Elder Reynolds in Hanoi

  Author's Note: Hi everyone, Elder Reynolds here. You might have noticed you got a little sneak peek of this email already with a different title - " Member Ministering " . Apparently, the technology both on my keyboard, Google, and other things had decided to work against me. Somehow, Gmail sent an early draft of the letter I wrote first, deleted the rest of the beautiful letter I wrote, and then decided not to follow the schedule time I set it to and deleted itself. Quite unfortunate and my apologies for spamming your inbox.  Alo- Hope you are having a great end to your month! This week was full of random events and stories. Which is pretty typical for missionary work.  Preparation Day: Last Prep day was pretty slow and relaxing. We got lots of rest. We went shopping with the Adams at the supermarket and helped them navigate the store and where to find the "good stuff". We did some of our own shopping and then went and got lunch together. The Adams treated us...

 Alo, Hope you are doing well and wishing you a nice beginning to your fall and some cooler temperatures. I'll miss all the leaves turning colors! Fall always reminds me of going to school and doing work at the library.  I think I literally wrote this same thought in an email last year while I was in the MTC... One Year: I'm a little late to write fully on this, but yes - I have now been a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for one year now. People ask, "Has it gone by fast? Slow?", and to that I would answer- it's been a year, haha. It's had challenges and successes. Good and bad. Overall, it's been pretty fun. I'm grateful for all that has happened, what I have learned, and look forward to next year.  This Week: This week was pretty standard but had some small adventures, so I'll just do a quick list: Elder Kotter and Elder Nelson had MLC, so I went to the Hà Đông area. I was with Elder Tolley and Elder Luân, two of my...

  Alo everyone!  This is going to be a short email! This past week was pretty good but nothing much happened. Last Preparation day we went to the "Old Quarter" to do some shopping and got some good Indian Food. We walked around all the shops preparing for the Mid-Autumn Summer Festival and visited a pagoda. Then, I moved into my new area, "Hai Bà Trưng" and got settled into the new apartment. Wednesday to Saturday was a lot of lessons and meetings with our friends. Sunday was the branch potluck after church, so I got to meet a lot of the members. Being in a trio is fun! It has taken some adjusting, but we teach really well together and are unified. I look forward to serving here this transfer! It should be a good time for a lot of growth and a change of pace.  Spiritual Thought: This week I was reading in Mormon in The Book of Mormon. I really enjoyed a couple verses I found in Mormon, Chapter 9 which talked about who God is and his plan for us. Give it a read this ...

Alo,  Alright - this has been quite a week. The Google Photos is stocked.  Ready?  Preparation Day: Our district went on a fun little excursion out in the far western borders of our mission zone. We went to a river/waterfall called Suối Ngọc Vua Bà Park. We had an adventure time tromping through the jungle and hiking up the hills to the waterfall. Then it hit me: Tromping through the jungle in Vietnam, wearing basketball shorts, short sleeves, and no bug spray, next to sources of water, might not have been the best combination.  While standing on a rock, I saw a couple little worms crawling around on my shoes. The worms moved really funny though - it looked like they only did so with their head. I bent over to get a closer look and immediately knew what it was - Leeches. One of the things - I hate most - in life. I yelled "Leeches!" and started tap dancing to get the leeches off my shoes. My companion had quite a few on his shoes. The sisters were safe since they cho...

  Alo everyone,  Wishing you an amazing start to the month of September. I hope everyone on Duolingo got your monthly quest badge.  Forgive me this email for my lack of witty comments and stories - this past week I have just been doing a lot of writing and I am feeling a bit fried on typing, haha.  My companion and I were busy working with our friends and contacting lots of referrals which was good. We exchanged to the "Hai Bà Trưng" with the Zone Leaders for a day which was interesting. I realized my entire time being in Hanoi I have only spent my time in 2 areas out of the 4. It was refreshing to see other parts of the city and meet new people. I only have one more church building to visit in the north before I visit them all! This past week the weather has been really cool. We have had blue skies, some big rainstorms and lots of wind. It was relaxing to bike around and not feel super hot. The traffic was also lower this week because of independence day, which is a...