The end of the month is around the corner and we are anticipating the arrival of our new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Smedley next week, June 30th. President and Sister Winegar will be leaving the following day. It is impossible for us to record the impact that President and Sister Winegar have made on this mission and the lives they have touched. We have seen first hand the mantel of the Lord upon His chosen servant as President Winegar did what is simply impossible for a mortal man to accomplish. We drove down to Phenm Phen last week for their farewell dinner with all the mission senior couples and as one sister said in essence, "This is such a bittersweet experience for us- we can not imagine our mission without you, but we can't go home until you do!"
The last two weeks have been a mix of missionary work and Cambodian culture. As I have mentioned, the rice planting season is in full swing and we had the opportunity to help one of the part member families in their rice field. This was a planned service activity with Elder Nybold and his Khmer companion, Elder Long. The field we were in had been roughly plowed and then diked and flooded. At a casual glance, the field looked level due to the water. However, nothing could have been more deceptive. As we waded into the field, there was no way of knowing whether you would be in soupy mud up to your knees or just to your ankles- and every where else in between! The large planting bundles are spread across the fields and the shallow roots placed in the water to keep the rice plants from drying out. As you move across the field, you untie a bundle and pull apart a section that easily fits into your hand. The rice plants are pressed into the mud with your thumb- each cluster you plant should have about 2-4 good rootlets in it. All this is done under the full equator sun, bending and stooping... Needless to say, as Elder Dickerson said afterwards, "I will never think about rice the same way". In our modern western culture, we have come so far from absolute manual labor, but here our tools were nothing but our own hands and physical exertion.
The elders in KT have been teaching a single lady, Naree, and her daughter. (The daughter is young single adult age) Her mother has been attending a local Christian church for several years, but had become dissatisfied with what she was being taught. In some ways it is more difficult to teach her because she has been taught a Protestant religion, and not the pure and simple truths of the restored gospel. She has really struggled with the need for baptism since she was already baptised. In spite of the lessons on the need for proper authority through the priesthood, she has still been unable to fully accept this need. This past week, we had the opportunity to go with Elder Nybold and Long to one of their discussions with her. As the lesson began, she mentioned that she had been praying sincerely to know whether or not she needed to be re baptised. She petitioned the Lord that she would be directed to an answer through the scriptures. After she prayed, she opened her scriptures and they opened to Doctrine and Covenants 33:10-11... after reading these verses, she was able to accept the need for her baptism. She called her daughter and told her about her decision and her daughter told her mother, "Mother, I have already decided to be baptised, and I was just waiting for you."
This experience illustrates one of the most humbling aspects of our mission-to work and serve among a people who are so childlike in their faith and turn to the Lord in perfect trust that He will answer their prayers. This kind of experience has been repeated in many different situations but with the same faith and a loving response from our Father in Heaven.
We have had some challenging difficulites in our branch in KT that have required our time and attention- but our work in Siem Reap has not totally been neglected. There is a small village in the Anchor Watt Temple district by the name of Sasarong. Living here are some of the most faithful and devoted members of the Siem Reap Branch. One young mother, Sister Hom, in particular has taken to heart the counsel ''every member a missionary", and has walked her village, sharing the gospel. The results? The elders are now teaching several families and she is also been told she is forbidden to walk along some of the common village paths, and she and her family have been persecuted. As the elders shared this with us, my heart just broke, for Hom is truly a gentle woman and the idea of others hurting her was so distressing to me. As I expressed my feelings, she told the elders, "I am fine! They cannot hurt me..." Such is the faith of these pioneer Cambodian Saints- we rightfully honor our early western pioneers, but these first generation Saints of Cambodia will occupy the same place of honor in the Lord's history of His kingdom.
In our final Zone Conference with President and Sister Winegar, Sister Winegar shared a musing that a friend had sent to them. The words used are simple, but the message is clear and one that I wanted to record.
You cannot stay on the summit forever,
you have to come down again.
So why bother in the first place?
Just this- What is above knows what is below
but what is below does not know what is above.
One climbs.....One sees....One decends.
One sees no longer, but one has seen.
There is an ART of conducting oneself
in the lower regions
by the memory of what one saw higher up.
What one can no longer see,
One can still know.
With all our love,
Elder and Sister Dickerson ie Grandpa and Grandma
No comments:
Post a Comment