12.3.12

You know, I really like roller coasters. They are fast and fun and spin you this way and that. But in the end you end up at the same place you started, just happier due to the thrill of the ride. Though physically in the same place, you have progressed in a mental/emotional way.

Now, that is way more thought than I ever intended to put into roller coasters; really I just like them because they go fast, but it is all true nonetheless. This last week was a bit of a roller coaster, but in the end we were left better off than we were before.

We were able to do some great service this week with the Chinese elders helping the food bank give out food to elderly people (mostly Chinese and some Vietnamese). It was lots of fun and will help again this week. After the good experience of doing that, we sought out more opportunities to serve the Viet community. We met varied results at different places, but hopefully some of them will turn into opportunities. Also, our free English and Citizenship classes are growing in numbers. We decided to advertise in a viet newspaper and we have seen steady growth since then. We're in the newspaper, we're famous! Oddly enough, its our viet personalities that are famous. Its pretty strange seeing your name in the paper when its not really your name.

We had a miracle happen this weekend. As we were planning, I had the impression to try by a certain less active member that has been so for about 8 years. He is pretty unpredictable and pretty far away so we put him as a backup plan. Well the Lord certainly wanted us there. Every other plan we had fell through. We made the journey. When we got there he was home and we just talked to him for a while (we hadnt seen him for about 5 or 6 months). We shared a short message that we had been sharing with most people for Thanksgiving. The Spirit was there and we extended a direct commitment to come to church following recent training we had received about extending commitments. He stopped and thought about it for quite a while. While he was thinking many outside distractions came but he stayed with it and eventually said Yes. Long story short, he came, love it, committed to come again next week and set up an appointment to meet with us again. The Lord blesses us when we do what He asks the way He asks us to do it.

Make it a great week!
Love
Elder Phong Manhardt

11.26.12

Well, this was a really good week for us. We had a lot of fun and were able to get a lot done. We more than double the number of lessons we taught from last week. Much of that is due to the holiday. Because of Thanksgiving, many more people were home. We met some new people and some people that we havent seen in a very long time. 

Thanksgiving in particular was very productive. It was also very filling. Let me explain. So for Thanksgiving dinner we were invited over to the house of one of the service missionary families. We ate there with their family. We ate quite a bit and were completely stuffed. Then we had to leave because we had an appointment pretty far away to go see a member that moved a few months ago and we haven't been able to visit him at home since then. We got there, he showed us around the place and introduced us to a lot of his family that was there. We shared a message with him and got ready to go. As we put on our backpacks, he said 'alright, lets eat.' Uh oh. We didn't know that we were going to be eating there too. We were still stuffed. We did our best to eat what we could, but it wasn't much, just a few spring rolls and a little turkey. We were both about to explode. Fortunately, neither of us did and we made it back home.

Sunday was also a good day. We were able to see quite a few people. Included in that is a less-active family that we had never met before. As we came up to the house, tat father was coming out. He invited us right in and we proceeded to have a good talk and lesson. One of their sons is very interested in scouting (Elder Robison has that covered) and also needs help with his chem class (I got that one). We set up a time to help him out. The wife offered to fix any clothes of ours that need it as she runs an alterations shop. Things couldnt have gone more perfectly. 

Well, I'm glad to hear that the holidays went well for all of you!

Make it a great week!

Love

Elder Manhardt