August 18, 2017
Miracles in the Life of Dong
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| Bridge across the Red River |
We have been
helping the missionaries teach a man that lives out across the Red River in Long Bien. His name
is Dong (Dom). This particular Vietnamese gentleman has a very colorful history. He is about
56 years old and has been a life-long member, of high standing, in the Communist
Party. He lives alone in an apartment with his pet turtle and Koi fish, swimming
in a rock pool in a corner of his home. He is into Eastern medicine and uses
roots, leaves and oil to help alleviate his pain, as well as the pain of those who come into his
life.
The first time we were invited to accompany the elders and meet Dong, he seemed contrary, as well as critical and argumentative with us and those around him. He seemed to believe that his way is a better way of doing things. However, since meeting with the missionaries, we have seen a gradual change in his disposition. I truly believe he has been looking for some peace and sees that the Gospel message has something that will enhance his life. At the time, we were not quite sure of his health issues, but knew that he has lost a lot of weight in the past couple of years, and sometimes has to sleep for extended periods of time.
Two months
ago, he decided to accept a baptismal challenge. However, his dilemma was what
to do with his years of ties with the Communist Party and having followed their
philosophies. On his 56th birthday he decided to tell his Party
friends that he was going to seek some religion in his life. It was sort of a
miracle because it is not easy to break away from being so closely tied to the
Communist Party.
Even though
I don’t speak Vietnamese very well, when I pray in his presence I feel of the
Spirit very strongly and I know he feels it too. At first he didn’t quite know
what to do with these feelings. However, since he has started with the missionary discussions,
he feels the Spirit often.
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| Dong, Gerald and Sharon visiting Nhi at her school |
We invited him to come to the General Conference broadcast in April, He came and even brought along four others. At the meeting. He met another one of our investigators, a young
women named Nhi. She has started a school for handicapped children. We have
done an LDSC project to get equipment for her school. She and Dong have become
good friends and Dong has even helped her with materials for her school. He is
now teaching Nhi his Eastern medicine skills so that she can help the children at her school. He feels like his knowledge is
precious and that it should be passed on.
The Case of the Missing Statue
Dong is also
skilled at carving and has won several awards for his statues. Some of his beautiful works are even in museums, here in Hanoi. He has expressed that he is very impressed with our work, as missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to help the people of
Vietnam with our humanitarian projects. As a thank you for our charity work, Dong decided to give us one of his carved statues. The
statue is about 3 feet tall and made of aged peach wood from the mountain forests
in the north. The figure is an ancient king of Vietnam, and at our request, he has promised to
write up the story of the carving of the king. We are honored that Dong gave us this beautiful
statue and wanted us to take it to our apartment to enjoy. We count our association and friendship with him as a great blessing.
One of the
main reasons for us being with the missionaries at Dong’s apartment, this
particular time, was to give a lesson on the Priesthood. We felt inspired to
offer Dong a Priesthood health blessing in conjunction with this lesson. He
graciously accepted. Also, Nhi came mid-way through the lesson and was able to
feel the Spirit and message as she listened to Gerald gave him a Priesthood blessing. She has also been taking the missionary discussions. The giving and receiving of the
statue made this a bonus day.
After the discussion, we found a taxi just outside Dong's apartment building for the hour long ride back from Long Bien. The Elders were invited to ride in the taxi with us, since they live part way, along the way to
our apartment. It is nice to travel with the Elders because they speak very good
Vietnamese and it makes it easier to communicate. We put the statue in the trunk of the taxi and then made our way home. When we arrived at
our apartment in Hanoi, we paid the taxi and got out. Gerald had to hurry off to charge his phone at the store before it closed so he left on foot to do his
errand. We were in such a hurry that we didn’t even ask the taxi driver for a receipt, as we usually do. About an hour later Gerald realized, waiting at the phone
store, that we had left the statue in the trunk of the taxi. He panicked and
called me and said, “We have a big problem...We need to pray.” I guess we were both kind of tired when we got out of the taxi, and just spaced it. How could we lose such a valuable gift?
We both started praying to ask for assistance from Heavenly Father. The first
thing that came to my mind was to ask our neighbors - Phuong’s brother, who
speaks very good English, to help us. He and his father went with me to the
front desk to report the missing statue and see if they could help us get it
back. There are thousands of taxis in Hanoi. Would we be able to find the right
taxi and get our valuable gift back? Without a receipt, phone number, name of
the taxi company, etc. our chances seemed pretty slim.
Our
apartment building just happens to have a video camera security system that
documents people coming and going in the front of the building. We were truly hoping that we
were on that video system. They told us that we couldn’t get into the video
system until the next day, when the technician was available. We had to wait out the night and fret, pray, and hope that things would work out. We asked the missionaries
if they could remember some details about the taxi to help us. They made some
phone calls.
The next day, our translator, Thu, went with us to the security office in the
building to see if we could view the taxi cab. Thu is pretty sharp and she
identified the company logo from the video. We started making some inquiries at
taxi cab companies. The missionaries were having some success on their end,
also. After another prayer, we finally got a call from Elder Pendleton saying
that the taxi cab driver called him and said that he had the statue. The calls
on our end confirmed that we, indeed, were looking for a lost wood statue. The
lost was found! We are incredibly grateful. Little miracles bring much joy.
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| Dong's gift to us - a carving of an ancient king in Vietnam |
The next day, we went over
to Long Bien, where the elders had set up another missionary
discussion with Dong. The taxi cab driver said he would meet us after the
appointment and take us back to Hanoi. As promised, after our appointment with Dong, the taxi cab driver met us and had the statue in the back of his car. It was amazing to find
the same taxi cab driver in this city of 8 million people and many hundreds of
thousand taxis. I know, within my heart, that prayers are answered. We thanked
the taxi cab driver for being so honest. He told us that he lives his life to
be an example of to his children. He tries to be honest and good in everything
he does. We are fortunate to meet such wonderful people. Truly the best thing
in Vietnam are it's people.
The Last War in Vietnam
The story of
Dong is a continuing saga. He has been having health issues, and we now know
that he is diabetic and has had cancer. He has smoked for most of his life, but successfully gave up smoking, more than a year ago. He is careful about his diet
and very vigilant about his sugar intake. Just a year ago he was given six
months to live and was in the hospital a lot. Now, well surpassing the 6 month life expectancy he was given, he is not only continuing to live, but is actually improving.
About the
middle of July, Dong asked us to go with him up Ha Giang Province near the
Chinese border. He had asked Nhi to go with, too. We of course brought Thu, our
translator. We weren’t sure why he wanted us to go such a distance with him (a
seven hour drive). Along the way up, Dong told us a little more about his life.
At age 26, he was a commander of a division of soldiers fighting the Chinese in
1979. The battle was called the last war in Vietnam. The soldiers at that time
were very young men because Vietnam had just come out of two wars; the French
War and the Vietnam American War. It was a fierce battle on the Chinese border.
The Chinese outnumbered the Vietnamese four to one. Dong was in Special Forces and
operated at night in guerrilla type runs on the enemy, while they were sleeping.
His expertise was essential to help the Vietnamese army. A lot of Dong’s men
were wounded and/or killed.
Just
recently a war memorial has been erected in memory of these fallen soldiers. Because
of the difficulties in the battle, a lot of the men that were killed could not
be retrieved and buried properly. The bones of his men were left in the rocks and thus, the land has become a sacred place. The dead were not recorded on either
side because there were too many to count. Dong was injured severely thirteen times, and still lived. His men called him “Dong, the Immortal”. Dong hasn’t been back
since the battle, 33 years ago.
The mountain
on the Chinese border, at the time of the battle, was completely wiped clean of
foliage. It is a jungle today. To get to the memorial, we had to ride motorbikes
up the mountain because the rainy season has washed some of the road out, and
bikes are the only vehicles that can get up there in these conditions. It was an adventure just getting up the mountain to the memorial. The memorial is beautiful, complete with a Buddhist shrine and an ancient bell that once served as a call to the soldiers to rally.
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| Dong looking out over the battle site |
There is a special reverence at the sight; and this particular day, the sacredness was enhanced by the open weeping of Dong. We felt honored that he would share this experience with us.
We realized, during this journey, that Dong needed to find closure. He had promised his division
of men that he would take care of their families, if they should be killed during battle. Since the loss of life was so great, the
promises of so many young men were impossible for him to keep.
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| Nhi and Dong |
As Dong has participate in the
missionary discussions, he has been in turmoil about forgiveness, both as a
soldier, as well as a commander of soldiers. Here at the memorial site, he found some of the solace he needed.
With the studying of the scriptures and his ability to pray to Heavenly Father,
he has been comforted and has found a certain amount of peace. As we left and were returning back to Hanoi, he announced that he was ready to accept a baptismal date.
Dong's Baptism
Dong was
baptized on July 29, 2017. Gerald was asked to perform the baptism. It was an
amazing experience for both Gerald and me. Dong’s countenance has changed; he is a
softer, gentler man. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is very real and can heal the
hearts of many who come unto him. In his baptismal confirmation, he was promised
that he would be instrumental in establishing the Church in Vietnam. The Lord
knows his leadership capabilities will serve the Church well. Just this
last Sunday, Dong was given the Aaronic Priesthood. He is excited to serve as
much as he can. He often brings Nhi to church with him. I think so many good
things for the Church in Vietnam will come from Dong’s baptism.
