort, Vietnamese had still been a minor language, so efforts to employ the graphics, video materials and other campaign items arrived late, or were not translated at all. In 2016, the first season following creation of the mission, the plan had been to utilize materials translated for the 2015 campaign, since they could be available from the beginning of the month. This worked to some degree, but the phase delay made it a bit confusing for bilingual members, or to English-speakers living in the Vietnamese branches. As 2017 approached we felt confident in that approach given that the hashtag theme had not changed, and people would likely not remember or the number who would would be small compared to the new eyes we hoped would see the campaign. But in the interim, translation had sped up and the videos were simplified so that translation was feasible in the short time frame.

As I observe the subsequent similar media campaigns, it is evident that the decision to retain the #LightTheWorld hashtag has been helpful in gaining "brand status" for the holiday among members and their friends. And seeing ever increasing numbers of members respond to the encouragement to share and document their celebration of the season in the public eye of social media is encouraging. In Hanoi in 2019, members were included in a public singing performance at a high visibility venue. In 2020, with COVID mostly excluded from the country, Hanoi members were involved with a charity booth during a special event highlighting giving held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi. At that site, the Thắp  Sáng Thế Gian theme was highly visible, and the personal engagement by members was meaningful. The Church is emerging from obscurity, and indeed becoming a light to the world.

It is evident that the early experience with using social media in 2017 and early 2018 was helpful so that when missionary work moved to a more virtual environment in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic, there was a base of experience, and a population of supportive church members. When a church executive responsible for media visited Hanoi in early 2018 and interviewed missionaries and members, his report to me was that it was clear that a great deal of potential existed in Vietnam in that realm, but that many more materials were needed than then available. Much more is available now than when the first purchase of Times Square space was made for the holiday campaigns years ago, but with a populace that is young and highly engaged on social media, and primarily on a single platform (Facebook), I believe the Light has the potential to spread very quickly. The curve is shifting.

Signs of Christ- Signs of Christmas

Maybe it was the styrofoam snowscape with the motorized ski lift ascending a slope outside a coffee house, or maybe it was the stars hanging from the ceiling of the chapel at Thao Dien that let me know that Christmas was here.

                                

The clues are more subtle than when the retail complex of a consumer society begins encouraging prospective purchasing to anticipate the gifting frenzy of Christmas morning. Which is not to say that the retailers here are lost in the backwash when it comes to seeking to monetize the commemoration of God's greatest gift to mankind. There are store displays and special sales, even if the phrase "Black Friday" has no resonance with anyone's psyche here. The minority Christian population in Vietnam, perhaps just under 10% has successfully crafted a place for their celebration of this event that does not emphasize the purchase of "stocking stuffers" (how many people really wear socks here anyway?)

Outside the Catholic Churches there are various visible evidences of a festival season- strings of stars leading to the one great star, usually brightly lighted high on the cathedral tower, and a grotto with near life-size figures of the key figures in the nativity nestled in rustic simplicity if not comfort, On Christmas eve, the churches will be thronged with believers participating in celebration of the mystery and majesty of "God with us." 

In our own offices and the mission home, the remembrance of that mysterious night of light is marked by this somewhat fanciful and simple nativity, a locally made reminder of the many remarkable creches we love to see displayed at this time of year.

       

The sounds at this season change a little bit as well. As I circled the park path early this past week, the aerobics group were drilling their beat to a different tune, "Jingle bells, five six seven, Jingle bells, and ten now!" Everyone was shaped to the season. Mobile music sellers, with stacks of CDs on their carts also featured seasonal takes on many western holiday favorites by various artists, whether modeling the style of Como or Spears. We're not sure the MoTab has any imitators here however, though the Hanoi Branch Choir may challenge that next Sunday. The Messiah performance we heard a few weeks back featured a conglomerate choir from several groups, and as MB has pointed out from the names on the program was remarkably cosmopolitan.

                                   

Many seemed to sing as though they knew Him of whom those prophetic testaments witness, though I was disappointed the soloists seemed often more interested in drawing attention to their talent rather than his Gift. Style can defeat the intent at times.

When we welcomed guests from Hong Kong recently to the nearby hotel, the lobby did not quite feature "carols being sung by a choir" nor folks dressed like Eskimos, but this charming musician did her best to render something suited to the gingerbread decor and lighted tree nearby.

                                    

                                    

(NOT plastic, though the texture not that different!)    

The smells of star anise and cinnamon in beef broth that forms the basis for the best phở is not hard to find, but it doesn't quite have the primal memory links to sweet childhood Christmas baking scents that I grew up knowing. And the only balsam fir cachet one could find here would have to come from an aerosol found in a western market. But the sweet roses that graced the podium last weekend for our district conference, and the small sweet citrus "trai quet" (clementine-like) together with an occasional gardenia on the bushes outside have been enough. 

I found some imported mejool dates in the market and decided to give them to one of our friends. In doing so I thought of how they were symbolic of the Savior who offers us through his redemptive power, the fruit of the Tree of Life. Though not white like the fruit Lehi saw, their sweetness reminds me of the savor in the fruits of repentance, which is sweet above all that is sweet. We see that reflected in the joyfulness of those who accept his message, drink fully of the sacramental covenants and themselves aquire a brightness of light and hope that is remarkable. We anticipate that the "whiteness" in our Christmas will be best expressed in the cleanliness of newly born lives, purified souls and joyful missionary messengers. These will indeed know the tidings of great joy that are to all people.

      

Vietnam produces some quite delightful large yellow raisins. I chose these to give to another young friend, Z, who was celebrating his second Christmas as a member. These too seemed to have a likeness, perhaps more obvious as we consider Christ's words about being the True Vine. We as branches abiding in him can bear fruit also, laying up in store that we perish not. As I interviewed a family preparing to attend the temple and be sealed together as the youngest child enters the Manila MtC next month, I was moved by their story of travels in several nearby countries until they encountered and recognized the gospel almost 10 years ago. They will become more firmly engrafted into the True Vine as they make those covenants and hear the attendant promises. From there, the purifying and exalting vigor of the vine will further permeate thier family, spreading further along the branches to bless and unify. And too, the labors of their missionary son will repeat the process for others he will meet and teach over the coming two years. In being endowed with these blessings of the House of the Lord, they will be, like those golden raisins, preserved and protected, "laid up in store that they perish not" and bring salvation to their souls.

Another seasonal sign that is sweet to every ballet company across the world, is the much beloved story of Clara and her Christmas gift, the Nutcracker. The Hanoi Opera House provided a stellar performance to a large audience earlier this month. Seeing the ballet performed without a single child-dancer on stage was a new experience, but that didn't limit the child-like dreams of dancing flowers, sugar plums (although that is an incredibly hard term to translate!) and whirling Cossacks. I don't think P.I.Tchaikovsky had any Christ-evoking motif in mind with the composition, but if one has eyes to see (and perhaps an imagination to stretch) the Nutcracker does play into some possibilities- the Gift, the Vanquishing Savior, the Constant Comfort and Companion, etc. Perhaps it is fitting then that thousands of replicas are sold each season to young girls and boys who attend with their parents who may not think twice about any meaning beyond that of a memorable souvenir or toy.

       

We will welcome the visit of Fantastic Felix and his doting parents later this week. We think they will share with us in this season of miracles more reasons to rejoice and be glad. There is magic ahead in watching him and seeing our own Christmas Child (Elizabeth his mother) and her husband KC remind us of the wonderful plan we are part of, the Plan of Happiness.