New Years Day With Friends

January, 2018

As a Christmas present for the missionaries President Hassell took us to Ninh Binh on New Year’s Day. Ninh Binh is on the Red River Delta, about an hour’s drive from Hanoi. Tam Coc or Three Caves is an area where the meandering river goes through caves and karst outcrops on its way to the sea.

Boat-women met us at the dock and took us down the river to visit the caves. Some places in the caves, the ceilings are so low that we needed to duck so that the boat-women could propel the boat by pushing on the cave roof with their hands.  

Pres and Sister Hassell Elder Morris and Elder Kit

It was fun going with the sisters and elders as a group and we played and splashed and had a good time with each other. These wonderful young missionaries are awesome and their spirit is so strong. We feel privileged to be a part of them and call them our friends.

Elder and Sister Jenkins

Along the river was a movie stage set for the latest remake of “King Kong”. Life size grass huts were built and Vietnamese people dressed as Amazon natives were part of the cast. The Amazon village is still in place as a tourist attraction and adds a lot of interest to this already amazing place. 

Since Ninh Binh is famous for its goats and many restaurants there serve goat meat, this is what we had for lunch. It’s like eating chewy mutton, but the Vietnamese always make things taste good with their delicious sauces. Throw in some rice and a few greens and you’ve got a really good meal.

After lunch we went to see Bai Dinh Temple. This Buddhist temple complex was recently built by a wealthy Vietnamese man. He wanted people to have a place to come and worship. There are over 500 enlightened, life size Buddha statues that line a hallway going up the mountain. It is quite a site because every Buddha is different.  At the top of the property, there are three giant Buddhist temples, the largest in Vietnam. In the main temple is a 100-ton bronze Buddha plated in gold. The whole complex is incredible! 

Sister and Elder Van

One of our senior missionary couples is going home soon. We feel a little melancholy about them leaving. When we first met them they told us how excited they were that the Lord was picking their new best friends. We feel that same way about them, as well as all the elders and sisters in our mission. With each elder or sister leaving there is emotion attached. I heard in a talk once, by Marlon K. Jensen, that all our interactions in the Church are made more enjoyable and productive by genuine feelings of friendship. When we offer ourselves in friendship, we make a most significant contribution to God’s work and to the happiness and progress of His children. 

We have made many friends with the Vietnamese people as well as those missionaries that we serve with and it makes the work here so enjoyable.