December 15, 2008

Merry Christmas to each and every one! We have been blessed to have a new perspective on this wonderful time of year as we live among a people who generally do not know about or celebrate this occasion. Our two branches are busy preparing nativity plays and singing Christmas hymns with vigor. For some, this is the first time they have even heard of the “Christmas story” and what a joy to share with them this most wonderful event in the history of the world.

In addition, there is no commercialization, no retail hustle, just a few market vendors in Siem Reap who have some strands of tinsel, short and very sparse looking artificial trees, and a few cheaply made ornaments….and we wonder, “Why would anyone want to buy that?” I have to chuckle when I think what the general Cambodian’s perspective must be! Some of the major hotels have put up garlands and greenery, but it looks very out of place.

We will be spending Christmas in a mission-wide zone conference in Pheonm Phen. All you returned missionaries know this takes special permission from the area presidency, and we are so grateful that it has been granted. The Ellis’s and Fairchild’s were the two couples that came with us from the MTC, and the Ellis’s left us in Thailand for their assignment with LDS Charities in Vietnam. They are flying in for this zone conference and it will be good to visit with them.

Our photo log is a window into our last few weeks. In KT, during one of our morning exercises, we literally “walked into” a wedding party. Some of the guests we knew from our daily walks and they all waved and laughed as we took photographs. A wedding is one of the most significant events in the Cambodian culture. Years ago it took seven days, but now most weddings last about two days. In a “traditional wedding”, the bride and groom wear traditional clothing, and in keeping with the 7 colors assigned to each day, the bride will change her elaborate clothing 7 times during the course of the celebration, each in brilliant jewel colors. The guests also wear traditional clothing which for the men consists of a tunic style shirt in silk and dark pants. The women’s clothing is literally like a jewel box- their skirts are Khmer silk woven in patterns a thousand years old, and their blouses elaborately made of lace, satin and decorated with sequins.
You can see the groom in his traditional Khmer clothing holding a bouquet of flowers which he will present to his bride- to- be as part of the wedding ceremony.

In our last blog, we talked about the rice harvest. We are including some great pictures where you can see the woven mats, the threshing machine, and the work involved in the process. The rice stalks are blown and tramped down into large “haystacks” with a pole centered in the middle. You see these everywhere- as they are used, they take on some amazing shapes!

We also are enclosing some photographs of our combined youth activity and the food preparations on the kitchen floor. I do my best, but I just haven’t spent a lifetime squatting like these women have! My job was cutting pineapple, and I will tell you there is a trick to it that I have been taught- can’t wait to show you how!

The last photographs are of the latest baptisms in Siem Reap- ten wonderful people were baptized this past Saturday- five were a complete family. It was a spirit-filled evening and we were so humbled to have been involved in their teaching.

We thank each of you for your prayers- we have felt them daily in our lives and with all our hearts we wish each of you a wonderful Christmas and the joy the angels sang in praise and glory for the coming of the Christ child…..All our love, Elder and Sister Dickerson, or Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma!