So Phnom Penh! Last week when I came I was shocked at just how little Kampong Cham is, and how few things there actually are there. Phnom Penh is pretty darn close to an American city. I went into the first supermarket that I have been to in close to four months. I was shocked! There are so many good things here that I didn't know about, even if I won't ever buy them because they are pretty expensive. Like I saw a box of frosted flakes! But it cost $7.34! We also went to the phsaa thmei (new market) and there were a lot of cool things there. We went to the Russian market too (we went today too) lots of cool things there. We looked at movies in the market, and I could buy harry potter 7 part two! And cars two, and rio, and any other movie in the theater, lol. But they aren't good quality yet because they are so new. But movies are only $1.50. We went to the mission home and the first words out of Sister Snyder's mouth were, "Wow! You have dropped a ton of weight!" I was like I guess I have!" So that was a big eye opener as to how much weight I actually have lost. I went proselyting in the city with Elder Elder, one of the assistants. We went to the church to teach Khmae! The church house was beautiful. An actual church building; I almost cried when I saw it. So pretty. Very modified to Cambodian standards though, which was pretty cool! Meaning that it is super open. After we taught at the church, we went across the street to a family of recent converts. I sat on furniture, they sat on furniture, there was a coffee table in between us, and a computer on a desk. And we spoke English. I couldn't get over all that! I've never had any of that. It was a very different experience. On Saturday, the next day, we got KFC for lunch! And ate it on the way home on the bus. Ha ha, it came with a side of rice, vegetables, and a fried egg instead of corn, mashed potatoes, and a biscuit. But I had a great time in Phnom Penh, and I am having a great time today too! A fairly good turnout at church; there were 67 people there on Sunday! Yay! I have to tell you about something funny from yesterday! My companion and I had to run home really quick to grab a the game Uno for FHE, and my companion ran upstairs and didn't see me go in the house with him. But I went into the fridge and grabbed a piece of fruit and went back outside and was eating it. My companion came out, froze, and looked at me. Then he asked what I was eating, and where did I get it. I was so tempted to say, oh, it was just over there on the ground, but I just said, it's grapefruit. Ha ha, good thing too, because he thought it was a piece of garbage cause he didn't see me go in the house. Ha ha!
English class is going well, we are reading Harry Potter! I am pretty sure that Hong will be getting baptized this Sunday; I am super excited! He is too! He's a good kid.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Establishing the Gospel
I can't believe it has been over three months already. It is crazy to think about.
I really didn't have any cool adventures this week, but I did have a good week. We have about 10 investigators now, and we may have a baptism or two on the 24th of this month!! They have to go to church for all three hours, three weeks in a row before they can get baptized. They are struggling with that. A lot of members actually struggle to stay all three hours too.They just don't quite understand yet. The church is so young here, and people aren't sure what to do. If the missionaries left the area, the branch would die in a couple months. We are going to try and get home and visiting teaching going, because right now, we and the branch president are the home and visiting teachers. So lots of work in the branch. So that is a big part of what we are working on as we teach less active members and what not.We have been working really hard with the members because there is a lot of inactivity here. We had 74 people at church the first week I was here, then 64, 57, and last week we only had 56 people at church. So we are working on helping people become more active by being friends with them, and as we are doing that, people are giving us referrals. Pretty cool how it works!
The Lord is definitely taking super good care of me. I have been so blessed with good health, and it really isn't as hot as I thought it would be. I am learning and growing so much, and I am able to communicate okay. I am understanding much, much more, and pretty much everything that my companion says, I understand. I am doing a lot of different things than I was expecting, but when Dallin H. Oaks addressed us in the MTC, he said that we are supposed to establish the church! So that is what we are doing! Ha ha, I am having fun doing it, and enjoying serving :)
I really didn't have any cool adventures this week, but I did have a good week. We have about 10 investigators now, and we may have a baptism or two on the 24th of this month!! They have to go to church for all three hours, three weeks in a row before they can get baptized. They are struggling with that. A lot of members actually struggle to stay all three hours too.They just don't quite understand yet. The church is so young here, and people aren't sure what to do. If the missionaries left the area, the branch would die in a couple months. We are going to try and get home and visiting teaching going, because right now, we and the branch president are the home and visiting teachers. So lots of work in the branch. So that is a big part of what we are working on as we teach less active members and what not.We have been working really hard with the members because there is a lot of inactivity here. We had 74 people at church the first week I was here, then 64, 57, and last week we only had 56 people at church. So we are working on helping people become more active by being friends with them, and as we are doing that, people are giving us referrals. Pretty cool how it works!
The Lord is definitely taking super good care of me. I have been so blessed with good health, and it really isn't as hot as I thought it would be. I am learning and growing so much, and I am able to communicate okay. I am understanding much, much more, and pretty much everything that my companion says, I understand. I am doing a lot of different things than I was expecting, but when Dallin H. Oaks addressed us in the MTC, he said that we are supposed to establish the church! So that is what we are doing! Ha ha, I am having fun doing it, and enjoying serving :)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Learning Every Day
We had our p-day switched this week. The District Leader (my companion) and the Zone Leader, Elder Ballard (He lives in the house with me, and his companion is Elder Hall) left yesterday afternoon to go to Phnom Penh for some leadership training. Usually on Thursday mornings, we do weekly planning, and get ready for the next week; it's a super important couple of hours that needs to be done with your companion, so we switched our weekly planning day and our p-day. So, Elder Hall has been my companion since yesterday afternoon. We also had to take our companions to the bus stop... what a sight we were with our companions riding on the back of our bikes! Ha ha! It was pretty difficult to ride my bike with my companion sat on the little platform on the back of my bike, but there were quite a few people staring at us, and I was pretty much laughing the whole way!. Ha ha, it's great that Elder Hall is my companion because he was in the MTC with me, so you have two brand new missionaries out proselyting... we are doing pretty good! Yesterday went really well, and I can tell you that we were definitely being watched over and helped by the Spirit. I would say it is a miracle that we both understood about 90% of what was said!
So, what a week it has been! Pretty busy! Last week on Wednesday, we went and did some service, stoonging (planting rice). Ha ha, yup, I got to work in a rice field! Man, that was an adventure! Ha ha! We dressed up in our non-proselyting clothes and took our shoes off, and stepped into the flooded and super muddy rice patty. It was teeming with little crabs, frogs, spiders, and who knows what else, but it was way cool and fun! The missionary work is going wonderfully. If all goes well, by the end of August, we should have 4 baptisms. Obviously people that were being taught before I got here, but I am glad that I get to be a part of the instruction.
So, what a week it has been! Pretty busy! Last week on Wednesday, we went and did some service, stoonging (planting rice). Ha ha, yup, I got to work in a rice field! Man, that was an adventure! Ha ha! We dressed up in our non-proselyting clothes and took our shoes off, and stepped into the flooded and super muddy rice patty. It was teeming with little crabs, frogs, spiders, and who knows what else, but it was way cool and fun! The missionary work is going wonderfully. If all goes well, by the end of August, we should have 4 baptisms. Obviously people that were being taught before I got here, but I am glad that I get to be a part of the instruction.
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