I FINALLY DID IT!!!! I ate a bug, guys. not like i accidentally ate an ant that was crawling on my food, because ive done that maybe a trillion times by now. I mean I ate one of those big, fried up crickets (or locusts, i honestly dont know) that they sell on the side of the street. It was crunchy. But it also gushed in my mouth, that was unpleasant. Honestly, if it werent for the gushing, I probably wouldve eaten another. It kind of tasted like a Dorito. But lets be real, i dont remember what doritos taste like.
Also, in the news of me being introduced to Battambang Branch 3: Sister Fife decides to show us the house of this one member, her name is Om Luan. Shes super old and she cant walk, and she cant really use her hands either, but shes really sweet and she comes to church every single week. What a champ. Anyway, the three of us sit down and right as we do, Sister Fife whispers to me: "Sometimes she likes us to clip her toenails for her." Guys, this is Cambodia's world. I'm just living in it.
Sister Fife does so many things that crack me up. She is seriously hilarious. The other day she was buying something (we were actually on splits when this happened so I didnt witness it myself, but I got to here the story which was just as good) and she was near a school, so there were a bunch of people coming out of the school. She started trying to contact this one person, and the person she was with goes "that person is deaf." And she was like.....oops. so then she turned around and tried to give a flyer to another person, and then some lady was like "He's blind!" This happened a few times before Sister Fife got really embarassed, then she turned around and realized she was standing outside of a Deaf/Blind school. Shes a star.
Then another time, we were in the middle of a lesson with Sela, and Sister Fife is trying to explain some important doctrinal principle, I'm sure, and theres this cow like five feet away from Sela's house and it makes this super loud, obnoxious Cambodian cow sound. And literally just in the middle of her sentence, Sister Fife goes "Bauy" (the cambodian word for "bless you") and just continues teaching, like it was completely normal. Sister Ky started cracking up in the middle of the lesson and now Sela officially thinks Sister Fife is cray cray.
Sister Fife and I have also started doing this thing where we fall behind Sister Ky, and then count to three really quietly and then we speed up and bike on either side of Sister Ky and start belting random Disney songs. This week was Hakuna Matata. Sister Ky really likes it, I'm sure.
Anyway, SIster Fife's branch is doing much better than mine these days. Her investigators are progressing really well, and a couple of our investigators should be getting baptized pretty soon. Bong Noy is one. She is so awesome. Shes almost 40 but she looks younger than me, and she has two kids who are half Mexican (her husband died a few years ago though). Anyway, shes super great. Then we have a part-member family that we're working with and we think two of the kids should be baptized pretty soon too. So Branch 3 is doing really well. My investigators have slowed down pretty well. Either they cant come to church or they cant let go of buddhism. BUT I'm still workin on it and Ive got faith that I'll see some miracles happen. Assuming I dont leave Battambang, and if I leave Battambang, you guys know I'm gonna be crying for days.
So, yesterday I gave a talk. On humility. Ha. We know we're always given talks on the things that we need to learn about sooooo....
It wasnt great. I calomed so many times and poor Sister Fife was left with like 15 minutes to cover. She did really really well. I'm 3 months ahead of her, but I'm really impressed with how much Khmer she knows. getting comfortable with actually speaking it takes some time, and some days are better than others, but she knows a lot of vocab. She's super great. (when did this turn into an email about sister fife? Im sorry i havent really told you anything about what i actually did.)
Sister Ky is going to the temple in the phillipines this week. She got permission to go with her family. I think its a really rare opportunity for Khmers since they dont have a temple, so she got permission to leave for a week. Which is awesome! Im super happy for her. but that means that sis fife and I are gonna be alone this week......so obviously Battambang is going to go up in flames. Hooray! We'll actually be going to Phnom Penh tomorrow because I have a meeting to go to so we'll actually just burn Battambang a little and then maybe scorch Phnom Penh a touch too. Dont worry.
PS im working on some more food for you guys. like Khmer food. Have I told you about brohok? It the rotten, salty fish paste. Literally rotten fish that has been sitting out for who knows how many months, and then they add spices and mash it into a paste. Its delicious. For real, I love it. Whenever i go out in public, the first question is always "you know Khmer?" and shortly thereafter "Do you know how to eat brohok?" <--- thats a fun grammar lesson for ya. in Khmer, they dont ask if you "like" a certain food. They ask you if you "know how to eat it". yep....I know how to eat your rotten fish paste, believe it or not. so anyway, you guys have that to look forward to when i come home.
OH MY GOSH I TOTALLY ALMOST FORGOT. I conducted my first exchange this week!!! And guess who i went with? SISTER PETERSON!!! My old MTC companion!! It was suuuuper fun. At first I was really nervous. Its just weird to see your old comapnions, and when its your MTC comp, you know, you wanna know how good at the language they are, and I was showing her MY area and so I was just super nervous. I thought it would be weird to teach with her since the only time I taught with her was in America when both of us knew literally zero. BUT it was so AWESOME!!! We taught super well together and we both learned a lot from each other. We had a ton of fun. She is such a great missionary. I'm so happy I got to do an exchange with her! And hopefully I'll get to do an exchange with the sisters in Siem Reap after Sister Ky comes back next week. (in case you guys didnt know, Siem Reap is where Angkor Wat is! Its not like I'll be able to go in and see Angkor Wat because it wont be a P-day and we'll be out proselyting, but if I'm lucky i might get to ride my bike by it! And hopefully I'll go visit Angkor Wat another transfer. Still got my fingers crossed that one day I'll serve in Siem Reap.)
Anyway, i think thats all the most important stuff for this week. I'm really excited to go to Phnom Penh for the leadership meeting. I always learn a ton there. Sister Fife and I are gonna have a crazy week! I still love Battambang with all my heart! And i love you guys too! Miss you tons!
Love, Sister Davis
Happy Rainy Season! These days, I'm grateful for frizzy hair, and saran-wrap ponchos bought on the side of the road that rip at the armpits and make me feel like a sweaty spring roll.
More zone conference pictures. these are the battambang and siem reap missionaries all together.
The art of doping: "dope" is an actual khmer word. To "dope" someone is to give them a ride on the back of your bike. they make their bikes with actual dope-seats here. its like a piece of wire. really uncomfortable. The girl doping me is Khanya, shes a member in third branch who helps us teach a lot. I KNOW MY HELMET MAKES ME LOOK LIKE SUCH A FOOL.
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