February 2, 2014
Chuc mung nam moi!
(Happy New Year in Vietnamese, except I don’t know how to put the accent
marks on here). [Chuc..the u has an
upwards accent mark Mung…the u has a
backwards c over it and then a downwards accent mark over that nam…the a has a u shape over it, or a smile
shape moi the o has a backwards c over it and an
upwards accent mark over that]
The Lunar New Year began Friday, Jan. 31st. We heard fireworks going off as we left the
mission office Friday evening. It seemed
strange to go to church today and having people wishing you “happy new year”,
when it was Feb. 2nd. By the
way, this is the year of the horse.
The New Year Celebration for the branch is being held next
Saturday, Feb. 8th at noon at the San Felipe building (our
building). It is a stake event. We will be dressed in traditional Vietnamese
clothes, and will get pictures. We are
also singing a Vietnamese song about Spring with the members of the
branch. It is called Xuan da ve, which
means Spring has returned. We stayed
after church today to practice it.
Today at church, Brother Alex Tam shared a scripture. It was from Isaiah 43:5 “Fear not: for I am
with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west.” He said this scripture is important to him
because he came from the eastern countries to the west. And to go along with it, he shared a
scripture from 2 Nephi, about journeying to the promised land. He feels that they were brought out of
Vietnam to the United States to be able to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ….here
in the promised land. He feels very
blessed to be able to live here, and to have the gospel in his life.
Last Wed., Jan. 29th, we went to the dentist….Dr.
Martin Judd. He is in the Crawford’s
ward. While there, we were encouraged to
get an electric toothbrush to help with Gary’s plaque problem. So now we are learning how to use it.
Saturday, we went to Costco.
I don’t know if we ever want to go on a Saturday again! But, we don’t have many options, either that
or right after work which we hear is crowded too. Parking is CRAZY! Driving around and around waiting for someone
to pull out so you can park! There are
just WAY too many people here. We will
not miss this when we go home. Too many
people, cars; parking spots are narrower here….no exaggeration. Others have commented on it too. Our car is not large, but you have to be
careful opening the door when you get out, so you don’t hit the car next to
you. We have already noticed a ding on
our car from someone else bumping it with their door. GRRR!
And it isn’t like you can park far away from everyone….there isn’t a far
away spot! Otherwise, we would and just
walk. Everywhere is always full.
Friday night when we left work, we decided to go to Chiles
for dinner. It was delicious! I had
chicken enchiladas and Gary had chicken fried steak. So grateful for gift cards!!!!
Gary closed 4 apartments and opened 3. He was VERY busy! But then, so was I because I had work to do in opening and closing the apartments on the computer.
Weather is cooler today….50’s, and for the next week I
think, though that could change. The forecast changes daily. We have had a little rain, and some more is
forecast. California needs rain badly,
so it is welcomed.
I see more blossoms daily.
Saturday, I went for a ½ hour walk out of the apartment complex, and
passed a house that had daffodils and grape hyacinths blooming. Trees are beginning to blossom. On Jan. 25th
the tree by the parking lot where we park was full of blossoms…..crazy, I
know! I don’t know if that is early or
not, but we did have some warmer weather earlier than usual here, and that may
have triggered plants thinking it was spring.
Oranges and grapefruit seem to just grow year round. I have never seen an orange tree without
oranges on it. And I asked Sister
Clayton about it, since they have been hear nearly a year and a half now, and she
said she doesn’t remember the orange trees ever being without oranges and in
blossom. They just keep growing
apparently. Spring is supposed to be here for sure this month.
Elder Layton has his kidney surgery on Tuesday, February 4th to remove his right kidney that has cancer in
it. Hopefully, after the surgery he will
be okay. That is what the prognosis is. This coming Wed., the Clayton’s
will help at the institute, and the next Wed. we will help. Then, if needed after that, we can still
rotate helping. The Cattron’s are taking
over the job of putting on the Wed. night dinner that the Layton’s usually
do. The Cattron’s are usually the
helpers, so we will be the helpers for them.
We sure love our young missionaries! They are so loving and appreciative of all we
do to help the mission. I always keep
candy in the office for them when they stop by.
In fact, that was one reason to stop at Costco…..I stocked up on candy!
I just want to wish you all a wonderful new year, full of blessings of good health and wonderful things happening for you!
Chuc mung nam moi!
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