Of Sisters and Saints

I've left our Sunday activities off the blog, and I want to correct that. We spent much of Sunday visiting with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints here in Saigon. A small gathering of members, called a branch, meets each week in the upper room of a home. There they worship Jesus Christ and learn of His gospel. Our church opened workings within the country during the early 70's, but all was quieted for many years. Members were not aloud to congregate, and no one who wanted to join the faith could be baptized in it. All of that changed this year. Now the church is welcome to enjoy worship activities, and so they can meet together. They've also been aloud to baptize again-although there is no proselityzing. It is impressive to me that 36 have joined this year through baptism, several of whom have been waiting almost 30 years to participate in this ordinance. We felt awash in the peace of the holy ghost as we heard the hyms of the church, witnessed the bearing of testimonies in vietnamese, and partook of the sacrament. I was blessed to enjoy the fellowship of sweet sisters during a relief society lesson. They spoke only in Vietnamese, but asked me to stand and introduce myself. One sister kindly sat near me and translated the lesson for me. I felt loved and accepted, even though I was the only person among the group that did not speak Vietnamese. What a beautiful people. What a kind and loving act of service that I could listen to the teacher and be edified. Truly our attendance at church was a testament to the goodness of the people of Vietnam. Truly, it was a calm in what has been at times a rough experience. I felt reminded of the line "there the saints will be blessed" in the song "Come Come ye Saints". There have been many times we've attended church in foreign lands. I think I've heard the sacrament prayer in 8 different languages during various meetings. Each experience has helped me see that if we truly work to become saints, following Christ and serving him with our whole heart, we truly will be blessed. Thank you to the saints of the Ho Chi Min Branch. You are true followers of Jesus Christ in word and deed, and we have been so blessed by you.