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Hotter Than Hồ Chí Minh

 Alô mọi người! 


The cooler weather has officially ended here in Hanoi. Fortunately, keeping your phone in Celsius so you don't understand how hot it is helps - but I don't usually see the low 40's in Celsius so I'm getting a bit worried. 

Everyone has returned to their hometowns because of the holiday - Liberation of Saigon (The End of the American War). This week has been slower! 

Last Preparation Day:
Pretty relaxing - we got some good haircuts and went to a fancy burger restaurant called "Chops". Got some Mixue afterwards and did some shopping. 

3 Cafes 1 Day:
After rushing to a morning lesson, Elder Vassantachart and I realized we forgot the key to the building and had no way to get in until 11am when the security guard showed up. After a quick breakfast at the nearby smoothie stand, we decided to go to a nice cafe down the road to do our studies and talk with people. There was a large grand piano on the second story of the cafe, which Elder Vassantachart played wonderfully!

Later in the evening we biked a good distance to meet some friends at another cafe. We had some good discussions and are hoping they come to church this upcoming week after the holiday!  

Brother Kim Korean BBQ:
Here in the Cầu Giấy area there are tons of people living abroad from Korea. My entire complex has everything written in Vietnamese, then Korean, then English. There are two Korean natives in our branch, one named Brother Kim, who invited the missionaries and our friends for free Korean BBQ at his restaurant he owns. It was delicious. He showed us a picture of him feeding missionaries in Korea, and I recognized one of the Elders in the photo from the MTC! (Shout out to Elder Jones). What a small world. Brother Kim called Elder Jones and we chatted for a bit. 

Meeting "Will in Vietnam":
While on lunch, Chị Linh mentioned she thought there was a popular social media influencer in Vietnam outside of a Mixue she walked past. We walked over and met Will! "Will in Vietnam" is his channel on FaceBook/Youtube. He is a French Citizen who travels around the world and makes videos. He was really friendly and we got to chat. 

T-Boned:
Sunday night while biking home I got T-Boned by a car. Honestly - it really wasn't my fault. Unless biking in a completely straight, predictable, safe manner is wrong I don't understand why she hit me. Either she was on her phone, or she was going for an easy 10 points. Fortunately, I just got knocked off balance a bit and didn't fall off! She pulled up next to me and tried road raging at me, but my road rage Vietnamese comprehension is pretty low, so I didn't get much. My bike and I are all good! Hip is a little sore, but it makes for a good story! 
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Spiritual Thought: Our Words Matter
I really, really enjoyed the talk by Elder Rasband this past General Conference when he talked about our words. I loved his invitation: "We can say 'thank you' on the elevator, in the parking lot, at the market, in the office, in a queue, or with our neighbors or friends. We can say 'I am sorry' when we make a mistake, miss a meeting, forget a birthday, or see someone in pain. We can say 'I love you,' and those words carry the message 'I am thinking about you,' 'I care about you,' 'I am here for you,' or 'You are everything to me.'" (Elder Rasband, Words Matter). 

Words have a really big impact on me personally. As I have gotten older I have really found to enjoy writing and journaling. (Hence long emails, haha! Sorry not sorry). Our words really do influence who we are, how we think, and how we treat others. 

I invite you this week to be extra aware of when you can say these nice things. Try to say thank you more, say please, and be kind to others. I meet many people who are simply looking for friends or people to be nice to them. Our words can be a great way to help others feel acknowledged, cared, and loved for.
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Love and miss you all tons! Life and missionary work here in Vietnam is great. We are having a lot of success and seeing growth! 

Love you,
Anh Cả Reynolds








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