Flooding Houses

Elder Sok and I at Branch 5 building in Phnom Penh after Christmas.

So, we had several actives with our branch this week.  Our branch on paper is ready to become a ward, but spiritually it is very far.  It is not a very spiritual place, especially in sacrament meeting; there is not much unity as a branch, etc. It is a problem.  We are working on it.  So we had a fireside Sunday night with the Assistants to the President or APs (they are two young missionaries that are called to help the Mission President).  The AP's are actually in our area, but they do not do that much because they are AP's and are in the office.  So we had a whole fireside all about reading and praying together as a family. It was nice and pretty well attended.  We also had a branch FHE the next day on Monday.  It was also well attended.  Our hope is that they will become more unified and become more of a family.  Maybe in 6 months or so this place will be one of the strongest congregations.

I biked to kilometer 11 to meet a family of members.  They live right by/sometimes over the water (flooding) 

We have really been working with less actives and inactive members.  We have biked several times to kilometer marker 11 (we live at kilo 4).  We met with a member who used to be a soldier in Cambodia. His story is crazy.  He and his soldiers were walking across a field and they got blown up by a land mine. About 20 of them were walking together.  16 died.  His legs are really crippled now. He can kind of walk with two half crutches in each arm.  He is a really good member though – but very poor.  He lives right on the water in a house on stilts probably 15 feet high.  In Cambodia, if you live along the water, you are usually quite poor.  The reason the member and his unit got blown up is that the car that could detect mines had a low battery.  Also, we have been working with a woman, Boptha since I got here in September.  In 4 months, she never came to church.  She came for the full 3 hours last week!  It was awesome.  Yesterday, we went and taught her and did about 30 minutes of service.  She makes bags, book covers, pretty much anything out of mats, and we put thread through the bags.  I really hope she becomes an active member again.

This week our investigators our progressing well.  Rado and Rada, no they are not twins, are progressing well.  They are pretty young, 14 and 12, so it is a little harder to teach them.  They are trying though.  We went to teach last night, and we found Rado sitting on the ground reading the Book of Mormon.  It is really cool, and he is definitely trying hard.  The biggest problem they both have is understanding what they read.  I guess it is just hard to get used to the type of scripture language.  We have finished lesson one and gave them a baptismal goal of 1/8/12.  They should be ready and their parents are very strong too.  They came to church and actually stayed for an 8 year old’s baptism afterwards. (Emma I thought of you). Rado's face was full of excitement afterward.  He really wants to be baptized, and when I saw his face, I told him that his day was coming.  He remembered the date we had given him.  I am really excited about both of them.

This picture is supposed to be ironic.  I don’t know if you can tell, but the car is a really nice Mercedes.  It is ironic because I am standing on an unpaved dirt road in a very poor neighborhood near our house, but there is a very expensive car parked on the road. 

Chalina is doing alright.  She has gone to the hospital a few times but is very hard to meet.  She does not know what the problem is, but she is feeling better. They have one hospital in Cambodia, which is very nice.  We went one time because Elder Sok felt sick.  It was not like the US, but it was nice and clean, and I would feel good going there.  After that, I am not really sure.  I have not been to the other hospitals, but I imagine they are not good.  She is actually going to one that is an organization and is very far away.  I imagine the one she is going too is not nice at all.  It is cheap and that’s why she is going there.  In Cambodia, it is true that you get what you pay for.  So, we are waiting on them, but they are not progressing at all.  It is a bummer, but we are trying.

Luen is back!  We are really excited.  We went on Monday – not drunk.  And yesterday – not drunk.  He is back to his old self, and it is so nice.  We had some good lessons with him on Book of Mormon study and keeping the commandments.  He has committed to being better, and we gave him a new baptismal day to work for on 1/28/12.  We just need to keep him sober and find out if he is ready to be baptized. When he was having trouble, I did not really like to meet him.  He was different.  Now my love for him has been rekindled.  He is funny again, coherent, etc.  We also found out something new. He practiced Islam for 10 years.  I asked him to say a chant or prayer in Arabic, and he was pretty good. Hopefully, he stays sober and continues to progress.