Self-Reliance, Self-less Service and Cultural Values
While driving with a team of humanitarian-oriented veterans on an NGO mission in the late 1980s thru the more remote "grey roads" or non-roads of Dong Nai province, we stopped to allow some service to the vehicles. One of these was a classic black Citroen limo vintage about 1939. When new it probably would have been fit to ferry a queen, as this restored version is reputed to have done. But our version was closer overall to the pre-restoration version!
That the vehicle ran at all was remarkable, but I was perhaps most surprised when on opening the hood, I saw a Coke can prominently attached to a critical part of the engine. On further investigation it became clear that rather than importing auto parts from Coke, the mechanics had improvised using the bottom half of a Coke can to make a new distributor cap for a vehicle that was long since relegated to the junk yard in most other countries. This was to me the quintessential evidence of initiative and resilience.
Of late, I have become aware of yet further examples of this cultural narrative among members of the Church. Since Vietnamese is still a minor language for Church translation purposes, the range of materials available is still relatively limited when compared with say Japanese or even Swedish. So in typical "can-do" manner, members have stepped forward to translate materials they desire to use in their own units or callings. One example was the excellent Self-Reliance materials which were largely translated into Vietnamese and formatted almost exactly as the English version, for use in one of the branches in Ho Chi Minh City soon after they appeared in English. When later, the Area Self-Reliance coordinator asked about whether Vietnam should be moved into the mainstream of that program, he was pleasantly shocked to discover the level of "readiness" of the people and the materials. No irony here!
But in the sequence of initiative, self-reliance and translation, I am most impressed by the self-less service epitomized in a current project spearheaded by Kim Hoa Duncan, and ably assisted to completion by Sisters Mai Anh, and Bao Ngoc. A project which will not benefit them personally in much of a significant way is the creation of an audio version of the Doctrine and Covenants, a volume of scripture to Latter-day Saints, which will be the focus of Come Follow Me gospel study in 2021. Although perhaps not of the quality (or sanction) that will link it to the official Gospel Library, it will nevertheless open a useful resource to many members whose reading skills or visual acuity are below those that would allow them to access the scriptures in other media. Look for a link to the audiofiles to be released via branch Facebook pages by mid-December 2020. And I have good reason to believe that it will be better than the Coke can in filling its function and helping others to Come Unto Christ. These noble volunteers have epitomized the meaning of #LightTheWorld through service beyond self.
