Our First Month in Hanoi Viet Nam
We keep so busy and that is good. There is so much to learn. We have been working on several projects. A large water project in Tien Bihn Province for clean water in several schools that will be accepted by the government and the Church very soon. Also, we are working on Help Babies Breath project, a training for doctors, nurses, and midwives using resuscitation methods that will help newborn babies that have a hard time breathing at birth. All our projects need to be coordinated with the Government and LDS Charities humanitarian program out of Hong Kong. We are also looking at helping some schools with disabled children and working with organizations that will help us distrubute needed wheelchairs.
Hieu
Ta Duy Hieu, is our translator and such a big help in meeting government officials, writing projects in Vietnamese and getting us around Hanoi. He has rescued us many times!! Hieu has been a member of the Church for about 3 years and has accepted a mission call to London South England and will be leaving April 19th. It will be hard to replace him in our work. He will make a tremendous missionary. The people of England will be lucky to have him.
The Sister Missionaries
The sister missionaries live in our building. Sister Thu and and Sister Mon Nghi are both from America. They do a lot of their missionary work on bicycles. I love having the sister missionaries so close to where we live. Sister Mun Ni was recently transferred to Siagon (Ho Chi Mihn City) and we learned that she dengue fever, a mosquito born disease. Mosquitos are a problem here, especially in the South. We have heard she is doing much better and we are glad.
During February we were invited to go to the opera with President and Sister Hassell and the office staff, Elder and Sister Van Wagenen. The Hanoi Opera House is located in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and is a replica of the Paris Opera House. It first opened in 1911, fell into disrepair and finally restored in 1994 to perserve the French Colonial architecture. It is a beautiful sturture amid the lively commercial district of Hanoi. We went early just to see some of the sights in the Old Quarter and took a bicycle rickshaw ride for fun. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant and finally met everyone else at the opera house. The program included the orchestra and a visiting choir that performed a wonderful program that included bamboo musical instruments. It was a very fun evening.
We keep so busy and that is good. There is so much to learn. We have been working on several projects. A large water project in Tien Bihn Province for clean water in several schools that will be accepted by the government and the Church very soon. Also, we are working on Help Babies Breath project, a training for doctors, nurses, and midwives using resuscitation methods that will help newborn babies that have a hard time breathing at birth. All our projects need to be coordinated with the Government and LDS Charities humanitarian program out of Hong Kong. We are also looking at helping some schools with disabled children and working with organizations that will help us distrubute needed wheelchairs.
Hieu
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| Hieu, our translator |
The Sister Missionaries
The sister missionaries live in our building. Sister Thu and and Sister Mon Nghi are both from America. They do a lot of their missionary work on bicycles. I love having the sister missionaries so close to where we live. Sister Mun Ni was recently transferred to Siagon (Ho Chi Mihn City) and we learned that she dengue fever, a mosquito born disease. Mosquitos are a problem here, especially in the South. We have heard she is doing much better and we are glad.
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| Sister Thu and Sister Mon Nghi |
Opera House in the Old Quarter
During February we were invited to go to the opera with President and Sister Hassell and the office staff, Elder and Sister Van Wagenen. The Hanoi Opera House is located in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and is a replica of the Paris Opera House. It first opened in 1911, fell into disrepair and finally restored in 1994 to perserve the French Colonial architecture. It is a beautiful sturture amid the lively commercial district of Hanoi. We went early just to see some of the sights in the Old Quarter and took a bicycle rickshaw ride for fun. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant and finally met everyone else at the opera house. The program included the orchestra and a visiting choir that performed a wonderful program that included bamboo musical instruments. It was a very fun evening.
Tuyen Quang Province
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| Tuyen Quang Province |
Gerald was recently invited by the government to go to Tuyen Quang Province, north towards the Chinese border, for a meeting with the Prime Minister Phuc of Vietnam and actually had a chance to meet him. Gerald was the only person in attendance from the USA out of a thousand people in the conference. At one point the Prime Minister was moving from one area to another and stopped right in front of Gerald. He reached out, touched his LDS Charities missionary name badge, looked at him and said 'Mormon'. It was so inspiring that he recognized our charity and that it was connected to our Church all on his own. The Church is true and indeed is coming forth to the whole world when the leader of a communist nation would recognize who we are!
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To market to market to buy a fat pig
(a common sight in Tuyen Quang Province) |
Thank you for sharing your mission adventures. We were wondering if the Van Wagenen's had a grandson who served in the Florida Fort Lauderdale mission. If so we had the opportunity to serve with him there. How large is the LDS branch in the city and do you go there each Sunday?
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