Elder Spencer Wilkinson

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...