Garrett Says Goodbye to Elder Sok

 We got new nametags!  They just translated "Elder Gibson" to Khmae, so people can read it.

The week was pretty good.  First off yes, I will talk about transfers.  We got transfer calls last night.  Elder Sok is going to another branch in Phnom Penh, and I am staying here for one more transfer.  I am getting another Khmae companion, and I have heard mixed things about him.  One returned elder told me he is super annoying. Others say his English is good and some say it is bad.  Either way, he is my companion, and we should do well together.  I must admit I was hoping a little bit that I would be transferred.  I love the members and the branch, but I was looking forward to a new branch, fresh faces, new investigators, new house, etc.  Oh well. I am still excited, and it should be good.  I know this will be my last transfer in the area.  6 months in one area is somewhat normal for new missionaries, but then the amount of time gets shorter, and they always leave after 6 months.  It should be a great transfer though. Transfers really do fly by.  I am a little nervous too as now I am the main elder who has to tell the new guy where we should go and when – not the best timing too when we have recently lost or dropped a lot of our investigators.  We still have a good amount though, and I have some good plans to really strengthen the branch through teaching members.  Our new goal as a mission is 40 lessons a week - 20 with members present and 20 member/less active/recent convert lessons.  So, that is that.

Our investigators are doing really well.  This is the situation on Rado and Rada.  President does not want them to be split up because they are still relatively young and they are a family.  So we plan on baptizing them in the Vietnamese branch, but we will tell them to go to both branches.  Probably what will happen is that Rada will go to the Vietnamese branch.  That is where she has been going because she has friends and such.  Rado will most likely come to the Khmae branch.  He wants to understand, and he has been coming every week.  So they will technically be in the Vietnamese branch, but they can choose which branch they want to go to.  As long as they are at least going and the family is strong, it should be good.  

Elder Sok, a member who helps us out a lot, and myself. He is preparing to serve a mission. 
We took the picture on a little wooden bridge.

The way they fix tires here.  They pull out the tire tube and put a new piece of rubber over the hole and burn it on to the tire tube with a hot iron or an open fire.

James came to church yesterday, Chanlina did not.  We are working with them.

One great blessing we saw was in a less active member’s life.  She did not come to church, so we went to her house last week.  Her husband had beat her up and took most of the money and left.  She had some really nasty bruises and scratches.  We talked to her, and prayed with her.  We prayed for her that night, and she prayed for herself as well.  The next day she went to work at a richer man’s house (she is a maid).  He found out what happened, sent her to the hospital for free to make sure nothing got infected.  He gave her 200 dollars and told her that if it happened again that his brother was a lawyer and they would send him to jail.  All for free.  Really awesome story and a great blessing of the power of prayer.  



Every Vietnamese person here knows Khmae as well.  Except a few that just got here, but almost all of them are pretty much fluent in Khmae.  They speak Khmae with each other in the home.  A big thing, however, is reading.  The Vietnamese cannot read Khmae.  The mom cannot go to the Khmae branch because she only knows basic Khmae.  She does not know spiritual Khmae words or any advanced words at all.  She also cannot read.  The dad cannot read, but his Khmae is really good.  He could probably come to the Khmae branch and gradually learn the words he did not know.  So they speak Khmae at home, but the mom and dad and every Viet cannot read Khmae, and even if they know Khmae, they do not know church Khmae or more advanced Khmae than just the everyday stuff.  So, that is why.  Rado only knows Khmae.  He can pray in Viet but only because he has it memorized.  Rada kind of knows Viet, but not that much.  Their parents want them to learn, but it is never going to happen.  They live in Cambodia, and except for a few places Vietnamese is worthless.  So, it should be all good now.  Just have to finish teaching them and make sure they understand where they should go to church.

Luen is still drunk.

The Som family is really awesome.  We have started to teach them all together.  There are two parents and two girls in their twenties.  The father already knows Joseph Smith is a true prophet. He prayed and told us he felt goose bumps and an energy - a warm energy from his head to his feet.  He said he felt happy.  He was really happy when we told him that was an answer from the Holy Ghost.  He told us he has had some of the same questions as Joseph Smith.  Both the mom and dad came to church yesterday.  We just need to teach them and get them to church more and then they should be good to go.  They are really awesome.