Chloe in Cambodia!
Chloe is serving as a missionary for the LDS church in Cambodia.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Monday, March 9, 2015
Jorge and I
Okay
for real though, let me just complain for a sec. Today we had to go to a new
email place because ours was closed, so we stopped at the first internet shop
we saw, and now I am stuck in a dingy, grungy place where someone apparently
decided it would be a good idea to spew sweet chili sauce all over my computer
booth (INCLUDING THE KEYBOARD). So now my fingers are really sticky and
every five minutes i have to use hand sanitizer to cover up the smell. Also,
the "2" key on my keyboard is sketchy, so in case I have to type
numbers later on in this email....dont get too confused.
Im trying to get the
motivation to write this email. This very well might be the last email you guys
get for the blog just because they take so much darn time and I am so darn
lazy.
So, my "Children
of the World" story for the week: So last Monday during proselyting
hours, SIster Mathews and I came to a construction site in our area (no
surprise there) and for some reason, the people in charge f the construction
thought it would be a good idea to block off a main intersection with 15 foot
high mountains of dirt and rubble. So sister mathews and i could have easily
turned around, but that would have added on an unnecessary 20 minutes to our
travel time so we just stood there staring at the mounds of dirt with market
pedestrians crowding around us trying to direct us which way we should go.
Finally, I made the executive decision to get off my bike and essentially throw
it over the mountain. As i was struggling through this not-well-thought-out
task, four boys of about 6 years of age with no shirts on peeked their heads
over the top of the mountain and called down "We'll help you!"
Climbing my own body over the dirt was sort of a crawling thing and required
both my hands, so you can see how I was struggling with my bike. But one boy
grabbed my front tire and pulled it towards him and then each of his friends
grabbed a part of my bike and they lifted it over the top of the mound, calling
out directions to each other with me at the tail end holding onto the back
tire. I slid myself down the other side of the mountain and then they went back
to help Sister Mathews. I was just smiling through the whole ordeal. Once we
got our bikes on the ground I told the boys, "If I had candy I would give
you some! But I dont have any, sorry. Thank you so much!" And they
just waved goodbye as we rode off. I just...........love Cambodia. and
Cambodians. And little seemingly insignificant moments that I will always smile
about for the rest of my life.
Also, Sister Jepsen
totally thvee baabed me this week. (im sick of not speaking Khmer in these
emails. Sometimes its just easier.) Our power went out and the landlady was
over at our house trying to fix the situation, and Sister Jepsen started a
conversation with her about Cambodian music, and then we parted ways. Well,
wouldnt you know it, the landlady didnt forget. So she called the nearest
sister to come meet her outside the gate of our house to give lyrics to her
favorite cambodian song. Well, I was the lucky winner and so I went out to meet
her, and instead of just handing me the lyrics she started serenading me and
trying to teach me how to sing (lesson: Cambodian music DOES NOT mean american
music with Cambodian lyrics. It means weirdo ancient asian tonal songs....that
I am not capable of singing well, but im really good at making fun of). She
literally didnt stop singing for ten minutes and then she was like "okay
got it? your turn!" And I mumbled some random words trying to read
her chicken scrawl and also failing at the tune of the song and she was like "okay
you dont know it yet. listen again." ROUND 2. I finally got back
inside and threw the paper at sister jepsen who was like "she sang for
you?! Dangit I wish I had been there! Do you think she'll sing again for
me?" So i went to wash my dishes. At this point, you should know
that our house and the landlady's house are connected and her bathroom connects
to our kitchen. So WHILE THIS WOMAN IS SITTING ON THE TOILET, I hear her voice
through the walls, "SIster! Listen to this:" and then she
starts playing the song on her phone and I just have to stand there listening
through the walls as she plays this ten minute long song. SIster Jpesen and I
covertly witched places so that sister jpesen could be like " Oh yes,
ming, i see, oh yes, understood okay i know the song now thank you!"
It was a little extreme. but very funny.
Also....some mornings
Im doing my personal study, trying to read about Jesus and
stuff...............and I hear monks chanting to our neighbors next door. Some
might say its ironic. Just makes you think, ya know?
So yesterday, SIster
Mathews and I had a lesson with one of our investigators Kunthia. She
is...............interesting, to say the least. She has very little education
and is difficult to teach because she thinks our church is a school and that everything
we teach is just a nice bunch of stories and not actually truth. not because
she stubborn or unbelieving, just because shes kind of a ditz and no matter how
many time we explain what our job is, she doesnt really understand. But she
comes to church every week and keeps all of our commitments and reads and prays
and she wants to learn so hey. we'll teach. We decided it would be good for her
to see the movie Finding Faith in Christ, which details His life and shows His
power, authority and divinity. It was HILARIOUS to watch this with her because
every time something important happened she seriously did not understand. And
every time something unimportant happened....well she tended to focus on that.
Example: We are watching the scene where Thomas is talking about Jesus Christ
and she goes "What? What is that they're eating? Beans?" And
then when Jesus is helping the disciples on the boat she goes, "Wow. So
pretty. WOah! Thats a lot of fish!" Like...she is hysterical. It is
a crack-up to teach her. Shes not just your average blonde, she cant read or
anything and has ZERO knowledge of God and its just a little difficult to help
her understand the importance of what we're teaching. But shes really sweet and
honestly more reliable than most of our other investigators so we're stickin
with her.
PS Sister Jepsen is
very much convinced that I have a tapeworm.
So to end off, we had
zone conference this past week, and Elder Gong from the Quorum of the Seventy
came with his wife. they taught us a great deal about the Book of Mormon and
Joseph Smith and helping our investigators and members to understand the
importnace of the Book of Mormon, and especially to help them all have "a
meaningful experience" with the Book of Mormon. And of course, how to
become better teachers. It was really awesome. one thing that I really loved,
on a personal level,m was when Elder gong started the meeting. I think I told
you guys a while ago that my MTC teacher, Lookkruu Oleson, once made me a
promise that by the end of my 18 months of service, I would know why Heavenly
Father sent me to Cambodia. Well, one of the first things Elder Gong told us
was this: "You can rest assured that God wants you to be here right now.
He called you here. He sent a lot of other people to a lot of other places, but
He sent YOU, HERE, NOW." It was so powerful the way he said that,
and wouldnt ya know? Zone Conference was on the day of my exact 18 month mark.
I still dont necessarily know the exact reason WHY, but I know that it was no
mistake for me to be called here, now, to this place, at this time.
I have been grateful
for every single moment, difficult, painful, awkward, strange, hilarious or
otherwise.
I can honestly say
that I love my mission. I love Cambodia. I love all the people I've met here. I
love Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. I
love this church. And I know its the only way for us to find complete, true and
lasting happiness. I am eternally grateful for my mission, which taught me to
love these things more than I ever have before.
Peace out. See you
guys soon.
Love, Sister
Davis
Monday, March 2, 2015
The Godfather, Part 7: The Sister Training Leader
Okay Im really sorry you
guys, but emailing seems to be pretty fruitless to me nowadays. Dont be
surprised if you dont get these big long weekly emails for the last couple
weeks of my mission.
Anywho, recently Ive been
making jokes about how Im not even done yet and the mission has already bot
caoled me. that is Cambodian for toss into a trashcan like a rotten fish head
(PS Sister Spangler bought me an actual fish head to keep as a pet this week,
but thats another story). I dont actually feel that way, but I started cracking
jokes about it when i stopped being the Sister training Leader for my last
transfer, and then there was this secret English Class meeting that I wasnt
invited to (im trying to be sarcastic by the way. President Moon doesnt do
"invite-only" meetings). So we were laughing about that to and i was
like, whelp they dont care about me and my opinion anymore. this all became
quite poignant as Sister Spangler and Sister jepsen called me into their room
to have a little chat. They were all like...we need your help. You are the most
senior sister in this house and we're doing a sister training leader exchange
but we need you to go with one of the sisters because she wont listen to us. I
started laughing because I was like, I dont know why you think she would listen
to me, but they made the point that in Khmer culture age has a big pull. So
they pulled me in to be a third sister training leader to help out with this
one exchange.
(obviously Im making this
sound way more dramatic than it actually was).
I am not kidding I had a
field day with the whole fiasco. I couldnt take it seriously. I SO BADLY wanted
to grab my stuffed animal and start petting it and throw some cotton balls in
my mouth and go, "You show me nothin but disrespect. And now, you come to
me, askin for help, on this the day of my daughters wedding." (Brooklyn
accent implied).
I was a brat about it
because exchanges are on of my least favorite things, BUT I did what they asked
me to and came out alive. it was actually a really fun day and I was happy to
do it. I went with Sister Harris comp and at the end of the day she and I were
cracking each other up as per usual. And then Sister Jepsen stole Sister
Harris'cake mix so all in all, it was worth it.
I also have your weekly
English Class Sign Holding quote of the week.
A young man who speaks
decent English for CAmbodian comes up,
finds out that we speak Khmer and goes "Wow! how long have you been here
for?" Me: "a year and a half." Him: "You lovee
Cambodia?" Me: "Yes, I love Cambodia." Him: "Good. CAMBODIA
LOVE YOU TOO!" That was great. It finally loves me back, you guys.
Speaking of weekly things:
Bong Sokhaa's weekly spotlight. here it is:
We decided to go see her as a back up one night, so it was an impromptu
lesson that we hadn't fleshed out much. We just did a really basic lesson on
the life of Christ and shared John 3:16 (classic). And she just sat there and
after reading the verse she goes, "Sometimes I wonder how He did it. I
wonder how God would send His own Son. it would be too hard to send your own
child to do that. But I know He did it for us. Not just for one of us, but for
EVERY ONE OF US." And I was like, you bascially just dissected one of my
favorite quotes from brilliant author CS Lewis without even knowing it and you
live in a shack in Cambodia! I swear she is perfect. Her kids are doing great
too. They are still learning with the elders, and they join in and pray in our
lessons.
I would also just like to
go on a rant about this one guy in our ward named Bong Dara. He has been a
member for probably close to ten years and he is seriously AWESOME. He is one
of those people that you look at and just go....youve got a special place in
the celestial kingdom, my friend. I wont go into too much detail, but
essentially He runs our whole ward and does everything. he sacrifices times to
help everyone in every activity and the whole place would be nothing without
him. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, a random guy came up to us (again while
holding the English Class sign......you guys probably think its the only thing
that we do. In reality its just that a lot of crazy things happen when youve
got two white girls standing on the side of the road in the middle-of-nowhere
cambodia inviting people to come talk to us) and this guys handed us to cans of
orange juice. I took it gingerly and then the guy took off his helmet and what
do you know! its Bong Dara. I cannot tell you how busy this man is and how so
much fo his good deeds go unnoticed, but he still makes time to buy the
missionaries some soda. He is the definition of
Saint. Look it up.
Sidenote: as part of the
exchange I missed a wedding for a member in SMC and Im still a little bitter
about it.
OH ALSO, this week, I have
my very last Zone Conference of my mission EVER. and its fantastic because
Elder Gong is coming! A member of the Seventy is gonna be all up in our Zone
Conference and I'm stoked about it, so wait to hear more about that.
i think thats all I've got
for this week! Love you guys very much. Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Davis
Some exchange pics. We couldnt keep it together
long enough.
semi normal.
also a delayed photo from siem reap i stole
from sister litchfield.
One of the best members in Cambodia. Named Zion (pronounced Seee-yon). She should be leaving on a mission soon.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Why thanks, that was very American of you
Okay
I am super pooped from email time today and Im running out of gas so I'm
probably ging to make this a short one and save the other cool stories fro next
week.
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR
EVERYONE!
I hope you were all
kind and gracious to your friendly neighborhood monks, joined in on the 11
am trash-burning party and ate some Chinese cabbage soup.
What? You mean.....you
didn't do those things? Because here in Cambodia, we are all about the monk life.
I made Cab Chae for
everyone in the house, which is one of my favorite Khmer foods. Its actually
the Chinese cabbage soup I just mentioned, but Sister Ky taught me how to make
a Khmer version when we were in Battambang and it is MY FAVORITE. Sister Jepsen
also really liked it, but for some reason I couldn't convince Sister Mathews
and Sister Spangler to eat the pig skin. Go figure.
This is what happens
when Sister Spangler doesnt know how to set the timer on the camera and takes
an unannounced candid of us eating soup. Please note Sister Mathews (who
refused to eat my soup and ate plain spaghetti instead).
#weeklyplanningincambodia
In other news. we
helped a family scrape paint off their stair railing for a couple hours and now
I'm pretty positive that I have lead poisoning (among other diseases.)
We also had one of our
super less active LAs tell us she was too busy to say one prayer with
us.....after we helped her cook and clean her house for 45 minutes while she
just sat on a bench. Dont get me wrong, I love serving the members, but
sometimes the Cambodian idea of "busy" really throw me for a
loop.
We had a great lesson
with Bong Sokha (when is it not a great lesson). We reviewed about prophets,
and at the end of the lesson after we had read Doctrine and Covenants 1:38,
she just goes, "Even though God can't talk to us, He send the prophet to
talk to us and its the same. I know that the prophet will never lead us astray,
not even a little." So theres your weekly Bong Sokha quote. Shes the
reason I keep on going some days.
And heres the real
story of the week. During weekly planning, while we were taking a break and
eating soup together, Sister Jepsen showed me some of her pictures from
Battambang. If you guys want to go back through my emails a whiel back, you
will probably find one where I talked about a wheelchair investigator I had in
Battambang named Chendaa who was INCREDIBLE. And I was only able to meet her a
couple times because she lived so far away that it became too difficult to meet
her or for her to go to church and even though I biked all the way out to her
house, it was near impossible to meet her. But either eay, she was amazing.
Well, she and Sopheap, another wheelchair investigator that i had that ALSo
ended up not working out, got baptized with Sister Jepsen!!! They both moved
really close to a village that has a couple members and were able to start
learning again after I left. Because they have crippled legs, Sister Jepsen had
to carry them into the baptismal font and she was telling me the funny story of
how it all worked out and so I started laughing and
then...........................it happened. While laughing at this story it
just hit me how happy i was that they had gotten baptized, how sad I was that I
hadnt been there to see it and just how much I love Battambang and serving in
Cambodia and I just started bawling. I know I just told you last week I cried
too but I promise I dont cry that much! I think my last transfer is just really
filled with emotions. Either way, I was laughing and crying HARDCORE at the
same time and all the other sisters were like ..............what is happening
to her. It was just a swirl of emotions when I realized how close I am to
leaving this place and my heart truly ached. It was a sadness about ending my
mission that I really hadn't experienced before. And Im not even done yet! All
I know is this: when I get home, your patience will be much appreciated because
apparently I cant control my emotions anymore. SO moral of the story: it is dang
hard, but I love my mission and everywhere I've been and everyone Ive taught
and all the experiences Ive had here. And it hurts sometimes when I think about
leaving in just one month.
Like I said, I have a
lot more stories coming next week, but im totally burned out for today so
you'll just have to wait. (dont worry, they're not terribly exciting.) But, I
love you all, I miss you and I hope you have a great week!
Love, Sister Davis.
HAHA FOOLED YA! you guys all thought I was in the city didnt you? just kidding I am. but
luckily I am in the citys biggest area and as long as you're willing to bike 2
hours you can get out to places like this, that make me miss the provinces so
much it hurts.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
A Mosquito named Rainbow Dash
This week while we were holding the English class sign, a
woman came up to talk to me and Sister Mathews about our class (she didnt know
we spoke any Khmer because she was one of those people that demanded to speak
in English to show off how much she knows) and as she drove away on her moto
she yelled out, "WELCOME TO CAMBODIA." thoughts: 1) I have never had
someone say "Welcome to Cambodia"to me on my whole mission. I feel
like that was a bit of a delayed welcome party. 2) I feel like it was a really
nice, ironic thing to happen to me at the commencement of my last transfer in
Cambodia where I have been living for A YEAR AND A HALF. She didnt know that
though so i just decided to say thanks and wave goodbye.
Also, yesterday in
church, I was leading the music as perusual, because Cambodians can't handle
anything that is even slighlty related to music and also the missionaries run
the branches here so they ask me to lead every single week (add that to my list
of things my mission has taught me: I can now lead music. Badly, but I can do
it. Before my mission, I was of the variety of people who just sign their name
in the air when they dont know how to lead). Anywho, I tried to move up the
music stand and literally broke it in half. The whole top just popped right
off, leaving me holding the tray and there I was, standing in front of the
whole congregation, caught red-handed as the culprit of who broke the music
stand as Elder Neuberger continues to play the intro for "Come, Come Ye
Saints." Needless to say I had a panic attack and the former bishop from
Tuolkork who now lives in my SMC ward was cracking up at me from the front
row.
Also, just so we're
all on the same page, my crazy investigator Ming Rani is trying to forcibly
adopt me. She knows I'm going home in 6 weeks so she keeps on being like,
"Sister! you can stay with me! I will feed you and take such good care of
you. You could get a job when you finish your mission and just stay in Cambodia
forever!" And I'm like......uhhhhhhhhh you know my biological parents take
pretty good care of me too. back in AMERICA. So thats an ongoing problem, but I
choose to look at it as a compliment.
OH MY GOSH I ALMOST
FORGOT TO TELL YOU GUYS. the best thing ever happened this transfer. Sister Nov
got a last-minute transfer call to leave SMC (thats not the good part, because
now I can't have her kill cockroaches for me or tell me funny phrases in Khmer)
but to replace her.........PRESIDENT MOON SENT SISTER JEPSEN.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now, I'm living in a house with
Sister Jepsen and I am LOVING IT. She and I go way back. Like 4 or five months.
but in mission terms, thats a long time. Its like having one of your best
friends make a surprise visit. We are living it up and reminiscing about BB
like no other. She's having a rough tiem adjusting to the city. As all of us
who come from the provinces do. We ran into her at the church building and she
is in first branch but has to bike through the worst, ugliest, grossest part of
my branch to get there and she saw me and ran up to me and was like
"Sister Davis, hug me. I HATE IT HERE. there are no trees! It's so
ugly!" It was really sad. I had to pat her head and tell her it would be
alright, even though that was a lie, because I know better than anyone that
Steungmeanchey never stops being smelly and ugly.
I also almost severely
offended a member into less-activity this week. hooray! Here's what i say: If
you never offended a member, I don't believe that you served a mission in
Cambodia. So anyway, I told this one member that we couldn't eat lunch with
her, she hung up the phone on me, and it gave me such bad anxiety that I caved
and ended up stuffing three large vietnamese springrolls down my throat in less
than 4 minutes ( a record). Then they gave us some fanta and sent us on our
way. Aaaaand they came to church tomorrowso we know its all good. This
family was already super offended and less-active so it wouldnt have really
been my fault, but you get the point. I have to suck up to everyone these days.
(for the record, that was a very abridged version of the story).
Okay, so now to get to
the good part, we had some FANTASTIC lessons this week. Srei Lay and Bong Da
are doing amazing. First of all, we had two lessons with Bong Da this week. In
the first one we taught the Plan of Salvation and when we were teaching her
about our life on earth and the Atonement of Jesus Christ she just ran with it
and basically ended up teaching herself. We segued into baptism and she just
was like "OHHHHHH. So baptism is like SUPER important!!!" She even
worked it out in her own head how baptism is related to the Atonement of Christ
and the cleansing power of being baptized, so we can become clean from sin. At
a certain point I had to be like, did we even teach you that? where did that
come from? And then afterwards she goes, okay so now I have a question. What
about people that didn't get the chance to learn before they died? Like my dad.
Is there anything I can do to help him even though he's dead? And
guys.....I started laughing. In the middle of the lesson I started laughing
because i was like, "YES THERE IS!!" she just is so in tune with our
lessons and so smart and accepting that I couldnt even handle it anymore, to
the point where i started laughing. Then, she went on to teach her eight year
old daughter what a prophet was and how God helps us through his Living
Prophet, and I just about died. In the same week, we also taught her about the
Doctrine of Christ, which starts with faith and usually in those lessons we ask,
"Okay, so now we've taught you what faith is. What do you think is the way
that we show our faith in God?" So we taught her what faith is and then
Bong Da goes, "Okay so this is what faith is. But tell me Sisters, how can
I SHOW my faith in God?" I couldn't even handle it. She asks our questions
before we ask them and THEN ANSWERS THEM. She's so smart! I think she's
awesome.
And then there was
Srei Lay. Goodness gracious Srei Lay. So she is the former Christian, and from
the beginning she has been very smart and willing to listen, but I could tell
she wasn't accepting everythign we were teaching about baptism and the
priesthood and ESPECIALLY the Book of Mormon. and thats a big one because if
she doesn't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, our teachings are going to
go nowhere with her. So we planned to teach her the Doctrine of Christ, and
then at a certain point, SIster Mathews and I were like....No. that is not
going to help her. She knows what faith and repentance is. that is not going to
increase her desire to learn with us. And so we changed the lesson plan and
decided to just teach her about the Book of Mormon. So we went in and started
reading from the Intro with her, and we read every paragraph. And we would stop
and she would ask these awesome, in-depth, kick-butt questions and to be
honest, some of them felt like they were beyond my ability to explain in Khmer.
Sometimes I would look at her face and I was like....dangit. She has no idea
what I'm talking about, I'm just confusing her more, and now she's never gonna
believe this is true. I honestly almost gave up in the middle of the lesson.
But we finished the intro, and Sister Mathews and I were bearing our
testimonies of how the Book of Mormon is true and while I was talking she just
held up her hand to get me to stop talking and I was like oh. okay... and she
just goes, "Sisters...I just want to tell you. Last week when you were
teaching me, I did not understand. You kept on reading from the Book of Mormon
but I did not understand what it is or where it came from and I could not
decide...is the Bible true or is the Book of Mormon true? but now......I know
they are both true. I know the Book of Mormon is true, because we read this
introduction." And it was like BOOM. she gets it. She knows. We committed
her, closed the lesson and asked her to say a closing prayer. While she was
praying I got tears in my eyes because I was just so happy and filled with
light! It was one of those moments where every thought I had was so clear and
everything was just so filled with the Spirit and I KNEW that everything was
true. It was a big moment. And it was unforgettable. it was probably the most
gratifying lesson of my entire mission, for reasons I can't even exlpain. i
would have to talk about it in person to explain to you guys the full
significance of this lesson. All I know is, we said goodbye to Srei Lay, she
left the room, and I said to Sister Mathews, "Sorry, I just need a
second." And then i turned around and just started bawling. Like i was just
CRYING! I just finally felt like it was all worth it and that that lesson was
just as much for me as it was for Srei Lay. that lesson was my gift from
Heavenly Father, I am not even kidding. It was also weird because seriously i
havent cried in so long. For a while I was joking to people that my mission has
hardened me so much that i dont know how to cry anymore. So anyway, I HAD to
tell you guys that because it was one of the best moments of my mission so far.
Steungmeanchey is a hard area, but I have seen a few very key, very important
miracles. And I am grateful for everything in this area and in this country,
even the hard things, because I was able to have those few moments and
miracles that have shaped my whole view of my mission.
Anyway, I think that
is all for this week. How was everybody's Friday the 13th?!?!? (that
matters more to me than valentines day. Sister Spangler is still cracking
herself up because we celebrated "Galentines day". aka......we ate
terrible Cambodian made chocolate).
I hope you all have a
great week! Love you and miss you!
Love, Sister Davis
PS a fantiastic
missionary scripture I found in the Bible: "Yea, woe is unto me, if I
preach not the gospel!" 1 Corin 9:16. My new mantra. and it
should be yours too!
At English Class Activity night, the elders
brought an airsoft gun as a prop and Sister Nov took it a little too seriously.
i told you guys.....shes kinda scary.
I dont know if you can tell from this picture,
but my map-drawing skills are superb these days.
"Arise from the
dust, O Jerusalem...."
February 8, 2015
I'm
pretty much out of clever titles for my emails. Does everybody's mission go
downhill in terms of exciting stories to tell in the last two transfers?
Because I feel like thats whats going on in my life. Although it could just be
from a lack of desire to stop my bike so that I can take notes on what has been
going on.
I think the biggest
news is that this week I got into a huge fight with Elder Duffy over politics,
which is......not new for Chloe but almost unheard of for Sister Davis. Elder
Duffy is currently the Office Elder, and he and i were in the same MTC group and
we're also secret besties. But, Elder Duffy told me who he voted for in the
last election because "thats what all his friends did" (I'll give you
one guess who he DID vote for) and THEN (this is where it gets crazy) he
proceeded to make fun of me for wanting to major in political science and so I
stalked out of the office like a 3-year-old throwing a temper tantrum until I
saw him the next day at zone training and we cleared the air over a really
terrible Cambodian-made pizza. Unfortunately, while explaining the ordeal at
zone training I consequently offended Elder Allred for HIS political stance and
now all the new elders in my zone are afraid of me. I would like to cite an
email that I sent from Battambang when I mentioned how I havent actually gotten
better at controlling my temper, its just that i have very few things to get a
temper about. It shows when you bring up politics in a conversation with me for
the first time in 18 months. All in all, Elder Duffy has forgiven me and vice
versa. We're back to being secret besties.
So yeah. that was the
most exciting thing to happen this week. Sister Mathews thought it was pretty
funny. When I would get distracted and go on rants about it when we were
supposed to be doing our Daily Planning she would just sit there and listen and
laugh at my psychotics. What a good companion.
Oh, on that note, we
got transfer calls last night. My last ever transfer calls! Crazy huh? Anyway,
Sister Mathews and I are staying the same. No changes in comp or area. Super
boring. but also super easy. I'm happy though because we just started teaching
a couple new investigators and I'm really excited to see how they turn out. I
told you guys about Dani and Srei Lai last week, but the REALLY awesome one is
named Bong Da. She was a referral from a member who used to work with Bong Da,
and she brought Bong Da to church. She stayed for all three hours, brought both
of her kids, AND when we talked to her she told us that.....(wait for
it)......SHE'S FREE IN THE MORNINGS!!!!!!! ****HALLELUJAH AND AMEN***********
You should know that most of our mornings consist of biking incredibly
far distances to see the only three members we know of who actually have time n
the mornings on Monday-Friday (all less actives) after which my comp and I just
sit on our bikes going nowhere for a while, debating with the awkward silence
about whether or not we should go contacting even though deep in our hearts we
know it is the only actual option. (I say "my comp" because this is
not a Sister Mathews thing, nor a Steungmeanchey thing. I think its a life
thing. Nobody wants to meet with the missionaries first thing in the
morning.
ANYWAY, the point is,
Bong Da is great! We found her house last week on Wednesday morning, and she
has a super ncie skincare business in her house so its a great place, and even
though she doesnt have any real background in christianity, she still knows how
to pray from one of her friends and she said that every day, she prays that God
will show her the right way and show her the right path in life, and She
considers us coming to teach her an answer to her prayers. Already wants to
join, totally down with what we teach. Super smart. Super nice. We are really
excited about her.
One fun thing that did
happen this week was Sister Harris came to our house because she was on an
exchange with Sister Nov! It was so fun to have her back in her old humble
abode. The second she walked in the house she goes, "This place
still smells the same. I hate it." I missed that girl. Needless to say, we
spent our night talking in our old room, reminiscing about our TOP NOTCH
Christmas display and all the toher antics we got up to when we were together,
and especially doing sweet impressions of Om Im yelling at her grandson
Vichekaa. Just thinking about Om Im still cracks Sister Harris up.
Speaking of Om Im, she
continues to be a beacon of hope in the dust that is Steungmeanchey.
We went over to visit
her for a second, and she was just like, "Come 'ere! Sit down!!!" (Om
Im could be throwing a dinner party and she would still invite us in to sit
down and have a chat). She cleaned off a dirty bench in er house and proceeded
to tell us the story of how she shared the gospel. It went a little something
like this:
"I went to the
church to exercise this morning and met a man. He was a Christian too and he
asked me if I go to church and I was like Yep! This church right here! this is
my church. And he started going off talking about how Mormons are wrong and
joseph Smith is wrong, and I was like No! joseph Smith was a prophet and he
restored Christ's church in the latter-days! Its the exact same church that
Christ established, and He picked Joseph Smith to lead it. Thats right, right?
okay good! because thats what I told him! And then I asked him, does your church
have temples? WELL OURS DOES. Does your church have a way to help and save your
ancestors who died without knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Well, OUR
DOES! That's right, right?"
Listening to Om Im
tell a story is one of the few things that gives me joy in this life. She gets
so into it! And then she just paueses and breaks out into a big smile because
shes all proud of herslef. And you know what? She should be! The members here
need to open their mouths like she does, because I can promise you that that
Buddhist grandma who squats on the corner to sell her fried bananas is not
gonna listen to a word that two American girls say about Jesus Christ. But I
would bet my hand-carved, GORGEOUS new Cambodian Christmas nativity that she
would listen to Om Im! (thanks dad.)
here's how you know Om
Im is a miracle worker. I told you a couple weeks ago that our crazy
investigator who's always offended, Ming Rani, came to church and managed to
pick a fight with Om Im of all people. Well, she came again last week, and OUT
OF NOWHERE, I turned the corner after sacrament meeting and find Ming Rani
linking arms with Om Im as they bond over their swollen, achey feet (a chronic
condition Om Im suffers from and has wasted no time in explaining to us). Om Im
was offering her advice on medicines, and Min Rani was just eating it up. As a
result, they didnt disagree over a single thing during Gospel Principles class
and just were best buds all morning long. It was a Cambodian miracle if I've
ever seen one.
Other good things that
happened this week: Sister Mathews and I went to visit Om Som An and we found a
beautiful little rice field area with cows and stuff down a windy path. It had
GRASS (like real, green, GRASS that I havent seen in forever) and it looked
like a old farm/cow paddock (except for the rice fields). And it was dead quiet
and just super peaceful. A lot of times, I just feel like this work is super
hectic and I get stressed out because things aren't what I thought they would
be and I feel like I'm not doing enough and the bishop of our ward sends the
young men out to BUY BREAD for the sacrament ON SUNDAY and im just like
"THIS IS NOT WORKING!" But, I have had brief, scattered moments of
real peace and serenity in this country that make me remember why I love it.
And while I was standing there on the edge of this beautiful bike trail, in the
very very RARE moment of silence, I just felt that....He was there. He created
that beautiful little spot. And he loves it probably more than I do.
So, a boring week but
a good one nonetheless. I think its no secret that Steungmeanchey didn't make
the best first impression on me, but I have worked hard here and Im happy that
I get to stay in my last transfer and see all my work out to the very end.
I love you all, and miss
you very much. Have a great week everyone!
Love, Sister
Davis
This adorable kid at church, in his Sunday best.
I bought these two
completely useless books a couple weeks ago. So I dont know the word for
"motivation" in Khmer but at the very least I'll have a really great
legal/historical vocabulary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)