Loas

August 23, 2009



Dear Ones,



The Vientiane Branch in Laos is one of few, if not the one and only, branch of the Church that provides transportation to and from Church meetings each Sunday for the members of the Church and their friends. They come from more than one hour away by a rickety blue and white bus which stops at the villages along the way to pick up people waiting to come to Church. We’ve wondered at times if they come because they’re converted to the Church or if they just like the trip to the big city, the nice building we meet in, and the meal after the block meetings. We know they love being with each other. We think they’re committed to Christ…and the more they learn and feel, the more their testimonies will be based on the true principles of the Gospel. They are amazing pioneer Saints. Today the bus didn’t come. We missed our beloved friends from the villages.



Without having all the details yet, it seems that policemen called on the bus driver last night and told him he was not to use his bus to bring people into Vientiane for Church. Then…the police visited Brother Kingkeo and Brother Khamyom, two members who have vans or trucks that have been used to transport people in the past, and told them the same thing. The ultimatum was that IF they used their vehicles to bring people to Church they would be put in jail. Nobody came from the villages except the Inthavong family--they own a tuk-tuk--and Sister Bounmy who rode a public bus. Our attendance has been 100-110; today there were 44 people…no investigators. There were 2 Young Women and 5 Primary children. There was room to spare using only two mats for lunch…usually there are 5. Koungnang said it best, “Today is a gloomy day. Even the sky is gray.” We feel strongly we should visit our friends at the Lao Front for National Construction. We’ll see what additional information surfaces when we see President Khamphee and discuss things with him during our planning meeting. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. So this part of our week is “To Be Continued.”



The past week was a good one. There is always our teaching. Monday, our school director told us that there would be no classes on Wednesday because it was an activity day. “The students will play football and volleyball and have lunch together. They want to practice speaking English.” We didn’t hear a lot of English being spoken, but it was a fun activity and a very good lunch. Elder Riser is an impressive volleyball player for an old man! They couldn’t comprehend that we don’t drink beer (Lao Beer is the beverage of choice in social settings). And we are better friends now because they see that we sincerely enjoy being with them . . . and we do.



We did well signings at four schools in Xaythany District on Tuesday--Elder and Sister Fountaine’s first well signings. We ate a late lunch at a restaurant on our way home. It was Elder and Sister Fountaine’s first feu--and maybe their last. Sister Fountaine especially really struggled. Elder Fountaine has been sick since, although it may not have had anything to do with the lunch. I like feu, but this was different than usual--meatier, which is always a problem. When it was served President Khamphee immediately said, “Oh! I forgot to tell them not to put the insides in,” and he fished it out of all our dishes and shared it with the officials who were with us!



We did a lot of errands Wednesday. Thursday we visited two schools to deliver school kits and install practice boards. We completed the last three classrooms at Somphaphan’s school, made lots of pinwheels, and distributed the last school kits for the current school kit project. We also were treated to a high-end-Lao lunch by the school faculty. Elder Riser handled all our Friday English classes while I attended a meeting at the Ministry of Health with the policy making powerhouses who are working on the Mother Newborn Child Health Integrated Package that is to be rolled out next month. It was an experience that we hope is helpful as we work with Neonatal Resuscitation Training in November. Representatives were there from all the Lao health entities, WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, JICA, UNFPA, and a bunch of other acronyms I don’t even know the meaning of. The meeting was professionally run, to the point, and impressive. It’s a good effort. Implementation is another issue, as is reporting and accountability.



That’s our week in brief. Two thoughts to end:



We are unbelievably blessed in the United States. We choose whether to attend Church or not, based on our individual testimonies, or sometimes just a whim. We can choose. We seldom consider what a great blessing it really is to be able to go to Church and to partake of the Sacrament each Sunday. Now you know that there are places in the world where that choice is not taken for granted. Today there was no choice for more than half our Branch. We value our right to attend Church meetings and all that means a lot more today and forever. May we never forget.


“Trust God for great things; with your five loaves and two fishes, He will show you a way to feed thousands.” We are each a vital part of the Lord’s storehouse. He can use whatever we have to contribute to accomplish His great purposes when we invite Him in to and allow Him to direct our lives. He can do much more with us than we can do on our own.


We send our love to all of you. Have a good week!



Hugs,



Dad and Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister Riser, aka Scott and Jolene