Public Speaking in Khmer - Garrett's Update from Cambodia

We got a call 8:30 PM at night right as we were finishing planning for the next day. It was the branch (a small congregation) president assigning me to speak for 10 minutes in sacrament meeting on the Priesthood. 10 minutes. Priesthood. Also, it was Saturday night, and with church at 8 AM the next morning, I did not have a lot of time to prepare. I was not the happiest camper in Cambodia. So I tried. It turned out to be decent, but I do not think I used all 10 minutes. Plus, speaking on Priesthood for that long is a little hard. But it turned out alright, and Elder Sok said he understood 100 percent. But then he added that he is used to my speaking. However, it was a good experience, and I think my talk went pretty well.

Also, another random thing about church was that in Elders quorum they talked about Mitt Romney. Even in Cambodia they know he is Mormon and running for president. I hope Mitt thinks about that before he says/does something stupid.

Another highlight of my week was teaching a deaf man. I was on exchanges in another area, and we taught the man. He is not entirely deaf, but pretty close. And his wife can hear but cannot read. We tried to teach how to pray, and it was more than difficult. It was pretty fun though. My companion for the day was writing down the steps on the paper for the man to read, while I leaned in and spoke in a very loud voice, practically shouting, into his ear. We both said afterward that we really wish there was a hidden camera because it would have been very funny to watch.

Luen has us pretty worried. When I was on exchanges, Elder Sok tried to teach him, and he said he couldn't. He was just kind of weird and talking crazy. So we went back yesterday. He said he couldn’t learn, but had his Book of Mormon and was reading. He was just kind of weird again. We were afraid he had some problems with the Word of Wisdom. He said that he did not, but we will go back tomorrow and see what is happening. We are just going to go off what we feel. If we feel he is okay and pray and still feel he is okay, then he will get interviewed on Friday for baptism. I am a kind of bummed because he is a really awesome man. We will see though, maybe he doesn't have a problem with anything.

I have not shared some scriptures in a while, so I want to. John 15:14 - 16. I have started to read the Bible at least 15 minutes a day. I love it because Jesus literally tells us that he will consider us as friends if we follow the commandments and do what he says. I also love 2 Nephi 29. All of it. Every single verse is great. I just feel like it is Heavenly Father opening up and just speaking to every investigator. Every verse is very powerful and describes how ridiculous it is to think that Heavenly Father made everyone on earth, but then decided to only talk to one group of people. It doesn't make sense. Great passages of scriptures.

We eat breakfast out every morning. Every Cambodian if they eat breakfast out eats the same meal. It is rice, pork, some vegetables, and egg in a Styrofoam container with a delicious sauce. And it is delicious. We eat it pretty much every morning for 3000 riel or 75 cents. The rest of the time we mostly make food for lunch. We cook rice (everyone has a rice cooker) and then some type of pork stir-fry. That is pretty common Cambodian food - different types of stir-fry. We do not have an oven. We have a gas stove top thing that we fry things on. It is pretty good. The food here is pretty good.