Dear Family,
This last week has been... interesting. It snowed all last week and a half of the week before that, so the snow is here, and it's here to stay. That has made contacting difficult, and just getting places a little bit of a mess. Yeah, the snow clean-up crews in this country probably could be better. All the roads and walk ways are full of slush. So we're walking through slush and snow all day. It's good, however, that the snow is fairly dry, so the slush isn't wet enough to make a big mess. :D
This last week has been... interesting. It snowed all last week and a half of the week before that, so the snow is here, and it's here to stay. That has made contacting difficult, and just getting places a little bit of a mess. Yeah, the snow clean-up crews in this country probably could be better. All the roads and walk ways are full of slush. So we're walking through slush and snow all day. It's good, however, that the snow is fairly dry, so the slush isn't wet enough to make a big mess. :D
Anyway, update on Hoang. We already knew that he was going to go back to Vietnam to be with his family for a while, but we didn't know when it was going to be. That was the reason why he wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. So, this last week when we met with him on Tuesday, he told us that he was going to be leaving on the twelfth. He then asked us if he could be baptized on the eleventh so that he could be baptized before he went home. We then taught him really quickly that baptism and confirmation are inseparably connected and that if he were to be baptized on the eleventh and then leave the twelfth, he would leave without receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He understood and agreed that he would be baptized when he came back. Then we asked him how long he would be in Vietnam and he told us that he would be there for two months! That surprised us and took us a little bit back, but we were sure that there was a reason why. We then told him that we had a lot of information that we still wanted to give to him before he left, and that we would need to meet three times both weeks before he left. He agreed and we mapped out three times both weeks that we could meet according to his work schedule. That meeting with Hoang was amazing. We finished up the second lesson and asked him if he believed if it was all true. Without really even batting an eyelash, he agreed and said that he believes it is true. The thing that I've seen with Hoang is that he speaks extremely little, but understands much more than we may think. He's also really honest. When he says that he believes, that means, for me at least, that he knows it is true and that he already has the starting, at least, of a testimony of that given topic. When we teach him things, he already knows them because we've already given him the pamphlets in Vietnamese, and I'm sure that he's already read each of them at least five to ten times each. They all look worn out and thoroughly studied.
Later that week when our next meeting with Hoang was coming up, we called him to set up a time when we could meet, and he sounded terrible. Turns out that Hoang is sick! He was really sorry that he couldn't meet with us and he told us a few times that he's coughing really badly, even though we could hear, and that we would meet the next day. The next day we called him again, and he was still sick, and even sounded worse. He then told us that he would try really hard to meet us the next day (Saturday). The next day came and he called us and said that he was still really sick and that his entire body hurt and that he hasn't been doing anything except lying down, sleeping, and reading the Book of Mormon. He then promised us that even though he was sick, he would come to church because he knows that it's a commandment and that he needs to come. So later that day, while we were going to sports night, we met up with a member, named Vraťa and walked with us to the gym. He's about our age and really solid in the church. We've taught Hoang with him twice so we told him about Hoang's condition, but also about his determination to come to church. Vraťa said, "He's only physically sick, but spiritually he's healthy." How true that is, but unfortunately the next day about thirty minutes before church stared, we got a text from Hoang saying that he was still really sick and that he was sorry that he couldn't come to church. I have the text attached.
Today we met with Hoang. He's still pretty sick, but looking much better. He said that he's not going to be working this week so that he can get better before he goes home, so that should help us meet with him some more. When we met with him today, we spoke about authority and the priesthood. We spoke about how it was given to Joseph Smith and that through the priesthood, the church is organized and lead by the Prophet. We then spoke about revelation and how the prophet receives revelation for the church, but we can receive personal revelation too, through the Holy Ghost. We tied that back into needing to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost so that we can receive our own revelation. We then spoke about the Word of Wisdom and how that helps us stay worthy of having the Holy Ghost and stay clean and healthy. That appealed to Hoang, at this point in time, and when we spoke about it, he accepted it all. He did look a little worried when he read the part in preach my gospel about Word of Wisdom, looked up and asked if it means that we can't eat certain kinds of meat. We cleared that and told him the main points of the Word of Wisdom, and he accepted it all. He told us that he only drinks occasionally and that will be easy to quit, and that he already quit smoking two years ago. The only thing that seems to be any bit of a problem is that he drinks tea, but he understands that we don't drink green and black tea, and he agreed to it.
At one point in the lesson, Hoang said something really cool. When we were talking about the priesthood, we told him that as missionaries, we have the priesthood and that we even have the higher priesthood, that was restored to Joseph Smith. He then said to us, "I don't understand everything, I don't know everything, but I believe everything that you tell me." Just that kind of faith and trust in our words has to be because he feels the Holy Ghost. Every meeting, we feel guided, we feel like we learn things, and we feel like he comes closer to his Heavenly Father. It is amazing to see the progress that he is making, and I know that while he is in Vietnam, he will help his own family come unto the gospel of Jesus Christ and become a family in eternity. Right now, Elder Rhodes and I are putting a lot of time into a study plan for him and his family that will take up the nine weeks while he's gone, because we're not very sure if there are missionaries or even branches in Vietnam! Recently we've found out that there are service missionaries and that they do have branches, but they're under the table. So we've told President Irwin about this, and he's working on finding the missionaries in Vietnam and getting Hoang in contact with them.
It's going to be a pity not having Hoang here with us, but we know that he will come back and that he'll be just as prepared as ever to make his covenants with the Lord. Perhaps he'll even come back baptized! That'd be a surprise.
I love you all and hope that you're enjoying your winters!
Starší Monk
Here's a picture of us with Hoang at his home.
The text that Hoang sent us before church. It says, in really broken Czech, "I am still sick, I cannot sit, I am really tired and that's why today I can't come. I hope that the Holy Ghost will understand for me. We'll see tomorrow if I am better, we will get together. I'll call tomorrow by phone. Bye friend."
Here's a funny text that we got from Hoang. It's in really broken Czech as well, "I got home at 9:30. Thank you, I will read the Book of Mormon (which was written in Vietnamese) whenever I have free time so I can understand more. I hope everything will be better for us. Have yourself well well. Say hi to Monk. I Huy Hoang." I love that last part. Whenever he picks up the phone he says, I Huy Hoang. It makes no sense, but he always says it. :)