February 2009-what a month it has been!

Although it has been weeks since our last entry, it certainly has not been due to lack of experiences to write about. The last week of January found me battling one of southeast Asia's more unpleasant aspects- a nasty bout of intestinal problems. That took the better part of the week to recover from... To share one- in fact the only one! of the humorous aspects of the whole situation, I found myself reliving a classic western movie. In addition to the obvious problems, I was also nauseated and dizzy and other than side trips to the bathroom was quite content to stay in bed. Elder Dickerson one morning had left a piece of bread with peanut butter and banana on it for me to eat when I was able. Not the least bit hungry when he left, I dozed off until I was awakened some time later from what I first thought were mosquitoes biting me. Almost immediately though, I realized I was getting bit under the sheet and opened my eyes to see an entire stream of Cambodia's small red biting ants from down the wall, across the bed, and up to my sandwich. I was simply in the path! I managed to roll off the bed onto the tile floor and lay there-I had to chuckle, for the first thing that popped into my head was the image of the old cowboy, captured by the Indians and staked out over the ant hill...believe me, it is torture!

The following week we were back on schedule with our regular run between KT and Siem Reap. We finished with our training and work with the elders there early so we could return to KT to take the elders serving there on a P-day excursion Wednesday. Wednesday the 4th was a typical sunny hot morning, but that day we had a minimal amount of Cambodian road traffic. We were about halfway to KT when a large construction vehicle pulled out directly in front of us. Elder Dickerson had no time to do more than apply the brakes, and my single thought was, "Is our mission over?" The road had steep embankments on either side and within seconds we had broadsided the truck. Elder Dickerson tried to take the bulk of the impact on his side, his air bag deployed, but mine did not. (We later found out that mine was missing- and that air bag theft is a common problem for cars shipped into Cambodia). We talk a lot in this mission about "the tender mercies of the Lord", and ours were just beginning....

As Elder Dickerson cried out, "Are you okay?" I really did not know. I thought I had hit the dashboard- the impact from the crash was so hard- and I could only take short, shallow breaths due to the intense pain in my chest. In addition, the force of the hit had thrown me back and forth and my neck was racked with pain. He wrenched open his door and came to my side to give me a brief but direct blessing- that I would recover fully.

It is at a time like this that the reality of what it really means to be in a third world country sets in. There was no EMT, no ambulance, no hospital, nothing but liability insurance on our automobile, police who get their wages by bribes, and little to no chance that anyone spoke or understood English in such a remote area. As Elder Dickerson tried to find a way to get me to the only decent hospital available back in Siem Reap, I heard a man's concerned voice gently ask, in English, "Sister, are you alright?" I slowly opened my eyes to see a young Khmer man and whispered back, "I don't know", and closed my eyes again. I knew that I would recover, but at this point in time, I had no idea of what that might entail to get to that point. This man stayed at my side, gently rubbing my hand until Elder Dickerson returned with the news that a Cambodian woman and her daughter, returning from Phenom Phen to Siem Reap had agreed to take us to the hospital- and she spoke enough English that he could communicate with her. Several men rallied around to help get me out of our car into the back seat of the other car where they laid me down.

The trip to Siem Reap was a daze and made in prayer.... when we finally arrived in Siem Reap at the international hospital I was quickly taken care of and the hospital and staff were well equipped and kind. The branch president and his family were there within the hour- they had driven all the way down to the scene of the accident to insure that things were taken care of properly and then drove back to Siem Reap to be at the hospital. In addition the elders came, and Visna, one of the guards at the church who is also the young men's president in the Siem Rreap branch. When all the x-rays were completed and the doctors' verdict in of whiplash and soft tissue damage, I was given medication and allowed to leave. President Bon Sieck, his family, and Visna took us back to KT. Supal, our housekeeper had also been called about the accident and immediately took a taxi to Siem Reap. Elder Dickerson was able to call her before she got all the way to Siem Reap to arrange to pick her up as well on the way back to KT. As you can see, we were truly surrounded by the true blessings of the brother and sisterhood in the gospel. I was in a neck brace for a week and several days immediately after the accident I spent most of my time either dozing or sleeping due to the effects of the medication. The Khmer people are very involved in taking care of each other, and I truly appreciated Supal who took care of me by letting me recover in privacy, and politely told visitors I was sleeping and not up to having visitors yet.

One of those tender mercies included receiving our first package from home that week following our accident. President and Sister Winger on their return from zone conference in Siem Reap stopped by to check on me and hand delivered our package. The timing was perfect and just what I needed.

We had planned months earlier to travel down to the Gulf of Thailand which Cambodia shares with Thailand in February. Although I still was sore, I felt well enough to travel and so we took our trip to the ocean- my 50th birthday celebration. The coast area is typical of all Cambodia- so much potential and the ever present poverty. We decided to take a boat tour out to two of the many islands which lie along the gulf. The cost of 30 US dollars included for the two of us: breakfast, the boat ride, snorkeling, lunch, and the trip back to the mainland. So February 18th found me enjoying my first snorkeling experience, my first taste of barracuda, and of course, my first trip to the Asian ocean! The water was a beautiful blue color and just the perfect temperature- warm but not so warm that it did not feel refreshing. The snorkeling was a pleasure- once I got a mask to fit my face! I managed to get a fair amount of sea water inside me before I managed to keep it out of me!! Dad was a great help and confidence builder, but in spite of our precautions, we both took back to KT a sunburn as our souvenir.

The last week of February we spent getting the final preperations ready for the move into our new church meeting house in KT on March 1st. We now have a place that will be a wonderful blessing for the growth of the branch in KT- not just in numbers, but internal growth as the branch has, for the first time, facilities to hold RS, Young Woman's, and Young Men's. And did I mention we can walk to church? The building that was finally selected is just down the street from the house we rent, and for the first time in our lives we live close enough to a meeting house that we can walk there- how's that for living in the Cambodian Mission field?

We are in Phenom Phen now, the 3ed of March, for our couple's conference which is held here at the mission home. We now have 8 couples serving in the Cambodia Phenom Phen Mission- 5 of which have assignments coming into the mission: Mission office, LDS Charities, CES, Employment, and the Service Center. There are only 3 of us left as proselyting and leadership missionaries and we all three serve out in the provinces. As you can imagine, we are a tight knit and close group of missionaries! Of the couples serving here, only one is what you would truly consider a "senior couple" in age and they are an inspiration to all of us.

We will be leaving here tomorrow morning for KT where we get right back to work preparing for the open house of our new building which will be held this Saturday for the members and local community. Elder Perkins, our Asia General Authority, and his wife are coming to Cambodia the following week, and they will begin their mission tour in the Siem Reap zone- of which we are a part. So! Monday the 9th, we will be back in Siem Reap to take our elders to the conference and we, with the other senior couple serving in Battenbong, will have the previledge of having dinner with President and Sister Winger and Elder and Sister Perkins Monday evening before the zone conference the next day.

We have several new presidencies in the KT branch and we have a lot of training ahead of us. Our elders assigned to both branches that we serve in are some of the finest in the mission- and they are so helpful and supportive of what we are trying to do. We simply could not do it without them.

By now, you are probably feeling like you have finished a book, but we acknowledge with hearts full of gratitude, the divine mercies of the Lord and the blessings we recieve through your prayers in our behalf. This is His work, His mission, and we are humbled to be a part of this glorious gospel. We love you soooo much! Hugs, Elder and Sister Dickerson ie. Grandpa and Grandma