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A Bus To The Beach

 Alo-

Happy February! I hope this month brings you good health, happiness, and success in all your endeavors. [This was an AI-recommended introduction when I started writing my email, so there you go. Maybe I'll just start having Google Gemini start writing my emails]. 

This week was really enjoyable. Despite all of our friends being gone for the New Year, we were able to stay productive and busy. We were grateful to be invited over to lots of members' homes to celebrate and eat together. So, so much eating and food. Vietnam takes #1 for food and meal prep and volume in food in my experience.  Everyday we had a meal with a member or a lovely lunch/dinner from the one and only Richard Pico, Cô Thanh. We are grateful for her service and all she does to feed the missionaries and her massive potluck on Sunday. She goes above and beyond to always ensure everyone is fed and healthy, and when someone is not, it is her top priority to serve them and help them. Although sometimes a little overbearing when she doesn't let us to help her with anything, her service is very much appreciated and seen in our branch. 

We started our holiday on P-Day where we got a lunch at a mall and then when to a big flower garden nearby. Later in the week we visited our branch President house in his hometown and got to have an amazing lunch, meet his family, and have a small tour of his hometown. There was a big carnival and we played some games. 

Wednesday we met as a Zone at "Oceanpark" where we played sports out on the sand. We had volleyball, spike ball, Frisbee, soccer - all the essentials for a fun day on the artificial beach. The weather worked out really well and wasn't too hot or top cold. 

Friday we went to our Elder Quorum President house, who owns a lot of property and a big pond full of fish. We became fishers of... fish, and caught 2 for lunch that day. Other members from the branch came and stopped by for the day, including some friends, so it was and enjoyable time together. Unfortunately, we didn't have a taxi back to the city, so we had to walk about 1.5 miles to the next town over where there was a bus station to ride back to the city. It was absolutely packed with people and we stood the whole 1.5 hour bus ride back. We were troopers. The walk through the countryside was beautiful though, and we loved waving and sharing hi to people. We got back to the church, and our dinner appointment canceled, but after so much travel and Vietnamese food we were perfectly content ordering a Domino's Pizza to the church for dinner that night. 

Saturday we had dinner with a family in the branch and I somehow got involved in helping the father importing pig products from Illinois into Vietnam because of a  business venture he wants to do. I'm not entirely certain what his plan is, but I told him I can help him write an email in English to contact them. 


Spiritual Thought: Alma 29:3
3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.

The past couple of weeks I have been focusing on gratitude and trying to focus on how I see the Lord guide me. This scripture really stood out to me, especially when it says "I ought to be content". I think a lot of times in life we can be grateful for things, but still not content and satisfied with what we have. As we are continually striving to be better each day, we can forget to recognize our growth and progress. We can be come extremely self-critical and unrealistically demanding of ourselves, all because of unachievable high-expectations. However, we can choose to be kind to ourselves just as we would to others, and have patience with ourselves. We can choose to be content with the things we have, and look forward to what is coming in the future. 


All is well here in Hanoi. See you next week! 

Anh Cả Reynolds 



Oceanpark

A Richard Pico meal - she is the lady in the far back corner

Outside our branch






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