Working Hard and Learning in Cambodia

My second week went super great! I am starting to understand people more and more now. I can kind of follow the conversations now. I had to give a talk in church on Sunday.  A real talk.  I think it was a good 7-10 minute talk too!  I could tell when I said a word wrong because a few people would laugh. That is just the culture here, but I am learning!  I haven't gotten discouraged or anything because I know that one day I will be able to speak the language as long as I try hard to learn it.

There's no down time. We wake up at 5:30, exercise, eat breakfast, get ready for the day, iron shirt or what not, start studies at 7 til 10, leave the house, come back around noon for lunch, go out again, get back at 8, plan, eat, get ready for bed and write in my journal, and off to bed!

Ha ha, we walked around the market some more today... Pig heads on the table, the whole legs, chickens that have only been plucked, and fish flopping around because they won't kill animals.

I think that there are just about as many bugs inside my house here as there are on the outside of our house in West Valley. Lol. We have killed a lot of ants.

I don't know if the demons are poisonous, and I really don't want to! ha ha! They are a little bit hairy. They are FAST. I mean fast. You cannot hit one on the first try. Sometimes we will take a lighter and the aerosol can of bug spray to them... :)  They are completely disintegrated after being hit with it.

I don't believe that any house out here in Kampong Cham has an address! LOL! It makes it really hard to get to new people's houses.

Ok, this is a picture with 3 of our investigators in it. The older man in with the orange collar is Sok Jia. His son is on the far left with the silver shirt and BOM on his lap. His name is Yiang. And the boy in the yellow shirt is Hong. He is a neighbor.  There are 2 families. Sok Jia has 3 sons, and 2 of them are baptized (just earlier this year),  him and his other son is not. I don't know what has happened to their mom.  The other family are all members.

Going to Cambodia

Oh my gosh!!! Today's the day! After almost 6 months of waiting, the time has come! And after 2 and a half months of seeing missionaries come and go, it's finally my turn to go! YAY!!! It doesn't quite seem real yet, but I am sure that it will soon! Ha ha! I am super excited to head off tonight!

I have made it safely to Cambodia, and it is just absolutely wonderful here!  Our flights went really well, and I was able to sleep! The roads in Phnom Penh are like driving in Mario Kart. Literally. There are no rules, and people swerve all over the place, and people on their little scooters everywhere... ha ha! Awesome though! Not quite as hot as I thought it would be, but I guess they said that today was a cooler day. It's wonderful here, and I love it!
Love,
Elder Alex Kuhn

Tenth Week in the MTC

I GOT MY FLIGHT PLANS ON THURSDAY!!! :D :D We leave on June 14, 2011, and our flight from Salt Lake City leaves to Los Angeles.  We have a layover in LA, then we fly to Hong Kong.  We then have a layover in Hong Kong, when we leave for Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  We should arrive in Cambodia at 10:30 am on June 16, 2011!!! I am so excited, and I can hardly wait until we get to leave in a week!  I went to the temple today and it was wonderful! I am sad that I only get to go to the temple one more time in the next two years. I really will miss it. So on Friday I went with Elder Clark to his doctor appointment off campus. There was a possibility he had a hernia. It was so interesting to leave the MTC! Ha ha! I haven't been in or ridden in a car for two months, and I was wide-eyed and curious to see the "real world."  I can't believe that I leave for Cambodia in a week. It just doesn't quite seem real yet... I mean I've known I've been going for 5 and a half months, but it's actually happening now!!! Yay!!  I learned about the culture. I learned just how important it is not to point your foot at someone, and especially don't stand on top of a Buddha's head. Your feet are considered dirty, and your head is considered sacred (why you don't touch others' heads). When you say hello and clasp your hands together in front of your face, the height or level of your hands shows your respect to people. Typically the tops of your fingers should be about with your nose. Everybody loves food! If you didn't eat yet, they will always invite you to eat with them. But we have to tell them no because they are too poor. But the people are so giving, they will just take care of you like you are a king to them, and our teachers have made sure to tell us to remember to be humble while we are over there because they will treat us very well. I don't think I will sit on a chair for two years...they have mats that they always lay down when a guest comes over, and you sit on the mat.  When you hand something to or accept something from someone, you always do it with 2 hands. If they are too far, you can reach across with one hand, but your free hand goes to the front of the shoulder of the arm that is reaching. It shows your respect and your reverence for that person and the object. You never toss or throw anything, it is disrespectful. So we will see how I do when I get there!  My well-being is completely in the hands of God.

Ninth Week in the MTC

Suasdei Everyone!  I can't believe that I will be headed off to Cambodia in two weeks! It is super exciting to think about! We should be getting our travel plans on Thursday, and I am super excited about that too! I can't wait to see exactly when we leave, where our layovers are, and an approximate time that we'll get there!  So on Wednesday we had our malaria instruction. Nothing really to worry about. The doctor said that we just take the doxycyline when the mission president says we need to take it, usually it will be in specific areas. The city, Phnom Penh doesn't have the problem that the rest of the country does because of all the mosquito abatement programs. We wear bug spray all the time, and try to coat our clothes in permithren, and just be obedient. That's the best we can do. If I do get it, I probably won't die. The mission president will have more of the details when we get there. Play it logically and try not to get bit is what I got out of it!
I can't believe that it has rained this much, it's really unusual! Crazy stuff!  I am definitely looking forward to an outside gym tomorrow!  I get to host the new missionaries again on Wednesday.
This week we are learning about  the culture.  I can't wait to see what new things I learn.
I hope that this week ends well for you, and that you enjoy the weekend too!

Eighth Week in the MTC

Hello everyone!
This week has been a wonderful week, and I have been learning so much about the language and the gospel this week. My language is just coming along super! About two weeks ago I couldn't speak the language very fast; I had to pause after each word, and I stuttered a bit. I also still needed to use English words quite a bit. But over the last week, my language skills have gone way up! I can speak with quite a bit more fluency (not a ton, but I don't have to pause after each word) and I don't have to use English quite as often! I am just learning tons of words. The hardest part has been teaching the lessons. We have to focus on the needs of our investigator, and the Spirit while teaching, so we can't really focus on the language at all. When we run into a word that we don't know, we have to try and find our way around it in the lesson! Sometimes you can't find a way around it! Like this past Saturday at the T.R.C., I was teaching the Plan of Salvation with my companion, and I needed to say the next part of the plan, or the next step, or what happens next, or something like that, and I just couldn't find a way around it, so I just had to switch around a little bit, I hope that I didn't confuse my investigator too much.
Can you believe that I have been in the MTC for 55 days?? That is insane! I can't believe that time has gone by so fast. I am so excited for Cambodia! We leave in exactly three weeks from today! Hooray! 
On Wednesday I had the opportunity to host! It was a wonderful experience, but sometimes it was really hard to take the missionaries away from their families, but it was awesome to be the first person they met at the MTC! It was great to see the excitement and joy they have as they enter their first "field of work" in the mission. I hosted 3 elders and 1 sister. The sister I just helped take her things to where the other sisters were waiting to help her with everything. The experience was just super rewarding, and I am glad I had the opportunity to do that! We would greet the missionaries at their cars as they pulled up, and unload their luggage for them, and watch them say their goodbyes (this was the hard part), and then take the missionaries to the door of the main building and drop them off. The missionary would go through the building and get their name tags, and a few other items. I would walk around the building with all of their luggage, and wait for them to come out with their name tag and envelope with their information on it. I would take them to their residence hall, have them grab their scriptures, Preach My Gospel, and note-taking materials, and we would be off within 5 minutes. We would then go to the bookstore to get their bag which has their learning materials in it, and I would take them to their classroom where their teacher would be waiting, and I would leave them there! Quite a quick process, that's for sure. I remember when I went through it, it was all just kind of really fast, and like wow... ha ha! After I dropped them off, I would go to pick up another missionary. It was raining quite a bit that day! The volunteer said that she had been doing this for 2 years, and it had never rained like that in 2 years. Lucky me! Ha ha! No, it wasn't bad at all, and besides, I need to get used to the rain!

Seventh Week in the MTC

Last Tuesday, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke to us in our devotional! It was awesome! I love it when an apostle comes and we get to just feel the wonderful spirit that they have with them! Elder Andersen started his talk out by saying that on Thursday (May 12) when he reported to the Quorum of the 12 and the First Presidency about his speaking at the the MTC, there would be a sigh in the upper room of the temple because they all love to come down and speak to us. Elder Andersen had such a wonderful talk that I am just going to copy my notes from my journal into the email:
The Lord will never, never, never let you down. Mosiah 2:41 if you will learn to trust in your Heavenly Father, and remain faithful, He will bless you both temporally and spiritually. A mission is the best way to learn how to do this. Even the goodness of the Lord does not keep us from trials or from sorrow- even the prophet. Ether 12:6 we receive a stronger witness AFTER our faith has been tried. "As your understanding of the Atonement increases, so will your desire to share the gospel." Why is this? 2 Cornithians 4:18 Don't be surprised if people don't understand what you teach, because they can't see it. they are learned, and built upon line upon line, precept upon precept. Mosiah 3:5, 7-11, 13, 17. The Book of mormon tells over and over again the atonement and importance thereof. The atonement of Jesus Christ comes alive in the scriptures. As we read again, new things will come to our minds with power if we will not reject them. The merits, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah. What does that mean?
Merits- the power of the resurrection. Meet many people who have had a tragedy in their lives. You will be a great messenger from God. John 11:25-26; So many are unsure about life after death. Luke 24:5-6, 38-39 Resurrected.
Mercy- What is it? Why is it? We can be forgiven from sins- because of the mercy of Christ, we can stand, clean, before our god. mercy of Christ. Teach it. "If a person hasn't suffered, he hasn't repented...He has got to go through a change in his system whereby he suffers and then forgiveness is a possibility." -Spencer W. Kimball. Think of times when you repented, and then youfelt clean again! How wonderful was that?!
Grace- A strengthening or enabling power. A miracle is a grace of Christ. How can I...? the grace of Christ will lift us so we can do it. Ether 12:27- my grace is sufficient for those who humble themselves. Enos 1. We will see the Lord lift us to capacities that we did not know we could reach. and then we think about others only, and truly forget aobut ourseves, and we can be instruments in the Lord's hands. We cannot comprehend the fulness of the atonement in our mortal state. Astonishing for even the Savior. Thy will. Descended below all things, that he may comprehend all things. Suffered the winepress of the wrath of the Almighty god. the merits, mercy and grace will touch every soul on this earth. Let our name tages be plaques of honor.
After the devotional, I had the opportunity to shake his hand! It was a great experience. I said, "Thank you!" and he replied, "Thank you for letting me shake your hand." It is so wonderful that they take so much time for us missionaries.

It was such a wonderful treat to hear from Elder Andersen. He is truly an Apostle of the Lord!

 

Sixth Week In The MTC

I have had a great week here at the MTC! We had a few nice warm days, which was wonderful. I got to go out to the field, and there I played sand volleyball. I got to take my shoes off and play around with everyone in the sand playing volleyball. It was a blast!
I am trying my best to keep track of stuff in my journal! I think I have filled around 70 pages in my journal so far. My companion and I are doing really well! We still get along great, he is like my older brother. I love the MTC because the Holy Ghost is here so strongly.
The language is going really well! I am still learning how to read well. I think I read about the same speed as a kindergartener reads, maybe a first grader. There are just so many letters to remember that it takes a lot of practice to know how to read. but I am definitely getting better! My prayers in Cambodian are getting to be longer, and I am getting better at speaking and understanding, and I am trying to expand my vocabulary as much as possible!
My Mother's Day went really well. It was a little bit hard, especially in sacrament meeting when my branch president (bishop) shared some thoughts on mothers and a scripture. Sniffles all over the room after that, and there were only about 40 of us in the room. And then, of course, to close the meeting we sang Love at Home... ha ha, I didn't shed tears, but my eyes watered up, and it made it kind of rough. But I just have to remember why I am here, and I still get to hear from you guys often :)  My performance went really well in sacrament meeting.  Sister Seamons (the branch president's wife) said that I did an amazingly wonderful job, and she wished that you could have been there to hear it. She said that you must be proud of me. Everybody really loved it :)
I was trying to get a good picture of me in the mirror, but I couldn't get a really good one, but they look more candid, so that's good!
When you do your best, it IS all that really matters. Remember to always rely on the Lord in everything you do, and remember that He will help you with everything. I especially realize this as I am on my mission now. He is working wonders that I had never even really thought of. And prayer. It is a powerful, powerful tool. For anything. The last two mornings, the showers have been ice cold, and I can't take a shower when the water is that cold. So I turned the water off, prayed, had faith, and when I turned the water back on, it warmed up! Amazing! And then always remember to thank the Lord in ALL things.
I hope that all is well with everyone, I hope that things go well this week!

Love,

Elder Alex Kuhn