LDS in Asia and other news

The first Vietnamese families were recently sealed in the Philippines temple. One met the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia when they bought a used washing machine from a Mormon bishop there who struck up a conversation. They returned to Vietnam without knowing the church had a small congregation in Hanoi until missionaries in Cambodia told them about it (how's that for an international program?)

Another article introduces a few of the Laotian members of the church. There roughly 200 at the moment. Humanitarian service missionaries are working there to distribute custom-made wheelchairs and organize water improvement projects. A desalinization project in Micronesia is also briefly mentioned at the end of this one minute video.

In other LDS/aid related news, here is a success story told by a successful participant in the church's Perpetual Education Fund - a microfinance program for small education loans.

The BYU Law society awarded Senator Joseph Lieberman its first International Religious Liberty Award for his efforts to spread freedom of religion across the world. "Sen. Lieberman co-sponsored the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998, which created a commission, an ambassador at large, and a reporting system to monitor and respond to religious persecution." In his remarks, he praised Ambassador J. Reuben Clark for his work declaring that "religion is a fundamental human right"

On a more personal note, he said being Jewish helped him identify with the “sting” of religious discrimination, bigotry, misunderstandings and falsehoods that have too often been directed at the LDS Church.
“I will stand with you,” he said, reiterating that when one group is attacked, all are.