VUFO and LDS's Missionary Training Center Continue to Coordinate in Charity Activities

At the reception, Phan Anh Son, President of the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), provided the delegation with an overview of Vietnam's development over the past 40 years of Doi Moi. He discussed the foreign policies and guidelines of the Party and the State of Vietnam and the Vietnan-US relations and introduced VUFO and its member organizations. He also highlighted the people-to-people diplomacy activities between Vietnam and the US conducted by VUFO and talked about the guidelines, policies, and laws related to religion in Vietnam, as well as the current state of religious activities in the country.

The delegation enjoyed an exchange of Hanoi's culinary culture with young cadres from VUFO and visited Bat Trang Craft Village to experience Vietnam's traditional culture firsthand.

According to the discussion, the Missionary Training Center (MTC) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints annually dispatches missionaries worldwide to engage in social volunteer activities and support the Church's religious efforts in host countries. In Vietnam, with approval from the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, the Church sends 1-2 groups each year to support Church activities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. At the end of October, 2024, the MTC sent 14 young trainees to Vietnam to undertake volunteer tasks for two years.

The reception for the MTC volunteer delegation was VUFO’s initiative following its visit to the MTC in the US state of Utah as part of its working trip to attend the International Law and Religion Symposium held by Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, from October 5-11.

This was a significant people-to-people exchange activity, fostering relationships with the missionaries as "goodwill ambassadors" of the Vietnam-US relations, and contributing to the promotion of exchanges, especially among the younger generations of both countries.