So this week was pretty good. By far my most favorite part of the week was General Conference. We went to the Branch 7 building, which is about a 20 minute bike ride from us. It was really fun to watch it with 4 other U.S. elders. Two of them were in the MTC with us. We watched all the sessions downstairs in English in a separate room, while all the members and our companions watched the translation in the chapel. It was really fun to watch and learn so much from the Apostles and Prophets and also to enjoy the other elders’ company.
My most favorite talk by far was Elder Holland's talk in the Priesthood Session. He is a really powerful speaker, and he talked about missionary work, which of course every missionary loves. He was really inspiring in the words that he shared about how we truly are in a war against Satan. And that Satan is an actual being who wants to drag us down with him. I don't have my notes with me, but I was really inspired by his talk and I am trying to apply it into my life because it truly was a great talk. I cannot wait to get the Ensign/Liahona and read his talk again because he shared a poem I really liked that I missed writing down. I also liked Elder Erying's talks (To read or watch talks from General Conference visit http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/10?lang=eng). He had several great ones with a lot of emotion. The best was when he talked about President Hinckley calling him one night and telling him to get down to the office and go over the manual with him. He said that his goal every single day is to work to the point where he cannot work anymore, and then work harder. That really hit me, and I am trying to keep that in mind when we are out working every day. President Monson was pretty funny too. All the elders thought he was funny, especially his story of himself on the bus in Texas.
So I officially hit the 1 month mark in Cambodia. It is a little crazy, and I definitely wish I was much better at teaching and speaking this language. Sometimes I feel like I say almost the exact same thing to each investigator in almost the exact way. It is getting a little better though; I can see small improvements.
Less serious news, yes our house is still safe. We are not worried at all. I also have brought death to 2 rats in our house in about a 10 hour span. I am no longer afraid of the rats and literally just hate them and want to kill them. I killed two with a broom. It’s actually pretty fun, because 3 or 4 of us will get ready with our weapons and we will try and close the area off and then we try and scare them out and then just start whacking. Living the life.
The rest of Cambodia is good though – still pretty hot every day. We were at an investigator’s house and about to leave on our bikes, and I walked next to a tree in front of their house. Elder Sok very seriously and quickly told me to watch out because the lizards in the tree sometimes jump on people and bite them. I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. So I slowly walked away from the tree.
Also, English class...they keep wanting to learn about different words and about slang. I do not know how to explain some of it. Like ‘let’s roll’ or ‘let’s bounce.’ One of them even asked what hemorrhoids were. I told her I have no idea. I forget some but they have a ton of questions on words I do not know how to explain...sometimes I just say that we just say it to say it. They asked me why when people pray they said, our Lord, our Savior, even Jesus Christ. They wanted to know why we say, ‘even.’
Less serious news, yes our house is still safe. We are not worried at all. I also have brought death to 2 rats in our house in about a 10 hour span. I am no longer afraid of the rats and literally just hate them and want to kill them. I killed two with a broom. It’s actually pretty fun, because 3 or 4 of us will get ready with our weapons and we will try and close the area off and then we try and scare them out and then just start whacking. Living the life.
The rest of Cambodia is good though – still pretty hot every day. We were at an investigator’s house and about to leave on our bikes, and I walked next to a tree in front of their house. Elder Sok very seriously and quickly told me to watch out because the lizards in the tree sometimes jump on people and bite them. I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. So I slowly walked away from the tree.
Also, English class...they keep wanting to learn about different words and about slang. I do not know how to explain some of it. Like ‘let’s roll’ or ‘let’s bounce.’ One of them even asked what hemorrhoids were. I told her I have no idea. I forget some but they have a ton of questions on words I do not know how to explain...sometimes I just say that we just say it to say it. They asked me why when people pray they said, our Lord, our Savior, even Jesus Christ. They wanted to know why we say, ‘even.’
Update on the investigators. Chanlina and James are having some trouble. Last night Chanlina told us that she really wants to send James to her homeland for school because it is cheaper. We do not want that to happen. I know that God loves families and wants us to live with them and grow up with them. That's why he gave them to us. James needs her, and she needs him. We tried to tell her to have faith and to ask the Lord what to do. She explained to us last night that she gets 50 dollars a month from her job at the factory. For James’ school she would have to pay 30 dollars for the entire year. And the landlord is coming today to collect 15 dollars for rent. That leaves her with 5 dollars for food for an entire month. Not possible. We really feel that if she will have faith and move forward and pay the school and the landlord that the Lord will help her with the rest. He will not let her and James starve – not when she is doing all she can to learn about Christ and to keep her family together. Another thing she is worried about is that after she pays the 30 dollars for the entire year, she has to pay 2,500 riel everyday to the teacher. That is about 60 cents a day for school supplies. She doesn't know how she can pay that either. We are praying for her really hard and helping her to have faith. She is praying too, and we are going back tonight to see what has happened. I hope I will have a miracle to tell you about next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment