Some people might think Vietnam was introduced to missionary work by Mormon servicemen who were there during the war, but the first missionary couples sent there by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints didn't arrive until 1993.

Even then, proselyting missionaries were not allowed, but the church called Stanley and Mavis Steadman, of Salt Lake City, along with LaVar and Helen Bateman, of Provo, to establish a presence in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Steadmans recently recalled the hardships they experienced in attempting to harmonize church relations there. The Steadmans and the Batemans were called on a mission to teach English and traveled to Hanoi with a group of doctors going to Vietnam to fix cleft palates over a two-week period.

The Steadmans did not initially know how long they would be allowed to remain in the country, but they did know they would be teaching English since the Vietnamese government was amenable to that idea.



Sometime earlier, Elder Merlin R. Lybbert of the Second Quorum of the Seventy had been involved with donating medical equipment to a Dr. Phan in Vietnam. Elder Lybbert had asked Dr. Phan if there was anything else the church could do to help his country.

Dr. Phan replied that the Vietnamese people needed to learn English, so the Steadmans and Batemans were recruited for that opportunity and were anxious to serve in whatever capacity they could. When the Steadmans' plane arrived in Hanoi, armed guards immediately boarded and the Steadmans were instructed to remove their name badges.

Proselyting was not allowed in Vietnam, but Elder John K. Carmack of the First Quorum of the Seventy had arranged a visit with the Vietnamese minister of education and asked the Steadmans to accompany him.

The stated purpose of the visit was to get the church officially recognized in Vietnam. "They were very cordial," Stanley Steadman recalled, "but they just nodded and said they would take it under consideration."

The Steadmans ended up teaching English every day in two three-hour classes. They were required to meet government officials every three months to renew their visas. They ended up staying in Vietnam for about a year.

Although the church is still not officially recognized in Vietnam, the Steadmans were able to create an abundance of good will. Perhaps their greatest accomplishment while there was producing Handel's "Messiah" with the Vietnamese National Symphony Orchestra.

One book of music that Mavis Steadman had taken with her was Handel's "Messiah." After much red tape and meeting with five or six lower officials, the Steadmans finally gained an audience with the symphony's conductor.

This man had been trained in Russia and had never heard of Handel or "Messiah," the Steadmans said, but upon seeing the music, he immediately recognized its greatness and remarked, "My people have to hear this."

After two months of preparation, it was presented -- in English -- in the State Opera House on two separate evenings. Armed guards were on the premises to watch for any unauthorized actions. Audience reception was overwhelmingly positive, the Steadmans said.

A short while later, the Steadmans received a check for $4,500 from the church to pay the orchestra and the chorus for their professional services. When it was presented to the conductor, he said he had no way to cash the check and it was the Steadmans' responsibility to get the cash. After traipsing all over Hanoi, they said, they finally found a bank that would cash the check.

Looking back on this experience, the Steadmans think it is funny now but the Vietnamese cash filled two large grocery bags they had to carry several blocks through the streets of Hanoi to deliver.

E-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com