July 22, 2009

July 22, 2009
Hello everyone!

This has been a super busy week to say the least so we got a lot done. A group of missionaries headed to America this past Monday to go into the MTC and start their missions! I'm so excited for them. Three out of the four who are going have been my Branch Missionaries! It is sweet to see two sisters and an Elder who came out to help us all the time finally starting their own missions. One of them, Elder Vey is serving in Sacramento. He helped us a lot here in second branch and helped the branch so much. The other two are Sister Chhuoen going to Everett, WA and Sister Ang, serving in Temple Square. I'm so excited for them! It will be something they'll never forget. We've been helping them prepare for this for the past 5 months and who knows how long before I got here. They're all going to do great. I have to find some way to keep speaking Khmer when I come home. I don't like English anymore.lol

So we have several investigators who are doing great right now. One guy, Votana was just baptized on Sunday after learning for about seven months. He had problems he had to resolve, but his faith was so incredible. He was one of the best members in the branch and he wasn't even a member. About a year ago he killed someone in a fight and came to hide out here in the city. It was an accident, and he wasn't the one who actually killed the kid thank goodness. It turned out to be an argument that turned into a fight and Votana's group of friends killed one of the kids. When he got interviewed for baptism the first time, the interviewer said "He has completely repented spiritually and has incredible faith. He just has to take care of any legal penalties that may exist. Well, everything is taken care of and he is so awesome! He has some great leadership qualities and the members love him. We're so happy for him. We had another investigator named Komleng who was baptized this past Thursday as well. She was so excited. She's going to be a great member as well.

We have three more investigators with baptismal dates right now. One of them is a man who's three children have already been baptized but he wasn't ready. At this point he has read the Book of Mormon, most of D&C, Preach my gospel, and studies the priesthood books daily. He is such a stud and he finally has a baptismal date. He is so cool, It is a lot of fun to teach him. Another person with a baptismal date is a man named Het Hon. He is absolutely amazing. We just found this out the other day, but four other companionships before us have tried to teach him and he wasn't interested at all. Now he is incredible. We are so lucky that he was prepared to receive the gospel while we were here because it is a treat to teach him.

We're teaching two people right now who are the branch 1st counselor's younger brother and sister. They've been inactive for five years, but have become active again. They want us to teach them the lessons again because they don't remember. This sister we're teaching is so cool! She reads every day and takes notes, and every time we teach her she has all these cool doctrinal questions. I can name the old testament prophets in order now thanks to her asking that question lol.

So Cambodia is gearing up for pioneer day! It is huge here, the members absolutely love it. Every branch is having a huge party, I guarantee it. So that should be pretty exciting. A lot of recent converts are giving talks on pioneers on Sunday and they're all panicking. So we'll be spending some of our time this week helping them lol.

A couple funny things from this week -
Here, most toilets are in the ground, and you squat to go to the bathroom, like if you were camping. A lot of places have real toilets though, but poor people who have never used one before are scared of them, and squat up on the toilet seat. There were muddy footprints on the toilet seat at church the other day, it was hilarious!

Oh by the way, I ate a big plate of fried crickets the other day! It was so good. They taste like unseasoned fried potatoes.

Even without watching the news and seeing all the things that are going on in the world, it is easy to see the signs of the times unfolding. I've been studying in the Old Testament lately and so many of the prophesies are being fulfilled during our time. And the world sure isn't getting any more righteous. I'm so grateful for our leaders in the church and for the scriptures. We know exactly what to do so that we don't fall into these traps. In the words of the late Michael Jackson, "Youuuuu are nooot aloooooone". Our Father in Heaven will always be there for us if we call to him. Something we tell people here is "If you don't pray, how are you going to tell God that you need his help?". We're so blessed to have these simple truths. I know this gospel is true and it is such a privilege to be sharing this gospel with the Khmer people every day. They sure make it interesting lol.

Well, that's it for today. I hope everyone has a good week!

Love,
Elder Donnelson