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2020 Vision

Xin chào ông bà chú cô anh chị em!

Hello everybody! Sorry that I missed the big email last week, we decided to play soccer for pday last time and the time just kind of slipped by! (And in case you were wondering, yeah, Vietnamese people are really good at soccer, we got our trash handed to us)

Anyway, the last two weeks have been very good. Things have been a little slower here the past couple weeks because of finals and Tết, which are  both super stressful for all the students here in Thủ Đức. HOWEVER, this coming week we managed to schedule a lot of appointments with some interested people from our english classes, which is great. 

I guess I should explain about our english class. Most people in vietnam know at least a little English, and a lot of kids learn it in school. So we have this activity to help people to practice their english skills. I have this sign that i hang on my backpack that says "free english" and so many people come to talk with us every day! It's a great way to meet lots of awesome people. 

Neither new years or christmas was very big here. For most Vietnamese people,  they were both normal days because everyone is just so excited for the lunar new year. TẾT is kind of like everybodies birthday, because everyone gets one year older with the new year. And everybody goes back to their hometowns to be with their families to celebrate,  so it's pretty fun. 

Anyway, I had my first exchange this week, which went well. Definitely learned a lot. And I tried intestine for the first time, which was actually not bad. 

One thing that has really helped me through this slower time is remembering to give it my best, even if I at first dont see any results. That can be one of the hardest things to do, not just in missionary work but in life. Trying to repair a broken relationship with no visible success, trying to study and learn without knowing how much better you are getting, putting in the work to improve a bad habit and then relapsing. It's all pretty hard. But the thing is, no effort is really wasted. Just because the outward results are not yet visible doesn't mean that they aren't there. Maybe being nicer to that person has helped them see you in a better light, even if they dont show it. Or maybe just trying to study has given you a better work ethic. Trying to put off that bad habit has helped you build better habits. Just because you cant see the seed putting out its roots doesn't mean it isn't growing. 

Anyway, My brother kept a count of all the trucks which he saw in Sweden. He got a pretty low number, but I think I can beat him. So far the truck count is 4. 

Some Vietnamese words:

Game-game 

Stress-stess 

Snack-snack 

Copy-copy 

Anyway, I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support! 

Elder Wilkinson



New years day we had dinner at the branch presidents house. 

I took the selfie.The burden of being the tallest

This is really random, but herbal tea with sweet rice and beans is actually really good! 





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