Well this has certainly be a week that I will remember for a while.
Without our car, this week was a lot different from any of the
others that I have had here in Houston. We were on our bikes every day
and as such, we got to talk to a lot of people. Whenever you meet new
people, interesting things are bound to happen. For example, one day me
met a man that claimed to be a prophet. He said that he knew we were
coming and that the meeting was inspired. Not because he needed to hear
from us, but because we needed to hear from him. He told us we needed to
repent and not to be surprised on the next morning (not really sure
what we were supposed to be surprised about, but whatever). To make
things even more interesting, he kept speaking in some foreign language
and shaking as he did as if he were transmitting some sort of power. It
was an interesting experience for sure.
But we also happened to run into one Vietnamese guy from
Connecticut. We had a good conversation and he took and committed to
read the Book of Mormon. We will probably never see him again, but some
missionaries in CT will have one pretty cool guy to teach. Besides
talking to a lot of people, the work in our area suffered due to lack of
car. Many people were unreachable for us by bike. It made for an
interesting week.
But the real interesting stuff happened yesterday and today.
Yesterday some time after church got out, we were going to see one of
our investigators. As we were standing outside their door, our phone
rang with a ringer that we certainly didnt expect. That ringer is the
one for our mission president, President Saylin. Oh boy! He asked how
things were going, but of course that wasnt really the purpose of his
call. He informed us that Elder Pham's visa had come in and was leaving
tomorrow (that meaning today) for Cambodia. That also meant that there
was a hole that needed to be filled in that area. So they needed me to
go out west and have Elder Hoopes stay in the east with the English
missionaries to help finish things up and make some transitions.
Being as we dont have enough Vietnamese missionaries to sustain the 3
different areas, things are being consolidated. The area I have been in,
in the east, is being "shut down." So really that means that the few
Viets that we had going to church out east will now either have to
travel out west to the Viet branch or stick with the English. That makes
things complicated because the member that we have that really needs
the Viet translation doesnt have transportation. We dont really know how
he is going to survive that change. To make things more interesting, he
was just starting to really progress in the church. He will get the
Aaronic Priesthood this coming Sunday. Things will be interesting, and
that will be part of Elder Hoopes job out there, trying to transition to
just the Viet branch. He will also be serving just as an English elder
until this transfer ends.
So, there ya go. My first transfer is an emergency transfer. I'm
now in the southwest side of Houston serving in the Vietnamese branch.
We'll see how things will go. My companion is Elder Campbell. He is
relatively new as well. He got to Houston 2 transfers before me, he was
also trained by Elder Wilkinson in the East area. We're brothers and now
companions. Things are going to be good. So my new address is:
4400 Boone Rd #113
Houston, TX 77072
Of course things can always be sent to the mission office as well.
Well, I hope everything is going well as it sounds like it is, as usual. Have a good week!
Love
Elder Phong Manhardt
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