Kit-Kats, KFC, Cat, and Chocolate Cake

Dạ alô ạ,

There are only 3 tasty things in the title of this email. Take your guess!

Happy June! I hope everyone is enjoying their current adventure, whatever it may be! We have had a pretty busy and good start to our month. Got a bunch of fun stories too- so let's jump right into it.

Last Preparation Day:

We had a really fun and laid back day. Elder Mai and I went to get some haircuts and then the district went thrifting. The Sisters in our district scouted out four thrift stores to go to. They were really fun! I didn't buy anything, but I did try on lots of sunglasses and hats. I have to admit, my favorite part of going to the stores was the 90's funk they were playing, or whatever random popular American song. One of the shops we went to was full of old military uniforms...? With patches and other military uniform stuff... yeah I don't know. It was interesting. We didn't stay very long, but I am pretty sure everything in there was made from China and not authentic.

Zone Conference:

On Tuesday we had a Zone conference about "Unity", by "Being One in Christ". It is a topic I particularly enjoy. Unfortunately, the first half of the Zone conference I was a little bit distracted. Why? Elder Mai and I were in charge of ordering the lunch, and we weren't really certain if the food would show up for all 26 people.

Backstory: The week before Elder Mai and I went to a little "restaurant" (one of the little side street food vendors) and told them we wanted to order 26 dishes. The lady cooking the food nodded her head, grabbed a pen and wrote our order down on her arm, the time we needed it, and address. Then, we left. We got a phone number - but we never confirmed. (Note, we did this 5 days in advance).

Fortunately, she called us 30min before the food was supposed to arrive and said she was making the order. Some kid on a motorcycle pulled up right on time, dropped off the food, we paid him cash and he left. 10/10 transaction. 2/10 communication. The food came and everyone seemed to enjoy it - success. We sang our special musical number, and then went back to work.

HEY! ELDERS!

A typical Wednesday became a bit more unique when Elder Mai and I left the church to do some language study. As we were leaving, a big Utah family just so happened to be walking outside of the church. Apparently, one of them asked right before we came out, "I wonder if there are any missionaries in Vietnam?" They were shocked to see, there are. One of the men in the group shouted to us, "HEY! ELDERS!" and it about gave me a heart attack. That is something you do not hear much in the Vietnam Hanoi Mission.

We chatted for a bit, and for a fun language study for Elder Mai, we went and did a church tour in English. They really seemed to enjoy it. Especially the air conditioning. It was fun to see their reactions and getting to explain how we do our work here - it was a fun reminder of how fortunate I am to serve here. We gave them some good food recommendations, took some pictures and went our separate ways.

As we ended the tour, we had a small miracle. The group left and someone from the parking garage approached us, asking "how long we knew them". We explained we didn't - but we were all part of the same church. She seemed pretty surprised and was interested to come tour the church. She was surprised that although we never met, we were so friendly. It was a reminder to me how wonderful it is to be connected with others through Jesus Christ.

"It is so hot I am laying on the floor"

Quite honestly one of the funniest, but most relatable things I have heard while serving here in Vietnam. The past week we have been teaching some people from Nigeria who are living here in Hanoi. We called the number on WhatsApp video call, and sure enough one of our friends answered completely shirtless and just laying on the ground covered in sweat. He told us he had the A/C on, fan on him, and even after laying on the ground that he was just too hot. I completely agree with him.

He came to church this week and also brought a friend! We have so much diversity in this branch - I would have never expected to meet all the people that I have so far. When I look back on it, I realize I have worked with: Native Americans, Mexicans, Canadians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Cambodians, Nigerians, people from Ghana, (don't know how they call themselves, sorry! I will learn). - I don't know if I can name them all. What a wonderful experience it has been so far. I can't wait to learn more and meet more people.

Friday:

I am just calling it Friday, because so many things happened:
#1: Elder Mai received his Shoppee order of a massive green screen. I had no idea he bought it - I guess you don't need to approve Shoppee orders?
#2: I started to develop a cold and lose my voice.

#3: I met a pug that lives nearby the church. I have seen her a couple times as we biked by, but I have never had the chance to stop because we were always heading somewhere. Not today though. (For those of you who may not know, I had a pug growing up all my life named Baxter. He was my parents first child). I gave it lots of belly rubs and played with its floppy ears. It was a great day. I may go back on upcoming Preparation Day to go clean the pug. Stay tuned.

#4: Elder Mai and I went to KFC for dinner. It was Elder Mai's first time eating KFC and he said it was good. Then, on the bike ride back I stopped at the store and got a KitKat. I asked Elder Mai, and he had never had one either! He liked the KitKat more than the KFC, which is fair.

Saturday - Priesthood Power:
Started off Saturday pretty tough. We received a phone call from our branch president that a family from Utah was visiting Vietnam, but their young daughter got ill and was having difficulties breathing. They had to travel from their vacation spot to Hanoi to get the 2 year old on oxygen. We went Friday morning to give a blessing, but the hospital wouldn't let us in.

Saturday they called and told us that we could stop in the evening and do the blessing. Long story short - I have a newfound appreciation, respect, and love for those who are in the medical field working with children. The baby was okay, we did the blessing and it was good - but just being in a room full of sick babies was quite depressing. I am so grateful however, that we were able to go and help. Please pray for baby Mayla and her family.

BAPTISM!!:

We ended Saturday with a wonderful baptism!! Our friend Linh was baptized and everything went smoothly. We had a great program and it was really spiritual. She will be moving to Italy in the late summer, so I told her to call me when she does so we can get her connected with the church in Italy!

Feast Sunday:

For a fast Sunday, I sure did eat a lot. We started off Sunday when quite a few friends came to church, which was exciting! Then, we went to Chú Đức house for lunch, which is always an interesting and fun experience. This time, we had cat and chicken. I will save you the details, but unfortunately I have to say dog is better than cat. I only tried a little. After lunch, we got a message that someone in the branch requested a blessing from the Elders, so we went on our way.

We ended up at the house of the "Official Residence of the Republic of South Africa" in Vietnam. It is a family living here in Vietnam, from South Africa. I wanted to ask so many questions - it was so cool - but I had to focus. What was even cooler was the names of the people we were blessing were local South African names. I had no idea how to pronounce them, but they had the "clicks" in their name, too! [Meaning, the linguistic "click" that some languages have. I don't know how to explain it. It is when people make a literal "click" sound when speaking] SO COOL! I had never heard a language spoken like that before.

We did the blessing, and then they offered to feed us. It was hands down, one of the best meals I have eaten on my mission. I am about ready to buy a plane ticket to South Africa if that is what the food is like. It was so much food though. The person serving the food said "You must kill yourself on this food [meaning eating so much that you will die]. Kill yourself!". I forgot there is more than just noodles and hot soup, even though those are really good, too! We met their dog, Bubbles, got some delicious chocolate cake to take home, and then... went to dinner, part 2.

We went to a member's home for dinner which was so good - Elder Mai and I were so stuffed. I ate what I could, but I think I learned what my limit is.
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I'm gonna call it good here on this email. Spiritual thought can be found throughout the stories, and the baptism. :) I hope you are all doing well and having a successful and fun summer. I love you all,

Anh Cả Reynolds