2 week update from Houston...

Well, I've now been in Houston for 2 weeks. Thats really crazy to think about actually. It feels like I've been here forever. Not in a bad way, it just feels like an eternity ago that I was at the MTC.

 

Hmmm.. It might be even harder to think of what to write here than it was at the MTC. The days seem to go by pretty fast and almost blur together.

 

This last week was pretty eventful (now that I look back at my planner and remember what happened). We had a zone meeting which was really good. There were some awesome testimonies given that really helped us to see why we are here serving missions and how we can become better by relying on the Lord. It was a really awesome and spiritual meeting.

 

I am working on trying to get acquainted with the members in our ward. Its coming along, slowly but surely. We have had a couple opportunities to visit families homes for dinner and it has been great to get to know them. One of those ooccasions led to the interesting part of P-Day last week. P-Day is on Thursday here. We met with one of the families on Wednesday night. Through our discussions, we found out that they were going to a hockey game the next day and that it happened to be a t 11:00am. Whoa, opportunity. We went through the line of authority trying to find out if we would be able to go and eventually got the answer that we could. So for P-Day, we went to a Houston Aeros game. It was a lot of fun.

 

We have kept trying to meet with our investigators, with varying amounts of success. Many of our investigators aren't progressing or just wont respond to our efforts to contact them. So our main focus is shifting to finding new people to teach.

 

Two of our current investigators are Andrew and Tiffany. They are brother and sister ages 10 and 7, respectively. Tiffany actually turns 8 on Christmas. So we have been teaching them as best as we know to teach younger kids, struggling to keep their attention and trying to determine what things they really need to understand. Well, Tiffany had always had a little bit of an interest in being baptized, but Andrew not so much. They haven;t been coming to church either, at least not since I've gotten here. We have just kept trying. One idea that we had was to get them to a member's home for dinner and try to teach them there, thinking that maybe they would focus more and then having spent some more time with members, want to go to church. Well, we were able to set up going to the Bishop's house, who had some kids around the same age. And it worked great. We used an object lesson to teach repentance and the gospel of Christ. They payed more attention and by the end both of them had some desire to be baptized. Rest of the story to come as it happens...

 

So as for Christmas, we don't know yet when phone calls are going to happen, or really what our plans are at all for the day. I will be sure to get you the info as quick as I can. We do have a mission conference on Christmas Eve, which should be really good. Its really strange to think that its Christmas time already though. Its now very cold, though there was a few days that it did drop into the 40s, or thereabouts.

 

Well thats about all I've got for now,

Elder Phong Manhardt

1st email from Houston...

Well, it seems like forever ago that I was in Provo at the MTC. Exactly a week ago, I landed in Houston. What a crazy thought!

 

So, there were 10 of us leaving the MTC and coming into our mission. All of the travel went well. We got to Houston and made our way down to get our bags and meet the mission president. Without any real idea of what to expect, we met President and Sister Saylin. We all talked as we waited for our bags to surface. Eventually they did and we were on our way... to somewhere. We had no idea where. It turns out that we went to a church building and had a short meeting to introduce what we were about to go do. That being going out and contacting. We were given a temporary conpanion, 5 minutes worth of role play, and then we were off. Me and Elder Pham traveled together to a small Vietnamese complex. Oh boy. Then we went out. I dont even know what was going through my head at that time, but soon enough, we were talking to people. We only had a few minutes to talk with people before we were supposed to be back at the meetinghouse. We ended up talking to 3 people.

 

After that excursion, we went back to the church then moved on and traveled to the mission home. We had some workshops, an interview with President Saylin, and had dinner. Then we had a testimony meeting. It was all really great. We then got sent to nearby missionary's appartments to sleep that night. The night went fast and then it was morning. Time for the first full day in Houston.

 

We were again driven to a church building. We had a small breakfast, and then were given some more training. Then it came time to be given our trainers. My companion is Elder Wilkinson. We had lunch there and then was the mission's transfer meeting where everyone being transferred finds out where they are going and who they will be serving with. I am in the Broadway area which basically covers everywhere east and north of the city. Because we are the Viet missionaries, our area is massive. Also being in the east, I'm not in the Vietnamese branch. Church is in English and "we" sit in the back translating for the people who need it in Viet. I guess I should say person as its only one, and he speaks some English anyways. I say "we" because I really can't do too much of anything right now. I did one of the sacrament prayers and attempted the closing prayer, but there's PLENTY of room for improvement. Not that I expect to be good at it yet. Improvement comes with time. I think.

 

Whenever we talk to people or teach in Vietnamese, I am just entirely lost. But I guess its ok, because we actually do most of our teaching in English. You see, the second generation here all know English. Its really only the first generation that need the Vietnamese. But despite that, I'm working hard to get my language ability at least to a point right now where I can kind of follow whats going on, even if I still cant participate in whats happening.

 

Well, theres I'm sure a ton of questions that you have and a lot of things that I probably should mention that I havent thought of. Right now, my mind is kinda a mess as I am trying to adjust to life here as a missionary. So make sure you ask questions if you have any and that will help me know what to say.

 

The address that you can send letters to is:

Elder Matt Manhardt

Texas Houston South Mission

5700 Brookglen #558

Houston, TX 77017

 

Alright I gotta go.

 

Elder Phong Manhardt

Elder Manhardt has safely arrived in Texas!  This picture is of him and the other newly arrived missionaries with their Mission President, President Saylin, and his family.

Last email from the MTC!!!

Well, I can't believe the time is getting close. In exactly a week from now, I will be on an airplane on my way to Houston.

 

This last week has been fairly average. The same old things happening over and over and over. There is certainly more excitement as a whole now that we can actually see that we are leaving this place. Don't get me wrong, the MTC is great, but its not where we are supposed to be. The day that we got our travel itineraries from the travel office was an incredible day. Finally, there was proof in our hands that we would not be in Provo for the entire two years of our missions. We leave next Tuesday and have to be ready to go at 4am!! Man, thats early! But its alright. Those of us going to Houston, got letters from our mission president yesterday explaining what to expect when we get there. I'll spare you those details now as you'll find out later.

 

So my address will be:

Elder Matt Manhardt

Texas Houston South Mission

602 Eldridge Rd

Sugar Land, TX 77478-2804

 

One cool experience we (as the Vietnamese district) had was to speak with a Viet that works here. We got a call down from the district president (who has come to know us quite well since the whole baptism situation) and he wanted us to speak with her. She isn't a member and has absolutely no interest in the Church. We tried to talk with her in Vietnamese, but she spoke so ridiculously fast and just generally crazy that we couldn't understand her at all. It basically turned into us talking Vietnamese and her answering in English. Anyways, while it wasn't the greatest of conversations, it was a good experience. It was a real eye opener. It kinda gave a taste into what things might be like out in the field, and that is scary. Its scary to think that I'm gonna be trying to talk with these sorts of people. The funny thing is that even though that prospect is probably one of the scariest things I've faced in my life, I have never been so excited either. I realized that that is a very strange concept. How often is it that you're excited to do something that you're afraid of??? I don't know, but its cool and is just another testament of missionary work.

 

Well its just about Thanksgiving. It sounds like things will be good for your guys, wherever you're at. Here at the MTC, we wont have any classes that day. We will do a lot of service and also get to have some devotionals. It should be a great day to just relax and get a spiritual boost before we leave for the field. It should be a great day.

 

Well I think thats about all I got for now. I'm not really sure when I'll next be able to email as I dont know when pday is in Houston, but it'll be soon enough.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Love,

Anh Cả Phong Manhardt

Several pictures included in this post!

OK, well this week has certainly been a great one. Most of it was fairly average, but there is one event in particular that made it spectacular. I'll try and portray that. So here goes:

So, if you remember, every Saturday, we have what is called TRC, where volunteers come in and we teach them. On our first week doing TRC we were surprised to find out that one sister, Chị Hương, was a non-memeber. We didn't know why she was coming to TRC, or really much else about her. But we continued to teach her and cherished the opportunity to teach someone that really needs the things we are teaching. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to teach her every time that she was there, every week but one. That adds up to about 5 or 6 times. Well, we found out on Thursday that she was getting baptized! Our teacher told us and said that we should ask our Branch President, President Seamons, if there was any way that we could go. The baptism was scheduled for Saturday. We were all, of course, super excited. While the rest of our district was having a guided study with our teacher, Elder Robison and myself went to find President Seamons, who was fortunately at the MTC that night to meet the new missionaries in our branch. We found him and explained our situation. He was excited and said that he really wanted us to be able to go, but he didn't know if we were allowed. He went immediately (he ws just about to start an interview with an elder) to try and find someone to answer the question. He wasn't able to though. The assignment was given to one of his counselors, President Howard. We didn't hear anything else that night.

Next day (Friday). President Howard comes into our classroom during personal study and asks for a little more info and to hear the story for himself. He then told us that he was about to go talk to the District president, President Bartasso. Friday night, we got a call to go down to his office and he told us basically the same thing President Seamons did. He wasnted us to go, but he couldnt give that authority to leave campus, he had to talk with President Brown, the MTC President.

So now its Saturday, the day of the baptism, and we still don;t know if we are allowed to go. The baptism is scheduled for 4pm. After waiting all morning for something, we finally got a call from President Bartasso. President Brown gave us permission to go!

We still had TRC that day, and guess what? Chị Hương was there again! And I got to teach her again. Great stufff. She was so excited about her baptism later that day, and she was even more excited, and probably a little surprised, when we told her that we were able to go. The lesson went well. After TRC, we finished our class time and then walked with our one teacher over to the meeting house for the baptism.

Basically, it was just incredible! We able to talk with some of the Viets that were there, and get to just enjoy being off campus too. We were also able to talk with Chị Hương before hand and get some pictures (to come in the mail soon). When we asked her if she was ready, she replied without hesitation, yes.

Seeing a baptism now, as a missionary has so mush more meaning. I can understand so much more the step that these people are making in their lives. I can see the importance of it so much more clearly. Another, really cool thing was when Chị Hương was changing after she was baptized. An invitation was extended to any converts to bear their testimonies. Most of the people that did so were Vietnamese, and even cooler, all of them are recent converts. I think there were about 5 of them and the oldest in the church was baptized a year ago. One of them was apparently the guy I was named after! He was only baptized last week! Unfortunaltely, I wasn't told that I was given my name because of him until after we were back at the MTC, so I didn't really get a chance to get to know him at all. But anyways, the Viets are so much different in culture, but they told some great stories of their conversions. This was really my first exposure to Vietnamese people, but I can already say that I am so excited to be able to serve them. Seeing this just farther supported my call to serve in Vietnamese. I still don't know why I am supposed to, but I can now see very easily that it is right.

All in all, it was just a very special experience. I wish I had time to write more about it here, but I dont.

Hope all is going well. Enjoy the week!

Tình yêu thương,

Anh Cả Phong Manhardt

 Here are some pictures that Elder Manhardt sent home a while ago, and I am just getting around to putting them up.  It looks like he's having lots of fun!

 In front of the Provo, UT temple

 Evening picture of the temple

The Vietnamese writing beneath his name is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"

Pictures included in this one!

Just like before, the time keeps flying by. I'm not even really sure what week this is. Week 9? I think so, but who knows.

 

Classes just keep going and going and we just keep learning and learning. I have noticed that my listening ability has improved a lot over the last few weeks, which is awesome. That is something I have really tried to improve on.. and apparently it is working. I usually understand most of what our teachers say in class, but when we teach them as investigators its still hard to pick up everything. I can generally get the main idea of what they are saying, but there are still the words I dont know. It can make life difficult as a missionary when you can understand what the people you teach say to you. You can't determine their needs, even when they flat out tell you. I'll just keep working, and it will come over time.

 

Well, I'll start off by answering the name questions because those seem to be the most common. No, it is not a common thing for foreign speaking missionaries to be given new names. Most places just keep your name or kind of just translate it into the language. With Vietnamese though, they can't pronounce our names. Words in Vietnamese are only one syllable. So, they give us new names so that the people can say them. What our names are is decided by our teachers. I don't know everything they do, but basically, they give us names with meanings to fit us, or what they see in us. I dont really know much more about that.

 

I was also asked to just share some experiences, teachings from devotionals, what things we are looking forward to, etc.

Well, devotionals and firesides are always good. We have a fireside every Sunday night and devotional on Tuesday night. I can't say that we ever look forward to any in particular because we aren't told who is speaking until we are there. We just look forward to each one, knowing that it will probably be a great message. I have just started going through my study journal and making a topical table of contents. It has been really cool to go back through the things we have been taught here. Of course, the most common topic is how to become better missionaries, why missionary work is important, etc. The next most common topics though are receiving personal revelation and feeling the Spirit.

 

I am so grateful to be here on a mission. I haven't even begun teaching "real" people, but I can already see the benefits from being here. I can see those in myself. I am constantly learning and can always see the hand of the Lord in the work. I know that I need to be here now. I know that I am meant to be here with the people that are here. I know that I am hearing the messages here that I need to learn in order to become the missionary I need to be. I don't yet know why I need to go to Houston. And I really don't know why I am supposed to be learning Vietnamese. But I do know that there is a reason. That reason is just as much for my benefit as it is for the benefit of those I will meet in Houston. I can't wait until I can get to the field and really start this work. Even teaching our "fake" investigators here, it is an amazing feeling when they are taking the steps necessary to come closer to Christ. I can hardly imagine what that will feel like when I am teaching really people, who are really changing their lives.

 

Being on a mission is an incredible experience, an experience that should never be passed over. I have only been out for barely 2 months, but I have really come to know the importance of this work. It is certainly a sacrifice to give 2 years to the Lord, but really in the end it wont be a sacrifice at all.

 

Tôi biết rằng Giáo Hội Các Thánh Hửu Ngày Sau của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô là chân chính. Giáo Hội này là giáo hội của Thượng Đế trong Thế Gian. Tội biết rằng phúc âm của Chúa Giê Su sẽ gíup tất cả như cầu của chúng ta. Thượng Đế yêu thương tất cả con cái của Ngài và Ngài muốn ban phước chúng ta. Để nhận được các phước lành từ Thượng Đế, chúng ta phải cầu xin Ngài. Qua Chúa Giê Su, chúng ta có thể sống với Thượng Đế lần nữa.

 

Chân thành,

Anh Cả Phong Manhardt

What does Elder Manhardt's Vietnamese name mean??

Xin chào!

Its been another week here at the MTC and that means that there is one less for me to do before I can go to the field! The MTC is great, but we're at the point now where we just want to get out there and do something. We still have a TON to learn, but that doesn't change that desire any. Just 4 more weeks... funny though, an normal English missionary is still here for less than that. Oh well. We'll get there eventually.

 

I'm really starting to run out of things to write in these emails. Every week is essentially the same. What do you guys want to hear about? Any questions about the MTC or anything? Anything that I've said that doesn't make sense or need to be explained further? Just give me something to write about.... please!

 

Our district is doing pretty well. We are starting to get used to being without Elder Phan, but it still feels a little like someone is missing. Our district and zone continue to come closer together. Language study continues as expected. We just keep learning. I've recently take to studying from the Book of Mormon Stories book in Vietnamese. Its nice because it puts the scriptures in simpler language. Hopefully it helps out. In addition to reading, I'm trying to focus on speaking a little better now. Getting the tones right and just speaking quicker and more fluidly.

 

Well, I guess I can use some of this time to write a little about my name, Phong. First of all, its pronounced F - O (as in Octapus) - M. FOM. Phong. Yeah, Vietnamese pronunciation. Fun Stuff. When my teachers first explained the meaning of my name, they did it in Vietnamese. Really helpful. I understood exactly 0% of it. Luckily, I had an opportunity to interview with one of them and when they asked if I had any questions, I was able to ask. So Phong means plentiful or numerous. She explained that I have been blessed with many experiences and have many blessings in my life. Also that as I share the Gospel with others, they will receive numerous blessings, as will I. Pretty cool stuff. I also found my name in the Sách Mặc Môn the other day. It said Phong Phú which is the word for the land Bountiful. Also really cool.

 

Well, hopefully all continues to go well for you guys.

 

Tình yêu thương,

Anh Cả Phong

Latest news from Anh Cả Phong Manhardt!

Well, this last week was full of great things and tons of surprises.

 

Going all the way back to last Tuesday. After emailing, P-Day was quite successful. But the devotional that night is my main point. Elder Richard G Scott was the speaker and it was an AMAZING talk. He spoke a lot about the Spirit and how we can follow its promptings and how we can receive more inspiration. It was probably one of the best talks I have heard in my life. The Spirit was there so strong and we could all feel Elder Scott's love for us ad through that, the love of the Savior.

 

I don't remember a whole lot from Wednesday, so I'm guessing that there wasn't much out of the ordinary. Thursday on the other hand, was not ordinary in the slightest bit. There were two huge surprises that came on Thursday. The first starts when Anh Cả Phan was going to pick up new nametags because he had lost his. While at the desk, they told him that he was going to be leaving on Monday.... whoa. That was unexpected and even more so when you consider that he was just there to pick up nametags. We had been told at the very beginning of our time here that he might be leaving early, but as we had heard nothing more about it, we all assumed that he would be leaving with us. Crazy. This happened right before dinner and was of course the topic of discussion all through the meal. The rest of our zone (when I refer to our zone, I really just mean the Southeast Asian districts. Basically us, the Cambodians and the Hmongs) also were told and we were all just kinda stuck pondering what was going to happen. Later that night, in class, comes the second surprise. We were finally given our Vietnamese names. We knew that we would be given Vietnamese names, but we were told not to expect them until around week 8. This of course got all of us excited. My name is Anh Cả Phong. I dont have enough time to write much detail now, but the name has some pretty cool meanings. I'll be sure to write about that later.

 

The rest of the week was filled with teaching investigators, learning more Vietnamese, learning more about being missionaries, and helping Anh Cả Phan get ready to leave. Sunday was great. We had our normal temple walk, but did it with our zone. We all brought hymn books in our languages and sang together at the temple. It was quite special. We took some pictures and just enjoyed being with each other.

 

Yesterday was a sad day, but sad for good reasons. Anh Cả Phan left. We were all sad to see him go, but he is ready and we are excited for him to go serve the people in Cambodia and to do the Lord's work. Today another elder left for the field from our zone from the Hmong district. We also found out last night that the only Sister in our zone is going home today. We are sad to see them go, but know that they need it and that the Lord will be with them.

 

Well, There's plenty of things that I wish I had time to write about, but I just don't.

 

Love you guys

 

Tình yêu thương,

Anh Cả Phong Manhardt

Latest news from Elder Manhardt

Xin chào!

Well the time keeps flying by. It’s hard to believe that we've been here for half of our stay already, and even through it still seems like it will be an eternity before we leave the MTC, its strange to see that we've hit a milestone.

Language study is continuing and progressing quickly. Right now, my main focus is to be able to listen better. With both of our investigators, we have had times when we have asked questions critical to their conversion, but we didn't understand their responses. It’s quite deflating when a lesson goes so well and then it becomes insignificant because we don’t know what the investigator needs and how we can help them. So right now, I am working to learn how to listen and understand the language. I haven't figured out a solid way to improve that skill. It’s something that I have to continuously think about and find new ways to learn.

Last week, an extra bunk was added to our room as I think I mentioned might happen. Well it happened and we expect that we will get two new Elders in our room tomorrow. It will be pretty exciting, but will also have its disadvantages. But even with the prospects of long lines for showers and crowded rooms, we are all looking forward to it.

I can't remember everything that has happened over the last week, but I'll try and touch on some of the highlights, and especially some cool things that have happened already today.

So Saturday, we had TRC again. This is when volunteers come in and we teach a short lesson. This TRC, I was teaching with Anh cả Atkinson. It went really well. The topic this week was receiving revelation through the Book of Mormon, or Sách Mặc Môn in Vietnamese. We taught our first volunteer, who was a return missionary that served in Cambodia. It was a great lesson. We share some personal experiences and he did as well. Our next lesson though is probably the more important one. She is a nonmember. It is a special opportunity to teach someone who really has these questions and needs to get answers. It’s also really cool to think that we could really be influencing her life right now... and we're still in the MTC. So, all in all, TRC is great and I look forward to it each week.

Sunday was good and spiritual as always. The main focus throughout priesthood meeting and sacrament meeting was the Restoration. There were some very good insights shared. I particularly enjoyed the priesthood meeting. With some many people sharing their own thoughts, it makes the lessons so much more meaningful. It reminded me of my Elders Quorum at school. Those were the best quorum meetings I have had, and this was nearly to that point. The fireside on Sunday night was given by Brother and Sister Macking. I believe that Brother Macking is the district president over the MTC, but I can’t remember for sure. Sister Macking talked about table manners which was rather entertaining. Something about seeing a Sister instruct about this in front of some 2500 Elders and Sisters was pretty amusing. Brother Macking talked about the importance of unity and not excluding anyone.

Today has so far been awesome. We went to the temple as usual, but today we did sealings. As missionaries, we can be proxies for children. It was a special experience. One of the names for the of that couples that the work was done for was Elizabetha Mannhart. The date and location on the card were around 1848 in Wuerttenberg, Germany. Not sure if I spelled the place right, but it was close to that. IT may be worth looking into that. Hint, hint. Dad, do you know anything about an Elizabetha? Anyways it was pretty cool.

As we were leaving the temple, we saw a huge mass of people standing by the road, right across the street from the MTC. Then a sister in the temple parking lot told us that the MTC was evacuated. Whoa. We don’t really know what happened, but we heard that it was just a fire drill type thing. It wasn’t long before they let us back in to campus, but it was weird all the same.

Tôi biết rằng Giáo Hội là giáo hội của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô. Sách Mặc Môn la lời của Thượng Đế.

Hope all is well, as it sounds like it is.

Tinh yêu thương,

Anh cả Manhardt

Really late post of Elder Manhardt's latest letter

I'll just apologize for this being so late getting out!  I was preparing to travel out of state and I didn't get it posted!  So sorry!  I should have a new letter sometime tomorrow.  I hope that anyone that is able to read his letters is enjoying them as much as I am!  I am very blessed to be a part of his family.

Well, now I've been here for almost a full month. Its really quite strange to think about. This week, we watch the first group of Elders and Sisters leave that got here after us. Its really weird to see them come and go as we are staying here. We found out over the weekend that an extra bunk is going to be added to our room, actually, most of the Elders rooms will get an extra bed. They are closing down a residence building for renovation and apparently a lot more missionaries are coming in too. Its going to get pretty crazy here with a bunch of extra people. Even through the inevitable chaos that will ensue, we are still looking forward to some aspects. We'll see how it goes when it actually happens.

 

The weeks are going by so fast now. Its ridiculous to think that it was only a week ago that I wrote last, or could go to the temple and all the other things that happen on P-Day. We're 4 weeks in, 8 more to go. That seems like an eternity, but I know that it is necessary. We still have so much to learn.

 

This weekend was really good. Saturday was our first experience with what is called Training Resource Center, or TRC. What it is, is volunteers that come in that speak the language. We are assigned a topic to teach about the week before. On Saturday, we just go in and teach a 20 minute lesson. These volunteers aren't doing role play though. They are being themselves. We were certainly nervous going in, but it turned out to be a really great experience. Another cool part about TRC is that we taught with different companions. I got to teach with Anh cả Robison. That was very cool. Our topic to teach was about how they could receive answers to their prayers. Because these volunteers were being themselves, we didnt expect to have to teach a whole lot about how we pray or other basic doctrine. We were very surprised then when in our first lesson, the volunteers didnt know anything. They asked questions about God. Who He was, where He lived, who Christ was. We thought that maybe they just didn't understand what they were supposed to do, or we just didnt get what TRC was about. Well it turns out that in the papers we were given as a recap of what the volunteers thought about our lesson, we learned that the one who was asking these questions is actually a non-member. Whoa! I'm glad that I didnt know that before hand, or I would have really been freaking out. So, there ya go, I've taught my first non-member. Crazy.

 

Sunday meetings were very good and spiritual. I learned a ton. I enjoyed the normal Sunday Temple Walk as usual. It's great to get a short break from the MTC and all the work associated with it.

 

Yesterday also went very well, particularly with our investigator Chú Cường. We went in the morning to set an appointment with him because we had forgotten to do so after our last lesson. We were surprised however that he wanted us to teach him later that night. Uh oh. We were planning on teaching him on Wednesday. We are now teaching about the Plan of Salvation, but we are learning the vocab as we go because we have never taught this doctrine before. We weren't prepare to teach it. But we decided to just try our best and see what happens. We planned out our lesson. We shortened it to just talk about the Atonement and to commit him to baptism. When we taught, it went so well. Then we commited him to be baptized. He said no because he had already been baptized. We explained about the restored Preisthood authority and about being baptized by immersion. We asked him again.... and we couldn't understand what he said. We had him say it again, and even say it slower, but it was beyond us. We picked up on certain parts, but we'll have to see where things go from here. It was quite deflating to have such a great lesson and then it go poorly for the sole reason that we didn't know what he said. We later learned that one of the words he said was "gradually" so that is surely a good sign.

 

Well that's all the time I've got to write. 

Love,

Anh cả Manhardt

Email #3!

Xin chào giah đinh của tôi,

Well, its hard to believe that we've been here for 3 weeks already. There is still so much to learn, but looking back, we have already learned so much!

We have had a lot of good devotionals and many great experiences in the classroom. Theres no way that I can remember everything, but I'll get straight to the good stuff.

General Conference was amazing! First, it was great to get a break from the rigor of the study here at the MTC. We had a whole weekend to relax. We didnt have to thing about Vietnamese or our current situations with our investigators. We didnt have to sit through hours upon hours of class. And best of all, we ocassionally had time to take a nap! I guess thats not really the best of all though. Really, the best part was getting to hear the words and counsel of the prophets of the Lord. Their words and teachings seem so much more vivid as a missionary. This is true of the scriptures as well. The stories and lessons seem to be personally directed at me, almost as if I was actually living the stories myself. It is awesome! The announcements of the new temples was an incredible thing as well. To see the work progressing through results, like building temples, is truly inspiring. Especially the news about Provo Temple #2. That is absolutely crazy! I cant wait for when I'm back from my mission and can go throught that temple myself (assuming its finished by then). All of the sessions of Conference were extrememly inspiring. On Sunday, we still had our normal Sunday Night Fireside. That was also awesome. It was given by Brother Chad Lewis, former BYU and Philadelphia Eagle player. His stories were inspiring and provided great insight to the things that we, as missionaries, can do during and after our missions to continue the service of the Lord. After the fireside, we also had the opportunity to watch the movie, The Testaments. They have films available to watch every Sunday night, but we have never been able to go because we have had had so much to do to prepare for class and teaching our investigators. But, we stayed and watched this time. We all knew that The Testaments is a powerful witness and wanted to watch it. I love that movie! Basically, it all added up to one spectacular weekend.

Yesterday, was a sort of milestone for me in our teaching and learning. We taught one of our investigators, Chú Cường, yesterday morning. We enjoy teaching, but Chú Cường has not been keeping commitments and has not prayed with us when we have asked him. The reason this lesson was so awesome to me was for two reasons. First, I noticed that Vietnamese doesnt sound that strange to me anymore. Its kinda hard to explain. When I first cam here, and Cô Hương was speaking in Vietnamese, is sounded so alien. Not just because I didnt know what she was saying but that the language itself just sounded strange. But as I was teaching Chú, I realized that I was speaking it, and it just felt right. The second reason it was so awesome is that for the first time teaching in Vietnamese, I felt guided by the Spirit to say certain things. Ever since we started doing role play in class in English, I really had a strong desire to be able to teach the same way in Vietnamese. I knew that it would take a while, but to have it happen, even just a little was awesome.

We found out from our other teacher Thay Tuân that there are currently some Vietnamese delegates in the area. They are here for some sort of meeting at BYU or something like that. He was working to help translate for them. The cool part is that they might be stopping by the MTC sometime. The reason thats even cooler is that they are like Protestant Reps for Vietnam, or something of that nature. Its through them that Vietnam will open to missionaries in the future. Apparently, we are getting pretty close to that time. So it they come here, we could influence that decision.

Our district is growing closer and closer together as we continue to learn with and about each other. We have a ton of good times. Just last night though, Cô Hương challenged us to be more focused, study harder, and maybe change the way we study if need be, so that we can do better to fulfill our purpose. It was great to see our district rise to that challenge instantly. When we got back to our rooms that night, instead of our normal fooling around, many were studying.

The work goes well here. Its great to hear from everybody and I hope that continues to happen.

Xin chào,

Anh cả Manhardt

Email #2 from the MTC!

OK, well so its the beginning of week 3 , which means that I'm 1/4 of  the way done?! Strange.

Things have continued to progress here. Our previous investigator, Anh Ninh, became one of our teachers. So now we have two teachers. We still have Cô Hương as one teacher, and Anh Ninh is now called Thay Tuân and is the other. Class has become much more helpful as we have the two teachers. Now instead of one class period being taught by Cô, and the other just us studying by ourselves, Thay teaches during the other one. We have also started working more on becoming better missionaries in general, not just learning Vietnamese. We have done a lot of role play in ENGLISH!! It is so awesome to be able to teach in English. I feel like I can actually follow the promptings of the Spirit and teach what the "investigator" needs to hear. In Vietnamese, that is near impossible. As we are focused so much on just trying to say things, its really hard to try and pay attention to the Spirit. And even if I felt that there was something that I needed to say, I wouldnt be able to say it anyways. So, I have really enjoyed the opportunities to teach in English.

This week we start with 2 new investigators. We taught Chú Cương on Monday, and to our surprise Chú is actually Thay Tuân, or Anh Ninh, or whatever his actually name is. We start tomorrow with Chi Tuyên, who is actually Cô Hương. Go figure. Apparently there arent very many Vietnamese speakers. Anyways, our lesson with Chú went very well. We didnt take any notes in at all, which was a first. We were abel to teach the lesson, with our only big mistake being to not start with a prayer. But even at that, we did still give Chú a Sách Mặc Môn. It was exciting to see that we knew enough Vietnamese to teach at least a little of the first lesson. We will continue to improve a lot and are excited to teach Chi Tuyên tomorrow.

There have been a lot of awesome experiences, which I really can’t write. I simply don’t have time in my êđ minutes of email to read everybody's email and then to write EVERYTHING that I would like. But my experience here has continued to get better and better with every day.

This last week flied by. We learned that Anh cả Phan will likely be leaving here in the next few weeks. He is already pretty good with Vietnamese and can hold conversation with the teachers. We will certainly miss him, but he's ready for it. That willl likely leave me, Anh cả Pham, and Anh cả Robison in our room and as a trio. The Houston trio. Then the other room of các Anh cả with be the California missionaries. Anyways, we will miss Anh cả Phan, but its exciting at the same time.

I'm glad to hear that everything seems to be going well at home.

I'm sure there were a lot of questions that you guys asked that I dindt answer, but just ask again and hopefully I'll get to them next week.

Love,

Anh cả Manhardt

Elder Manhardt with his family and President Kirk just after his setting apart as a missionary.

First email from Elder Manhardt!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Well, its hard to think that I've been here for almost a week! The time goes quick, but at the same time, it feels like I have been here for a LONG time. Out of the 2500 missionaries here at the MTC, there are 6 of us learning Vietnamese. 3 of us are going to Houston, one to Anaheim, one to San Jose and one to Cambodia/Vietnam. My companion is Elder Pham. Elder Robison is in my room along with his companion Elder Phan. Yeah Pham and Phan. try and keep it straight.

After I got to the MTC, I was brought up to my room where I dropped off my stuff. Then it was straight to class. There’s only one problem with class though... the teacher only speaks in Vietnamese. Imagine gong in to class and not understanding one word.... and when she tries to explain to us what she was saying.. that’s in Vietnamese too. Well, it seemed like life was going to be rather unpleasant. But we are all learning quickly. Thursday came and went, though we learned that we would be teaching our first investigator the next day. Again, in Vietnamese. Boy, was that scary. We panicked and tried to learn as much as possible. I wish I really knew Vietnamese for the lone reason that it must have been hilarious to hear what we said. The issue with Vietnamese is that its tonal. So simply saying a word with the wrong tone completely changes the meaning. Oh, well. We're learning. And quite quickly I might add. I've been here for 6 days and can already pray and bear my testimony in the language. There's obviously still TONS to learn, but at least we're getting somewhere. To this point, we've taught our investigator 3 times, and we are teaching him tomorrow as well.

Lessons are still in Vietnamese, but there is a part called guided study that our teacher speaks in English. Usually she is talking with us individually and mostly just getting us to plan and figure stuff out, not teaching us language stuff. Maybe one time where I have a little more time to type, I can explain a little more about that and our teacher. At first we didn’t like her classes that much, but as time has gone on, I have come to appreciate her and her lessons.

I've been able to see quite a few of my friends from school that are still here at the MTC.

Our district ( the 6 Vietnamese Elders) all get along pretty well, which is good because there's no time to argue. Things are incredibly busy here. Sunday was the first semi-relaxing day, but even that was packed with stuff. One of my favorite things about Sunday though, was the chance we got to leave the MTC campus and walk around the Temple. It was great to leave behind some of the work and just relax. Tuesday will be my P-Day, so this is when you can expect to hear from me. We also get to go to the Temple and do an endowment session on P-Day. We do that in the morning. It was awesome to be able to do that.

This whole email just kinda feels like a jumble of info, so hopefully you follow at least a little. There's just so much to say, and very little time to say it. Maybe in the future I'll be a little more organized, but honestly I doubt it. Ha. The only hope is that things may start to slow down a little and I can actually explain things.

All in all, it’s been a great experience so far.

Hope all is well out there.

Love,

Elder Manhardt

Address for letters or packages until the end of November...

Elder Matthew Manhardt
MTC Mailbox # 121TX-HOUS 1129
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Welcome to Elder Matt Manhardt's official blogsite for his mission!  I'll be posting pictures when I get them and other correspondence from Matt, er, I mean Elder Manhardt during the next two years as he serves his mission. 

Exiting the Salt Lake City airport



Arriving at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, UT




Saying goodbyes to wonderful friends




...more wonderful friends






And...he's off to learn Vietnamese and everything else he needs to know to serve as a faithful missionary for  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!