Huah was baptized! 10/17/16 week #67

Well it was a really good week numbers wise. We picked up two new investigators and Huah got BAPTIZED!!! I was stressing pretty bad before. I called all the members i could to remind them we had a baptism and all but 2 said they could come. It was raining so that would make it so NO ONE would come and the water to the baptismal font wasn't pushing out a lot of water. A lot of factors that i had no power over. I was just praying all morning and did everything i could. We went early in the morning to fill up the font and just hoped in would fill in the next three hours. 3 hours later as we left our house it was nothing but sunshine and when we went to the church the font was overflowing with water. I just looked up and smiled. It was so cool. When the meeting started we had like 20 people show up. It was almost too much for me to handle. Literally everything I prayed for happened. It was so cool. It was a great service and the next day he got confirmed. We are going to schedule a interview for him next week with the Branch President so he can get the priesthood and start helping the branch. SO COOL.

We taught Jomruan this week and we set a baptismal date for him. It was a way good lesson. Talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants to feel clean again. Such a good guy. 

I went on an exchange with our zone leaders on Friday and we had such a good day. The best part was our final lesson. There is this super cool family that have only been members for about 2 years and are less active. Probably my favorite family here. They are way poor and rent a little room that should only be for like 1 person but there are 6. Anyways we taught about faith and trusting in God and I did the little object lesson with them with the belt and the wood piece that dad gave me. It was a hit. They loved it and totally understood. 2 days later I met the family at church. It was awesome. 

Well lovin life. I love being out in the Provinces. So much fun. I'm growing my pinky nail out now so i can look more Khmer. They grow it out to pick at their ears. I'm not going to cut it until i come home. I'm so excited. 

I think one of the reasons missions are for two years is because if they were only like a year or less people could just endure and not really let it change them. But when you get on your mission and you realize you have 2 YEARS to do this. It forces you to change. Its pretty cool. 

I could never just stop believing in this church. It's so deep in my soul that its kinda just the way I think now haha. 

Well i love you guys. You da best. Have a good week.You and Dad are going to be the answer to so many prayers. Think of how many people are praying to God to help them get an education and a better life. This is so cool!

Well thanks for all the prayers. I'm seeing them every week. Hope Thailand is treating you guys well. 

Elder Smith

I just need a bike and a Book of Mormon and anyone's problems can be solved Week #66 10/10/16

hey hey hey

Well Huah came to church and he is progressing really well. We have a Baptismal interview coming up this week so on Sunday we might just get a baptism. SO PUMPED. Also we had a WAY good lesson with Jomraun (our new investigator). We taught the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. It was awesome. He really wants to get to know God and find the truth. He couldn't be doing anything better. We will be meeting him tomorrow for another lesson. 

We are working with a couple less actives right now. One of them is Jantoo. Super cool guy just too lazy to come to church. We had a great lesson with him. In Cambodia you work a lot with less actives and the thing that I've noticed the most with these wonderful people is that if you just show up and call them out and invite them back to church nothing will happen. They have to like you and then they will respect what you say. Its been fun getting to know all the different people. So many problems and heart wrenching stories, but the coolest thing is that I can just pull out a little book from my back pack and literally have an answer to anything they say. The Book of Mormon. I don't need anything else. Just a bike and a Book of Mormon and anyone's problems can be solved through the words in the Book. In Khmer you say that's "lowy pram buan" ( cool nine or the coolest thing ever). 

Conference was way good. One of my favorite talks was by the Japanese dude, Yamashita. He talked about being Ambitious for Christ. I love that. Believing in God isn't something that we can just do sitting down. Believing means actively living according with Christ. Ambitious for Christ. 

Well the work here in Kampong Cham is doing good. The new big church is opening in a couple weeks. Its gunna be a party. Love you guys #BeAmbitiousForChrist 

Elder Smith 

Elder Mather and I had a great week together this week

cute little gecko stuck in our sink this morning

Pchum Bun--feeling the effects of this holiday! Week #65 10/2/16

Hey fam

This week was a weird one. These past 7 days we have felt the effects of this Holiday. They call it Pchum Bun. Its the biggest Buddhist holiday in Cambodia all focused on their dead ancestors and drinking beer. Lets just say there wasn't a ton of people wanting to learn about our church. We tried to use our time the best we could. Because of the Holiday they sell lots of cool food. I bought 6 snakes for all the Elders. It was way fun watching some pansy Elders put that in their mouth. Nothing like some good peer pressure. 

So my branch right now has a lot of problems. There is an investigation going on with the old branch presidency because they were probably stealing money. So the branch has a lot of less actives now and people who don't trust each other. But we scheduled a meeting with our branch president and we just discussed with each other what we could do to get this branch going again. We decided we need to get an active Elders President and an Active Relief Society president. So this week he will be making the calls. I think we might see improvement these next couple weeks. 

Our investigator Huah still met with us this week. That was way cool. Hes doing really good. Hes following every commandment and really excited to get baptized. I think he will be fully ready in 2 weeks. SO PUMPED. 

I had a really cool experience this week. We had the Family History senior couple come down to kampong cham and start helping members do their family history. I got to translate for the District President again and help him get his family names to be sent to the temple. It felt really cool being able to complete his family. 

In my mission I've had some tough comps. This week was a little fun. Just trying to be patient and finding ways to love. Really praying for some charity this week. I'm going to need it. 

Thailand looks way sick. Way jealous of that ping pong club you guys joined. I'm going to get destroyed when i get home HA. 

 

I was reading the Liahona and saw one of Grandpa's articles out of the blue. Super cool to read one of grandpa's talks in Khmer. 

 

Deep fried snake I made all the missionaries try

Huah is progressing really well! Week #64 9/26/16

Heyy dudes

So yesterday we had a really cool lesson with a potential investigator. It went really well and he really wants to learn more. Because no one knows anything about God or Jesus we get to explain the very basics to him. We taught who God is and Jesus Christ is and how prayer can help us Teaching those kind of lessons are my favorite. Its a privilege honestly. I get to explain to him that he is a child of God. That he has a savior and that he can talk to his Father in Heaven. It was  cool to say the least. Nothing like ending a week with a solid new investigator. He name is Jomraun. 

So these next two weeks is going to be tough. There is a massive holiday called Pchum Bei. Its an anscestoral Buddhist holiday. Pretty much what happens is that no one wants to talk to us and no one comes to church. So it'll be fun to see what happens. Im excited, We might just get to street contact every day. LOVE IT. 

Huah is doing really good. We had a great lesson about true Repentance. He was just eating it up. We might have to wait for his baptism because he might go on a trip but its not for sure yet. His parents are showing some interest so we might be able to start teaching them as well. 

We had a priesthood training meeting on Saturday. I translated for Elder Curtis (the senior couple) it was really funny. Sometimes i forget how new the church is in Cambodia. Lots and lots and lots of things get done wrong. So we taught the very basics. I had to bite my tongue for some of the things that were said. Gotta love it though. Some of them are really trying, but they just done yet quite understand. 

Love all you guys. Those pictures from Denmark and Thailand look way fun. But not as fun as Cambodia...:)

Elder Smith

 

Confusing the word blessing with money...being happier than any rich person. Week #63 9/18/16

Man these weeks are just going by so fast. its way wierd. 

We had a pretty good week. We have a investigator who made some really good descisons so now hes working towards baptism. His name is Huah. Super cool guy. He should get baptized the first week of October if he keeps all of his commitments. Im really excited for him. We had a way good lesson about Baptism and why we need it so we can go to heaven. It went really well. 

So right now our church is this old beat up house. BUT they are building and big new church in the middle of Kampong Cham. So we are doing a big open house party and we are pretty much inviting all of Kampong Cham to attend. So its going to be a party. I'm the oldest missionary in the area so when the senior couples come down and plan stuff they need a translator. And that fell on me. So this week I have been translating a ton helping the Senior Couples get things ready for the big open house. Its been fun helping in different ways. 

There is a new member in my area and her name is Niang. Her husband got baptized like 10- years ago and then went less active. But she just got baptized and its been super cool to hear how the gospel has changed her life. She literally lives in a brick house thats like 10 feet by 10 feet. Its the smallest house ever. Its just her and her husband and her little daughter. I feel like a lot of members in Cambodia confuse the word blessing with money. They get really frustrated and lose faith when their lives kind of stay the same money wise. But she explained that before she got baptized she and her husband would fight all the time becuase they were so poor and she was really thinking of leaving him. But as she started to learn and got baptized she explained her relatoinship changed so much. She told me she is happier than any rich person. It was so cool for me to see her realize those kind of blessings even though shes so poor. LOVE IT. 

I feel like this quote goes perfect with it "The truth of any work can be seen through the blessings that flow from it." As a missionary Ive become a witness to that. Crazy things happen all the time. People really find a way to be happy as they come closer to God. Life just becomes better. 

I have been studying about commandments and sin and things that bring us to God and things that bring us away from Him. We all have our agency for a reason. If we didnt have commandments then we coulndt ever sin. And if we could never sin then we would never think we need deliverance. Breaking a commandment gives us a remorse of consciousness which makes us look for something to help us. I always wonderered why would God give us commandments that he knows we would brake. It seemed like to me He was just making a problem for himself. I didn't understand them. But becuase we have commandments it causes us to turn to something. And once we turn to God, God can turn us into things we could never do by ourself. So when we do something wrong and we turn to God and not to the world, we seek for deliverance or for something to bring us back up. Commandments are things to help us be closer to God. i learned some of this from a book im reading, its way good. 

Love all you guys. You are the best. Hope you guys like Thailand as your new home. Much love. 

Elder Smith

on the island in our area

the untouched world

Emergency Transfer--back to the jungle! Week #62 9/11/16

Saying goodbye to the BEST ward mission leader Om Phon--I'm really going to miss him

Monday night I got a call from the Mission President and there is an emergency transfer. The president prayed and felt like I needed to go. So the next day i packed my bags and went to Kampong Cham. My first area, but a different branch. Its pretty crazy. So im back in the provinces and villages again. Its awesome.  I was way pumped, but a little sad to leave my investigators that i have been working so hard on and leaving some really cool members. But I'm back in the jungle now so its really fun. The saddest goodbye was Om Phon. He is the coolest old man ive met on the mission. He was our Branch Mission Leader. He videoed our goodbye and was super sad. He did this khmer thing where he shows respect and says all these blessings he wants me to have. It was awesome. I love that man. Hes going to be one of the first people i will see when i come back. love that dude. My new comp is Elder Mather. Good guy. 

So my new area is pretty diverse. I have the city of  Kampong Cham, some villages far away and an ISLAND. We ride a boat and put our bikes on it and ride to our area. Its the prettiest area ever. 

Its so cool. Its so untouched from the world. There are a couple members there. It looks like something the hobbit would be filmed at. So pretty.

We just got a new branch presidency because all three of the guys were less active. So we got a new one and its doing pretty good. They showed up to church. they are new but thats good. Which means they are willing to learn. It was funny my first sunday here was the Elder Smith show to say the least. The pianist and the person who leads the music didnt show up so everyone looked at me. So i got up there and led the music. We had to see accapella. the first song went all right. The second one was ok, but the last one.. I swear it wasnt even a hymn. I had no idea what it was. So its just me in front of like 40 people singing accapella in khmer to a song i have never heard. It was so bad. No one else knew the song so i was the only one singing. Eventually some people started laughing and then i did. They all stopped singing and we all started talking to each other about what different song we could sing. We changed and sang another song. Well now all the members know who i am. I think they liked it. I made friends pretty quickly. 

Im really excited to be here. its a struggling branch with lots of problems, but i think all it needs is just some love and hard work. I really want to leave this branch a thousand times better than how I found it. 

Love you dudes. Have fun living in Thailand. You are the best. "Please Have happy time" thats what you say in khmer. 

saying goodbye to members in Phnom Penh

Exchanges in Trash Mountain (from the book "Rent Collector") Week #61 9/4/16

Trash Mountain

Hello Hello

Well this week was full of zone leader stuff. I got to do an exchange at Trash Mountain. It was so gross. People just live in straight trash. Its completely mind blowing. People just walk around with bags trying to find coke cans or glass bottles to give to the recycle places to get money. It's super sad. We were biking along this creek (they call it Poop River) and there were cardboard boxes and wood slabs along the creek so people could walk and not have to step in the water. So we were biking and yes i fell. I got like knee deep on my left leg. I smelt SO bad! And the bad part was it was 9:30 in the morning and we had a bunch of lessons to get to and we were a half hour from the house. So I had to endure. After like 2 hours my foot like started stinging it was crazy. But after a while I got a hose and cleansed myself. 

Vine is doing pretty good. We are still continuing to help him prepare for baptism. its a hard process. But the reward is more than worth it. He had to work on Sunday so he couldn't make it to church which was a bummer but he's still doing good. 

Our new investigator Veejet is doing good too. We talk him the Plan of Salvation and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Super good lessons. He had tons of questions about Baptism. He's in a really tough situation financially. There is just so much poverty. He sells clams and if he doesn't sell enough, no food or money for the family. The good thing is we have promises from God if we do what He says we will receive Help. God can't lie. 

We are working with 3 less active young men in our branch and all 3 of them came to church yesterday. It was awesome. We had like 6 guys in young men. Haven't had that in forever. 

Elder Tri and I got to teach zone training this week. It went really well. It was a little stressful because My comp and the 2 sister training leaders (the "Zone Leaders" for sisters) are both khmer too. And khmer culture is super lax so they were just kinda ready to wing it haha. BUT I'm not about that, so we made a good plan and it turned out to be really good. I really felt inspired. it was super cool. we had a random sister share for about 10 minutes about how love and charity go hand in hand with misisonary work. She brought the Spirit so well. Not going to lie i teared up a little. It was awesome. 

We are visiting with a really good active family about once a week. We have been teaching them a lot about the temple and how it can bless their family. Its been really cool to answer their questions and see how going to the temple is more important than money or saving up for other things. We are going to help them do some family history this week. So tight. 

Elder Tri is actually becoming one of my favorite companions. Its been super fun. He made some pretty hard core khmer dishes this week. Fried Baby bird and a frog stir fry were the top 2 best. here are some pics.

Sorry i cant emial a lot today. Ill try to be better next week! Just trying to be obediant!

 Love you guys! have fun in Thailand.  elder smith

Fried baby bird

My comp made frog leg stir fry. It was actually really good

I think he is starting to realize that what we are teaching is actually "real" and that God will really help him. 8/28/16 week #60

Dear Fam

Such a good week. So that family that we contacted last week we started teaching them this week. Actually just the husband is learning right now because his wife is busy but its a good start. His name is Veejet. Super down to earth guy who has 3 little kids and trying to make a living for his family. They literally live in a tin tree house over this super polluted river. Its a tough neighborhood but with some really good people. After we taught him the restoration we met him two days later and wanted to share the Plan of Salvation with him but we felt like prayer is what he needed to hear. He had lots of questions about it. At the end of the lesson he started talking and just started smiling. He was like ever since we have met each other that first time you talked to me little amazing things have been happening in my life. Nothing big just little things all the time. I think he is starting to realize that what we are teaching is actually "real" and that God will really help him. SO COOL. 

Also we taught Bong Rit again. The past two weeks he has been super busy because he has been preparing to apply to a special scholarship to get his PHD is France. He prayed way hard and he got it! It was huge for him. Super cool, the bummer is that he is moving to France in Ocotber. We dont want him to get baptized and then just leave to France so we decided it would be best for him to get baptized in France. So we will continue to teach him and give him over to the Elders in France when he moves. 

Vine is doing way good. He is coming to church every week and is becoming friends with the young men. Its way cool. I think he will be ready to get baptized in about 3 weeks. SO PUMPED. 

Sunday morning we went to visit my favorite active member family in the branch. The Ngin family. Super awesome. We were sitting down talking to the mother and her son came down and was messing with his mom. It was way funny. Then she went into another room and pulled out this bamboo stick and was chasing her kid around trying to wack him with the stick. She gave up and sat next to me and said Elder I really don't want to be sealed to a kid like that. Ha it was awesome. Good stuff. 

Also some good news, our branch might become a ward in the future. Its really progressing. Super awesome. 

Hope you guys have a អស្ចារ្យ week. 

Elder Smith

 Super cool dude. His name is Sunday.

My Cambodian brothers

Went to Wat Phnom for P day

The work is going good. Its everything but easy, but you can still find something good. Week #59 8/21/16

I was riding my bike a couple days ago and i saw a guy on the ground dead. He got shot in the face. Never seen anything like that before ever. It was nuts. 

This week was pretty good. It really helps having a native explain things. Elder Try knows a ton and knows the lessons really well. Since he is Khmer he can explain things very easily. Hes been helping a lot. 

Elder Try and I are gettting along way good. His mom is a famous cook and she taught him some really good dishes. I just let him cook and let him buy everything then i just give him money and do the dishes. My new favorite khmer food is Chaa kdau. Straight fire. Spicy but way good. Limes, peanuts, chicken, peppers, lemongrass, morning glory, and tons of khmer spice. Aint nothin better. Thats the first thing you guys should eat if you go to Cambodia. 

So we had a really good lesson with Vine this week. We scheduled him to get baptized on Sept 17 and hes all in so im super exicted. BUT we have to teach him the Word of Wisdom and thats a huge deal breaker for guys in Cambodia. The only way you can have friends is if you drink. Its a big change. But he can do it. 

We got another new investigator this week. His name is Tee. We shared the Restoration and had tons of questions it was awesome. At the end we had him read Moroni's promise and we asked him how he felt reading a promise that comes from God and he just said "I feel way excited now."" It was sick. We plan on meeting him tomorrow. It should be fun. 

We were street contacting a couple days ago in a SUPER poor area. The locals  call it the "Stinky River" Its horrid. Theres so much trash that we couldnt bike through it so we had to walk with our bikes. No one was interested and then i looked to my right and saw this dude holding his baby with his other kid on his lap and his wife next to him playing with the baby. I just stopped and was like this couldnt get any more perfect, we talked to them gave them a Book of Mormom and told them we have a special lesson for their family. We checked on them yesterday but they were busy but he said he has read 8 chapters already. We haven't taught them yet, but im way excited. 

The work is going good. Its everything but easy, but still you can find something good. I read a super good quote and im been thinking about it a lot lately,

"If he would seek the real purpose of life, the individual must live for something higher than self." its by David O Mckay. Sounds a little like Buddha though. I love it. 

I love all you guys. I love this Church. And I love God. 

in khmer culture when we leave a house  you always say in khmer " Please be healthy and happy.  So loved ones please be healthy and happy. There are so many reasons why. 

Gotta love the traffic

The modern way to dry your clothes in cambodia

អែលឌើរ ស្ម៊ីធ

Elder Smith

Diving into Khmer culture! Week #58 8/14/16

Elder Try picking some mango's for us

Massive tree in our area

Well new comp and some new investigator. Transfers were this week and I got my new Companion. Elder T. I had probably 10 missionaries tell me how bad my life was going to be. There are some pretty crazy stories of this dude but with me We got along really well the first day. We''re having a lot of fun together. I lived in the same house with one of his friends who is serving as well in Siam Riap I guess he emailed Elder T and told me i was cool. Elder T said his friend likes me so he likes me too., Little tender mercy comin from Elder T's friend. 

So last week i think i talked about a guy named Vine. Hes 20. We got him to start being friends with the young men and the Young mens president is being super nice to this guy. Vine is getting fellowshipped really well. He's progressing quickly and has been to church for the past two weeks all 3 hours. I'm really excited for him. I think we might just get a baptism in a couple weeks. So pumped. 

Bong Rit is preparing for his PHD presentation this week so we didn't get to meet him so that was a bummer but we talked to him on the phone and he still has the same desires as before which is good:) 

My comp and I have been trying to help the young men and Elder T is way good at it. There is this one kid named Liab and Elder T totally got him to come to church. Elder T just invited him to learn with us and really became his friend I guess sometimes you just need some khmer to khmer love. 

Well since i have a khmer comp now im diving hard in the culture agian. Rice for every meal. Speaking khmer all day and trying to learn some funny phrases they say a lot. One of my favorites is "The old cow eats fresh grass" Thats when a old man has a young wife. Super funny.

Sorry guys i dont have a lot of time to email now. I will try to email faster next week. Im so pumped for you guys moving to THAILAND. Thats insane. You guys are going to have a ton of fun. Dont have to much fun while im gone haha. Brandon i miss you. I want your hair. I miss long hair. you look beatuful. Tyler my main man. Thats aweosme you made it to the temple. Miss that wonderful heavenly place so much. Keep kiling it and having fun. Try to jump off the highest bridge in horseshoe bend. Ashton you look good as ever with that hat. I might have to wear it when I get home.  you da best. I miss your laugh so much. Charlotte....... you got your ears pierced! Thats crazy. I bet you weren't even scared. I would have been. When i get my ears pierced whe i get home you wil have to help me.. ha just kidding. Make sure you catch a monkey in thailand for me so we can have a pet monkey. 

 

Well this area aint easy but we're making the best of it. Loving life and working hard.

love you dudes so much. best family ever

អែលឌើរ ស្ម៊ីធ

Love, Elder Smith

I think he is starting to realize that what we are teaching is actually "real" and that God will really help him. 8/14/16 week #60

Dear Fam

Such a good week. So that family that we contacted last week we started teaching them this week. Actually just the husband is learning right now because his wife is busy but its a good start. His name is Veejet. Super down to earth guy who has 3 little kids and trying to make a living for his family. They literally live in a tin tree house over this super polluted river. Its a tough neighborhood but with some really good people. After we taught him the restoration we met him two days later and wanted to share the Plan of Salvation with him but we felt like prayer is what he needed to hear. He had lots of questions about it. At the end of the lesson he started talking and just started smiling. He was like ever since we have met each other that first time you talked to me little amazing things have been happening in my life. Nothing big just little things all the time. I think he is starting to realize that what we are teaching is actually "real" and that God will really help him. SO COOL. 

Also we taught Bong Rit again. The past two weeks he has been super busy because he has been preparing to apply to a special scholarship to get his PHD is France. He prayed way hard and he got it! It was huge for him. Super cool, the bummer is that he is moving to France in Ocotber. We dont want him to get baptized and then just leave to France so we decided it would be best for him to get baptized in France. So we will continue to teach him and give him over to the Elders in France when he moves. 

Vine is doing way good. He is coming to church every week and is becoming friends with the young men. Its way cool. I think he will be ready to get baptized in about 3 weeks. SO PUMPED. 

Sunday morning we went to visit my favorite active member family in the branch. The Ngin family. Super awesome. We were sitting down talking to the mother and her son came down and was messing with his mom. It was way funny. Then she went into another room and pulled out this bamboo stick and was chasing her kid around trying to wack him with the stick. She gave up and sat next to me and said Elder I really don't want to be sealed to a kid like that. Ha it was awesome. Good stuff. 

Also some good news, our branch might become a ward in the future. Its really progressing. Super awesome. 

Hope you guys have a អស្ចារ្យ week. 

Elder Smith

 Super cool dude. His name is Sunday.

My Cambodian brothers

Went to Wat Phnom for P day

Transfer week! week #57 8/7/16

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Well transfer calls were last night. Some good news and some bad news, Elder Medley and I will be parting ways. I'm way sad. He's definitely one of my favorite comps. So chill. BUT i got a call and i will be the new zone leader in the city. South Zone is the biggest zone in Cambodia so im a little nervous. I though I was going to train but being a zone leader is going to be tight. BUUUT my new comp is a little difficult. Im not going to lie hes a twin of Elder Chhouk. There are 3 famous super difficult missionaries in the mission  Elder Chhouk and Elder Try are on the top 3.  Its going to be a adventure to say the least. 

But im just going to love this man. Hes going to feel way wierd becuase of the amount of love that im going to bestow upon him. His life is going to be amazing. im taking this as a challenge. 

So we met Rith this week and he told us he completly stopped coffee and tea! Hes done he said and he just wants to get baptized! It was a sick lesson. If all goes well he should get baptized in 3 or 4 weeks. I'm way pumped for him, 

Church was awesome today. We had 4 investigators and we picked up two new investigators that are way good. we had over a hundred people come in our branch! Elder Medley and I had two goals this transfer- we wanted to get 20 lessons twice and over a 100 people at church twice and we did it. It was awesome. When i first got here it wasn't that good at all. So its been fun seeing the area grow in numbers:) The work is coming along. I'm really starting to love this area. The members are awesome and we got some really good investigators. 

Cant believe you guys are moving to Thailand! it looks like the Lords hand is in it all the way. Im so pumped for you guys. That's going to be one way cool adventure--I'm all in.  I'm way jealous, but Cambodia is way cooler so whatever . Love you dudes. Thanks for the prayers! 

Cambodians are really good artists

teaching English!

This week was a thousand times better than last week 7/31/16 Week #56

Hey guys! This week was a thousand times better than last week.

So our area is a branch but we go to the church building where all of the wards are. And for the past two week our branch has had the most people show up for church than all of the wards in the South Stake area. Elder Medley and I are doing a ton of less active work and strengthening the members. Its a ton of fun. This area used to be way tough, crazy what some hard work can do. Its doing way good now.

So Sophiap and Teeda showed up to church again. I'm really excited for them. We can only meet them once a week because he is so busy with work, but they have some really good faith. We might see a couple baptisms in a month or two. Ive gotten really close to this couple. They are way awesome. Can't wait to see what happens.

For Bong Rith we have a plan to help him stop drinking coffee and tea. He committed to completely stop in two weeks, so we will see what happens. Hes down to a cup a day instead of 3 or 4. We had a really good lesson about the Sabbath day and what Gods wants us to do in this life. Hes comin a long. Its not easy.

Funniest thing happened the other day-- Elder Medley and I were coming out of our house to unlock our gate and this insane lady who sells vegetables and meat outside of our house was just waiting outside our gate. So we talked to her as we were opening the gate to take our bikes out and she asked if she could come in. Before we could say anything she ran into our front yard and yelled "Oh my gosh" and started to rip all of the leaves off this tree. My comp and I just looked at each other not knowing what to do. I guess the leaves on this tree are way delicious and expensive, i had no idea. She told us thank you and had a handful of leaves and then ran out and started selling them outside or house. Ha it was awesome. I guess you make a soup called Slamajoo with it. I'm going to ask her to make it for me.

Well looks like Idaho is still as beautiful as ever. Miss you guys.

Elder Smith

 

 

 "the difficulty in life itself is a blessing. For it initiates a desire within us to turn to the Lord.""

A very weird but great week! 7/24/16 Week #55

Well this week... There have been better HA

Well on Tuesday night i woke up at like 2 in the morning with this insane sharp pain in my stomach and 5 minutes later i was downstairs having everything inside my body leave with great force. It was terrible. I tried to go back to my room, cause thats the only room in the house that has any sort of AC but as soon as i would walk upstairs i would have to go back to the bathroom and throw up. It was way hot so i just took my shirt off and laid on the tile in my bathroom trying to smack the ants that were crawling on me and feeling sorry for myself and trying to cool off. One of the worst nights of my life not going to lie ha. Got like no sleep at all. But after like 5 hours of just dying it quickly went away. I have no idea what I ate, but this body did not like it. 

Buuut Bong Rit came to church yesterday and he brought a friend. It was awesome. He really enjoyed it and is progressing slowly but surely. It was really cool to explain everything we do. He was really interested. Hes such a cool guy. 

On Friday elder medley and I were late to a meeting so we went down this bridge and were hauling on our bikes. Im talking like Gear 3 and gear 8 status. I was going way fast, and then this dude totally cut me off way bad and there i went. Sliding on the road. I pretty much had to just ditch my bike and jump off it. nothing i could do. I tried to land on my shoulder and back and it worked really well. My hand and elbow have some good road rash but i was wearing my helmet so i was safe. That new backpack totally saved me, didnt get anything on my back ahah. There was like a group of like 80 people that came over to me. The guy just drove away way fast and didn't do anything. The bike is ok, just a couple scrapes. So this week was weird but it was also way good. 

I found some really good qutoes that i have been studying a lot lately

"Righteousness is simply a humble understanding of how unrighteous one is, coupled with a deep commitment to be better."

"The difficulty of life itself is a blessing. For it initiates a desire within us to come to the Lord."

"Circumstances that invite us toward Christ are blessings to us spiritually even if they are challenges to us physically."

Love you guys! 

This is where we do all of our shopping. This lady hooks me up way good.

This week was amazing, just like every week on the mission. 7/17/2016 Week #54

Hello Family

Well well well, its monday agian. This week was amazing, just like every week on the mission. 

To start off we had a really wierd thursday morning. We went straight to he church to meet an investigator and we found two hobos sleeping at the church. We woke them up and tried to help them, they were heavily under the influence and couldnt believe we spoke khmer it was funny. 2 minutes later a lizard jumped off a shrub and bit my companion on the arm. It was awesome. 

So we had some really good lessons this week and we are seeing some investigators really starting to progress. Sophiap and Tidaa are doing great, they are just way busy but they came to sunday school and loved it. It was super cool to see them get invlolved and stop being shy. Rithia is in france for the next 10 days wich is a bummer, but we gave him some chapters to read from the BOM and he got really excited. My comp and I have been really trying to help this Less Active named Cone. Hes hilarious, he showed up with a white shirt and tye and passed the sacrament. It was awesome, and that other old lady that we found a couple weeks ago gave a talk during sacrament meeting. It was cool seeing people make changes and then help the branch. Good stuff right there. 

These past weeks and actually my whole mission I've studied a lot about how to listen better to the Spirit. i just want to get better at it. I heard a way good quote from my main man Ezra Taft Benson he said "When you do good, you feel good, and that is the Holy Ghost Speaking to you." Super simple. As a kid i always read scriptures and heard stories of a "burning in your bosom" and how that is the way you know if the church is true or not. For me it doesnt work like that, it comes by living it. As i live it, i love it, and I feel it which makes me want to share it. Oaks put it in a great way, "Surely the work 'burning' in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and serenity. This is the witness many receive. THis is the way revelation works... I have never had a burning (caloric heat) in the bosom." Packer said "The Holy Ghost communicates with the Spirit through the mindmore than through the physcal senses, Personal revalation comes to the mind as thoughts and to the heart as feelings." The Holy Ghost is a voice we feel not hear. 

I love this mission. Not going to lie, there are some tough days, like days that just are terrible.

Ha this area is a little bit tough. Its just not easy, every day is like a mountian i have to climb, and some days when i wake up and its 5:30 in the morning and im dead tired, im not going to lie i have no desire to do anything ha, but thats where i have to make the descion if my mission is about me or others. On the mission you get to make lots of decisions. you talk to yourself a lot, ive gotten to know myself better haha. Its been fun, im really excited for the next year. thank you so much for the chocolate!! it was greatly needed. You da best "Come what may and love it." Its the only way to have a good time on your mission. 

live long and prosper         Love, Elder Smith

We all got new bikes!

Well I hit my year mark!! 7/10/16 Week #53

Ayyye

Well it looked like the 4th was a ton of fun. America is the best. S/O to Ellie, you da best. Im so sorry about your accident. hope you feel better. You got prayers coming from Asia. 

Well it was a successful week. Even though this area is super hard to deal with, it was good.

The work is going pretty well, we have about 5 pretty solid investigators, it's been fun seeing our investigator pool get bigger almost every week. Elder Medley and I have set some good high goals, we will see if we can do it. I've kinda realized there is no such thing as a "bad area" people talk about areas and about how crappy they are but i think its maybe because they just didn't try or work that hard. You cant call an area crappy if you've worked your hardest at it, you will eventually love it if you try. 

We had a way good lesson with our two golden investigators. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they had a lot of questions. It was a ton of fun. The man we are teachings name is Sopheap and his wife Teeda (translated Angel) is like 15 years younger than he is. He works for the government and has a ton of money so he gets a young beautiful wife. Little side note, Sopheap has the weirdest laugh ever. i just think of a little gremlin who buries his neck in his shoulder and stares at you when he laughs, it gets me every time. Our member help said she thought sopheap was Teeda's Dad. I had to tell her that wasn't cool after the lesson. They want to get baptized, but they are super busy with their jobs so it will happen in like 5 or 6 weeks. I'm super excited. 

We also had 2 amazing lessons with Rithia. At the end of one of the lessons, he said "Elda, when i talk to you guys and i learn, and i read this book, i just feel happy. I dont know why im just so refreshed." it was fun trying to help him realize it was The Spirt of God telling him what he was doing is right. 

the first couple weeks of teaching a new investigator are so cool. You get to watch them pray better, ask questions about Nephi and Lehi and teach them that their families can be together forever. Its so fun. Some people you have to just let go because they aren't interested, but sometimes they notice the Spirit and they run after it. Its so cool to just sit back and watch the spirit work on them. 

So i hit a year, man time is just so weird on your mission. But I've been thinking about my mission and what Ive put in and what I've gotten out of it. I've worked hard, no regrets and now i have one more year. As i thought about this past year i started to become so much more grateful for Cambodia because its given me the opportunity to change. Im so grateful that Christ has given me an opportunity to just change for the better. There's no other thing, organization you can volunteer at, a job or church thing that offers anything like a mission. You get to leave everything you once knew, your family, friends, house, school, everything and then be put in a group of people you have never met and live in a new place. The only ounce of familiarity you have is your Heavenly Father and your scriptures, I think that is part of the reason why missionaries and myself start having such a strong desire to read and pray. Its something that isn't new, and you start to cherish it so much, and you just start praying and reading like you never have before. You rely and depend on your Father in Heaven and you get to watch first hand God helping you and making you a better missionary. Missions are dope. I highly recommend it. 

Have a good week guys

Lots of love form Cambodia

ELDER SMITH

made my sick comp soup cause i'm oh so sweet

getting pretty good at Khmer writing

the other elders we live with are from Vietnam, this is what their freezer looks like everyday

"The Elders are coming. Everything is going to be ok." 7/03/16 Week #51

yoyo fam 

Those pics and videos of McCall seem so much fun. You got me missin home again, but its all good. It's a good thing to miss home.  It's just summer in Idaho is the absolute best.  But what Im doing here is so much more important. I love it here. truly. I think this past year, everything just seems so much more real. The gospel, my relationship with God, what i want to do in my life, its not just an idea. I love it.  i just love life and i want to help people have dope lives and the best way is through the Gospel. For p-day we missionaries are going to go play some basketball and try to find a burger somewhere to celebrate the 4th! It'll be fun. Almost as fun as McCall...ha just kidding that is a lie. The reunion looks like so much fun. I'm super jealous. Yeah on Friday im going to hit my year mark! Its crazy, it feels good though knowing that i have given a year of my life to the Lord, but i hate how I'm half way done. 

Well this week was awesome. We had a really cool thing happen to us. A couple days ago all of our plans fell through in the morning so we just started contacting. We both had the idea to go to this one part of our area that we both hate, because for some reason everyone there is just super mean, but we decided to go contacting over there anyway. After like 2 and half hours of complete rude shut downs we stopped on our bikes and started feeling sorry for ourselves. So we started biking again down this dead road and all of the sudden this old lady started yelling, "Elder!" So we stopped and started talking to her, turns out she is a less active member who just moved from across the city because she was having some problems, and didn't know what to do. So she prayed and felt the spirit tell her to just go outside and that everything would be ok because the Elders were coming. It was so cool. We talked to her for a while, and saw her at church yesterday. I love being a part of little miracles. Really makes you feel good. The Lord is aware.

last night we had a funny/sad thing happen. This old man in our branch invited us over to his house because he said he won a prize. He cut us a ton of jackfruit when we showed up. He and his wife were super happy. They received an email and a text message that they had won 1 million dollars. Obviously it was a scam so we read it and had to tell them that no, they did not win and they shouldn't give their bank account number to them. They were bummed. I felt like i just ruined Christmas for them.  But someone had to do it.

So this week my comp and I made contact with 2 new golden investigators. I'm so pumped. They are really educated and THEY CAN READ! Which is awesome. They are a new couple, but the husband is like 45. its like a 20 years difference but whatever. The guy his name is sophiap and his wife is teedaa. They are so awesome, they feel like they have been really blessed and they want to thank God for all of their blessings. We had a really good lesson about the Restoration. I think in a month or 2 they will be ready for baptism. Our other investigators are doing really good too. When i first got here we had 1 investigator now we have 8. Thanks to our Heavenly Father and a little hard work. Life is going good. 

Love you guys

Elder Smith

Throwback with Elder Baecco at Khmer New Year

Saw some crazy stuff and had some cool experiences Week #50 6/26/16

 Well this was a pretty good week, saw some crazy stuff and had some cool experiences. We had transfer calls and Elder Medley and I are doing one more transfer together which means I am probably training next transfer which will be a blast. Last week i talked about this family that we contacted and this week we met with them at their house. Man they are poor. Their kids dont live with them, they are living at the construction site where they work. It was humbling. We rode our bikes through these houses and had like 50 people staring at us. Super tough area. But we found their house and had a great lesson with them. Some other people seemed interested too. It was cool to see. We will meet them again tomorrow. Im really excited.

The coolest part about this mission is the opportunity we have to introduce who Jesus Christ is to people. we usually start our first lesson with them by explaining who God and Jesus Christ are and then teach them how to pray. As lessons progress on i see someone who at the beginning just prays to an idea, but over time they start praying to their REAL Father in Heaven. Its so awesome.

This week was good. As we were riding our bikes under the bridge i saw this dude dragging a rope across the road over his shoulder. Like 15 feet later there was a dead dog. He was just dragging it to his house for dinner.  no one cared. It was totally normal.  Also we had this lady almost kiss my comp as we were teaching a less active member. Funny stuff. Cambodia is treating me well. Everything is going well. I love the people here.

Love you dudes

Elder Smith

This is my main man Khon (cone)--he used to have 7 cats but has eaten a couple of them

Rainy season has begun!

could there be anything better than my favorite candy bar turned into cereal??