Elder Spencer Wilkinson

December 25, 2019 Xin chào ông bà chú cô anh chị em! Hey everybody! Sorry if I missed your emails last week, I was very busy last monday flying to Vietnam, so I didnt have a lot of time to respond to anything, so thank you for your patience. Oh, and I'm in Vietnam now! I arrived in Hanoi late monday night, but then got reassigned the next day to Hồ chí minh city in the south, so that's where I am now. I'm in what's known as the Thủ đức district, which is basically like a mini city within the city. It's where all the colleges and schools are, so we see a lot of students all the time.  My new companion, anh cả Mãnh, is very awesome and good. He's been here for just a little over a year, which makes him the second oldest missionary in all of Vietnam. His name means strong like a tiger, which is pretty sweet.  We are in one of two apartments in all of Saigon with 2 pairs of missionaries. So in our house is also anh cả Năm and anh cả Ta...

An email sent by Sister Chiles December 17, 2019 Dear Families -  It is the wee hours of the morning here in Hanoi, but I know you are probably anxious to know that your missionaries have arrived safe and sound. Well,  they are here!    We had three airport pickups tonight! Our new Assistant to the President, Anh C ả  Sáng, arrived from Ho Chi Minh City first, then Anh C ả  Kiên (Smith) arrived from Cambodia.  He is on temporary assignment in our mission for a transfer or two to get some more experience with Vietnamese before he heads back to work in the Vietnamese branch in Phnom Phenh.  We think it is great to have him!  Our 3 sisters and 4 elders from the MTC arrived shortly afterward. We have been anticipating and preparing for their arrival, and are SOO excited to have them here.     Everyone arrived safely; and all the luggage did as well; so that is wonderful!   Hugs all around, a quick picture, and ...

Chào Anh Chị Em Chú Cô Ông! Hey y,all! Guess what! This week we did this interesting activity in which we practiced our skills in giving directions in Vietnamese. I guess it was some kind of treasure hunt because at the end we got our Vietnamese names finally! So from now on you can call me Anh Cả Nghị. According to my teachers it means energy or vigor, which is pretty interesting. But I looked at the word it's from, nghị lực, and the third or fourth alternate definition was "ginger" hahah, So yeah. Just a coincidence, but pretty funny.  We got our flight plans this week! It's all super real now. We stop in San Francisco and Seoul before we get to Hanoi, and all in all it's over 25 flight hours. We also learned that Presdient Chiles, the mission president, requires that everyone get at least one phone number before leaving the airport. So we'll be going at it right out of the gate! Literally! For some reason, everything has just felt different this...

Chào Anh Chị Em Chú Cô Ông!  Only 13 more days until I leave!  Woo! Yeah!  Honestly, things have been great here but I'm RIP ROARING and ready to say " GOOOOOOOD MOOORNING VIETNAM!"  Anyway, this week was pretty good. Thanksgiving was this week and we got to hear from the apostle Elder Neil L. Anderson and see all of his nice and cool grandkids. I got a nice package from my Aunt Michele (thanks again!) Which really made my day. We spent the evening making some noodle packets for hungry kids, and that was a blast. There was this garlic powder that got into our eyes, nasal cavities, skin, clothes, mind, soul, heart, and personalities, so we remembered the service project all week long! Haha, legit though, it was a fun service project and I loved being able to be a part of feeding some of Gods children. The funny thing is, work only feels like work if you make it that way in your head. I mean, I've had some jobs that just. Were the worst. And sometimes f...

Chào Anh Chị Em Chú Cô Ông Bà!  Each week at the mtc is basically the same,  so this week my email will be a little different. This is a story about Cô Vy, the woman to first translate the Book of Mormon into Vietnamese.  We heard this story this week, and I decided that I wanted to share it with all of you because it's a cool story. We heard it from our teacher, Thầy Vinh, and we also read her own account of the story, which I've included. Please read it, it's a very cool story.  (just ignore my notes, lol) That's about all for this week. Sorry I have to keep this so short, I've been busy busy busy! But that's a good thing. Thanks again for all the prayers and love!  Chào Anh Chị Em Chú Cô Ông Bà! Elder Wilkinson

Chào Anh Chị Em Chú Cô Ông Bà!                                            November 19, 2019 15 November 2019. An important day for Việt Nam and the world. On that day, the church was officially recognized by the Việt government as a real religion. For a bit of context, the government only recognizes Catholicism "protestantism" , Buddhism, and a handful of other local religions. All in all, less than a dozen religions. It just goes to show that having patience and showing respect for everyone ( even if we don't agree with their principles) brings great blessings. In fact,  the government specifically cited the respect of the church for local culture, customs, and communities as a reason for their recognition, so that's awesome. Hopefully, this is just one step in a long line of blessings for the people of Vietnam that culminates, (hopefully) with a Temple. (WOO WOO)...

Chào Anh Chị Em Chú Cô Ông Bà! (Oof that's a mouthful)  Week four at the Mtc is now behind me! That means on Wednesday, I will officially be halfway through my stay here. I doubt I'll ever feel ready to go to Việt Nam but hopefully by then I'll feel more ready.  Things have been excellent and approximately good since my last email. Some dear Elders and Sisters have left on their way, which is sad, but also exciting. And  to be honest, things aren't always cool and good here, but overall I would still say that the experience has been a good one. Yeah, there are hard times, but weighed against all the good things I've learned and the ways I've been improving , I'd still say that it's a good time.  Last Tuesday we got to see Elder Uchtdorf. He came and gave us a nice talk. It was a good reminder that we just can't control everything but we can control our thoughts  our feelings, and our actions. Living a good life is not necessarily about ...

Elder Trewartha and Me at the Temple Elder Fui and Me  Hey everybody! Week 3 of the MTc is behind me and aw YEAH was it nice and ok. It's always hard to remember what happened in the week because every day is just so packed  but I'll try my best.  Hallowe'en was this week, but you probably wouldn't have been able to tell at the MTC because it was just a pretty normal day. Until the evening that is, when some of the sisters and Elders started passing out candy, which was kind of fun.  We had our first full lesson in Tiếng việt this week, and it went pretty well. The lesson type is called a TRC (stands for teach real cpeople) which is where one teaches a returned missionary. The first lesson was pretty awkward, to be honest, because we spent a lot of the time trying to figure out what they were saying. And my companion and I didn't work together very well. But the second lesson went a lot better and we worked together and actually felt the spirit. Whi...

Hey everybody! Week 2 of the MTC was honestly a rollercoaster but rollercoaster are a blast so I guess that's a good thing.  What to say about the MTC? What can be said about it other than it's hay quá?   (That means awesome.) I mean, to be honest, there are times where it's pretty overwhelming, sure, but even the most stressful times help you to grow. I guess that applies outside the MTC also, as long as you have good ways to deal with your stress. And I feel like I do have a good way to deal with it through prayer, my district, and my companion.  Let's talk about that.  How does my companion help me deal with stress?  He's just a random person. Well for one thing he is a great listener, and he has very deep thoughts. He is kind of like an unofficial district leader because he is always willing to help me to give blessings or to serve or to give advice to district members or whatever.  How does my district help me deal with stress?...

Xin Chào! Wow what a week. I'd like to start by thanking everyone for coming to my TED TALK,  hopefully its entertaining and we can all learn something .    This is going to be my first week of nine at the MTC, but it already feels like I've been here for much longer than that (in a good way). A couple of missionaries who have only been here for a week were telling us how much it stinks but I just wanted to say 1. No it doesn't 2. It was weird for me because I thought it would take a while for me to get into the right missionary mindset, but I felt that I just immediately wanted to be a good missionary. It's weird because from the outside it sounds like I've been brainwashed or something, but MY desires and MY wants and needs are just....gone. I just really want to do my best to Serve the Lord and share the absolute joy that I feel with the people of Việt Nam. They are such a beautiful people, and I know their Father wants them to have the joy t...