We are just finishing up a wonderful stay with our missionaries in Siem Reap. We had the opportunity to spend some time with one of the families that we had been blessed to met since they first started their discussions with the missionaries- the Poh Sam family.
Many in this small village of Sassrong, located in Anchor Watt, depend on the tourist market for their livelihood. In this case, however, the older daughter was working as a live-in caretaker for a blind woman. As the Poh Sam family was taught the gospel, they were also taught of the Lord's commandment to honor and keep the Sabbath day holy. In a land that does not have any concept of a Sabbath, this is many times a difficult and challenging commitment to make.
Yet, as this family embraced the gospel, they also committed to keeping the Sabbath day holy as a family, and their daughter quit her job so she could attend Church and worship with her family. We have no idea how they are possibly surviving- but they told the missionaries that they love the Lord and have faith in His promises. As we left their humble home, the mother slipped to the side and brought out a bunch, or "hand" as they call it, of bananas. She gave them to me with a beautiful smile. One of the sisters with us who spoke English, told me that Sister Sam had heard I liked bananas and these were for me. My heart was breaking as I took them, gave her a hug, and walked away humbled to the core of my being....I have read of missionaries who ate food as the family watched, the elders knowing they were eating all the food the family had, and accepting the gift as it was extended with hearts so full they were breaking....I never expected to have this experience happen to me, and as it has, on more than one occasion, I can not express adequately in words the feelings that come....This mission has opened our eyes and hearts to see and experience sacrifice, faith, and charity in ways we could never have imagined. Has this been a difficult and challenging mission? Yes. But the compensations and rewards have been greater and richer than we could ever have thought possible. May the Lord bless these people, our Cambodian pioneers, with the knowledge of the absolute assurance of God's love for them. Why did our first generation pioneers in the West suffer so? I do not know all the answers, but I do know that because of their faith and devotion under the most difficult and trying of circumstances, they have blessed the lives of countless thousands who honor and look to them for emulation. We are blessed beyond measure to be able to know these, the Lord's Cambodian pioneers.
With all our love, Elder and Sister Dickerson
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