Garrett's Midnight Ride

Well, this week started off with a little bit of excitement and then a lot of sitting around. Last P-day, was a normal day and then we proselyted from 5-8 like usual.  Pretty much as soon as we sat down to plan, Elder Hem started complaining about his eye.  After me looking in it several times and finding nothing and him washing it out several times with no improvement, he decided he was going to just try to sleep it off.  About 20 minutes later, I was outside in the kitchen when I heard him call to me and inform me that we needed to go to the hospital because it hurt too badly, and he was positive he could not sleep.   

After getting permission, we left the house and got a tuk tuk at 9:30ish.  (See picture below). So we went on a ride to the hospital that was about 30 minutes away.  It was definitely weird to be out so late.  Even though we were allowed to do it, it was just weird.  There were actually more people out than I thought there would be.     

After getting to the hospital and getting ripped off by the tuk tuk driver, we went to the hospital.  This is the best hospital in Cambodia.  It is called Royal Rattanack and it is a sister hospital to one based in Thailand.  After checking in, a doctor (not an eye specialist) came and looked in his eye and decided to give us some eye drops and then some pills that he need to swallow.  Now I am no doctor, but I have no idea how taking pills can help a scratched eye.  It was not pain killer.   
Well, after trying to sleep in another elder's room who was at the hospital with den gene, (we were shot down by the hospital staff) we got another tuk tuk and went to an elder's apartment who lived pretty close by.  It was too far and too late to go home. Plus, district meeting was the next morning, and we would have to come back up to the city anyway.   Then Elder Hem decided that his eye hurt too much to go out on Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday.  That is why I spent a lot of time just sitting around.  I hate being at home.  So boring, and all I wanted to do was go outside and teach somebody.  It was really hard actually. So that was the main excitement for the week.  It is safe to say that I am probably the first elder to be out that late in Cambodia.  

I was also very grateful that although we were not able to be outside teaching as much as I would have liked, the Lord and the Holy Ghost still prepared people to learn and listen about the gospel.  I was especially worried about one of our recent converts who we meet 3 or 4 times a week to help encourage her.  Well, because we were inside we could not meet her, but I prayed many times that the Lord would watch over her and help her to keep the commandments.  When we were finally able to meet her, she was great.  She was still doing well.  We also were able to get a few more investigators this week and help them to progress.  We were able to get another investigator at church as well.  I feel like we have some really solid investigators right now with a lot of potential investigators.

Sometimes Garrett just eats his stirfry right out of the pan to save time on washing dishes. 

I had an interesting baptismal interview.  He apparently used to be really smart but got in really bad moto accident and literally now has a dent in his forehead.  He is just not completely all there but he is smart enough to learn and to remember most things.  I admit, I went in to the interview a little harsh and judgmental.  Towards the end, I had a really strong feeling of mercy and the thought of what would Heavenly Father do?  Is it his fault that he can't remember every single thing?  I was blessed to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for that man.  I learned a lot from doing that interview.

Our branch had a Pioneer Day party.  We had some appointments we had to go to so we did not go to most of the party.  Well, it was crazy.  There were little kids everywhere.  Pretty much every little kid in the neighborhood showed up just to eat the free food.  Probably around 50 little kids and 15 or so older adult members. (See a picture below.)

Also, another mission first.  I left my companion under the direction of the Mission President.  We had an English class that we just started up in a new area to get new investigators.  Well, it was on Wednesday, and we really did not want to miss it because we just started and we wanted to gain their trust.  Well, we got permission, and a Melchezidek Priesthood holder came to sit with Elder Hem, and I went with another to teach the class then came right home.  That also felt really weird.  Even though it was not against the rules, it still felt weird.  We are always together.  

Shaved ice the size of my head!

This last one is of me eating bing.  In taiwan they eat shaved ice with a bunch of cool toppings on it.  It is delicious.  mine is mango bing.  It was the size of my head. 

We have had a great week.  Wang Jiemei is doing wonderfully.  We are still worried about her parents who don’t' particularly like us, but she still is planning on getting baptized. They let us visit at their house.  She is in her 30's and doesn’t' need her parents’ permission, but sometimes family opposition, regardless of age, can really put a kink in things. But she seems to be doing ok.   

It has been cool to teach her because at first, I was really worried that she was just kind of blindly following what we were saying. However, as we have continued to work with her, I have been impressed with her own understanding and how she is really taking personal action to learn and understand.  It is almost like she has become smarter, so to speak, in a spiritual sense. She reads the scriptures and understands them.  She sees connections between gospel principles.  She still needs to know and understand a lot, so pray for her, but I think she is going to make it.

 Me with the Hsiao family.  I love them!  My face looks so red in this picture it almost looks fake.  Dad you cursed me.  The Hsiao family is doing great. Brother Hsiao has the Melchizedek priesthood and both have callings in the ward.  They are moving into the other ward's boundaries soon, which shouldn't be too big of a transition. They will still be in the same building and still have the same missionaries watching over them.  They are doing great.

Yao Jiemei is not doing as well as we hoped. She works the night shift and in order for her to come to church she has to come right after working for like 12 hours.  It is really hard, but she was willing to do it.  She came to church on Sunday and was really tired but we hoped that she was still feeling the spirit.  The next meeting we had with her did not go so well.  She said she didn’t' think she could be baptized because she is just too tired to come to church, and even in our lesson, she was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open.  She knows that baptism means a commitment to keep the Sabbath day holy, but she just doesn’t' think she can do it.  It is hard. I have worked a night shift and then come to church being extremely exhausted.  You don't get too much out of it other than just the obedience of being there, so I understand her concern, but at the same time, we know that obedience and baptism are more important than anything.  We had one of her friends from the ward call her.  Her friend said that when they talked, Yao Jiemei really acknowledged that if this is going to work she needs to change jobs.  This gives me hope because at least she is looking for solutions rather than just thinking there is no way.  There are a lot of miracles that need to happen but God is a god of miracles so I have faith.   

So the top one is of me with two of my investigators from Sanmin.  They came up from Gaoxiong to visit a elder who was going home, and they stopped by to see me as well.  They are boyfriend and girlfriend.  Their process of studying the gospel has been a long one, and they are still in the middle of it. I have faith for them in the future. 

I love being a missionary.  This week I have made a renewed commitment to be positive and faithful in my missionary work.  I have set a goal that whenever something doesn't go right to stop and count my blessings.  I feel like I was just focusing too much on what wasn't going right and what I wanted to happen that wasn't and I was selfishly not acknowledging all of the tremendous blessings and miracles all around me.  I think that optimism really is a sign of faith and it is something I have been lacking lately.  I have really tried to change my attitude over the last few days and the spirit has been with me so much more strongly.   

This week has been a great reminder to me of the importance and power of repentance, as I am trying to improve my thinking and faith.  I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven.  I am so grateful for this life and a chance to improve and become better.  I know that this is God's true church.  I know He is watching out for us and He wants to mold us into something more wonderful than we could ever be on our own.  He truly is a merciful God and a God of miracles.   

Contributing to the Fashion Industry and Garrett's Moral Dilemma

Like you see in that picture, we have been cutting a lot of shirts to help people make some income.  Little kids shirts.  One of them is a monkey that says "Mommy's little man" and the other one is a dog.  The pattern is sewn on and then we cut the paper that is on the back of the pattern off and cut off the ugly strings.  I expect that someday you will see some little boy in America running around with that shirt on.  Just remember that I cut that sitting on a dirt road in the Cambodian sun.  The less active person who we help cut shirts a lot gets 100 Khmae riel for 2 shirts.  100 riel is 2.5 cents.  So, that is fun.  

Cutting shirts

So, in Cambodia, everyone cheats.  Everyone cheats in school, and it is to the point where they do not even think that it is wrong.  You ask the younger ones and they will tell you that it is not against the rules, but I talked to an older man at the church. He said it is against the rules, but it is so widespread that everyone does it.  Well, I had a very hard experience this past week.  I guess an elder in the past helped one of our members cheat.  She called him (during a test) and then told him the topic and he texted a response on someone’s phone to her. Then she wrote it down.   

Well, the same member expected that I would do the same thing.  That was not cool with me.  It was a very hard decision because the elder in the past had done it to help her out with an English test.  Well, I prayed, and I felt like I could not do it.  I would not do it because we are representing Jesus Christ, and I know that He would not cheat – no matter how widespread it was.  I also couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if other members found out.  A few years down the road, every member would have the elders cheat for them.  Then if people who aren’t members found out, they would be confused because we are supposed to be honest not helping people break rules.  It was seriously a hard decision, but after praying, I decided I had done the right thing in not helping her.  Well, we will have to see if she passes or fails.  I am a little nervous, but I decided when I made the decision that the possible effects (her failing, being angry at us, etc.) could not affect my decision. I had to do what was right.  So that was a great experience. 

At a golfing range a couple of preparation days ago

As I have explained in the past, Cambodia does not do visiting or home teaching (when each family is visited by two members of the church each month to make sure that they are doing okay). It is very difficult for the church to grow and be strong without it.  Home and visiting teaching are so important to help people keep coming to church and encourage them.  This past Saturday, we meet at the church with the Branch President, his counselors, and some other members.  Then we split into two groups and went walking door to door of the members and less actives visiting them and encouraging them to come to church.  We saw great success the next day as many less active members came to church.  One lady we visited seemed disappointed that she was not walking with us, so she joined and helped us meet and encourage several other members.  I am excited about this, and we have a goal to do this every single week.

 A less active gentlemen that Garrett and Elder Hem are spoke with

One of the benefits of staying in Sen Sok is that next week we are set to have 4 baptisms.  We have 4 investigators that are progressing well, keeping the commandments, and should be baptized on Sunday.  So, that is exciting.  One of them is the lady, Channary, who told us she wanted to stop learning but we encouraged her to keep trying.  She hasn't missed a Sunday since we started teaching her.  So that should be a highlight of this next week.  Then we will start the process of finding new investigators. 

Typhoons in Taiwan

Wednesday was a pretty crazy day.  There was a typhoon.  It was not very bad, and as missionaries, unless it is really bad, we still go outside. Many people on the roads warned us that that was a really bad idea.  The weather was really not a big deal except for like a 10 minute period.  Sister Vandegrift and I were riding to a recent convert's house in the middle of a more rural area that is a bit farther away from the church.  All of a sudden, the winds got so bad we could hardly ride.  These ladies at a noodle shop on the corner motioned for us to come in and take cover.  The wind was blowing so hard, Sister Vandegrift went out into the road to rescue this woman who had stopped her scooter but was getting pushed up against a car by the wind.  It was really bad.  I called the recent convert and told her that we were so close to her house but we couldn't make it.  She was completely shocked that we were trying to come and told us that the winds were only going to get worse and worse.  At that point, the winds were really bad, and we were far from the church.  I was getting nervous, and I didn't know what to do, so I called my zone leaders and told them, “I’m not sure what to do.  We are in the middle of nowhere, and if we get on our bikes, I am pretty sure we will get blown over. And apparently it is only supposed to get worse from here on out.”  My zone leader was nice but basically told me he had no idea what to do.  I told him we would figure it out.  At that point, the wind had subsided a little bit so we decided to get as far as we could.  We started biking, and by the grace of God, the winds and rain were not that bad all the way to the church.  They only got weaker and weaker as the night went on.  We had English class, and there was practically no one there.  However, a couple of people still came.   

  

I am switching the basket on our spare bike. I felt very handy. I was using tools. 

On Tuesday, we got good news about Liu Yu Chow (the 18 year old girl I told you about last week)!  Her dad said she could get baptized a few weeks earlier than her 18th birthday.  He said she could get baptized on Saturday! We were very excited.   

I called the ward correlator and told him the good news. On Thursday, I called the ward correlator to make sure plans were all getting underway.  He said he was surprised the Bishop hadn't called me because the Bishop wanted to push it to Sunday night.  I called the Bishop, and he was so worried that no one could come to the baptism because it was on Saturday during a holiday.  He said he could come, but he didn't know if as many people as would want to come could come.  He wasn't mad but was very concerned and kept telling me that I didn't need to worry about her getting confirmed the same like we do with other investigators because she has been coming to church for so long. I told him that I totally understood, but I didn't know if we could switch it because this was the day that she had been arranging with her family (her father was coming up from out of town).  For the first time ever, I could honestly say that I had absolutely NOTHING to do with the choosing of a baptismal date.  I seriously did not give a suggestion or push; she just worked it out with her family.  The Bishop was so concerned by this he almost seemed on the verge of tears.  I told him I would talk to them.  I talked to her uncle who called the Bishop.  They worked it out and switched it to Sunday night.  It was a very stressful hour of trying to figure it all out. 

 

Sunday night actually worked out really well.  She will have to get confirmed next week, but there were a lot more people who were able to attend.  I felt bad that there was so much confusion, but I have been telling the ward correlator for a while that nothing was set in stone till we had her dad's permission but that her extended family wanted this date so that her uncle could baptize her before going to Australia.  It worked out ok in the end.  I just felt bad that it was so disorganized for a while.     

  

So, I really like cleaning. It helps relax me. Sister Vandegrift thought I looked funny and wanted to take a picture of me. 

  
The baptism was lovely.  Her mom and dad both came and her grandma and grandpa.  A lot of ward members came.  It is actually a huge miracle because on Saturday she got really sick and on Sunday morning she was feeling really sick and had a fever.  She started to feel better and even though she didn't feel great at the baptism, she didn't feel horrible.  After she changed, we couldn’t' find the hair dryer that is at the church.  Everyone was running around frantically trying to find it and was so worried because she had wet hair and had a cold.  Thankfully, the bishop came to the rescue when he pulled it out of the back of the closet.  She really is such a sweet girl who has a really strong testimony.  What a powerful example of enduring to the end.  She had every reason to stop coming to church and not make the gospel a priority, but she knew it was true and she knew it was important, so she never gave up.