Southern Side-quest

Alo,

This past week Elder Trường and I finished our trip down South and are now returning our way back to Hanoi. This week we will finish the Hanoi Zone Conference and have orientation for two new senior missionaries. We are excited to meet them! 

After returning from the Mission Branch Sunday night, we spent our Preparation Day with the Thủ Đức district. We went to an amusement park which had some fun rides, and an "ice room", which was actually pretty cold, even with my experience in Bemidji. The room was just this giant freezer that had massive statues and sculptures made of ice, which was impressive. We had fun taking lots of pictures and having a fun "summer trip". 

Tuesday we got right back to work hosting a devotional with President Lund from the Young Men Presidency and Elder Tai from the Asia Area. They gave a wonderful devotional regarding the power of our callings and prayer. Following the devotional we held our missionary Zone Conference. It was great to see everyone and hear departing testimonies. 

Wednesday we did an exchange in Thủ Đức and managed to run our entire area virtually. We stayed busy teaching lessons and trying lots of the delicious southern meals in the area. Afterwards, we headed to Bình Dương for the night. 

Thursday - Sunday Elder Trường and I stayed in Bình Dương to prepare for two baptisms of friends that were in the mission branch. We arranged for the services to be held on Sunday, so we thought we might as well stick around. We did an exchange, in which Elder Trường and I got to both go with our trainees for some "Father - Son" time. This area has a dense Chinese population, and almost everywhere I went I could hear and read Mandarin. One time while we were leaving the church, two women were standing outside speaking Mandarin, and one of them said out loud: "I've always wondered what this building was..." to which I quickly helped answer their question :)). They were surprised, but one of the women ended up coming to English Activity that night. It was a fun miracle and a reminder to me that my Mandarin isn't completely gone.

Unfortunately, one of our friends was suddenly unable to make it to her baptism on Sunday (because she lives in a city 8 hours away by bus and had something come up) but she notified us the day before. We were a little sad, but regardless are still very impressed with her desire and commitment to even attempt it. She still wants to be baptized, it just might have to be another couple weeks. Our friend em Nghi was still successfully baptized, and we had a spiritual service. Shoutout to the Bình Dương Sisters for making the poster and program. 

This email is long enough - I'll attach my departing testimony below for my spiritual thought. We are staying busy and having fun. Let me know how you are doing and any updates.

Love you, 

Anh Cả Reynolds

Departing Testimony ---> Testimony