Coming Home Soon! Details here!

Here is a letter to my family sent from the mission president!

Oct 3, 2018
Dear Brother and Sister Jeppsen, and all the Family of Elder Ly,

Please find attached your son's travel itinerary for his trip home. As we mentioned in the previous letter, please don't send a copy of your missionary's travel documents to him and please don't spend time discussing these details with him. Our goal is to keep him as focused on the work as much as possible these last few weeks. We will give him a copy here and ensure that everything is arranged for his smooth departure and safe travel from the mission field. Elder Ly has been doing so well these last few months and we know he is anxiously engaged in the work trying to give his all prior to his return home. I have loved working closely with him and helping him learn to serve with all his heart. I really feel like he has grown so much in the few months that we've served together, and feel lucky to have be able to get to know him so well. He really is a fine young man and you can be very proud of his service here in Vietnam. The Binh Doung branch is really starting to grow and his help with this has been so important. In recent weeks they've doubled the number of people attending sacrament meeting in this small corner of the Lord's vineyard.

If you have any questions about his travel, please direct them to our Mission Secretary at
2052393@ldschurch.org. She will be happy to assist you.
Sincerely,
President Ross A. Chiles
Vietnam Hanoi Mission

(The itinerary is not attached to the blog for safety reasons.  Elder Ly will be arriving home on November 1st at 7:28 pm, Terminal 2, Delta Airlines Flight 198 originating in Hanoi, VN, coming from Seoul, Korea!  Please join us at the airport if you can!

Conference was Fabulous! Now for Halloween in Vietnam!!

Wow! Conference was just wonderful! I thought President Nelson's talk on the name of the Church and why we call it by it's full name was great! It's also so awesome that they will be building a temple in Cambodia! That will be closer for the members here in Vietnam! Elder Holland also gave a great talk about forgiveness. I always love to listen to the Tabernacle Choir for sure! It would be so awesome to be in the Tabernacle Choir! That was so cool that the missionaries from the MTC got to perform at General Conference! I really love one song that the Tabernacle Choir did, which is actually a primary song: "I will follow God's plan for me." The lyrics from this song are important for us to understand: My life is a gift; my life has a plan.

My life has a purpose; in heav’n it began.

My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth

And seek for God’s light to direct me from birth.

I will follow God’s plan for me,

Holding fast to his word and his love.

I will work, and I will pray;

I will always walk in his way.

Then I will be happy on earth

And in my home above.

This past Saturday and Sunday, we watched General Conference at the church, and we had a wonderful miracle from the Lord: we had 11 investigators, 2 recent converts, and 1 less active member attend the Conference from our area/companionship!

Do you have any fun plans for Halloween? We definitely do here! We are planning a special event night at the church for Wednesday October 24 where people can come to practice English and learn about Halloween! We normally have our free English Activity every Wednesday at 7:00 PM, but this will be a special Halloween event night that will start earlier at 6:30 PM. Elder Partridge and I will be doing Halloween Bingo! The sister missionaries will be doing a trick or treat activity, and the other elder companionship will be doing musical chairs to Halloween music! Also on this same day will be my last zone conference.

My companion and I currently have five investigators with a baptismal date: Chú Hải, Em Khang, Em Vương Anh, Anh Nam, and Anh Linh. I will just share about one of them, Chú Hải: He is actually our security guard at the church in Bình Dương, but he only comes to work there on Sundays for church and on Wednesdays for the English activity. In other branches where I've served, there is normally always a security guard at the church, but here is different. Anyway, Chú Hải is learning about the Gospel with us now, and he has a real interest in the Book of Mormon! He even got another security guard to come and work with him yesterday so that he could come up to watch the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference! The last lesson that we had with him, we set a baptismal date with him for December 23, 2018! He is a really nice guy, and does a great job as security guard!

As far as the horses at the church go, there are often times when we see them in front of the church. We currently have a senior missionary couple here in the Bình Dương Branch, Elder and Sister Braithwaite, who will actually be going home on Tuesday night. Sister Braithwaite likes to feed the horses. After the Saturday morning session of General Conference, we went outside and I pet one of the horses! 

Something cool: I now have a "My Family" pamphlet in Vietnamese "Gia Đình Tôi" for family history, so I can show that to Ông Nội and Bà Nội when I return home! I also have all the pamphlets in Vietnamese that could help them see and learn more about the Gospel!

Testimony Time:

I really love the hymn "Sweet Hour of Prayer," and there is a line in that hymn that I find very important: "I'll cast on Him my every care, and wait for Thee sweet hour of prayer." I just love that no matter what we are going through in life, we truly can cast on Him our every care, and know that He will listen to and answer our sincere prayers. I also love another line from this hymn: "In seasons of distress and grief my soul has often found relief." Our souls truly can find relief from the challenges of this mortal life as we turn to our Heavenly Father in sincere prayer. It is my testimony that we really can turn to our Father in Heaven in any time and in any circumstance and communicate with Him through sincere prayer. I testify that as we make daily and heartfelt prayer a part of routine, that we will find relief for our souls, and we will draw closer to God. We are His children, and He wants to hear from us. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Ly (in Vietnam-Anh Cả Dũng)

Here are some pictures!

1. Our English activity turn-out for the Basic Group this past week in Bình Dương.

2. With our investigator, Chú Hải, after the lesson where we invited him to a baptismal date!

3. General Conference Group on Sunday (right before eating lunch in-between sessions).

4. Out to dinner eating Bún Chả with the other elders (Elder Quốc and Elder Chính), an investigator (Anh Nam-on the left), and a member (Anh Duy-on the right).

5. With two of our more recent investigators, Em khang and Em Vương Anh!

Picture Time!

1. Cơm Gà Xối Mỡ-basically rice with fried chicken :)

2-4. Working on helping our recent convert, Em Huy, and investigator Em Tú, prepare talks.

5. Being anxiously engaged in the work of the Lord!

Here are just some things that are going on with me: I had my temple recommend interview with President Chiles, and I've got a new recommend (in Vietnamese). It will be good for three months after I get back from my mission. We also had Zone Conference in Sài Gòn, and at the beginning of the conference, Sister Chiles had us write down any questions or things that we wanted answers to. I wrote down this question in my study journal: "How can I truly come to truly love the work?" I received one answer during the conference that was so clear: If I wasn't loving or enjoying the work, then I just needed to get out and do the work!

1. Picture of our apartment.

2. Elders in the Bình Dương District.

Hello everyone! Xin Chào from Vietnam!

Miracles from this week: An investigator that my companion and I have been working with (his name is Chú Tú), passed his baptismal interview on Saturday, and he will be baptized next Sunday! He is in his 40's, and he speaks really good English (he is a Vietnamese person, just thought I'd clarify that). Another one: We have an 11 year-old recent convert named Em Huy, and he is so cute! He gave a talk today in sacrament meeting that we had helped him prepare for. He was so brave and he went up and gave the talk all on his own with the piece of paper that he wrote his talk on. It was awesome! Another cool thing that happened yesterday: A recent convert from the branch named Anh Hà invited me to be the one to ordain him to the Melchezidek Priesthood. That was the first time that I ever did something like that. It's cool, because when I was in my first area in the mission with my trainer (your trainer is your very first companion in the mission field), we were teaching Anh Hà and his family (they were living in Sài Gòn at that time). My trainer and I were not able to get them to be baptized while we were there. Eventually though, Anh Hà was baptized in the branch that I'm currently in, and he and his family moved to Bình Dương. So, it's really cool, because they were in my first area, and now I get to see them in my last area as well! Anh Hà has helped us in lessons too, and his daughter is getting baptized soon! Another miracle: We have been encouraged by our leaders to go outside of our apartment for companion and language study, and also for weekly planning. My companion and I did this one day and went to a cafe area for weekly planning. This man named Anh Kiệt started talking to us, and we had a good conversation with him. We invited him to our free English activity and to sacrament meeting. He came to sacrament meeting yesterday and stayed for Gospel Principles class! We think that he will start learning!

Testimony Time:

I would like to share my simple testimony that I know that the temple is the Lord's house, and that we can truly feel peace and the spirit when we go there. I love the lyrics to the song "I love to see the Temple: I love to see the Temple. I'm going there someday to feel the holy spirit to listen and to pray. For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young. This is my sacred duty." Please make time to go to the temple when you can, because it will bless your life, and it is worth the sacrifices to make it there. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Pictures:

1. Sunday dinner at the senior missionaries' apartment with our investigator Chú Tú who will be getting baptized next week!

2. Sleeping in a hammock for nap time (first time doing that...).

3. With investigator Chú Tú.

4. Phở xào bò (stir-fried phở noodles with beef and vegetables.). Delicious!

This week (week of 9/24/2018) my companion and I had a wonderful opportunity to see our investigator Chú Tú be baptized and confirmed on Sunday. I had the privilege of confirming him a member of the church, so that was really a great opportunity!

1. At our investigator's (Chú Tú) baptism!

2. Chú Tú, Anh Duy (baptized Chú Tú), and me. 

3. At Chú Tú's baptism!

4. Our Branch Activity at the park!

5. Cooking bacon (perhaps for one of the first times in my life...:)

Exploring Tunnels and New Investigators! September 2, 2018

This will be a quick email today, but don't worry because I included pictures! I'll share a quick miracle with you that happened this week: On Saturday night, my companion and I went to a bookstore in the mall (there is a big mall next to our apartment). I talked to a guy named Anh Thuận, and I invited him to our free English activity on Wednesday nights. I also invited him to come to sacrament meeting the very next day, and he came! He has free time on Sundays, so he stayed for the Gospel Principles class afterwards, we met with him for a lesson afterwards, and he is now a new investigator! Heavenly Father truly is preparing His children to accept and learn about the Restored Gospel!

I would strongly recommend a talk for you to read when you have time. It's called "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. It's a talk that he gave at BYU. Read it and let me know what you think.  The Lord's Grace is sufficient for all of us (read the talk).

Love,

Elder Justin Ly (Anh Cả Dũng)

1.At Củ Chi Tunnels with my companion, Elder Partridge.

2. It was Em Huy's birthday (He is a recent convert).

3. A feast for Em Huy's birthday

4. Going into a tunnel!-Củ Chi Tunnels