November in Cambodia

As I sit to write this, the busy traffic of Seam Reap is whizzing by the door and our lives continue to be filled with many opportunities to grow and our testimonies strengthened- while experiencing a bit of humor along the way.

A perfect case in point was last night when we met with the family in Seam Reap that has accepted the gospel and is ready for baptism. The only glitch is that the father has a knee injury that prohibits him from riding a bicycle and the family does not have the means of any other transportation than walking- and it is too far to walk to church. There are five children in the family, all are reading the Book of Mormon, even the youngest. The father bore his testimony of the restoration and his knowledge that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God. As a missionary, it just doesn't get better... However, just after one of the elders began the prayer, a most unusual sound began - a cross between a howl and a moan...and it went on (and on!) during the entire prayer. After the prayer the elder exclaimed, "What was that?" The answer? The covered Styrofoam box that sat in the corner- "home" to his son's two alligators. And what was even funnier, that was the ONLY time they made a sound the entire time we were there!!

To continue the story, the father was given a blessing by the elders, and the branch president, that through his faith, the faith of those present, and his family, he would have the ability and means to attend church as a family. In this country where there are so few, or no means for the people, we have seen the hand of the Lord providing miracles and our faith has grown and we testify again that truly He is a God of miracles, and He reaches out to bless His children.

We are getting more involved in training- there is so much that needs to be done it is easy to get overwhelmed unless you simply take it one step at a time. And "baby steps! baby steps!" as our mission president reminds us. If training is more than a "baby step", we have found that all we have done is create confusion. "Line upon line" is truly an eternal principal!

By the way, the novelty of seeing us on our morning walk has worn off on our neighbors. We still have the chorus of "hello! hello!" from the younger children, but I no longer feel like the local circus! If we don't get out by 6:30 am, it is already hot and sticky- but we keep walking!

Our love to each of you and we send our very best wishes to each of you as the holiday season begins- and our greetings from the land where the bananas grow all year!