4/16/12 Email...Pictures included!

Well this last week went pretty good... and this next one should be even better.

 

Sorry for not getting out my email last week. Just as I was going to click 'send'  my computer logged me off.

 

We are still serving in a tripanionship and I think it has been a really good thing for all of us. We live in one apartment, though all of our stuff hasnt been moved out of the other. THe mission has the apartment until at least August, so that apartment has kind of become our storage room. That is where we keep our bikes and the other stuff that gets used very irregularly. We have heard no news yet of any new Viet missionaries coming in and we dont expect any for wuite a while, probably not until around October when Elder Hoopes goes home. We'll see. We have gotten some news about who our new mission president will be. He is also young like President Saylin and has a family that will be coming with him, though I cant remember his name at the moment.

 

This last week was good. We were even able to reach several of our goals. We have a fairly new investigator named Robert, who came to church on Sunday. That was really awesome because it has been a really lond time since I have had an investigator at sacrament meeting. Robert is very sincere. He has no children and his wife recently passed away, but he is so eager to learn and is so grateful for our company and genuine concern for him.

 

Some other highlights of the week include getting to meet our new district. As we no longer have Viet missionraies to have our own district, we were put in another one. It is a mega district. There are 9 missionaries, 7 elders, 2 sisters, the biggest in the mission. It opens up a lot of possibilities for a lot of really good times. It also makes district meetings very interesting with so many more people.

 

On Friday we had a 3-way exchange. I was the one that stayed in the Viet area. As such, I got to do a lot of speaking in Viet and teaching. It was a good measuring stick to help me see how much I have improved. The exchange was also enjoyable as I got to serve with Elder Price, who was one of my previous zone leaders and also in my district for my first transfer. We had a good time and had a very good day teaching and talking to many people.

 

On Sunday, I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. It was a bit scary as I have never spoken publicly in Vietnamese and I was the concluding speaker, but it went relatively well. Having to focus so much more on the language really prevented me from having my normal type of talk. It really limited some of the speaking skills that I have developed over time, but as such, it will just take more time. I spoke about the importance and purpose of families. Even though it was difficult and less than I have come to hope from giving talks, it went well and people seemed to  think it was good.

 

This coming week looks to be even better than this last one. We seem to have a lot of blatant potential and we will be seeking to take advantage of that. Also, we have mission temple trips this week. We will be going on Wednesday. I am very excited about that opportunity because it has been quite a while since I have been able to go and I have not yet been to the Houston temple. I look forward to being able to tell you about the experience next week.

 

I think thats about all that I have for this week. Attached are some pictures from random times and when Elder Wilkinson left.

Have a good one!

 

Love,

Elder Phong Manhardt

Emailed intended for 4/9/12

Nah, I dont really have anything to whoa over... except that I am having a really hard time typing right now. Myfingers are just not working right.

This last week was fairly normal as far as the numbers that we submitted go, but thats actually a good thing (kinda). The reason being that we got off to a really slow start at the beginning of the week but things really picked us starting on Friday. Sothe momentum that we have makes the week feel much better than our numbers show. Its pretty exciting, we have been able to meet with some people that previously had never opened their doors and teach to people that previously dindt want to be taught. It was really good. To make it even better, I think every lesson we had this week was in Vietnamese. Thats good not because its easier (duh) but because thats what our calling is. Not just to work with the Vietnamese people, but to teach in the Vietnamese language. So while it makes things more difficult, it was really good. It has also allowed me to better see the improvements that I have made as far as the language come. There is still so much more to improve, but I feel like I am finally able to at least communicate with people. That, of course makes things more fun and will drive me further to continue. I look forward to the time that I can really communicate. Probably not "fluent" but be able to communicate without having to question what I am saying or understand.

Since a few of you asked, my address is the same. Well, my previous address will still get the mail to me. So either that apartment or #304 will work. Packages are still better off to go to the mission office, unless they are really small.

Have a good week!

 

Love,

Elder Phong Manhardt

4/2/12 Email

Wow, I can hardly believe that it has been another transfer already. This one went especially fast, probably having to do with my emergency transfer in the middle of it. Before I let you know what is happening for this next transfer, I'll tell you a bit about the last week.

 

The last week went alright. We saw progression in some areas and degression in some others. Overall, I think it was a positive week though. Of course the highlight of the week was General Conference. Hearing the words and direction of the prophet and the rest of the Lords servants is very inspiring. As a missionary, though, I really realized just how special of an opportunity General Conference is. Only twice a year we can sit and be given this direct, inspired revelation from the leaders of the Church. I really enjoyed Conference and I know that the other people here did as well. We were able to invite some less-active members to come and some of them did. They really enjoyed it and felt the power of the words of the prophets. Hopefully it will be a great boost to them.

 

Yesterday though, we decided that we would bike home from Conference in efforts to see a few people. None of the people were home and as we were riding through one neighborhood, one of Elder Campbell's pedals fell off! Ha. Go figure. We were a long ways from home. The other Elders were even father away on the opposite side with the car. Luckily we were able to call Brother Brooks, a service missionary serving in our branch, who has a pick-up truck. He kindly picked us up and brought us home. People who provide service are awesome!

 

So this transfer is going to be very interesting. With Elder Wilkinson going home in just a few short hours, we knew that things were going to be changing. We expected that Elder Hoopes would come back to the branch from serving English, though of course we didnt know who would serve with him. Turns out that it doesnt matter, because we were just wrong. We dont know where Elder Hoopes is going, but we do know that Elders Campbell, Robison and me with be serving in a tripanionship. What that means is that our areas will be combined and we have to pick an apartment to live in. (Currently both sets of elders live in the same complex at different apartments. We need to pick which one, which is more difficult than it sounds due to several issues like bed bugs.) The combination of areas is intriguing because it really means that we have no boundaries at all. Thats a little scary... and a little cool. But mostly scary. We dont really know how things are going to work out, but it will certainly be an adventure and I'll have a lot more to say about it next week.

 

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Phong Manhardt

3/26/12 Email

Well, after a long and hard fought battle, I think that my fight with the bed bugs is over. We did a final cleaning of our bedroom this morning and so we should be done. Woohoo! Maybe I can start sleeping well again.

 

The work in the area is starting to pick up a little. As I have become acquainted with the area and Elder Campbell and I are working better together, we are seeing more success come.  I am pleased to report that both of us were able to reach that goal of talking to at least 10 people every day. 7 keys! It is really cool to have reached that mark for the first time in my mission. Now the more difficult part is to make that continue to happen and have it become part of who we are so that it is something that happens naturally without us needing to devote special time toward it.

 

Being in the Vietnamese branch has been a lot of fun. I have met a lot of awesome people, and still have plenty more to meet. Another cool thing about being in the branch is that it has helped me to learn Vietnamese a lot better and quicker. I can see my ability growing and it is exciting. Another exciting thing is that we are going to have a Vietnamese class. Because Elder Wilkinson leaves in just a couple of weeks .. actually like 1 week... all of us are going to be relatively inexperienced and not particularly good at the language. So it was decided that we would use some of our language study time each week and would have a class for us to study the language. It will be taught by the father of one of the members in the branch. It is pretty exciting. To have an organized class, taught by a Viet, will be a great opportunity. We dont know exactly what it will be like, but this week will be our first attempt. Hopefully it goes as well as we think it will.

 

Well, thats about all I have for the week.. and I am running out of time... 

Thanks for everything and have a good week!

 

Love,

Elder Manhardt