Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:20 PM
Hello everyone, and Happy Halloween!
I have officially been here at the MTC for 5 weeks, halfway to Vietnam! It has certainly been busy, but things continue to go well. This week, we got to hear from Elder Stevenson on Tuesday which was really cool! He talked to us about trying to be Christlike on our missions. I also have a cool story about him as well. Apparently one Elder in my district, Elder Bowler, has a family connection with Elder Stevenson. Apparently Elder Bowler's dad and Elder Stevenson are friends, so Elder Bowler was able to talk to an usher at the event and actually got clearance to go talk to him and shake his hand, which isn't normally aloud for missionaries at the MTC. None of us could believe he actually got to do so, and to prove his dad was friends with Elder Stevenson, Elder Stevenson took a photo on his phone and sent it to Elder Bowler's dad whose number he already had. How cool is that. Now if only I had an inside connection to one of the apostles... Speaking of that, every Tuesday we have a devotional, and Tuesdays oftentimes have a general authority, such as a 70, and occasionally an apostle. Since it is Halloween, I think we should get to see an apostle... but I am sure that whoever speaks will be great!
I am still working hard on the Vietnamese. I am working quite a bit on tones. They are challenging, but I am getting them. One particularly challenging tone is a dot under the vowel which means the word gets cut short. Our teachers explained it like speaking and getting punched in the stomach at the end. It is hard to do, but I am working on it. On a related note, since we are going Vietnamese speaking we get new Vietnamese names to make it easier for the Vietnamese people to pronounce our names. Our teachers won't tell us what names they chose yet, but they said they have been submitted for print and will be available soon. The names will probably be a strength someone has, although some of the elders in the district like to joke around about how it might be a trait we need to work for, like one elder who says he is going to be elder patient since he has no patience. I am excited to see what they picked for me.
I also don't think I have mentioned this before, but I was super excited that we got a new classroom this week! We used to meet in the old classroom building, but they switched us this week to the new building. Now we can actually move our chairs apart from the desk, and you can put weight on the front of the desk without it tipping over! Not to mention the new buildings are just nicer looking and have better equipment. I will be sending some photos next week of some of the murals they have in the building. I particularly like the one they have of Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea.
I also continue to read the Book of Mormon in my personal study. I am now at the part of Mosiah about Abinadi. I seriously can't believe how much more I am getting out of it reading it as a missionary. I though I got a lot out of it before. I guess I am just more focused reading it now that I am spending all my time either studying Vietnamese, studying the gospel, eating, or exercising.
I am glad to say I am still the elder who receives the most post cards that I know of. My mom has sent me so many, I am not sure how many I have even gotten. It has been nice seeing what my family is up to back at home every now and then.
Well, I think that is about it for this week. As stated, I will try to get more photos of the new buildings before my next email.
Until then,
Elder Watson
P.S. Here are some photos of my new Vietnam mission shirts I got, along with a Vietnamese hymn book which only cost me $0.50! It was a really good deal. I also am attaching a photo of an elder on my floor trying to roast pumpkin seeds for Halloween. He used a clothes iron to heat them up, and a jack o lantern he carved and got the seeds from.
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