The Harvest is Great

 Dear Family,

I've been meaning to share this little story for a few months and I keep not getting it done, but this seems like a good time. This is a big week for our family as we begin new experiences and adventures in "The Harvest." 

A few weeks after we arrived here in Hong Kong you might remember that I got to help with catering for the Mission Leaders Seminar. That meant that we got to meet all the current serving mission leaders including the Hughes who are serving in Vietnam. They went out of their way to find us and they were so kind, even expressing how honored they felt to be meeting one of the first 4 missionaries to go to Vietnam. They asked lots of questions and we had a very lively conversation. As part of that they shared with us this painting that was commissioned by President Lewis Hassel who was one of the very last missionaries to serve back in the 70's when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. He was serving with us in the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission when he was called to be mission president of the newly formed Vietnam Hanoi Mission. This painting hangs in the Hanoi Mission Office. 



The Hughes were so excited to share this and they made sure to send us a digital copy. along with the written story that goes with it.  According to the history they sent, this painting, titled The Harvest is Great, "was commissioned at the commencement of the Hanoi Vietnam mission, March 1, 2016, in honor of the many men and women whose work had made possible the time of harvest in missionary work in Vietnam. From the first Christian missionaries in the late 1600s, including Alexander Day roads who Romanized the Vietnamese language and others who translated the Bible, to the missionary soldiers of the 1960s and 70s who introduced the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to their fellow soldiers and Vietnamese counterparts during the latest war, to the early saints who sacrificed mightily to prepare the ground, translate the book of Mormon and other scriptures and nurture the earliest congregations of saints, the story of the harvest in Vietnam is one of remarkable drama, toil, and the intimate involvement of the Savior."

While many of those mentioned are in the background, in the foreground are Vietnamese saints that Dad knows and loves; President The, Sister V, Brother Vinh, along with Elders Posey, Van Orman, Holloman and, yes, Christensen. If you look closely in the left corner you will see a missionary carrying wheat sheaves and if you've seen pictures of Grandpa as a missionary you will know that this is him.

It's a beautiful representation of what missionary work is all about and to the vast majority of people who will see it it will be a painting with nameless people, except for He who watches over all the Harvest. As it should be, the Savior is the focus.

As I write this you are literally gathering together at the church in Millcreek as we prepare to make another family offering to this great work. Today we celebrate Jak as he ventures into formal missionary work in Guatemala. What a great day!! He will represent us all, but most importantly he will represent the Savior. Doesn't that just make you want to smile?!

Today is Jak's day, but please don't forget there are a thousand little ways you are all are doing your part; you do it every time you show up with a smile to someone who needs you, when you are kind, when you help with the dishes, when you support each other at music and sporting events, when you show up at YMYW when you'd rather be doing something else, when you go to the temple, when you serve in the community with integrity, when you are honest at school...

To be honest, as I now sit here late at night watching my zoom link into the Millcreek meeting house my heart is too full for me to say much more, so please humor me as I end with my love for you all. I'm so grateful to be serving my own little mission here in Hong Kong, I do it because I believe that sharing the good news of the gospel is worth the small sacrifices it asks of us. Thank you for your support as our family team now grows to three.

I love you so much,

 Grandma/Mom

PS The rest of our week was blessedly uneventful, just more pictures of good food, nothing that can't wait till the next letter.

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