January 26, 2010

It’s been a tough week. Still lots of people this week. But one of our investigators has gone completely down hill. She was supposed to get baptized last week but she's tanked all of a sudden and so we have to keep working with her. Other than that the month of February should be filled with baptisms. We have two in a week or two. And, a family of 4 after that. I love that family. It’s a mom and her 3 sons. They are ages 12, 10, and 7. So it reminds me a ton of Nick, Matthew, and Nathan. It gives me a piece of home every time I go visit them. We have another investigator who should be getting baptized too. But he goes to Branch 7 every week because its closer to his house. So we told him he HAS to go to Branch 12 and he said that he would try to go this week. So we'll see how that goes.

Transfers are this week. Elder Um is leaving. He's been here for a long time. My new companion will be Elder Chiang. He is Khmae. And he is amazing too. I knew him well before. We're going to have fun serving together. He knows a ton of English. So we're going to have to work something out so that we can speak in English at times so I can help him and so we can speak Khmae at times so that he can help me.

I've started learning Khmae in only Khmae. I use the Khmae=Khmae dictionary only. No more Khmae-English for me. So now when I have to translate for the senior couple on Sunday its hard because I don't know words translate to in English. But I can spout off 4 or 5 different words that mean the same thing in Khmae. It’s kind of cool. I'm getting pretty confident in my Khmae speaking. Still don't understand everything. But I absolutely love this language. It’s a bunch of memorizing, reviewing, and memorizing some more. I'm going to learn this language fluently, and it’s completely through God's power. How awesome is that?!

Good luck with guitar lessons. There is someone who plays guitar in our Branch and he knows a lot of American songs so its fun listening to him play when he is hanging out at the church.

January 19, 2010

So President Smedley called a Zone Meeting thing, wasn't a zone conference, and we all got together to discuss our new goals for the new year. Last year, as a mission, we baptized a total of 438 people which is a lot. And President Smedley said that he had prayed a lot about this and that based off all our goals and stuff he decided that our goal this year would be........800 people!!!!!!! Can you believe that? That's almost double the people we did last year. But he said that all it will take is the faith to believe on our part and it will get done. And, one more thing...verbal prayer. So now we're praying in different rooms every night. And I love it. Just being able to pour my soul out every night is just so amazing. So I went home and prayed about this goal forever trying to make sure that we could do that. And we're DEFINITELY going to do that this year. 800 people are going to come unto Christ this year. And it’s going be an amazing experience to do that to.

We're getting it set up right now where the Branch Missionaries will be teaching all the recent converts, so that we can concentrate on getting all of our investigators progressing and baptized. It’s going to be absolutely amazing. We'll be having our third of the month this Sunday. And we have about 11 more that could be baptized in the coming months. So we're well on our way.

And we've already seen amazing miracles. We had a group of 13 people show up saying that they all wanted to learn on Monday. It’s like 4 families. And we met them all on Tuesday. Their only problem is that they are poorer that dirt. And they live right behind the Branch 7/8 building. So getting them all the way to Branch 12 is going to be a nightmare. And while we were talking with them on Monday, a group of 5 guys walked in that wanted to learn. So on Monday the Lord bagged us a total of about 20 new investigators. But none of them have any means of getting to our building. And they're working on rearranging the boundaries. But when they do we'll lose our Branch President because he lives really close to Branch 7 and they have to take in a huge number of other factors. So we'll see how it goes. But right now we're going to be teaching them all.

We've had to start double booking a few hours. So now we tell them they have to show up at 7 because if they show up at 7:30 will be meeting someone else. (And for Khmaes being on time is 30 minutes late). So this will be a good lesson for them.

We have some really good investigators right now. One has read all of 1 Nephi already and it’s only been about a week or 2. She's awesome. Her name is Maalih.

We also have 2 others that just have to get interviewed. So they should be baptized in about a week or 2. Their names are Vicett and Vuthy.

We are teaching a mom and her 3 sons and they are doing awesome. They all understand so much. And the 12 year old reads the Book of Mormon to his mom at night because she doesn't know how to read. So it strengthens them all. I was going to go buy them a picture Book of Mormon, like the one you would always read with the boys (but Khmae of course), so they could practice reading, but it’s been nonstop raining the last two days (VERY STRANGE, rainy season doesn't start until about July or August), and I don't feel like an hour bike ride in the rain to and from the service center.

Work is going well. We had 126 people to church on Sunday. Our Branch goal for the year is to have an average of 140. So we'll be pushing to get that up there.

As for the package, more chocolate or sour patch kids. Also if you could send me the CDs that sing us through the plan of salvation, that would be sweet. Remember those?

January 12, 2010

We got 2 of our investigators baptized. Elder Um baptized one and I could have baptized the other. But, we let her uncle baptize her instead. They're both really awesome. We should have a few more coming up in the next month here too so I'm really excited.

One of our investigators has to get interviewed with the Mission President. I'm kind of nervous for that because I'm going to have to translate. I'm not the greatest translator. My brain either operates in Khmae or in English but it still has a hard time operating in both. She's awesome though. So I have no doubts that she'll pass. We also have two or 3 other people that are legitimately close to getting baptized.

We also have a family of a mom and her 3 boys. The husband died. And they are progressing awesome. We also just got another new investigator that we just gave a baptismal date too. We now have 9 with a baptismal date and about 4 more we're planning on giving this week. So we should somehow manage to stay busy. Haha. One of our best investigators had to go back to the provinces because her mom is sick, really sick. So now we have to wait on her to come back as well.

As of today I've been in the country for a total of 5 months. It’s amazing how time flies. The language is going really well. I'm not letting myself settle on being comfortable with the language. I want to become fluent. So right now I'm really training myself to just constantly study in order to keep the language flowing.

I'm so tired 24/7. Its killer work being a missionary. But my heavens it is worth it.

I'm really worried about the transfer that is coming up in about two weeks. Elder Um has been here for about 6 months already and so it’s about that time for him to go. But I don't want him to. I absolutely love serving with him. I've never had it been so stress free ever. It’s awesome. But whatever happens, the Lord knows its best. So I'm not going to worry about it too much.

January 5, 2010

I actually bought the tie from someone who lives in one of the provinces. It is a mom. And she sells them to make money for her two daughters that are getting ready to apply for their missions. It's only 500 bucks for Khmaes to go. Which in their standards is a ton. Its a ton in my standards. Haha.

The work is still going well. We have 3 people getting interviewed for baptism this week. So we should have 3 squeeky clean people by about 12 on Sunday. The work is amazing here. They are getting ready to change the boundaries of all the areas right now though because a lot of the boundaries are pretty wacked out. So I hope that doesn't affect too many of our investigators, because we have some seriously awesome investigators right now. We also have some fence sitters too. So we're really trying to sift through everyone and see who is really ready to keep the standards of God. Their names are Liin, Sotiarit, and Sopeak. All girls. All referalls. We also have Vijett (he's amazing, started crying the other day when we taught about the Atonement and how he could be forgiven for his sins because he said he wants to be forgiven too). Then there is Da. He's good. He wouldn't come to church for awhile because he didn't want to give up going to this thing on Sunday. But he finally came. Vijett helped him a lot in that. They're good friends. Then we have Vutii. He has almost finished 1 Nephi and he's getting ready for his baptisimal interview here soon. We have 11 people committed to baptism right now.We got 10 new investigators this week. Most of them were pretty weak. But 1 or 2 had some mild interest. But they said they were willing to meet us again and we scheduled a time so they can't be that bad. So we'll see how that goes.

I'm learning a ton of Khmae. I started reading the Book of Mormon in Khmae. And every word I don't know I scribble in the margin what it means. I'm hoping that as words are repeated and that as I learn more and more, Khmae there will be less and less words in the margins. Plus I read that one of the best ways to learn a new language is by reading the Book of Mormon in that language. That comes from Preach My Gospel. Which means it comes from the Prophet. Which means it comes from God. So I'm hoping that God will enlighten my mind to learning a lot of Khmae while I read the Book of Mormon.

I've been jump roping everyday except Pday and Sunday. Those are my days off. I study Khmae instead on those days. If you can look up an variations of jump roping for me that'd be cool. I'm coming up with some on my own. I'm hoping it will help me stay in better shape.I'm glad you like the tie and the pictures. I'm gonna start taking a lot more once I get my new camera. And send them back more frequently too. Its just hard to take pictures because we're just so busy all the time. But we'll see.

November 24, 2009

We have a baptism on Sunday. The mom and her 2 daughters. The mom's name is sokli and the daughters are gumseng and gumsua. They are really good. I love that family so much. They've made an incredible change. Before, they didn't know anything about Jesus Christ. They didn't even know who He was. But now it is so awesome hearing them talk about Joseph Smith and the 1st vision. Its absolutely incredible how much they've changed in the last 3 months that we have been teaching them. Right now we have an investigator named hoan and seiha who are both really good. Hoan has read til 2 Nephi chapter 8 in a week and absolutely loves the Book of Mormon. He is 23 and has a wife. His wife isn't very interested right now. But we're going to keep working with her. And hopefully she comes around. Have fun at Thanksgiving tomorrow without me. I'll enjoy some rice for you. Just make sure you enjoy the turkey for me. And tell David hi too. Tell him thanks for setting an example for me by going on a mission, even though I never got to see him much growing up. The weather has been absolutely awesome here this whole month of November. Glorious!!! But all the Cambodians are freezing. Its so funny. Its probably about 75 or 80. Its great. We've gone to eating rice 3 times per day now because its just so much cheaper. But we have thrown a ton of Americann twists on Khmae food. And its really good. Its fun. And in 2 days, I'll have been a missionary for 6 months.

December 30, 2009

Wow. Christmas went by so fast. It was so much fun. Now it’s back to the work and toil everyday. But that's OK. In this Branch, I'm willing to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It’s so awesome here. I love the language here. It has so much extra meaning to it that you don't find in English. It’s really hard to speak though because you say about twice as many words to do that. But there is just so much deeper meaning to all the words. It’s really sweet. But we have even more investigators now and we're sitting at about 20 something that are legitimately progressing. I'm trying not to brag at all but I just get so excited about the success we're having that it’s hard not too. So I just pull the Ammon excuse that comes from Alma 26. My whole heart and soul is like completely rejuvenated because of the awesomeness of this branch. I'm like overwhelmed with joy 24/7 because of all the people we have that want to learn. And as a result I'm trying to express more gratitude than I ever though imaginable for how spoiled God has made me in the Branch. I honestly cannot describe in words to you right now the state of my soul and just how filled it is with the Spirit right now. It’s phenomenal. And I give the credit all to God because this definitely didn't come from anything that I've ever done.

My New Year's resolution is to jump rope 15 minutes everyday. A good hard solid jump roping should help me lose some of this weight I'm hoping. I'm at 185. When I got here I was at 170. I hope I'm just storing up for a growth spurt here real soon. We played 3 on 3 soccer in the gym today, Americans vs Khmaes. We told them we were going to dominate but they insisted. We beat them. Haha. They are definitely more skilled but Americans had the size advantage and we're way more athletic.

We have gotten 5 new referrals in the last 3 days. So we're somehow trying to squeeze them in too. So now I think we're at about 20 seriously solid investigators that are progressing. The hard part is that they all want to meet at the same times. So I'm looking forward to planning session tomorrow so that we can start double booking time slots if we need to as well. In my prayers I've never given more thanks in my life. I feel so spoiled and unworthy to be in this branch. It’s absolutely ridiculous. So I keep trying to give as much thanks as possible in prayer so that God knows I'm truly grateful for my opportunity to serve here. And in terms of a language and a people, I am spoiled out of my mind already. The members here treat us as if we are angels sent directly from God, like we just came from heaven or something. It’s amazing. And with every bit of language I learn my desire to learn more grows and grows. The meanings behind all the words is just so deep. It’s so cool. They say months 4-5 are really hard because you're fixing all your bad habits in the language that you learned from months 1-3. But everyone has told me that months 6-9 you really start to get dang good at the language. So I am going to start studying the language even harder now trying to get even more fluent than some of the Khmaes. I think I'm completely obsessed with learning the language. And the more I learn the easier it is to teach, to get to know people, and to show them my love. It’s so awesome. I love it. I've never prayed harder for my investigators in my life either. Every night I've just pouring out everything I can thing of that is going to help them and that is going to benefit them in coming unto Christ. It’s so great. I love it here in Branch 12. And as long as it’s here and God is blessing me like this, I will be giving more thanks than I ever thought I could give. I'm doing awesome.

December 23, 2009

Wow. Elder Um is awesome. I was really nervous about getting a Khmae companion. They are very hit and miss on whether they work hard or not. But he is great. I have a hard time keeping up with him. He doesn't ever speak English so I get to speak Khmae 24/7 with him. He's teaching me a ton of Khmae and I've been teaching him a ton of English in return.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I’m super excited. It’s still really hot out though. It doesn’t feel like Christmas at all.

Branch 12 is awesome. We have a ton of investigators. It’s crazy. So many!! And we keep finding them left and right too. So we keep on having a ton of people to teach. The area is a massive bike ride though. It’s WAYYYYYY bigger than branch 1. We get over 100 people to church. Our branch is so big and is having so much growth that we actually have 2 sets of Elders in this branch. Elder Thompson is here too. He was in my group in the MTC. He is really awesome. So it’s pretty sweet getting to see him a lot now.

I'm working on memorizing the Khmae dictionary. Today I learned a word that means to show off by eating a lot of food. I don't know when I'll use it. But if its Khmae, then I'm going to learn it.

All of our investigators are awesome. And we have about 10 recent converts that we have to teach too. So we have the recent converts help teach. And the recent converts all give out a ton of referrals so we're just racking it in right now. I've been praying so hard for all of them to keep progressing like they do. Elder Um is super legit. I absolutely love him to death.