Alo,
Alright - this has been quite a week. The Google Photos is stocked. Ready?
Preparation Day:
Bet you didn't see that one coming.
Really - I am grateful for Jesus Christ and him being my anchor in times of trials and big storms. Although I make a lot of witty comments in my emails, all of these amazing experiences and miracles are due to the Lord and his timing. Through his plan, I know we can find stability and peace in a world that seems to always be spinning.
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 chose to wear jeans and long sleeves. Or so they thought they were.
After getting to the waterfall we were all pretty hot and dehydrated so we went back to the city a little early. While on the drive we saw cows, a massive snake cross the road, and found a lovely little leech friend who tagged along with one of the Sisters on the car ride home.
We went to a Korean BBQ for late lunch/dinner and then the sisters taught me how to sing some traditional Vietnamese music.
Exchange Miracle:
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 chose to wear jeans and long sleeves. Or so they thought they were.
After getting to the waterfall we were all pretty hot and dehydrated so we went back to the city a little early. While on the drive we saw cows, a massive snake cross the road, and found a lovely little leech friend who tagged along with one of the Sisters on the car ride home.
We went to a Korean BBQ for late lunch/dinner and then the sisters taught me how to sing some traditional Vietnamese music.
Exchange Miracle:
Last week I went on an exchange with a Zone Leader, Elder Kotter. We went to find an inactive member. We knew the apartment complex she lived in, the floor, but not the door/number she lived in. This complicates things, because we don't knock doors in Vietnam - doing so could get us in some trouble.
Once we got to the floor, we were told there was a door with lots of stickers on it which would be their apartment. However, all the doors were the same. We had 1-2 good knocks before we would have to call it quits. Elder Kotter and I chose a door and went to knock - no answer. The door next to the door we just knocked, however, sounded like someone was home because we heard shuffling around on the other side of the door.
So, we went over and knocked. The door opened and it was an older gentleman - not the person we were looking for. Behind him however, was a massive wedding photo on his wall with the two people we were looking for. Their names were right on the picture - we knew we had the right apartment. Turns out, the older gentleman was the father of the man we were looking for and knew a little bit about church. We look forward to continuing to work with them and help them come back to church.
Fourth door on the fourth floor? Nah. Try 2nd door on the 20th! Take that! (I promise I am humble).
Then, we tried going home that night and the engine of the bus we were riding in exploded. Luckily, it seemed like they knew this would happen, as the bus driver had 6-7 bottles of water ready to go and fix it. Average Vietnamese bus experience.
Super Typhoon Yagi:
Once we got to the floor, we were told there was a door with lots of stickers on it which would be their apartment. However, all the doors were the same. We had 1-2 good knocks before we would have to call it quits. Elder Kotter and I chose a door and went to knock - no answer. The door next to the door we just knocked, however, sounded like someone was home because we heard shuffling around on the other side of the door.
So, we went over and knocked. The door opened and it was an older gentleman - not the person we were looking for. Behind him however, was a massive wedding photo on his wall with the two people we were looking for. Their names were right on the picture - we knew we had the right apartment. Turns out, the older gentleman was the father of the man we were looking for and knew a little bit about church. We look forward to continuing to work with them and help them come back to church.
Fourth door on the fourth floor? Nah. Try 2nd door on the 20th! Take that! (I promise I am humble).
Then, we tried going home that night and the engine of the bus we were riding in exploded. Luckily, it seemed like they knew this would happen, as the bus driver had 6-7 bottles of water ready to go and fix it. Average Vietnamese bus experience.
Super Typhoon Yagi:
You probably saw there was a bit of a storm here in Northern Vietnam. The Supertyphoon Yagi (which I think sounds like the name of a really bad Korean BBQ Seafood Buffet Restaurant here in Vietnam) cannonballed straight into the coast of Vietnam and continued directly into Hanoi. It was cool watching the clouds spin super fast and eventually enter into the eye of the storm partially. Now, the only weather storm I need to see is a tornado and my list will be checked off.
To prep our district went to Big C (Vietnamese Costco) to get some food and water in case things went down for a couple days. It was PACKED. Worse than Walmart Toiletpaper during COVID - people were panic buying, shoving, and not following any lines. Our 1 hour trip became much longer.
After our trip to the storm a big thunderstorm came - separate from the typhoon. We spent 1.5 hour trying to get a taxi to take us back to the apartment. Fortunately, we got lucky and got a nice ride back home. The traffic was crazy - you would've thought a zombie outbreak happened xD. We got back home and prepped our food and water for the next day of the storm.
The storm started in the early afternoon. The wind really started to pick up and we could watch the trees down below blow around. Our apartment faces inside toward the complex, and we are on the 10th floor, so we didn't actually see or feel too much wind. We had power the whole night and it felt like nothing much happened. We stayed inside all day calling people and doing online lessons.
Waking up the next morning things seemed pretty normal. We had church online in all the branches of Hanoi and did sacrament at home. Our Branch President ended the second hour early and invited everyone to go out of their homes and serve the community - find branches, leaves, other debris to clean blocking the road, etc...I put on my jeans I packed for the first time on my mission and Elder Bird and I went out on our bike to go help people.
The wind was strong. Almost all the trees here in the Cầu Giấy area have been uprooted. Power lines and internet cables are everywhere - the trees take down a lot of stuff with them. Elder Bird and I went to our church building. We were a little worried since our church building is in a bit of a weird spot with lots of trees, but the building was okay. The street was covered in tons of branches and wet leaves. We put our jeans to good work and grabbed our brooms and started sweeping the streets. We started from one end and went allllll the way down - people were shocked seeing the two foreigners sweeping the streets.
A family who runs a chicken and rice shop down the street from the church had a *massive* tree fall onto their sidewalk and block the road. We went over and helped them clean the road and move the debris. We met lots of friends and it turned into a good finding experience. They knew who we were and appreciated us coming to help them. The shop owners were kind and gave us lots of free sugar cane juice to help us stay hydrated while we were hauling logs and sticks across the street.
By the end of our work I couldn't tell if I was covered in sweat, the rain, or both. I knew I was covered in lots of little ants however - because they kept biting me. It was an awesome experience.
Transfer News:
To prep our district went to Big C (Vietnamese Costco) to get some food and water in case things went down for a couple days. It was PACKED. Worse than Walmart Toiletpaper during COVID - people were panic buying, shoving, and not following any lines. Our 1 hour trip became much longer.
After our trip to the storm a big thunderstorm came - separate from the typhoon. We spent 1.5 hour trying to get a taxi to take us back to the apartment. Fortunately, we got lucky and got a nice ride back home. The traffic was crazy - you would've thought a zombie outbreak happened xD. We got back home and prepped our food and water for the next day of the storm.
The storm started in the early afternoon. The wind really started to pick up and we could watch the trees down below blow around. Our apartment faces inside toward the complex, and we are on the 10th floor, so we didn't actually see or feel too much wind. We had power the whole night and it felt like nothing much happened. We stayed inside all day calling people and doing online lessons.
Waking up the next morning things seemed pretty normal. We had church online in all the branches of Hanoi and did sacrament at home. Our Branch President ended the second hour early and invited everyone to go out of their homes and serve the community - find branches, leaves, other debris to clean blocking the road, etc...I put on my jeans I packed for the first time on my mission and Elder Bird and I went out on our bike to go help people.
The wind was strong. Almost all the trees here in the Cầu Giấy area have been uprooted. Power lines and internet cables are everywhere - the trees take down a lot of stuff with them. Elder Bird and I went to our church building. We were a little worried since our church building is in a bit of a weird spot with lots of trees, but the building was okay. The street was covered in tons of branches and wet leaves. We put our jeans to good work and grabbed our brooms and started sweeping the streets. We started from one end and went allllll the way down - people were shocked seeing the two foreigners sweeping the streets.
A family who runs a chicken and rice shop down the street from the church had a *massive* tree fall onto their sidewalk and block the road. We went over and helped them clean the road and move the debris. We met lots of friends and it turned into a good finding experience. They knew who we were and appreciated us coming to help them. The shop owners were kind and gave us lots of free sugar cane juice to help us stay hydrated while we were hauling logs and sticks across the street.
By the end of our work I couldn't tell if I was covered in sweat, the rain, or both. I knew I was covered in lots of little ants however - because they kept biting me. It was an awesome experience.
Transfer News:
We also got our news for the coming transfer. I will be moving to a new area here in the North, Hai Bà Trưng, and be serving in a trio with the zone leaders - Elder Kotter and Elder Nelson. I will still be doing DL and SML stuff which is nice. I've never served in a trio before, so I am excited. It is gonna be busy - I look forward to it. I will have served in 3 out of the 4 areas in the North. Going for 4/4!
Spiritual Thought:
Helaman 5:12.
Bet you didn't see that one coming.
Really - I am grateful for Jesus Christ and him being my anchor in times of trials and big storms. Although I make a lot of witty comments in my emails, all of these amazing experiences and miracles are due to the Lord and his timing. Through his plan, I know we can find stability and peace in a world that seems to always be spinning.
______________________________
Enjoy your week, pray for Northern Vietnam.
Love,
Anh Cả Reynolds
Photos [Make sure to give it a peek]: https://photos.app.goo.
P-day Adventure
Clean-up Crew: Zoom in to see the rain
Here was Ethan's position versus the storm - extra points if you can find a Galaxyquest reference of the "green dot and red dot" scene ;).
Here is the satellite picture that his Italian mother kept ringing her hands over and showing her calm engineer husband...
Here are some of the trees that fell down - there is a video of them helping the shopkeepers cut up the tree that fell. Ethan said it was a 30 year old tree and the storm ripped it out of the ground, roots and all, like it was nothing.
Big C Store Trip with the Sisters
Bus engine on fire
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