Baptism and Elephants in Cambodia

Well, the most exciting part of my week was that I was able to baptize my first investigator.  Mei was ready for baptism, passed her interview, and asked me to do the baptism.  I felt really excited, but also very scared. I had never seen one in Cambodia, didn't know the prayer, etc.  So I memorized the prayer and did the baptism this last Sunday.  It was really, really awesome.  I will admit I had to do it twice; she moved the first time, and I did not really get her all the way under. But it went smoothly.  I felt very grateful to be a part of it.  I am aware that any other missionary could have done her baptism, but I am glad that I was able to do her baptism.  I felt very, very happy and peaceful.  And it felt amazing when she told us afterward that she felt such happiness and joy.  Her brother and mother are members so hopefully they can help her stay strong.  She needs to endure to the end.  We know that if she does not then the baptism has no meaning.  It is very exciting though.  I felt/feel very happy and grateful for the experience.  She will be Confirmed (given the Gift of the Holy Ghost ) this Sunday.

Maly is doing really well as well.  If all goes as planned, her dad will baptize her on the 27th as well.  We have been practicing with her dad how to do a baptism.  She truly has changed so much.  We have been teaching her ever since I came...so about 2 months.  When we first taught her, she never really listened, didn't really pray, and just did not really have a desire to learn.  Now she is completely different.  We taught her two days ago.  Her brothers and their friends had their TV on a bucket in the “kitchen" while they ate.  The TV fell off and shattered – pretty much exploded.  Maly looked back, said the Khmae equivalent to "no worries," turned back to us, and told us to continue teaching about Moses and the story of the snakes.  That is not the same Maly as before.  It’s really cool!

I was in a Cambodian traffic jam the other day.  It was crazy.  It was a 4 way intersection, no lights.  There was literally no place to move.  There were cars and trucks, and hundreds of motos and bikes filling in the space between the cars and trucks.  No one knew what to do.  Some police man eventually worked it out, but it was just crazy.  It was different than in America though.  In the US everyone would be yelling and swearing.  Here everyone just kind of sat there waiting for a chance to move.  It was funny.   

Last P-day (Preparation day when missionaries do laundry, write home, clean their apartment, explore the local culture, etc.) Elder Sok and I went with few other companionships to a zoo outside of Phnom Penh. It takes about 1.5 hours by gong bey, or tuk tuk. The zoo was alright, not as good as advertised, but it was still fun.  The coolest part was we just found a random guy on the zoo grounds training an elephant.  He allowed us to get right up next to it and touch it and take pictures with it.  It was funBut yes, the zoo was cool.  It was also cool to leave Phenom Penh.  Cambodia is really pretty once you leave Phnom Penh.  Just rice fields, blue sky, and palm trees.