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