Hanoi zone conference 25 Sep 2012

We flew from HCMC to Hanoi and spent a day with our wonderful branch builders there.  We had zone conference Tuesday morning, then lunch together at a nice but noisy restaurant where there was lots of traditional Vietnamese food to try.  2 of 4 elders and sisters in Hanoi are brand new, but already very capable-- they are both from HCMC.  Elder & Sister Jones are wonderful and so good at taking care of the elders and sisters in Hanoi, in addition to their humanitarian project responsibilities.  

While we were in Hanoi Elder Sin's older brother (also Elder Sin) returned home from his mission in Brisbane, Australia.  He will be a blessing to his family and branch.  Here is a picture after releasing him from his mission.  He was having a hard time talking in Khmer.  His father, a non-member, was with us as I released him, and he couldn't translate for his dad because he hasn't used Khmer for so long!  

HCMC Branch and Zone Conference in Vietnam

The day after transfers we flew to Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam to hold zone conferences in Vietnam.  First thing when we got there we released Sis. Pham (Huong) who finished her mission.  She will visit her mother in HCMC for a couple of weeks and then fly to Hanoi where her brother and father live.  

All our wonderful branch builders in HCMC

Friends for life... one coming from Hanoi, one leaving to Hanoi...

Sis. Moon and Sis. Huong, finishing her mission-- we love her and will miss her, she is amazing and has been such a strength to the branch in HCMC.  After I released her we took her to dinner at a sushi restaurant nearby -- Tamago-- it was really fun and we really enjoyed spending some time with her that evening.

The family below was a young man (next to Pres. Moon) who was baptized on Sunday morning in HCMC, right before Sacrament meeting.   He's a wonderful young man.  Also with us are a sister who is already a member, a mother next to Sis. Moon who is taking the lessons and wants to be baptized, and a father who is not taking the lessons yet but was willing to come to church for the baptism-- it was great to have him come too.

Monday after zone conference we all went to lunch at a local restaurant... the food was very good.  Elder Blinn introduced us to Vietnamese coconut candy while we were there and now we're hooked.  Good stuff.

New local missionaries! - 21 Sep 2012

On 21 Sep 2012 we welcomed 8 new local missionaries to our mission-- 5 Cambodian and 3 Vietnamese.  We set them apart and sent them off to the MTC in Manila 3 weeks ago, and picked them up at the airport on Thursday 20 Sep.  They had dinner with us and slept at the mission home that night.  In the morning we had training and orientation for them, as well as interviews, assigned them to their new trainers, and had a special training meeting for them and their trainers.  They are all wonderful.  Poor Sis. Mok was so motion sick from the flight home, and even on the car ride from the airport!  We loved having them back here and they are amazing missionaries already.  They said they really enjoyed the MTC experience in Manila, but didn't like the food-- sounds like it was rice and same thing almost every meal.  They really loved being able to go through the temple.

Transfers and Departing Missionaries

Below is a picture from a "feast" we had at the home of a less-active member of the church-- she is very sweet and has been a member for over 10 years, and invited us to a wonderful dinner at her home-- she is very well to do, and is a real estate agent here.  Now we just need to get her to come back to church on Sundays!  It was an interesting dinner-- lots of seafood and some of it we weren't sure what we were eating!

We had transfers on September 21-- not so much upheaval as last time so fewer people moving around, but still a busy day at the mission home.  Here is a picture of many of our wonderful Central Zone (Vietnamese speaking branches) elders and sisters and some of those who were here in town from Vietnam for transfers.  They are always so happy to see each other-- they don't get to meet up with those stationed in Vietnam very often.  

We had 3 missionaries finish their missions on transfers this time-- each amazing and we are so sad to see them go, but also so grateful for their service and dedication.  Sis. Rytting (from Utah) and Elder Den (from Cambodia) below, with his family who came to welcome him back and had dinner with us in the mission home that night.  We took Sis Riikriyaay (they call her Sis. "Joy" here-- and she is truly a joy) to the airport later that night.

Below a nice view of Phnom Penh from the Spencer's apartment -- we stopped by to visit their daughter who was here visiting, and sick that day-- and whom we already knew-- she and her husband and family are in our stake in Alpine...

Cultural program from senior couples' conference

Here is a link to a YouTube channel where I uploaded video clips from the cultural program that the orphanage children did for us at the senior couples' conference:

http://www.youtube.com/user/dmoon1958?feature=watch

Hope that link works!

Hong Kong Sep 3-8 2012

Here are some pictures from the Mission President's Seminar in Hong Kong with the Area Presidency and mission presidents from 10 other missions in Asia.  The pictures are only of the 2 afternoons where we had some time to do sight-seeing.  Unfortunately we don't really have pictures of the best parts of the week-- the training, the temple session, teaching from the Area Presidency, sharing ideas, etc.  We learned a lot and felt the Spirit often and felt very lifted and energized in terms of the missionary work.

One afternoon they took us all to a traditional Chinese garden, in the style of some ancient period, can't remember what years.  It was a beautiful setting but rained on us most of the time we were there.  We were glad Mackenzie was able to join us for the afternoon.  

After the garden tour we had a wonderful dinner in a hotel restaurant in Hong Kong, large buffet with all kinds of Asian food, then we got to take a short ferry ride (The Star Ferry-- famous in Hong Kong and a must-do if you visit there) and saw the lights of the city from the water... very beautiful.

This is the church administration buliding in Hong Kong-- very beautiful, and quite pretty at night as well.  The Area Presidency have homes here on the top floors.  There are multiple chapels and classrooms-- and all kinds of Area offices and things that are in this building.

After the conference ended we had an afternoon to ourselves before our flight back to Cambodia the next morning.  We took the subway out to an island where you can go on a long sky tram ride over the water and island.  Very nice views.

At the end of the tram ride you are in a small village with shopping and tourist restaurants.  We enjoyed walking through the shops.  

There is also a large Buddha statue on a hilltop there-- very large and impressive.  We didn't take the effort to climb the many stairs to get up to the Buddha.

Senior Couples Conference Sep 13 2012

We held a Senior Couples Conference on September 13, 2012.  It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with all of the couples serving in the mission.  Many serve in areas where they are the only couple so it was really enjoyable for them to come and share ideas and experiences with other couples.  We loved being with them.  We did a lot of training, also sharing of best practices, and everyone seemed to really get a lot out of it.  Sis. Moon spent a lot of time preparing the food for the conference.  It was an all day affair-- we started early and didn't end until 8pm.  We ended with a testimony meeting, dinner, and cultural program by an orphanage which has close ties to the church here... the director of the orphanage is a member, some of the children are members, and it is where Chantelle taught English while she was here.  They did a marvelous program for us to end the day.

All our wonderful couples!

The dancing and music was traditional Cambodian and very enjoyable-- many of the children in the orphanage are older, as you can see.

Having some trouble uploading the videos of the dancing... I'll try to do that on YouTube maybe...

Eating out

Some pictures, some of these are pretty old, this first one below is us eating on the deck of the "Titanic", one of the restaurants here, along the Mekong River.

At Khmer Surin restaurant, fairly close to our home, and some of the best Khmer food we've had, relaxed atmosphere... I think this was the night before Chantelle went home and we enjoyed one last night out together with her.