Memorials and “Final” chapters

What we hope most to have accomplished in the few months we have lived, loved and wandered among the peoples of Vietnam is to have embodied in some way the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. Looking backwards as we now can on the paths we have taken in this journey, and more especially on the lives of the people we have met, loved and served, we see so many interesting stories, and so much of the sorrows, sadness and struggles of life, mixed wonderfully with moments of joy, happiness and fulfillment. As in Vietnamese cuisine, the sweet, spicy, salty, hot and savory, together with flavors and sensations not well described in English, come together to make a marvelous fusion of experiences that intensify and reinforce the feeling of satisfaction and fulness. So is life as a servant of God on a mission to bless his children. There are many flavors, textures and sensations that enrich us.

But unlike a meal which comes to a pleasing climax and resolves with a little “mouth decoration” as desserts here are termed, in a mission with real people and real lives, the course is often not finished and fulfilled by just one person. We are forced to put aside many books seemingly in mid-sentence, still hanging on what verb will dominate the remainder of the story and which object will be the consummation of the phrase. We know there are yet many chapters still to be written, twists and turns in plot and theme before the grand story is revealed and the Author’s mind and will are revealed.

We first met Brother Sharp two years ago on one of our first visits to the Mekong. We stayed in the village hotel, with it’s hard bed and the geckos prowling the walls for any insects that ventured in. We met him and his daughter at the head of the dirt path that lead in a kilometer or so to their home on the edge of the rice paddies. Flat and green, yet soured by a dry season that meant salt intrusion, those fields seemed in some ways a metaphor for their lives. He and members of his family had joined the church while living in Cambodia and had felt unity with the saints they met. They weren’t looking for “the true church” per se, but enjoyed the fellowship and accepted the doctrines. But when they moved back to Vietnam to resume work as the opportunities improved, they were far from the pleasures of that fellowship, and the dry ground invited other influences into their lives that soured the crop a bit.

So while they welcomed our visit, they had a different perspective on their spiritual needs at that time, and their affiliation with the larger international church didn’t seem essential to what they sought day to day. They prayed, they sang, they gathered together from time to time, security forces willing, and that was enough.

Our path took us back to their province 18 months later. Sudden losses had entered the family when a son-in-law had passed away suddenly, as though hit by lightening, and their daughter was now struggling to keep that arm of the  family going. As we shared their sorrows and thought about the blessings of being able to bear up the burdens placed on us, we invited them to consider whether temple worship might not offer them strength and comfort. Again we were warmly welcomed as friends, but understanding and hunger for the full plate of gospel blessings was still not evident. I had thought it unlikely following that visit that we would see them again. But circumstances can change.

While planning our trip for the Mission Branch conference this past weekend, word arrived that Brother Sharp had himself passed away and would be buried the following day. We couldn’t make the five hour trip for that, but determined to include a visit there in advance of the branch conference.

The last kilometer of the trip to the blue and white house was now paved in concrete, but the sun was still hot and much  of the path very exposed. The rice was again planted, now just showing sprouts for the first rainy season crop, the paddy partially flooded already from the first week of rain. We found the house, where now were two graves, one still in the final stages of construction, and the other completed but not fully adorned as a more prosperous setting might have required.

As we hugged, and held hands, shared faith and offered comfort a renewed sense of unity and a deeper desire seemed to arise in the hearts of not just the widow or her children, but also in the hearts and minds of their many friends to whom Bro Sharp had been the group minister, ex officio and pro tempore. “Will you come and bring us into the fold, we who have been cast out, and forbidden from meeting” by those in authority or of greater means, was the plea both spoken and implicit as we talked.

I had not ever dedicated a grave before, not in English, much less Vietnamese, but the blessing of comfort and hope from the ministering of authorized servants with priesthood keys, seemed clearly to have brought us there for that purpose, and through the accomplishment of that end, the beginning of a new chapter.

I have wondered how the spirit led early missionaries to Benbow farm where so many were waiting to receive the gospel and who became a vital infusion of strength and faith into the developing church. And I have wondered how missionaries found my ancestors living and working the farmland many, many miles from Stockholm or Uppsala. It is less a mystery to me now, as I see how farmboys from tiny villages in Nghe An become missionaries and then branch presidents, how the children of officers and magnates from distant towns and counties receive the gospel and rise up to bless their fellows and families as Zion is established. And I can see how the congregations of the faithful, through their prayers and entreaties, also bring the servants of God to their doors to minister, and comfort, and teach. It is only the beginning of course, and the many chapters and sequels yet to be written will no doubt be even more engaging and marvelous, but it is a tide of gathering, of refining, of building, that will not be turned back. And it will metaphorically turn the intrusion of salt that sterilizes the land into a salting of the earth that redeems and seasons the abundant harvest.

Wheat fields ready for harvest Simtuna, Sweden- Quê ngoại của tôi

Quantum leaps and Linear Thinking

We spent some time of late waiting on the road leading up to the ferry to cross the Mekong into Long Xuyen. We’ve been this way before, and on normal days the traffic backs up a bit, but the three or four ferries running simultaneously manage to keep the back up to a 30-45 minute wait. But add in the ending of the Tet holiday, when half of the populace is enjoying the last few days of their time off work, and another portion is trying to get back to their daily lives so they can resume work, and the shippers are trying to catch up with the shelves-emptying buying that preceded the holiday, and it should not surprise one that the waiting time doubles or triples.

Prior to the building of bridges such waits were just a part of the travel and one factored in the wait and the vagaries of such travel into one’s expectations. Then they started to build the grand suspension bridges across the Mekong that we have today, and suddenly the paradigm changes. And while traffic across the bridges can still slow down on holidays (as it did over the Ben Tre bridge the last time we visited there on a three-day weekend) the thinking has changed.

So it is with infrastructure. The bridge spans the chasm and suddenly every subsequent traveler ceases to dread the journey or ponder their life while they wait on the descent and ascent of the chasm.

That’s very much what we have been doing with this mission. We have been building the bridges across chasms of disbelief. We have been building the freeways (or at least the straight roads) that subsequent generations of God’s Army will follow to further the establishment of the cities of Zion. Things like robust visa processes still stymy us at times. Getting materials for use in the growing number of branches, or for use of our branch builders still occasionally get stalled in crossing. But more and more the basic matters become routine, proceduralized and sometimes simpler.

We have noticed that at times the work seems to perk along at a rather linear pace, proportionate to the number of workers. And we have been blessed to be a mission whose ranks have increased wonderfully over the past two years as others have commented. But sometimes, irrespective of the gross numbers, there seems to be a jump in the curves, a shift in the slope, an underlying change in the assumptions of what is possible.

We will discuss a question in the coming Mission Presidents Seminar that we posed with our leadership counsel a few months back. A question that asks what is possible, what it would take, to bring every area, every companionship, into the productive phase of the work.

We see fields that lie fallow during certain seasons of the year, but then are brought into production with re-plowing, planting and the maturing of the tropical sun and rains. Similarly, we have been learning how to prepare the paddy, how to engineer the watering and drainage in our young branches, how to nurture the paddy rice so that it can be transplanted into appropriately spacing and then flourish until it is ready for the harvest.

We have spent a little time again in the Mekong, which though it is the breadbasket of this country, is not yet ready to be brought into regular cultivation in the harvest of the Lord. But the land is sometimes so fertile that the harvest can hardly be restrained. This is the one place where we have seen the conversion of entire extended families to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a humility, and a hunger, that when exposed to the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, seem to allow a rapid harvest. And in that we rejoice both in the harvest, and the Lord of the Harvest.

We sometimes are still caught doing linear thinking when the Lord is seeing a quantum leap. And we understand more fully his assertion that he will “hasten his work in his time” in conjunction with the prophetic words of Elder Holland, “You are witnessing the birth of the church in a day.” We are grateful that this is our day.

Harvesting... and tools

                                

The culture of Vietnam has such a very strong tie to the “que huong” or home town. It persists over generations even for people born in the cities, who nevertheless still maintain a fondness for their village of origin. And it is not an idle passing nostalgia. Rather, it is an on-going vibrant relationship with the land, their ancestral homes and what has been built over generations. One manifestation of this is the regular exodus from the cities back to the countryside, most especially for holidays, such as the recently passed Ngay Quoc Khanh, or National Day (commemorating a declaration of independence from French colonial rule by the Viet Minh in Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi in 1945 following the defeat of the Japanese.) But depending on the distances involved, it is not unusual to find people who travel a hundred kilometers or further each weekend, or perhaps several times a month to reconnect with parents and family in the que.

     

We took the opportunity to enjoy some time with some friends recently on such a visit to their hometown in Ben Tre, located about 120 km from Ho Chi Minh City, normally about a two hour drive. But the holiday turned that into more than four hours. But that did however give us a pause on the bridge over one of the “Nine Dragons” as the translation of the Mekong would be from the Viet term “Cuu Long.” Pausing as we did (for what must have been 45 minutes) we were able to see the river traffic, a few floating houses, perhaps shepherding herds of fish, and enjoy an elevated perspective on this otherwise quite flat landscape.

      

Any visit to the delta of this massive river reminds one of the richness of this land. It is a veritable cornucopia of agricultural and aquatic richness. And that brings me to my topic of the harvest. In addition to the rice paddies which often yield three crops a year, there are also massive amounts of fruit produced- bananas, coconuts, mangos, jackfruit, citrus, and a host of others including lychee, longan or dragon eyes, and rambutan (cham cham.) One of our stops during this visit was at the orchard of a friend who had an acre or two of rambutan and lanzones (yup, I had never heard of them either!)

Rambutan trees often have braces between branches, and supports from the ground to keep the tree from breaking under the weight of a heavy harvest.

                                   

Lanzones or in Vietnamese "bon bon" grow from the trunk, hence the species name "parasiticum" I think.

                                   

Rambutans grow on a rather tall tree, which tends to spread out broadly, with the fruit at the ends of the branches. As a result, the boughs in the fruiting season can easily become too heavy for the main branches to bear. So they require bracing and props to support them. But with this spreading habit, harvesting fruit from the tops of the 20-30 foot trees, even when they are bowed down with ripe fruit, would be a challenge. Enter human ingenuity.

                                    

The tool of the harvest for these terminal branch fruits (rambutan, dragon eyes, longans, etc.) is a long bamboo pole, with a narrow gap, perhaps 20 cm long between the two sides at one end, braced from splitting further or breaking by a wrap with poly-ties or other material that reinforce the end at the base of the gap. The harvester simply extends the pole to engage the small fruit bearing branches into the gap and then twists the pole to break the branches off and lower the fruit to the ground. Each such action might easily yield up to a dozen of the fuzzy red to yellow fruits.

The bags are quickly filled when the harvesting rod brings down a few bunches.

                                   

This is an activity not without its likeness. We see the fruit ripening all around us- it is the sweetness in the lives of young and old, the growth of wisdom and meekness that comes to accept the light of Christ's life and message and desires to follow him. To follow his example in being baptized, to follow his example and teachings in loving and serving others, and to participate in the model of feeling his love (often through others ministration), changing for the better, and partaking in a covenant promise to live his commandments (most often by participating in the sacrament each week) that they may have his spirit to be with them on the next, and each subsequent leg of this "eternal round" journey back home, to the ultimate "que huong" above.

        

We were recently impressed by the assertion that the tool for this harvest, the harvest of souls, is the Book of Mormon. We have been thinking about that a lot, and have spent considerable time teaching our missionaries how to consider it as key to their efforts to solve the problems they face. 

                                 

It first helps them to sharpen their own lives, focus their own hopes and salvation in Jesus Christ. It witnesses of him, and brings hope and understanding to cope with their own personal journey to come closer to him. So many stories of young men and women, like unto them- Nephi, Enos, Alma, Corianton, Mormon and Moroni, speak these truths of how we can be changed by coming to Christ, and by serving others.

It helps them see the motive and the method in what they should be doing as they are sent to represent him before the world. The examples of Nephi and Jacob, who "spoke of Christ, rejoiced in Christ, taught of Christ, prophesied of Christ, and wrote of Christ" or of Ammon and his brothers among the Lamanites who said, "yea, I will be thy servant," reinforce the teachings and example of the Savior himself, whose message was pure and focused, and who "went about doing good."

We were particularly impressed with some of the lessons the Book of Mormon offers as we work with others in this cause to build Zion and overcome opposition. Here the story of Captain Moroni and his Commander in Chief, Pahoran, as detailed in Alma 59-62 is so highly instructive. I sometimes hear the young missionaries complain that they are not getting the support they wish they had from this branch leader or that member. Then I think of this story- of Captain Moroni's zeal, and his mis-judgement. And I think of Pahoran's humble and wise response to being severely censured. The lesson most pertinent however, is that once they had united in understanding and jointly worked to oppose those who were thwarting the righteous work they were trying to do, not only were they once again friends and united in spirit, but they were successful.

Finally, in the stories of the Book of Mormon we find examples and answers for so many of the challenges of life that someone investigating the doctrines of Christ and his Church might encounter. Disbelief, struggles with stubbornness, weak faith, sin and bad habits, dwindling valiance in good things, opposition from family or friends, inability to keep commitments, competing demands of work, friends and finances, and so on.

For all these reasons, it is the tool suited to the harvest, the harvest of souls in preparation for his second advent. And we are so blessed to have many new missionaries, and many capable missionaries wielding that tool with greater vigor, testimony and fervor. The sweetness of a "cham cham" or a "bon bon" is one thing, but the sweetness of a soul who has and is repenting and coming unto Christ is beyond all that is sweet.

     

Someone turned up the treadmill!

        

We've heard the experience of serving in capacity of a mission president and wife likened to jumping onto a treadmill operating at full speed, where one clutches the safety rails tightly, desperately hoping not to get thrown off. Or perhaps like jumping into a canoe in the midst of the class III rapids, with no calm eddies and flatwater in sight. We thought that perhaps we would enjoy the luxury of a more reasoned approach, starting from a small number of missionaries, in just a few branches, in two locations. Our ramp-up time was the "leisurely" first nine months of our mission serving as a senior couple, but whether by our own design or desires, the pace has not been that of a slow saunter since. In fact, anything but. And now, somewhere in March, someone nudged the speed needle up another notch or two. In fact so much has passed beneath our feet that the events of our one year "anniversary" as a mission seem already like remote history.

        

We crossed the 40 missionary threshold somewhere in the last month, not counting the welfare services missionaries who do most of their work outside our jurisdiction, though clearly with great impact on our work. The latest group consisted of three sisters and six elders, all coming from the Provo MTC, meaning that they came with limited language.

         

         

And we are now deep into a training mode again as a mission, some areas more than others. It is so amazing to see the particular niches prepared for each of these eager and enthusiastic, if also slightly apprehensive and anxious young saints. And it illustrates to me another maxim of missionary work- that the good stuff doesn't happen until the companionship gets to the point of true love and trust in one another.

         

When I attended Philmont for priesthood leadership training, led then by Charles Dahlquist as YM General President at the time, I was highly impressed by his admonition to get as many as possible of our young men and other priesthood leaders to complete the Woodbadge training offered by the BSA. Finding a schedule for this graduate level leadership course that was "LDS-friendly", meaning that it didn't mandate Sunday activity, was a challenge in Maine, even when my time was more under my own control as I was on "sabbatical." Moving then to Oklahoma it remained a goal. Finally I abandoned the notion of finding something that would fit my Oklahoma schedule and studied the offerings through the Great Salt Lake Council, and then talked Jonah, my son-in-law into joining me for the successive Friday-Saturday sessions.

                                

So why do I bring that up here? Well, some time ago as I interviewed our missionaries I recognized that the companionship struggles many of them were going through followed precisely the stages of team development that I had learned of during my time with the Bobwhites out near Toole in our Woodbadge course, and witnessed time after time on lengthy youth outings. And that insight then allowed me to clearly teach these missionaries that their real task was to get beyond the "storming" stage, and through the "norming" stage to the point where they could truly perform. Indeed since we have begun to teach that process, and direct their focus to accomplishing and reaching that goal, some rather dramatic changes have begun to occur. As the number of companionships reaching the "performing" stage has gone up, and as they have reached that stage earlier in their time together, not just the key indicators have improved, but the whole tenor of joy in the work has shifted.

        

And maybe that is why the belt speed on this treadmill has gone up. Early in March, we enjoyed a moment or two of respite and renewal as we sharpened our saws with the other area mission presidents in Hong Kong. We came back in time to share a few days with Yai and Cameron Allen and their two charming children. It was a brief dose of surrogate grandparenting that was rich and meaningful to us. Liem and Lydia were willing and trusting in sharing their love with us. And they all got to join in seeing a baptism (one of the fruits of a companionship that was truly performing, even though their language skills were still weak- a young man from South Africa who brought himself to church and was ready soon afterwards!)

        

        

                          

We made a quick trip to the south for our family class, which continues to grow and have impact. It was over 30 people this time, mostly non-members and investigators, who brimmed with good questions and a willingness to share their experiences and questions. Teaching repentance, which is to say, a better way of doing things, on matters such as this which impact day to day happiness, is quite rewarding. If we want happier families, we will need to change, to repent, and ultimately follow Christ more fully. The Proclamation (Family: A Proclamation to the World) gets this right.

         

We rushed back to Hanoi in time to welcome a new senior couple, the Jenkins, to our mission, and to help get them settled into their new digs in an area of town where we have up to now, had but little presence. They have planted the flag in the Hai Ba Trung district, and will soon be teaching in a university nearby there, where we also expect to have an exchange with some visiting ESL teachers early next month.

Following that addition, we prepared for and welcomed the visit of Elder and Sister Funk, Elder and Sister Gong and Bishop Davies for two days of meetings and discussions, and a mission conference. The latter was a special dispensation, allowing us to bring together all the missionaries for a wonderful experience together. They love one another and love to be together, but even more they loved the chance to be instructed by three general authorities. (I sometimes think they will think this is the norm! Actually they have no idea how unusual the number and frequency of visits of this sort are.) In addition to being more fully instructed in teaching repentance and baptizing converts, they each had the opportunity to ask questions and hear answers up close.

Following that session, we also had a leadership training meeting for the local leaders in Hanoi, which also was a remarkable experience for them. They practiced counseling together, learned about handling worthiness standards, and how  to better use the key to ministering the atonement which they hold as common judges in Israel.

When the leaders were departed, we were exhausted, and that was somehow reflected in the turn for the worse in our health, as we spent the next week or more nursing colds. We managed enough strength to hold another preparing for marriage class (15 attendees, mostly non-members) welcome the new missionaries and run through a whirlwind orientation with them on the 22nd. But we did a more detailed instruction with them after they had rested, on the 23rd for the group starting in Hanoi and on Friday the 24th for those who were assigned to HCM City- which of course meant that we were on the road again.

                               

We conducted a training session for the HCM priesthood and auxiliary leaders the following week, following the pattern we had observed from our visit from Elders Gong et al. The district and mission counselors were very involved with this and that was perhaps the more significant step. Seeing them begin to step forward to conduct the leadership and counseling needed for support to branch leaders is a vital step towards becoming an established part of Zion. Rather than feeling like Moses having his arms supported aloft by Caleb and Hur, I  am more inclined to think we have the beginnings of many judges who will relieve Moses' burden, as admonished by Jethro, his father-in-law.

         

Immediately following the completion of that training, we embarked on a further visit to members scattered in the further reaches of the western provinces. We started with a visit to a member preparing for her temple endowment in July, and she again brought us to meet her good friends and neighbors who are anxious for the gospel to be part of their lives, Sister Lin and Sister Nhu.

                                 

The spirit was particularly strong as we visited with the latter and taught her the consoling truths of the plan of salvation. She had lost her husband in an accident a few years before and was now raising their daughter with the help of her parents.

                                 

The challenge here of course is in not growing faster than we can sustain and support new members to receive the blessings of the gospel. Rather like this bumper crop of small red peppers which goes to waste if there is not means to preserve the harvest- hence the acres of space devoted to sun-drying. Having the virtual branch in operation helps this effort greatly, but distances are still a consideration. I don't know if our "ceiling" or quota on the number of baptisms outside the city is within the realm of what is right, but I think our guideline that we will strive to unite families in the gospel, and build support around existing members as we have the resources to teach and strengthen them, is a reasonable approach to a very rich field. Sister CT is a stalwart, and having others around her seems very much in keeping with this process.

                                 

          

We went on to visit in Hong Ngu, meeting members there who struggle for lack of proper documentation, thus limiting their access to vital services such as schools, healthcare and such. We know this is a problem for many members who have moved back and forth to Cambodia, but the toll on children in the rising generation is sad to see. The economic options outside the city are daunting, but T, L and their sister are becoming self-reliant for their school fees by raising chickens. We met also members in Chau Doc, including a returned priesthood leader from Cambodia, Pres. D, who is recovering from a stroke and staying with his son. Seeing him light up at the prospect of being able to participate in the sacrament via the virtual branch was truly a highlight.

         

We had no sooner returned to Hanoi than I got word that our dear friends H and X were afraid that their father was about to pass on. So I packed a small bag and traveled to Hai Duong to spend some time in comfort and mourning with their family. I assisted H in giving his father a priesthood blessing and tenderly prayed for their family of brothers and sister to be united and comforted with his departure. Of course only a couple of the children are members of the church and understand the gospel, but there was some sense of willingness to accept the further light and knowledge that is found there. As I walked about their neighborhood in the morning the following day, I discovered that the bauhenia trees are coming into bloom. and that is good.

       

                                     

                           

     
Their father passed away later that night, and thus April has begun, a month wherein we remember the resurrection and the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ, the #PrinceofPeace, and our Redeemer. There is not a problem we have met in this time here that is not solved, made easier, and in fact, completely healed, through his plan, through faith in him, and through the gift of repentance and forgiveness that his atonement offers to us. With so many conflicts in the world, we need to know that. We need to follow Him and receive that gift. We can wash our clothes or dishes in the rivers that flow by, but only when our souls are cleansed through the blood of his sacrifice and sanctified by the fire of the spirit, will our lives be changed and our outcomes different than the sadness and suffering that are rampant in a world of terror, depravity, despair and sorrow.