Good story: Sister Cloud and I leave our bikes at a members house to go out and to some "walking and talking" aka contacting aka stalking and trapping into corners those unassuming Cambodians and making them listen to stories about Jesus.
So we walk by this restaurant that Sister Cloud has been meaning to take me to and we're just looking at the menu, and this guy sitting at a table outside goes, "You've got badges." And we're like...yeah. We're missionaries! So he's clearly got an accent, and I guessed he was from Scotland and it turns out he was from Manchester, England (sorry Daddy, I know i failed you there) (PS I'm still really ashamed because I used to be able to tell the difference between those accents) (PPS when I said Scotland he got a look of disgust on his face and i knew immediately without him telling me that that meant he's from England). ANYWAY. He and his Canadian friend have just had a few too many pints of that Cambodian beer and start railing in on us. The Canadian is going on about how Buddhists are wonderful and Christ never really existed and then something about a prostitute, meanwhile, the guy from Manchester doesn't even care that he's interrupting and is asking us random annoying things like "WHY DO WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WHEN JESUS WAS BORN IN APRIL?" and "THE MONTH OF OCTOBER IS NAMED AFTER CAESAR AUGUSTUS".....................
The whole story is actually much longer and much more interesting than that basic info I just gave you, but it was a really cool experience. It helped me realize a lot of things. 1) Daddy is completely justified in hating everything north of London (nobody likes you, Manchester). and 2) I now know why I was sent to Cambodia. Because if I was in Europe I'd just argue with everyone. People in Cambodia are wayyy more sloat. Easygoing and humble. And they give us 10 kilos of mangoes every week. I love Cambodians. After that little experience, I finally realized just how much I love the Cambodian people and how incredibly grateful I am to be serving them.
So speaking of the Cambodians that I am currently serving, Sister Cloud and I were lucky enough to get a bunch of new investigators this week. Do you remember my investigator who brought her son to church? Well it turns out she has THREE kids, and now we're teaching them ALL. Her name is Ming Siyan and she is so awesome. She wanted all of her kids to start learning and they've all agreed to be baptized. She has a 22 year old daughter, a 14 year old son and a 9 year old son (who im positive has ADD, but hes adorable so I let it slide). This is the first family I've taught since I've been on my mission! I'm so so so excited to finally be teaching a family. Truth is, the husband is sort of out of the picture. Plus we also know that he's an abusive drunk (way more common here than you'd like to know) so obviously we're not teaching him. From what Sister Cloud and I understand, the parents are separated, but things like that are really fuzzy in Cambodia so its a little more confusing than that. Anyway, Ming Siyan and all her kids came to church yesterday (they come every week and its incredible because they actually dont even have a moto or a bike or enough money to get a ride, but they somehow find a way every week). So sister cloud asks ming siyan "hey are you gonna stay for the second and third hour of church?" and Ming Siyan goes "No sorry we can't! My husband was drunk so I took his moto and we gotta get it back before he realizes it's gone!" Just as cheery as ever. a CLASSIC cambodian investigator. Comments like that dont even surprise me anymore. Other than that, she is wonderful and her family is progressing well. We're hoping they'll get baptized sometime in June. SO SABAY.
In other news, Sister Cloud and I realized exactly how far we bike in our area. Just so you know, this is the largest area I've ever been in since I've been on my mission. IT'S GIGANTIC. Anyway, we have this huge map on the wall in our bedroom of the area and after a particularly long day, sister cloud and i were tracking where we had biked and we realized we had biked so far.....that we biked off the map. Not outside of our area, because thats against the rules, but the map doesnt cover our whole area. and we biked so far that where we went wasnt even covered on the map. literally biked OFF THE MAP. I dont even want to know how many kilos that is. But on the bright side, Sister Cloud and I have found a delightful way to pass the time: we sing VeggieTales! You should see the look on the Cambodian cow herders faces when two random white girls bike by them in the middle of freaking NOWHERE bouncing up and down and singing these songs. Not that they can understand what we're saying.
OH i almost forgot: another really cool thing that happened yesterday: LOOKRUU OLESON CAME TO BATTAMBANG!!! My teacher from the MTC!!!!! He served in Battambang for like 7 months when we served his mission and he just got married so he came to my branch and I got to talk to him for a while! It was soooooo awesome. I miss my lookkruus so much. And it was so weird because when we were in the MTC, he would go off on rants in Khmer and we would all be like.................huh? Literally did not understand a word he said. But when he started speaking in Khmer, I totally got everything he said! It was so cool. It's the first time I've really been able to gauge how my language has progressed.
Anyway, thats pretty much all for this week. It was a really really good week! We taught a lot of lessons and had almost 100 contacts! I know thats probably puny compared to other missions in other places, but thats the most ive ever had on my mission so im stoked about it!
I love you guys and miss you a ton! Keep on keepin on! See you soon!
Love, Sister Davis
PS Really awesome quote by Uchtdorf that I read this week:
"Sometimes we become impatient with where we are in our journey, don’t we? If you are 12 years old, you might wish you were 14. At 14, you might wish you were 18. And at 18, occasionally you might even wish you were 12 again and could start all over.
There will always be things to complain about—things that don’t seem to go quite right. You can spend your days feeling sad, alone, misunderstood, or unwanted. But that isn’t the journey you had hoped for, and it’s not the journey Heavenly Father sent you to take.
With this in mind, I invite you to walk confidently and joyfully. Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don’t focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” is what He promises. That is why He commands us to "be of good cheer."
This day we went for a ride on the "bamboo train" they put a bed frame on wheels and stick it on a railroad track and then you get to ride through a really pretty part of battambang. Thats me and sister cloud with Elder and Sister Zemp, the senior couple
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