Watch the Silver Thread Video (23 minutes) – YouTube / Vimeo

Why did we make the video?

In 2005 or 2006 Thao Tran and Jerame Larsen were discussing the history of the Church in Vietnam and wanted to learn more about those circumstances.  Questions like who were the early members of the church, who taught them the gospel, what were their experiences, what happened to the church and the members since then?  We started to gather information and asking questions.  We found so many touching and heart wrenching stories.  Before we knew it we had collected a lot of information and wanted to share it with our friends and family.  We figured the best way to do it would be to create a video slideshow.  In 2007 we finished the first version of the video.  We’ve since learned that a couple of our dates needed to be updated, corrected some of the translated text and some of those in the slideshow had since passed away.  We updated the text with those dates and small updates, but the video as a whole has relatively remained the same.  In light of the recent progress and growth of the Church in Vietnam, we felt it would be valuable to dust off the video and make it available for others to learn more about the heritage of the Church in Vietnam and how significant these recent events are to the Vietnamese members.

What does the silver thread video contain?

The Silver Thread video captures the story of how the restored gospel was brought to Vietnam.  It covers the service men who helped establish the branches as well as the missionaries that were called to serve during the war.  The early members of the church, branch leaders, the first translation of The Book of Mormon, and their challenges are highlighted.  It also covers the first dedication of the land for the preaching of the gospel by an apostle of The Lord.

Where did the name silver thread come from?

The name was taken from a talk by, then, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, given in a general conference address in 1968.  He identified the establishment of the Church in the Vietnam as a “silver thread” shining through the darkness of the war radiating hope.

Please note: This was a personal project meant to be shared with friends.  We don’t own the rights to any of the photos nor the music.