This week was a really great week, and I had a great opportunity to go
back to Kampong Cham and have a zone conference. My how things can
change in one year! So many things have changed in Kampong Cham. It
makes me wonder what will have changed when I go home. It was great to
meet with a few members there, and visit them. What a blessing it was to
have been able to serve there. The people are so wonderful and loving.
On Tuesday I
had a chance to go on an exchange with Elder Mornh, and then Elder
Grimnes needed our help, so he took us out to deliver a bike to a family
that was 16 miles out. It was an absolutely beautiful ride. When we
walked up to the house I was very humbled with the circumstances. No
mode of transportation, and the father is in a wheelchair, paralyzed
from the waist down because of a few shots he was given by an untrained
doctor. They have nothing, and they want to go to church so bad. He said
that he still feels the Spirit in his life, but that he feels that
there is something missing, and that is from not being able to go to
church. I was grateful to the former missionary who came back and then
left his bike here for this family. They will surely be able to use it,
even if it means selling it for the money. There was a special spirit in
the lesson as we taught, and I only hope that the Lord will pour out
his blessings on that family so that they have enough food to eat. I am
grateful that I had the opportunity to meet them.
Saturday
we had some service in the morning and helped a Sister put in a fence!
That was fun. Then we helped the Senior Couple translate for their class, and
helped with mutual, which was a blast! We played a game called Mafia.
Sunday
was a good day too. A lot of recent converts and less actives made it to
church, which was great! That evening we had mission prep class, and it
is turning out to be a lot of fun!
It is amazing how many people have dreams here. I think one of the
reasons is that in this culture, dreams typically have a deep meaning. A
recent convert's daughter had a dream that her mother stayed after
church, and Christ was there with her, and she wouldn't go back home.
She was wondering what that meant? In Cambodian culture, if someone you
know is with god, you need to go to the wat and do a little praying
thing to ask to keep their spirit here so they don't die. So I think
that one reason could be that. Another is because they never dream about
white people, and when they have a dream about Christ, it can very well
be the answer to their prayers, or ours for them! Sometimes you need a
good hard 'slap' to wake up.
Sister Rytting finishes her mission on September 21.
I can't believe it. She has 4 proselyting weeks left. And that means
that I will have been out on my mission for 18 months. That is
ridiculous! I can't believe it! Time is just flying by so quickly.
