Being More Bold (Week 15)

Hi all! 

I didn't have a lot of time this week to write much, so my parents are going to take some of what I have told them and put that in my blog.

 
 
So, these last few weeks have been crazy busy! Christmas was awesome! My favorite part was calling my family of course! It was so nice to talk with all of them, and I think they enjoyed talking with me too... Of course they did! I also celebrated New Year's last week. I got to go on a zone P Day, to a place called Trang An, and it was a ton of fun! I also participated in a family tradition eating grapes on New Year's. My parents can explain more on that. As a family, we have continued a tradition from Spain that Jenny learned on her mission back in 1987. On New Year's Eve, Spaniards eat twelve grapes, one for every "bong" of the clock as it hits midnight. It is hard to stuff all of them in your mouth, but if you can keep them in without choking to death, it is supposed to give you good luck. It is not bad luck, however, if you do have to spit them out if you are choking. This tradition started in the 1950's when there was a surplus of grapes in Spain. It is a funny tradition, because you are looking at each other as you do it, and grape juice is flowing down your face, etc. 

Elder Watson's (Nghiem's) companion,
Elder Danh, just after his knee surgery

Members of Elder Nghiem's Branch in Hanoi

 

My first Care Package from home finally arrived.
 It took 6 weeks to get here

Anh Nam's baptism day!

As for the actual mission stuff, things are going great! My language skills still need work, but I am improving. And I have actually gotten a lot more confident just talking with people! I learned that people don't really talk to strangers here, and that you just have to keep talking if you want them to respond. Therefore, I will ask them about three questions at least to see if they will actually respond. I know that Heavenly Father really is helping me to be more bold with talking to others. Unfortunately though, I still don't know a lot of what they say, but that will hopefully come with time. And my branch had a baptism last week! Anh Trung is awesome! He attends all the activities, and he speaks English with me, which is always nice. He is also very willing to help with us teaching other investigators, and he does a great job with it. Also, we have a baptism this Saturday for our security guard, Anh Nam. He is also super cool. He also really likes talking with me, and we have found a good connection with chess. I believe I sent my parents a photo of me playing against him... Oh, and he has asked me to be the pianist for his baptism. I am not the best piano player, but I was honored he picked me for it. I know for sure I will be playing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful". Wish me luck.

Playing chess

 

Alright. I do have more things that happened these last few weeks, but I don't have too much time to write more right now. I think my parents might be able to fill in some of the gaps for me, but I will write more next week when I have more time. Until then!

Attempting a nap at the Branch building

Elder Watson/ Nghiem

P.S. After Sam told us that he was able to see part of the set of "Kong; Skull Island" during his visit to Trang An, we had to rush out and buy the movie to watch. The picture next to the "ploat" (plane - boat) made a lot more sense after seeing the show... 

Part of the village set of Kong: Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island set