I know the title says weekly email but it's more like Transferly email, here it is for the big group.
Hello everyone! I hope all is well and that everyone is healthy and happy! I certainly have both of those things as I continue to live in paradise. Vietnam is simply amazing. I have almost been in Hanoi (capital city, north Vietnam) as long as I was in Saigon (biggest city, south Vietnam) and I love them both! Far to many people ask me what place I like more and it's hard to answer. I would just barely rather live in Saigon than in Hanoi, but I would also just barely rather spend a tourist vacation in Hanoi. Hanoi really is traditional Vietnam. It has kept the Vietnamese culture very strong even though there are a lot of tourists. I love the food and the History. I get to bike past a huge lake in the middle of the city on the way to the church everyday and it's just a joy to live here.
My companion and I both really love basketball and have found a great place to play in the mornings. It is a place called the new quarter and it has 3 hoops, 1 full court. It is such a great thing that my love for the Lord and His gospel can increase without losing any of my love for the greatest game on the planet!
Life isn't all easy however, we are working hard day in and day out and sometimes even after we have given it our all, we sit down at the end of the day and think that we did absolutely nothing to really contribute to the building of the Lords kingdom in the grand scheme of things. But we just go at it again the next day. But I am learning that the Lord remembers our efforts on those days, I know He does.
There is this Vietnamese dish called Bún Ch? and it is amazing. And this past week, a member took us to eat it at this great place downtown and it was amazing. It's pretty much really good smoked/grilled meats in a super delicious fish sauce. And then you also eat it with rice noodles and it can be eaten with fried eggrolls and lots of greens. It's amazing. I'm trying to learn how to cook Vietnamese food before I come home, there is SO MUCH to learn but luckily my companion knows it all. He is teaching me and I want to master it. But nothing is like the original stuff here. Delicious!
In the last month I got the chance to see some more people from my MTC group that I haven't seen since the MTC, almost a year went by but it was so great to see them.
The scriptures really are incredible and they are the Lords words for us. The living Prophets and Apostles are also able to describe Gods will for us. Lately I have been studying the lives of previous prophets of the church in this dispensation. They all have a different story and it's so interesting. But all of them are just great examples of consistently becoming more like the Savior. The duty of the Prophet to be help others come unto Christ is not his duty because of his calling, but because of his covenants. the same applies to me, I have less than a year left on my mission but I have a lifetime of sharing the Gospel ahead of me, just like the prophets and all those faithfully keeping covenants. The Gospel really is the greatest source of long lasting joy.
-Elder McConkie
