Thailand!

We're Still Here...

We're Still Here…

Yes, we are still in the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission. Our Hong Kong manager was visiting Salt Lake City at the end of March and we were able to meet him. He told us that it would likely be a few more months before LDS Charities received re-registration with the Vietnamese government. It is difficult thinking that a piece of paper sitting on a government officials desk is all that keeps us from getting to Vietnam. We are told that our visas are ready to go once the re-registration happens.

After our HQ Mission training we were assigned to the Data Quality Assurance (DQA) Zone. We began our 9 to 5, Monday through Friday service on March 26th. DQA has several ongoing projects. We were assigned to work in Community Trees. This effort involves reading old records and adding individuals and families to the Collaborative Family Search tree. The intent is that eventually descendants of these communities will be able to easily find and connect to their ancestors who will already be in the tree.

Debbie worked at reading Virginia wills and land records from the 1700s.

John worked on Welch baptism, marriage, and burial records from the 1600s.

The handwriting looks very challenging but really is not very hard to decipher once you learn the handwriting and the small vocabulary. 

We have enjoyed seeing the changing of the seasons.

We are living just west of the Conference Center in two floors of an apartment building that the mission keeps for temporary "visa-waiters''. While we aren't technically waiting on visas we nonetheless carry that title as that is what all the missionaries here are familiar with.

We had a great time with our visa-waiter neighbors but sadly for us (great for them!) they have all recently received their visas and are off to their respective countries (Spain, Mexico City, Jamaica, and Kosovo-North Macedonia). No new visa-waiters have arrived as of yet so we are a bit lonely in the evenings.

Easter Morning

We have enjoyed attending many of the Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra on Temple Square practices on Thursday evenings with their Music & the Spoken Word performances on Sunday morning. Easter morning was an especially beautiful performance.

https://www.youtube.com/@thetabernaclechoir/streams

With the announcement of the church's purchase of the Kirtland Temple we were fortunate to have a mission fireside with Karl Anderson, the foremost Kirtland historian. He described how foundational Kirtland was for the church, much of which the general church membership does not fully appreciate. It was also inspiring to see the many artifacts that were recently brought to the Church Museum here at Temple Square.

Moroni came back home for conference.

We were grateful to have our oldest grandchildren come stay with us for General Conference. We were able to attend two sessions. We had many activities planned with them. Most worked out well and we think they actually enjoyed hanging out with Grammy and Grandad!

Their great great great grandfather's grave marker

(not the same Moroni)

We have also enjoyed spending time with our local family. Annalise and Steve & boys, Kathy and Otto, Cindy and Spencer & family.

Our Mission President surprised us with a reassignment to the Family Search Discovery Zone where we started service on April 8th. You can read a full description of that exciting experience in our next report.

The Headquarters Mission is a great place to serve and we are blessed to have it be part of our mission experience.

Closing with a favorite conference quote:

Elder Patrick Kearon: “Our loving Father oversaw the Creation of this very earth for the express purpose of providing an opportunity for you and for me to have the stretching and refining experiences of mortality, the chance to use our God-given moral agency to choose Him, to learn and grow, to make mistakes, to repent, to love God and our neighbor, and to one day return home to Him. He sent His precious Beloved Son to this fallen world to live the full range of the human experience, to provide an example for the rest of His children to follow, and to atone and redeem. Christ’s great atoning gift removes every roadblock of physical and spiritual death that would separate us from our eternal home. Everything about the Father’s plan for His beloved children is designed to bring everyone home…. The intent of the Father’s great plan of happiness is your happiness, right here, right now, and in the eternities. It is not to prevent your happiness and cause you instead worry and fear. The intent of the Father’s plan of redemption is in fact your redemption, your being rescued through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, freed from the captivity of sin and death. It is not to leave you as you are. The intent of the Father’s plan of mercy is to extend mercy as you turn back to Him and honor your covenant of fidelity to Him. It is not to deny mercy and inflict pain and sorrow. The intent of the Father’s plan of salvation is in fact your salvation in the celestial kingdom of glory as you receive “the testimony of Jesus” and offer your whole soul to Him. It is not to keep you out.”

#2 Missionary Training

We reported to the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah on Monday February 5th. We joined with over 2,000 younger missionaries that are continuously cycling through anywhere from a few weeks to several months (depending on language training). We were two of 131 senior missionaries reporting that day (a very large group), of which 18 couples are going to be serving humanitarian and self-reliance missions (the largest group -at least in recent times).

The first week was proselytizing training, which we won't be allowed to do in Vietnam, but it was a spiritual boost nonetheless. Elder Christofferson from the Quorum of the 12 apostles came and spoke to all the missionaries on our second Tuesday. 

The second week was specific training on our humanitarian work. All 18 humanitarian couples were learning together. To give you a small idea of the global reach of Latter-Day-Saint Charities efforts here are the locations where our group will be serving and our group picture (sorry, the location signs we are holding are too blurry):

Vietnam

Cambodia

Jamaica

Mexico City

Albania Macedonia

Bahrain

Philippines

New York City

Scotland

Montenegro

France

Slovakia

Indonesia

Armenia

Hungary

Every month a new group of humanitarian missionaries report for training. Most will serve for 18 months (like us).

It was a big eye opener to see how much the church is doing worldwide which most of us are unaware of. In addition to local initiated Humanitarian Aid projects in each country (Vietnam for us) there is a focus on Global Priorities and crises anywhere in the world that require an Emergency Response.

Global Priorities are areas that the church sees as humanitarian needs that are common to large areas of the world. These include Childhood Nutrition, Maternal and Newborn Care, Vision Care, and Immunizations.

Emergency Response: There is a team in Salt Lake City that daily monitors worldwide natural disasters and war torn areas for opportunities to rapidly respond with what is needed for that crisis.

These three areas are funded from different annual budgets to make sure they all get properly addressed. They all strive to partner with vetted and trusted partners (local and international) that help get the aid to the people as efficiently as possible (e.g. Red Cross, etc). For areas in the world where it is politically sensitive, aid is provided but the specifics are not generally shared. 

All projects worldwide are thoroughly documented in a database where each missionary couple has access to the projects in their area. This is where we will document new projects and manage them through to completion. We already have about 20 approved projects waiting for us in Vietnam (including some that fall under Global Priorities) - Thank you Elder and Sister Peterson!

One of the most impressive aspects to this training for us was how the love of Jesus Christ permeates and guides all of these efforts. The Saviors' purposes were constantly included throughout the presentations.

As training finished up everyone was excited for their flights to all their various destinations around the world. We cheered them on as we boarded our shuttle to the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission (along with two other couples waiting for visas). We are here waiting for LDS Charities to be re-registered as a legal organization in Vietnam.

After the three-day weekend we began some more training for our temporary assignment. The Headquarters Mission itself is very impressive. Nine hundred senior missionaries work here on a part or full-time basis. These missionaries staff the Family Search Library, Church History Museum, Church History Library, and many other infrastructure assignments that keep the whole missionary program running. After this week's training we will receive our temporary assignment. We are excited to participate in new areas but also anxious to get to Vietnam!

What we know so far about our upcoming humanitarian mission -One week to go!

When we received our call as Welfare Service missionaries we weren't sure what exactly that meant. Soon we learned that it would be a humanitarian mission serving under the Latter-day Saints Charities organization. Our call begins in February and lasts for 18 months.

Here is some general information that puts the church's humanitarian efforts in context with the overall efforts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. From the church's Humanitarian Services Operations Handbook (emphasis added):

"God’s work of salvation and exaltation focuses on four divinely appointed responsibilities: living the gospel of Jesus Christ, caring for those in need, inviting all to receive the gospel, and uniting families for eternity.  Humanitarian efforts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are vital to fulfilling its divinely appointed responsibility to care for those in need."

"The primary purpose of the Church’s humanitarian efforts is to relieve suffering and care for those most in need. It provides aid regardless of church affiliation, nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender or political persuasion. Secondary to this purpose, these activities also allow the Church’s light to shine while fostering relationships with other organizations and individuals seeking to do good."

"Humanitarian efforts are an important part of the Church’s divinely appointed responsibility to care for those in need. ... The Church seeks to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down and strengthen the feeble knees” through its humanitarian efforts (see Doctrine and Covenants 81:5). ..., with special focus on individuals and families that are most vulnerable, and the greatest needs exist. Often, Church humanitarian aid can be used to respond to neglected crises or locations where many organizations may be less willing to assist."

To fulfill the above objectives The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints donated over $1 billion worldwide in 2022. We will be managing the portion of church funds directed towards projects for north Vietnam in 2024/2025.

We will be replacing Elder and Sister Peterson who have served in Vietnam for the last 18 months. They completed many projects and have initiated about 20 projects that are in-process which we will carry on as we also initiate new projects. Our title will be LDS Charities Program Directors for Vietnam. Initially we thought we would be the only humanitarian missionaries in Vietnam but recently we learned that another couple has been called to serve in south Vietnam. We will be based in Hanoi with some trips to project sites. Our apartment will be our office. The apartment is in a high rise among the Vietnamese people (not a tourist area).

What we will be doing: As Program Directors for LDS Charities in Vietnam we will be working with NGOs (Non Government Agencies) and government representatives for various provinces. These agencies will provide projects that they want to accomplish. We will compare those projects with the LDS Charities goals for compatibility. For compatible projects we will write a proposal to obtain LDS Charities approval. For approved projects we will coordinate with the agencies and contractors to see the project through to completion. At the conclusion of the projects we will participate in a formal handover ceremony.

We'll see how much the above reflects reality once we arrive and get settled! Stay tuned for updates on our experience and the projects we will be working on. Send some luck and prayers our way! 

UPDATE: It is looking like we will be serving somewhere on Temple Square in Salt Lake City for some weeks up to a few months while we wait for LDS Charities to be re-certified to operate in Vietnam. 😞