Woes of a Wannabe-Firebender

I swear, I'm never going back to the city. I was thinking back on my two transfers in Tuolkork and I was like....nope, two transfers was enough. I absolutely LOVED Tuolkork. I love all my areas. But........no. I'm forever staying in the provinces. Mainly because when I went down to the city last week for the meeting, I saw it. I SAW.........................

a mouse. yep you heard it. straight from the source. In the house in Chamkarmon. I stayed there with the sisters serving in that area and seriously, it ran right by my head while I was lying on the floor in the middle of the night. And the next morning was filled with lots of chasing and broom-smacking. Now, for any other Cambodian missionary, that would be completely normal. But somehow I have managed to live in three different houses and not ever have a vermin problem. IN CAMBODIA. I am one lucky gal. God is watching out for me for sure. Because He knows my sanity is on the line.

Anyway, what was great about going to the city is this: the Chamkarmon house is Sister Homer's house!!! HUZZAH!!! I hadn't seen my mom in over four months and it was killing me. She is actually a Sister Training Leader too so we got to spend the whole day together. It was glorious. She fed me Pineapple Fanta and made fun of me for liking Avatar, just like good old times. (You should know that approximately 80% of the 7 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh from Battambang was spent by Sister Fife, Elder Garrow and I discussing Avatar: The Last Airbender. hey....those bus rides are loooooong). 

Anyway, I got to see Sis Litchfield and Sister Melton and all my favorites (oh, you bet I' ve got favorites) so it was a good day.

Things in my area have been going.......okay. Sela just picked up a second job so we basically can never meet her anymore. We were all really sad, including her. But by the grace of God Sister Fife and I biked by the school she works at one day and she came running out the gate to say she was sorry we wouldnt be able to meet a lot anymore but that she would call us whenever she was free. (and to give me a hug, obvi). She was so golden, but she just works too dang hard. I have a few other investigators and they.....do not progress. (I hope you guys dont expect me to come home with stories of how Cambodia is the promised land of missionary work because those rumors are simply false. Its a goldmine for less-active work though).  And its okay because last week we went to visit a less-active member named Bong Sokchan. And in the middle of the lesson she just gives us THREE referrals. yep, count em THREE. Sister Fife and I almost passed out. We called them and they ALL want to learn. We're meeting with them all this week. So we're excited about that.

Here's the good stuff about the rest of my area: I just got a print out of every person that has ever been baptized in my area. Total count: 315. How many people come to church every week? Total Count: we're lucky if we hit 100.

I could NOT believe it. And thats like....really stressful. This is a list of members that were baptized clear back in the 90s and early 2000s and have been lost or inactive for like, a decade or two. and when I say lost, I mean LOST. We dont have any computers here for missionary work. What the missionaries here have is their CBR book (which I think I explained to you guys earlier). And the CBR book has a sheet of paper with the members name, when they were baptized, a phone number if theyve even got a phone and a poorly drawn map made by a lazy 19-year-old whose directions include "Turn right at the place that smells like pee." <-----Thats a real-life example. It happened. And I've got over 200 to find (assuming they havent moved or left the country to go work in Thailand). Missionary work is definitely still new here. Its kind of like an adventure though and going "CBR-Finding" is kind of like a treasure hunt.

So anyway, Sister Fife and I did a heck of a lot of CBR work this week. The missionaries that come into this branch next are going to love us for all the organization work we did. (just throwing it out there now - there isnt a lot of progress in my branch right now, so i really feel like next transfer my branch is going to get whitewashed). ANYWHO, CBR work is hilarious. My personal favorites were when Sister Fife picks up a CBR and just goes, "someone drew reindeer on this one." Or another CBR where someone (a missionary who was also doing SBR work at some point) commented: "The Elders didnt love this investigator so they made a CBR with no picture, no map and no phone number. They're already lsot so good luck finding them."  There's a good pick-me-up.

There was also one we found that gave directions like "turn left at the tall building." Very specific thank you. Sister Fife just goes, "..................That building better be REALLY tall."

So, cooler/slightly-depressing/good learning moment: Lots of you have emailed me about the recent court case involving the leaders of the Khmer Rouge being convicted for crimes against humanity, terrorism, etc. I'm glad you did 1) because I didnt even know that was going on and 2) because I had a really cool lesson with a member that Im going to tell you about right now:

Om Vutha: a long-time member that I have always known but never visited or really talked to much. But I decided that this transfer I was going to work really hard to know all the members (this was before I found out there were 200 plus that essentially dont exist) and get in good with em all. So Sister Fife and I set up an appt to go see Om Vutha. And honestly, we ended up not teaching very much because she talked pretty much the whole time about the Khmer Rouge (I'd be lying if I said I hadn't encouraged it simply because I know how important and cool it is to hear those accounts first-hand). So I'm going to skip the flowery language and just list off a couple of the things she told me because me telling a fancy story wouldn't be nearly as haunting as hearing the person tell you themselves: 

-She told us mainly about how much she starved. Out of seven days, they were only granted one day to eat. On those days they would mainly eat "Baba" which is a rice porridge (in those days Im guessing it was just rice and water). She said each person got one or two spoonfuls each. That was it. The other days, when they were forced to do manual labor in the fields, they would sneak pieces of ongkaa (uncooked rice straight from the stalks they were picking) and eat them in the fields. Or, they would eat pig slop when they would feed the animals. They were so hungry that they would steal the food for pigs, and afterwards she said she would throw up so much it would come out her nose. Also, they were only given 3 shirts and 3 pants as clothing.

-She told us about the soldiers that would run the areas they were in, and she told us about how she would hear shooting at night. She also said that if they knew you could run (like if you were healthy enough to run) they would hurt you. She also told about how the soldiers would march people to Wat Sampeuv to exterminate them. Thats actually a Wat in our area, but its really far away. Anyway, if you go to Wat Sampeuv now, you can see the Killing site and all the skulls. 

-All of this happened when she was 15 years-old, completely separated from her family. I dont know if she ever was reunited with her parents. But the most remarkable thing is that she told these stories with a smile, sometimes laughing. She seemed to hold no grudges at all about what happened, and only expressed sincere gratitude to be able to find the gospel of Jesus Christ. I let her talk for like 45 minutes because I was so amazed by all the stories, and just because hearing things like that makes me so grateful for many, MANY things. First and foremost, the lucky opportunity I have been given to come to this country and hear those stories in the first place.

On that note, I LOVE this country. I love these people. And I seriously have moments where I cant get over how lucky I am that I got sent here.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 112:10, and also read the story about Elisha and the angels and the fire, because for some reason I'm loving that story right now. I get chills when I read it. Its only like 3 verses, but its great. 2 Chronicles, chapter 6 i believe. Open your eyes, and you wilkl see God all around you. Im really getting into the old testament these days.  love reading about the history of Christ, his ancestors and his gospel.

I love you guys so much. Thanks for all your support. My mission is a huge blessing and I wouldn't be living it without your guys' help. Miss you so much!

Love, Sister Davis

 ​                                           Me and Sister Kacher on the way to the meeting in PP

                                                                  ​Me and Sister Melton.

 ​Doing CBR work. Sister Fife: "THIS is your baptismal record?!?!" Just a random snippet of paper stuffed between CBR papers.

                                                                   ​This is Om Vutha

 ​a random kid was playuing with my camera and took this picture of his sister. I thought it was pretty cute so here ya go.

​I decided to stop taking pictures of sister fife while she fell asleep on the bus. Instead, the two of us teamed up and snapped this lovely picture of Elder Garrow and Elder Neng. (dont blame us for the angle, we had to reach across the aisle. im surprised elder garrows neck didnt snap sleeping like that.)

Those deviled eggs were a LIE, Sister Fife!

So according to Sister Fife, I have officially lost it. It all started when I told her that I have, out of nowhere, developed a very intense fear of butterflies since being on my mission. (I'm telling you guys - they are terrifying. Dont argue with me until you've been riding your bike at top speeds and have had a butterfly the size of your hand fly into your face. Its not cool). Anyway, since then my sanity has been on a downward spiral. My mission's changin me. But not in the ways you might expect. Now, I can do the Asian squat (you know the one I'm talking about) (I like to use that tactic when I'm peeling vegetables into the garbage). And also my grammar is horrific. The other day I was trying to tell Sister Fife that I had cut something (past tense) and caught myself saying "I cutted it." I went into my room and cried for an hour afterwards. 

It was a good story though. I slice my finger (yep the same one) twice in a row, to the point where I was bleeding all over the place, and then subsequently poured boiling water all over that same hand. All in the same day.

ANYWAY. I'll just start off with my Sister Fife stories. This week she peeled open a corn from the phsaa and a huuuuge worm was just wriggling around inside. Good stuff. She also had a less-active member tell her she looked like Mr Bean. It took us a while to figure out what she was saying. She kept on being like "Sister mian mook dooc cia mistah beeen" and I was like "did she just say mister bean?" but I disregarded it because it seemed ridiculous. And then she said it again and Sister Fife and I were like......she actually just said mister bean. I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW THATS POSSIBLE. How do Cambodians in the middle of nowhere know about Mr Bean? I may never know. 

This week Sister Fife confessed to me that she likes to talk to herself at night before she goes to sleep but that she doesnt do it on her mission obviously because shes got her companion sittin right there. And then she follows this story by saying "Soooo......it just really sucks that you're here right now." MY COMPANION LOVES ME.

So let's talk about the language. This past week one of the members asked me to help her with one of her school assignments. She's studying marketing and had a textbook in english but she didnt really understand what it was saying so she asked me to translate it for her. This was a little something they call "a HUMBLING experience." I had to translate things like "Operational strategies that stipulate the day-to-day activities of the chief executive officer....." I looked at that and was like.....yep I'll do my best. Needless to say it didnt go very well. And that very day I decided to start doing the mission language mastery things (translating talks and memorizing things in Khmer). There are days where I am like....NOPE never gonna be fluent in this language.

Okay now for the good stuff: Sister Fife and I saw a whole buttload of miracles this week. For one thing, we ran into three random people (ALL of whom already had a Christian background) that expressed interest in wanting to learn with us. My favorite story is the one about the old man. Sister Fife and I went to visit a member who lives in freaking NO MAN'S LAND, like a 35 minute bike ride at least, and thats going fast. And we went all the way out there and SHE WASN'T HOME. I was sooo annoyed but then Sis Fife was like "Hey, when we were on the street back there I felt like we needed to go contact someone, so I said a little prayer on my bike and asked Heavenly Father to turn us around if we needed to go contact someone. Maybe this is that sign. Lets go back and see who we can find." And I was like, okay fine (still mumbling and grumbling obviously). We were on our way out of this area headed back to the street, and the area we were in was one of those pretty places with lots of trees and dirt and grass, all that cool stuff, and sister fife stopped right outside of this one house to take a picture. I could see through the walls of the house (one of those shacks thats made out of bamboo) this man in a hammock that saw us and sat straight up. I was thinking he was just surprised to see two white girls. But then a minute later, this old man with no shirt or shoes on comes shuffling out of his house WITH A BOOK OF MORMON IN HIS HANDS. (those kids of stories do not happen in Cambodia. Considering the fact that half the population her cant read and the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere, it was a huge shock). Anyway, hge comes out and was like "i believe in God too! They gave me this book!" Turns out he's already read the WHOLE thing. He used to work for the United Nations on the border of Thailand or something. Really nice old man. Said he wants to learn but he's too poor to stop working on Sundays (we'll see about that. NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT).  Sister Fife and I told him about church and said we would come back next week to visit him with a member. So. Yeah. MIRACLES.

The absolute highlight of the week though, oh man it was too good. I was CRYING I was laughing so hard. You guys are gonna like this. I came across what is most certainly a Khmer Baptist. So yesterday was the first Sunday of the month, right, so everybody gets to volunteer to go up to speak if they want to. Well, Sis Fife and I are sitting in sacrament meeting and Sis Fife goes, "i dont recognize that women in the yellow shirt. Who is that?" Its not like our branch is super big, so when you dont recognize someone its pretty obvious. I didnt recognize her either. LUCKILY FOR THIS WOMAN, she happened to show up at our church on the one day of the month when anyone is allowed to go up and speak and bear their testimony. So after the first three people, this woman stands up. She told us she was just in Battambang for one day and saw our church and decided to come in to worship God with us. And then she goes OFF. Yelling into the microphone, bearing her testimony and love of God LOUD and not-so-clear (Sis Fife and I literally didnt understand a word she said she was tlaking way to fast) and shes just moving away from the microphone, acting out random stories, singing random worship songs in Khmer, yelling at the top of her lungs, throwing her arms in the air and shouying "HALLELUJAH" and "AMEN" in the middle of her sentences. It. was. Hilarious. Sis Fife and I are obviously a little more aware of other Christian backgrounds and other styles of worshiping, but obviously the majority of our members were Buddhists before or had no previous knowledge of Christianity so everyone in the branch was like "WHat in the world is happening? Is she crazy?" This woman went on for about 20-30 minutes. I finally turned around to Elder Ang, a Khmer who actually had a Christian background before he joined the Mormon church and I was like "koat kaang avei?" I actually dont know how to translate that. The closest menaing is "What denomination is she?" and he goes "Protestant. The Protestant church here likes to stand up and yell and they sing when they talk." and I was like ....yep that explains it. So that was the funniest moment of our week. How was your Sunday?

Welp...I will end this email now. Sometimes I see other missionaries emails to their family and they are......not as long as mine. So Im sorry if my emails are unbearable long and boring, but since Im too lazy to write in my journal anymore these emails are basically my journal. You guys are the victims.

Anyway, I had some good spiritual thoughts for you guys too. First of all, read Doctrine and Covenants 103: 17-20 and Hebrews 10: 32, 35-36, 38-39. It was part of a talk from Elder Holland that I really liked. And then also, I read that talk by Uchtdorf called "Stand Close Together and Lift Where You Stand." He had a really cool quote that I liked. He talked about how people need to magnify their callings in the church and serve one another. Essentially :Dont be selfish! So heres a quote from that:

"The Lord judges so very differently from the way we do. He is pleased with the noble servant, not the self-serving noble." Loved that. Serve others, not yourself. I feel like we could all do with a good reminder of that every day, especially me. I often forget about the importance of serving others, but it is a hallmark of a disciple of Christ, and will also bring us true and lasting happiness that we cant find elsewhere.

Okay, well I love you guys a ton! I'm going down to Phnom Penh today for a meeting so maybe I'll have some good stories for ya about that. I get to see Sister Homer! I havent seen my mom in forever!

Miss you and love you every day!

Love, Sister Davis

​we have a member that sells flowers on the side of the road. we helped their daughter make some. it was wayyy harder that it looks. Sis fife and i sucked at it.

 Om Lon (a recent convert) with her new grandson. This lady is seriously the sweetest. This is the baby that Sister Cloud and I named Aaron. And they are actually calling him by that! so cool!

view from om lon's balcony. a REAL soccer field. I havent ever seen anything like it before. its kind of random haha

One and Done.

It was a good week y'all! It didnt start out that way though. There was a funeral in Branch 2, so that was a bummer, but it was good that the missionaries got to help them prepare food for the funeral and clean dishes and just help with the ceremony and everything. It was the Branch President's son. He was only 20 years old or so.

BUT...things got a little happier later on in the week. Now that I'm not in two branches anymore, I have a lot mroe time to spend on my members and investigators. I'm meeting with them way more regularly. And I'm DETERMINED to go visit the members more too. There are some members who I've never visited before, and I want to start visiting all of them. On the topic of my investigators, Sela came to church again!!! Her second week in a row! Her teacher randomly didnt show up to class so she booked it to the church and stayed for all three hours again!! God is working miracles left and right, you just have to open your eyes to see them! I also started teaching a new investigator named Sauphea. She is a friend of one of the newer members and she is super sweet! She really just wants to learn about Jesus Christ. She's already great.  So they were both at church yesterday. Unfortunately one of my other good investigators, Pol, hasnt come to church in a while. We still meet her all the time and remind her of the importance of going to church, and her neighbor is a solid member, but she still doesnt come. It was a little frustrating because our church had a big activity for Pioneer Day on saturday and she totally came to that! she had a great time and brought her nieces and nephews too. And then she didnt come to church the next day. Yap. She's actually really smart and a great investigator. We just really need to reach her and I guess we havent gotten there yet. Almost. Sister Fife and I are working hard. 

Speaking of Sis Fife....she's doing great. But I think I'm close to killing her. I've started making her run in the mornings with me because we're both getting fat. The first day we went out, she made it three and a half minutes. Then later on that day, after we had come home, she was like "i'm gonna be honest Sister Davis. After this first morning of running...I really dont think I'm gonna continue. I got one morning in and I think thats all Ive got. One and Done."  I was cracking up. (And yes, I made her go out again.)

Sis Fife has also had her share of hilarious moments this week. One day we were riding back after a lesson with a less-active member and Sis Fife starts mumbling something and I couldnt hear her for the life of me, so I turned around and was like "what are you saying?!" And in response, she struggled a bit and finally sputtered out "Nothing! I was having a personal speaking moment!!!" I literally had to stop my bike and be like....what? Then she thought for a little while and was like "ohhhh...what I meant to say is: I was talking to myself. Thats how we say it in normal english."  So thats what happens when you go to a foreign mission. You come back saying things like "Oh nothing, I was just having a personal speaking moment." 

Also, in the middle of the night, I was trying to go back to sleep when I hear Sister Fife making some....odd crunching noises. So I asked her what she was doing, and she goes "I'm pretending that I'm eating a pickle. I just really want a pickle right now." This is my life you guys, this is my companion.

As for our teaching this week: it was AWESOME!!!! We were totally on point this week. And the Spirit was just taking over, it was practically slapping Sister Fife and I in the face. We had this one lesson with a less active member, Puu Seng and his family. They are actually coming back to church. They are there every week now and theyre solid. But anyway, we were teaching a lesson about Heavenly Father's love for us that, frankly, we could have planned a little bit better. We basically just had one scripture prepared. (10 points for nailing the "Planning Skills" chapter from Preach My Gospel).  So we went in, and I had Sister Fife lead the lesson. And we just went through it super quickly. It was looking like we were going to have a five minute lesson. BUT (this is when the Spirit took over), Puu Seng, who almost NEVER talks, just went on this monologue about how he wants to provide a better future for his children and help them return to heaven too and thats why we all need to repent. And a couple minutes before he said that I was feeling like I wanted to share John 3:16with them, which is weird because we dont share from the Bible often. But then he said that thing about repentance and I was like "okay, get out your bibles" and then i shared that scripture and talked about God's love for us AND the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then the lesson just took off.(I later found out that Sister Fife also really wnated to share that same scripture but she just didnt say anything. And then at the end of the lesson, Sister Fife and I were ready to extend a commitment to them, to pray together as a fmaily, and most impotrantly, try praying and ONLY expressing thanks and gratitude. Dont ask for blessings. Only thank God (a good lesson from the prophets that I think we can all incorporate). But right before we started talking about the commitment, the youngest daughter up and shared 2 Nephi 9:52.

Read it. No seriously go ahead. Read it.

Okay for those of you without your scriptures on hand (tsk tsk) here is what that scripture says: "Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice."

And sister fife and i looked at each other and we were like.....minds blown. It was soooo perfect. It ended up just being a really super awesome lesson. 

And to end that story, I will share a quote from my dear companion from when we were talking abut how to tell if the Spirit is present in a lesson:

"Sometimes I feel like I'm super bored, but apparently thats when the Spirit's there." - Sis Fife.  She's golden.

We had a couple other great miracles from this week, but I dont want this email to be crazy long so I'll save them for next week. All I know is this: God loves us. He always hears our prayers and He answers them too. I learned great lessons about that this week. From Sela, to Puu Seng, to me ebing really tired on my bike and wanting a snack. Heavenly Father is aware of ALL of His children and ALL of their needs. 

So read Romans 15:13. Cuz its good. 

I love you guys so very much!! (i'm definitely forgetting to tell you something). I miss you all! Wish me luck!

Love, Sister Davis

OHHHHHHH I JUST REMEMBERED: remember my investigator Ming Rong, who got baptized in Kampong Cham?  Well I just got this super cool email from Sister Homer last week:

"Sister Melton gave me an update on Ming Rong. First she is amazing. Second her husband basically gave her an ultimatum and said that if she still wants to be part of this religion she has to leave the house...so she left. They found her a new house. And she is giving referrals left and right!!! WE DID IT!!! We got one with real faith!!"

Even though her situation is really sad, Sister Homer and I are stoked because our recent convert just showed us that she really does have real faith. when the going gets tough, the FAITHFUL get going! Ming Rong is absolutely wonderful, and i am so lucky that i got to teach her. 

Pictures from the Pioneer Day activity. There was a service and a skit and dancing and we all ate curry together!!!

​This is my investigator Pol (shes in the red and white striped shirt) and all of her nieces and nephews with her. 

​This is Ming Banha. Shes the member who helps us teach Pol.

​You dont even know how much curry was made for this event. My branch president said they bought over 100 kilos of chicken!

​Us eating on the grass with the elders. (elder Garrow is really showin up in this picture).

                                                                          ​Sister Ky!!!

                                   ​Me with Linaa and Kanha, members in 3rd branch. I love these girls.

 ​The Sisters with a bunch of the young women. PS I got that super cool Khmer wrap skirt in Siem Reap. I think its sooo cool. Cant you see the elephants?!?

​                                                             Me and Bong Noy!!!! She's stellar. 

​Okay these ares ome of my favorite pictures. Sister Fife and I were having one of those days where we were like "WE LIVE HERE. THIS PLACE IS SO COOL. LOOK AT HOW RURAL AND BEAUTIFUL IT IS!" so we took a lot of pictures of tress and green and stuff. 

                                                                            ​and goats.

                                                               ​My little sockie fell off. 

For the record....I think I spend more time thinking about a witty subject line than I spend actually writing the email. As I write this, I'm still currently in the process of thinking about it.

So. The Thai string bean (that's sister Fife) is still my companion. Womp.

JUST KIDDING SHE'S THE BEST. Its gonna be a mad fun transfer. Mostly because we're both equally bad at Khmer and equally scatter-brained. It makes for some good times. Here's a prime example from the past couple days: Sis Fife and I are leaving the house about to go out a proselyte/teach/save some souls, etc. So we're praying right before we leave the house, and I had to scratch my nose, so when I did I guess I made some rustling noises and that distracted Sis Fife in the middle of her prayer so she opened her eyes to see what I was doing (while continuing to pray in Khmer) and also at the same time was throwing out her arms to crack her elbows. I opened my eyes slightly because i was rubbing my face and what I saw was Sis Fife just staring at me wide-eyed while speaking Khmer and throwing her arms around like she was dancing. It was a weird image so I like feel back because i was so surprised an weirded out, and then her first reaction is to say "What are you doing?!?!"

What am I doing??? What are you doing?! It was just such a confusing and awkward moment and it all happened in a matter of like 3 seconds. We were on the floor laughing so hard and had to start our prayer over again.

She is also equally awkward when she plays volleyball. Last Pday all the missionaries in BB went to the church to play volleyball together. Did I mention that volleyball is HUGE in cambodia? (something tells me its just because they're awful at soccer). So we were all playing together, and I'm not joking she was hilarious. A truly awkward string bean (her own self-inflicted title). But to be fair, we were all a pretty awkward bunch. Elder Ang was the only Khmer that was playing, and he was jumping all over the court barefoot like a Khmer Tarzan, Sis Peterson is the only one taking the game seriously because she actually likes volleyball and even though shes a tiny japanese girl she hits like a Tongan, Elder Plothow is the guy that keeps yelling "I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT!!!!!!", jumps right in front of you, and then lets it go and assumes the person behind him is gonna hit it (PS that person was ALWAYS me), and then Elder Brewer, who im pretty sure isnt into sports that involve hand eye coordination was like "this makes my arms huuuuurt, so im just gonna punch the ball." I havent laughed that hard about a game since my glory days playing kickball at the MTC.

Another awkward Sis Fife moment: we were teaching a recent convert in first branch, Om Lon. Shes seriously the sweetest and goes to the phsaa every time we come just to buy the sisters fruit. and she always has the best fruit. I always tell people that the best mango ive eaten in my entire life, MY WHOLE LIFE, was at Om Lon's house. Anyway, last week, she bought us bananas. And sister fife ate ten. TEN BANANAS. can't you go into shock for too much potassium or something like that? Her mouth was full the entire lesson and Om Lon thought it was the funniest thing ever. She was also pretty happy because they love it when you eat all of their food. But now I fear we're gonna go back next week and she will have bought us three times as many bananas.

*Om Lon told me I'm prettier than before. Why? Because now that its the rainy season, its less sunny and according to her, I'm back to being pale. Hooray.

OKAY: cool member lesson we had this week. Sis Fife and I went to visit an old grandma in our branch, named Lookyiay (or just "Yiay") Nat. She is seriously one of my favorite members. She lives a million miles away in no mans land in one of those tiny shacks surrounded by red dirt andf palm trees. She has no teeth, is missing an eye, walks with a cane, and always wears a towel or a beanie on her head. ALWAYS. She cracks me up. Shes just one of those hilarious old people. Aaaaand her tongue is too big for her mouth so shes impossible to understand. But we made it through okay. Mostly she just talked about the many different ways you can cook a fish head. Anyway, shes recently gotten into family history because they JUST BARELY translated the "My Family" book into Khmer ( a church produced book that helps people organize named for family history). So we've been helping her fill that out and for weeks she kept on saying to me "So how do these names get to the temple? When I finish the book, who do I give it to to make sure the names go to the temple?" And I finally asked her "Lookyiay, have you ever considered bringing the names yourself? Do you want to go to the temple?" And she was like "Oh of course I want to go, but my husband is dead. Who do I go with?" And Sister fife and I were like.....you go alone. You can go yourself. And she almost fell off her stool. "WHAT?!?! I thought I needed a husband to go to the temple! I want to go right now!" And we were like ohhhh my gosh no no no you can totally go on your own! and you can do the temple work on your husbands behalf, that is WHY we go to the temple! She was so cute!!!! She kept grabbing our hands and shaking them and throwing her arms up in the air and saying "Fast! Fast! I want to go right now!!!" She was soooooooo happy. And when we explained about doing the work for her husband and for her children who have also died and we talked about how she can live with her family forever she was like "Yes!!1 We'll be together forever! Thats what i want!" 

I couldnt BELIEVE she didnt know all that. Sometimes I forget that the church is stil really new here and a lot of members dont fully understand some of the concepts. But I was so incredibly happy that I got to see her face light up when she found out she could go to the temple and be with her husband and children again. She was so happy, and so cute, and just kept on hugging us and I was smiling so big i was basically laughing. The temple brings great happiness and great blessings for everyone!

okay, so now that im done with that story.

weekly monk siting: Monk. dressed in the orange robes (obviously). probably in his early twenties. We passed him while we were biking through the wat, and caught him listening to rock music on his phone. Just when you think you understand the life of a monk....

ALSO BIG NEWS: my favorite investigator, Seila, the girl who cant come to church. She came yesterday! She just asked to leave school early and her teacher let her go! I dont think shes gonna be able to do that every week, but I was so happy that she came because it showed she still has that strong desire to come! One day, maybe she'll rearrange her schedule or put her schooling on hold so that she can come to church. She wants to join the church so badly it kills me. During our last lesson I almost cried because I could feel her strong desire and it hurt that she wants to be baptized so badly but she just cant come to church. its a rough one.

OKay so thats all ive got for today. but just a sidenote, I had an interview with President Moon this morning and he committed me to read Alma chapter 37 in my personal study (specifically verses 33-37). So I thought Id give you guys the same commitment! Keep reading the Book of Mormon! I love it more and more every day. I love you guys so much!

Love, Sister Davis

 ​Om Neang! she is in third branch so when we split the branches i had to say goodbye to her. super sad. she is sooo sweet. and yes. i was wet. we completely soaked her floor.

 ​And this is LookYiay Nat!!! the day we taught her about the temple. I was like, i gotta get a picture of this moment

​So this is on the way to Om Neang's house. Did I tell you guys about that? Her road is that sticky, quicksand type mud that you cant even walk on, let alone ride your bike on because it just sticks more and more until you cant move. So when it rains we have to take off our shoes and walk barefoot to her house. She lives on top of a swamp too so thats cool.

​^Om Nean's house. you cant really see the swamp underneath though. her house is literally on stilts above a couple feet of swamp water. You can see it through the floor. its kinda cool

 ​English class activity night! We did a pioneer theme. (can ya guess? im wearing an apron). turns out, to the members in Cambodia, Pioneer Day is HUUUGEEE. like bigger than any other holiday. which is funny. because i didnt even know what  pioneer day was until i went to utah.

 ​Sister ky and I taking our Zone photo very seriously. (I like lollipops).

​my little thai string bean being as awkward as humanly possible.

You can't just ask people why they're white

^^^ Try telling that to the neakmings at the phsaa this morning. 

This week.......I saw a lot of white people. Which is unusual for me unless I'm looking in the mirror. Even my other American companion is half Thai, so I'm definitely the biggest whitie in town. Anyway, the reason I saw so many white people is because I got to conduct an exchange in Siem Reap!!! Huzzah! The Sister training leader in Battambang is also over Siem Reap too, in case I didnt explain that one earlier, so I go to go on an exchange with Sister Hem and Sister Rin (there are only two sisters in Siem Reap right now). And seriously....white people. Everywhere. And its a total tourist trap (if you're not biking into the slums on the outside of the city). I was biking past all these nice hotels an restaurants and shops.....it was nicer than anything I'd ever seen in Phnom Penh. And obiously not in the other provinces either. IT WAS SO COOL. I want to serve in Siem Reap so badly now. It was also DANG beautiful and the members there are fantastic. Siem Reap is really booming right now with baptisms and church attendance. They are just flying. So happy I got to go there for a few days.

Anyway, while Sister Ky and I were on the bus to Siem Reap, there were a lot of white people (backpackers, hippies, random germans, the like) getting on too, and every single time someone got on, Sister Ky was like. "Oh my gosh. oh my gosh. OH my gosh. OH MY GOSH ANOTHER ONE. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven barrangs (french person) PLUS YOU MAKES EIGHT!!!" I dont know if she has ever seen that many white people in one setting before. Sidenote: those seven white people were shortly followed by single monk who was hitching a ride on the coach bus......? #monkscontinuetobafflesisterdavis

******this bus ride was also filled with 80s-90s pop love ballads like "me Heart Will go on" and that song that goes "Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you."  and sister Ky knew em all. 

SO anyway, this is more important: We just got transfer calls last night!!!!!! (I swear I just told you guys about transfers last time. Seriously the transfers are starting to fly by) SOOOOO BIG NEWS!!!!!!!

I'M STILL IN BATTAMBANG THROW A PARTY FOR ME!!!!!!!1 I know its not a big deal to you guys, cause im just staying the same, but its a big deal to me and heres why: I have NEVER been in an area for more than two transfers. I get bumped around all the time, so im really happy to finally be in an area for a significant amount of time. this is when you really feel like you know what youre doing and where youre going. The other news is that the trio is getting split up (which was expected - trios never stay for long). Sister Ky is going to Battambang third branch, so she'll still be around (like we'll probably still be living together), but I AM STILL WITH SISTER FIFE!!! this is also huge news because in case you guys hadnt noticed......I have not had a companion for more than one transfer. Ever. my whole mission. Sister Fife is my 9TH companion. Thats ridiculous. But anyway, we'll be in first branch, which im also really happy about. I really didnt want to leave my branch, and it needs some more attention. and im also happy to not be in two branches anymore. even though i love third branch too, its just that battambang is not meant to be organized that way, and i always knew it would be temporary. so yep. transfer calls.

Sister Homer is training again and I'm really unhappy about it. I dont know if you guys know this, but the mission lingo here is interesting. Your trainer is your mom, and you are their "koon" (means child, pronounced like "groan" without the "r"). So now, I will have a baby sister. And guess what? I DONT WANT ONE. I'm gonna be the jealous older child and I'm seriously giving Phoebe props right now. There's a reason I'm the youngest, because I'm super jealous and I don't want my mommy to love her more than me!!!! I'm being a real brat about it haha and SIster Homer is just like.."you need to calm down! I tell everyone that my transfer in Kampong Cham with Sister Davis was probably the best transfer of my whole mission." Soooo I'm still mulling over that. I'll be nice I swear. 

And shoutout to McKenna: I will not try to smother my new baby sister with a pillow. No matter how much I want to. #justkiddingimamissionaryandloveallofgodscreatures

In other news: I got tricked into being in a wedding...but thats SUPER against the rules for this mission, so sister fife and i booked it out of there, consequently offended our investigator, I went home and inadvertantly started a rumor that elder garrow was really mad at me for being an idiot and now its probably one of battambang's funniest/ most foolish stories. Its wayyyy longer than that but im too lazy to write. tell you guys some other day probably.

Also, this week, I organized all the binders and paperwork and CBRs for first branch, and came across a DVD from a church leadership conference from last year. One of those big, worldwide conferences they do and they broadcast it to all the leaders in the church. For some reason we had a copy, so we watched it. And the missionaries from the MTC performed a choir number in it. So as a joke, Sister Fife and I were like "look for your friends!!" like as if either of us are going to find anyone we know in a massive group of hundreds of missionaries. And literally four seconds later i was like "SHUT UP WAIT PAUSE IT GO BACK."  ------> totes saw Caitlin Fischetti. what are the chances? 

Also, last week I contacted someone at a store. Sister Fife and I were just innocently buying stuff, and this guys looks at our nametags and goes "Jesus Church! I learned with two boys from your church two years ago but never got baptized! I'm going back to church this week!" (okay, so i may have shortened the conversation a little bit). and guess what?? HE TOTALLY CAME! Contacting is NOT dead, you guys. God prepares people every day, and we just have to go out and do our job. He'll put them right in your path. It was cool. He came to church, brought his girlfriend too, asked about the Book of Mormon, and when I asked him what days and times were best for him to meet he said, "You call me and tell me. God only asks me to give ONE day to him, so whatever time you want to meet, I will do it. It doesnt matter whatever else I have going on. What matters is I give time to God." And then he started quoting the Bible and then I think I blacked out. In case you didnt know.......on a pretty average day, people here dont exactly read the Bible. they're all Buddhist (shhhhh dont tell). HE'S GOLDEN. I'm super excited to start teaching him. His name is Sun Aan, so keep an eye out for that name in my next few emails. 

Okay, thats all I've got for this week. Shoutout to all of my cousins that are getting married/got married already! The fam seems to be doing GREAT! I miss all you guys a ton! Considering how fast the transfers are going these days, I'll be home in no time. Which is awful because I still have SOOO much to learn. #stillafool

Love, Sister Davis

Spiritual thought for this week:

I was in a lesson with a less active, and she was asking me questions about the Book of Mormon, and so I opened up to 2 Nephi 28:30 with her, and told her about how, if we have the desire to learn more, God will help us to do that. But then as I shared that, I had my own personal brain blast about the last line: If we think we have learned "enough" then God will take what little knowledge we have away from us. The point is, we must be HUMBLE if we want to learn. being humble means being teachable, and not getting cocky and thinking you already know everything. Dont ever stop reading the scriptures, dont ever stop searching. If you are humble, then your study of the gospel will SKYROCKET I promise (the reason it was a brain blast for me is becuase I feel like I havent been learning as much as I sued to in my personal studies and I think its because ive been getting a little prideful and a little lazy with it....me? prideful? lazy? never.) But if you act like you dont need to learn, then you will stop progressing. And we all have so much progressing in this life to do! thats our whole purpose is progression! When I was in the MTC, Lookruu Oleson told us "For me, damnation means you stop progressing." So dont stop learning and dont stop seeking knowledge! Heavenly Father will help you get there!

Accompanying scriptures: Doctrine and Covenants 50:24, 2 Nephi 31:3

 ​ NO I DIDN'T FORGET: Bong Noy got baptized this week! She was baptized on saturday and confirmed yesterday at church!!! This is the one that is apparently almost 40 years old but she looks like shes in her twenties. Shes a graceful, spiritual, SUPERMODEL and I love her. She gave me a big hus after her baptism and she also kissed me on both cheeks haha it was weird, but so cute.  Aaaaand she said she would make us spaghetti this week. so shes a winner.

 ​There was also a baptism in second branch! An Om Srei. She is fantastic as well.

​Her kids are half-mexican because her husband, who died a few years ago was from mexico. Their names are Mary and Pepito. 

​A lesson with some of the young women in the church. 

​This is Ming Sokim. One of my favorite less-actives to visit. Since we started seeing her she comes every week. she is such a sweetheart, but shes going to Siem Reap for a few months so I took a picture w her before she left. 

"I have a dream"...usually about pancakes

Okay literally saw the coolest thing the other day. It was a bird (not a parrot) but some tropical kind of bird and it can talk......in KHMER!! You just have to ask it a question and it will give you an answer, like "Bong mian Songsaa nuo?" and it will totally be like "mian songsaa nuo!" SOOO COOL. In case you didnt know, That question means "Do you have a boyfriend yet?" Anyway, it was at the house of a neighbor to one less-active member I meet and Kanhya, the member we brought with us to help us teach that way was freaking out it was so funny. Maybe I'll take a video of it next time for you guys.

Soooooooooo.........this week I got to go to Phnom Penh for a couple days for the leadership meeting. It was really, really good. Mostly because I got to eat KFC. Surprise, surprise, they dont have that in Battambang. Just kidding though, the meeting itself was actually super good. President Moon taught us about the Fall of Adam and the relationship between that and the Atonement. It was a really great meeting. I learned a ton, but way too much to stick in this email. but don't worry because I keep a huge list in my notebook of cool things I learn that i want to tell you guys about. 

Maybe I should just say this right now: I'm suuuuuuuuper hungry as I'm writing this and therefore tired and cranky. So my email might be kind of short/boring because I really just wanna go eat. Sorry. Rice and Khmer curry is calling my name just down the street. We got to email l;ate this morning because we were waiting for her bike to get fixed, which brings me to a funny story that happened just like a day or two ago...

So we were on our way home (PS if you cant remember, its just me and Sister Fife this week because Sis Ky went to the temple with her family. She should be coming back today or tomorrow but no one really tells us anything) so anyway, sis Fife and I are on our way home, and I was kind of in a bad mood because we had just had a really bad day of plans falling through and my investigators havent been progressing very well as of late. And so I was just complaining to Sister Fife about how im trying really hard and I dont understand why first branch isnt having success. And she was just like, "Sister Davis, you are never going to have success if you dont have faith and a good attitude. Look at all the missionaries who have a pep in their step. What are you missing?" and i was like uhhhhhh...pep in my step? and she goes "Exactly!(she's yelling at thispoint) You need to put some pep in your <<BOOOOOOM>>!!!!!!!"

^and in that EXACT moment, her tire exploded, like 10 feet from our house gate. We were both in a cranky mood because it hadnt been a great day but when that happened we both just couldnt help but laugh, it was too perfect. And then we turned around and saw this random, ancient Cambodian man on the side of the road, pointing and laughing at us. He was probably a little crazy. But it was a hilarious image that we laughed about for the rest of the night. 

Now that I think about it, we had so many transportation issues this week. On the busride back from Phnom Pneh, I had this annoying old man sitting behind me and he would put his nasty bare feet up on the side of the seat and inadvertantly poke me in the butt. A lot. I ended up just hitting his foot with backpack. Love those busrides.

Anyway, when Sister Fife and I got back from Phnom Penh, the bus came into Battambang at about 8:30, which is well after the time that we are supposed to be inside, and also after the elders get home too. the bus dropped us off at this random bridge with absolutely NO way for us to get home unless we just started walking, but obviously we cant just have two white sisters start walking alone through the shady part of BB (if you have to be out past curfew, you are supposed to have Elders escort you home). But lucky for us, OUR PHONE WAS DEAD. So not only could we not call a tuk tuk to pick us up, but we culdnt even call the elders. Long sotry short, a stranger let us borrow his phone and after mutiple calls, we got Elder Plothow and Elder Brewer's phone number and called them and asked them to come pick us up "at the fruit stand near the sketchy bridge in third branch". So about 20 minutes later they pull up. Elder Plothow was apparently all excited about "getting to go on an adventure" even though he had already gotten into his pajamas, and Elder Brewer had been going up to the weird men standing on the bridge asking if they had seen two white girls. All the men were like "yeah....they're standing right over there." (we tend to stick out). keep in mind it was pitch black and pretty late at night. Elder Brewer told us that every time he saw a weird person standing on the side of the road he would think to himself "DON'T STEAL OUR SISTERS!!" Anyway, I doped sister Fife home on Elder Brewer's bike. It was a tiring, albeit funny adventure. 

In terms of how our work is going, third branch is doing really well. They set a goal to have 150 people attend sacrament meeting and just yesterday they hit 140!! So its climbing and we should reach our goal pretty soon. Its really a matter of getting the members involved, inviting friends to church and also inviting back less-active members who dont go to church any more. We also have an investigator in third branch named Bong Noy who should be getting baptized this week! She is amazing. She is a widow who has such a quiet, sweet spirit and she is beautiful. She is almost 40 but she looks like shes in her twenties. She has two kids that are half mexican, because her late husband is from mexico. They are CRAZY. But super funny too. I'm really excited for her. I feel like she has really found something in this gospel that was missing in her life before. 

One of the downsides is a member in third branch named Om Neang. She is probably in her 60s and has major health problems. She cant really walk, and she is completely alone because her kids have no interest in in helping her and her husband left her and now lives in Phnom Penh. She lives maybe 5 minuites from the church but has absolutely no way to get there and Sister Fife and I have been SCRAMBLING, doing our very best to try and find some help for her. She says she prays like 5 times a day for God to help her find a way to church, and its heartbreaking. Usually shes has a great attitude and always has a smile on her face when we go visit. But she just recently got even more sick, and she's in a lot of pain right now. So the last couple times we have gone to see her she has just been in tears. We have sent the elders to give her a blessing and the branch president has gone to visit her, but I still feel like its not enough. We're trying to coordinate a way for her to get to church, but the members are being.....less than helpful. Thats another story though. Maybe I'll tell you about that one...well, later. Anyway, it's really hard. I feel like I'm responsible for her. and it kills me that she cries every time we visit her because I feel like im not doing enough, but i dont know what else to do. We're honestly trying our best. Hopefully something will come up soon. She has an amazing spirit. 

So anyway, Im starving. Dragonfruit and curry awaits me. I hope you guys all have a fantastic week! Battambang is still fantastic and I never want to leave!!! Love you all so so much!!!

Love, Sister Davis

​This was a pancake breakfast we had together on Friday morning to celebrate the fourth of July!!!! Elder Plothow and Elder Brewer on the left, and then Sister Peterson and Sister Dy on the right. Picked out the only red and blue I have in my closet. We listened to MLK's "I have a dream" speech because we were just listening to anything and everything that had to do with America that we could find. Almost reduced me to tears. Sister Fife and I sang "Proud to be an American" at the top of our lungs. 

                                              ​Sister Fife sleeping on the way down to Phnom Penh...

​Aaaaaaaaaaandddd on the way back to Battambang. I got em coming and going.

yes, i am in fact aware that my double chin is giving fat albert a run for his money. 

​And this picture sufficiently exlpains the double chin. We went out for ice cream on the fourth of July too and Sister Fife and I shared an "Earthquake".  12 scoops. 12 delicious scoops.

Pictures from a very VERY rainy day. Out of nowhere, the sky just erupted and DOWNPOURED on us. and Sister fife and I were quite happy about it. We really enjoy biking through those nasty thunderstorms.

 ​I dont even know what happened in this picture, but I feel like it shows the intensity.

​completely...and utterly...SOAKED. Like more wet than if I had taken a shower. Our landylady laughed at us for taking this picture. I went back inside our house and was like..uhhhhh okay im just gonna stand in the bathtub for a little while thanks.