Political Pottery

Alô mọi người,

Thank you for all the wonderful birthday messages and wishes. I had a great birthday and look forward to the next while I am here! This week was busy with lessons, making new friends, and preparing trainings.

Last Preparation Day:

Last preparation day was fun - we went to a big town called Bát Tràng which is an entire town dedicated to pottery. We walked around and learned all about the history of pottery and ceramics in Vietnam. I'm not a big pot head haha but it was interesting. I'm still trying to figure out how they decorate all the pottery after they shape it and fire it.

I was feeling a bit down that day - but Heavenly Father helped me out. While we were sitting at lunch a couple from Europe sat down next to us. The woman was from France and the man was from Spain, but spoke perfect Italian. They were on a long trip here in Vietnam "enjoying the cheap food" and "touring around". They were really friendly, until I called the city "Hồ Chí Minh" "Sài Gòn" and the French woman went on a small tangent about how I am supporting colonialism by calling it Saigon. I understand where she was coming from - I appreciate her being culturally sensitive. I won't get into the details, but if you think about it for a minute, you will see the irony. Anyways.

We went and did some pottery where I didn't do half bad of a job for my first time. I certainly made a bowl-like shape - unfortunately, while I was spinning the wheel I cut my finger pretty good on some dry clay. No worries though, because the old woman came over and washed my finger in the bowl of clay water (super dirty) and then covered my wound with the clay to stop the bleeding. I don't remember that being in Boy Scouts, but it worked. Stay tuned to see if my fingerprint comes back.

In the evening we went to the Mission Home for dinner and spent time with President and Sister Hughes, and their son and daughter-in-law who were visiting. They made a roast (oh how I have missed roast) with some cupcakes to celebrate my companions birthday.

21:
Yup, then I turned 21 this week. I blew out someone's phone flashlight over a pile of half-eaten mangos, which was pretty fun. I loved it. I wish I could show myself 1 year ago what this next birthday would've looked like. I would have been shocked.

Spiritual Thought:
I gave a talk this week in sacrament meeting about how missionary work has blessed my life. I talked about how missionary work has blessed me to trust in Heavenly Father's plan, and the reality of miracles.

Don't worry, I got some photos this week. Make sure to check out the album.

Love and miss you all,

Anh Cả Reynolds

Comments

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