ktocambodia

Hey there Fam and friends,

This week was pretty rough but all in all it turned out promising. 
So this was actually my first full week in Kampung Cham! It's beautiful out here and the people are so kind.

Everyone is really nice but it's honestly hard to find people who want to learn about and live the gospel. Tuesday however we found a girl who was related to a member and she invited us to come in and teach her the first lesson right then and there. She was so sweet and we were so excited especially at the end of the lesson when she told us she wanted to learn more. You're all probably thinking how does that sound rough? Well  we went back to teach her the second lesson and she had up and moved to another city!!! (apparently that's super common here) and then all of our appointments fell through for the rest of the day as well.  That was pretty much the rest of our week.  Oh we also lost some investigators this week cause they have to work on Sundays and won't come to church. So during the week we mainly taught members, a few recent converts, and  less actives. One lesson with a member went really well! She's an Om (in their 60's) and has been a member for 10 years. She started asking us all these questions about Cane and Able. (interesting side note: the King James version of the Bible is not translated in khmae, they use a different version) Honestly we couldn't answer all of her questions so we asked her if we could teach her about faith and she said sure. Later in conversation she asked us " how come I do everything I am supposed to do and pray for my legs to get better but they're not better? I had the thought come to my mind to share about Job (because she loves the bible so much) I shared with her how we have to have faith in Christ and his Atonement and that we will be rewarded if we endure. That morning I had written down the scripture 2 Nephi 2:2 and I had the thought to pull it out. I shared with her how trials help us grow. To me it seemed the lesson really uplifted her and she agreed with what we shared.  That was a great experience amongst the tougher ones.  Friday we had Zone Conference (which was uplifting) and it was exciting to hear what the mission vision is. It is  "Be a Deliberate Disciple"  We should continually want and work at being converted, being a disciple, and teaching with power. President Christensen talked about how this is a cycle that will help us be true disciples. I look forward to working and focusing on this vision. Sunday, I gave my first talk in church. I think it went well I spoke about not just knowing the gospel but living the gospel. I emphasized reading the Book of Mormon and praying everyday and going to church. The language went well and the members said I spoke clear so that's good. After all of our church meetings we went to visit a less active recent convert. I love her she was so funny and really sweet. She told us she knew she needed to go back to church and that she wanted to. She told us that she would come back and that she want us to teach her children about the gospel as well. Yeah!!! At church some people told us they have some potential referrals for us, so that's exciting (everyone at home, if you can think of anyone who might be slightly interested in the gospel, please be bold and invite them to meet the missionaries). So, all in all the week ended on a good note and I'm excited to go out and teach and help build up the church.
Love you all so much and miss you!
with love, Kendall

Hey Family and friends this week has been full of exploring Cambodia and couch surfing (but really I've been in 4 areas now) let me explain.... WE ARE FREEEEEE! Sister Harris and I finally escaped the hospital on Tuesday (we got there on Saturday!!!) Our schedule for the week was pretty wild though because the doctor said he wanted to do a follow up visit on Thursday and the new missionary orientation was on Friday; it was pointless for us to drive all the way back to our area, soooo we ended up  having a vacay in the city! Our first stop was in Teuk La'ak/ Tuolkork with Sister Loftus and Sister Fields! 

I went on an exchange with Sister Fields and taught about the 10 commandments. I read a few verses in Khmer which I felt really pleased about cause reading is my Achilles heel (btw hope your recovery is going well Uncle John; love you!) it can be so frustrating, but I know I had Heavenly help cause I was reading faster than I normally can. The next morning Sister Harris and I went out to contact in their area. It was actually really fun (most people hate contacting because its typically so ineffective but I loved it). We ran into a few people who you don't typically run into in Cambodia. We first met a lady outside of a shop and she was actually Catholic, we asked her if she lived nearby and she walked us over to her house and told us to come back and teach her more about Christ. We also ran into another lady who spoke really clear English and she said she would attend the English class the missionaries offer (a good place to hear a spiritual thought and set up appointments to teach the lessons). After we talked to a Mom outside of her shop and she started to read the restoration pamphlet which is really uncommon here (most people take it to be polite but never look at it) . Our last contact was a Filipino man who only spoke English. He apparently moves around a lot but loved Cambodia and wanted to come back. We asked him if he was familiar with the missionaries and he said that he was always impressed by the elders and sisters. He told us he wanted the missionaries to come over and teach him the lessons in khmae. We told him they would probably teach him in English so he could understand the lessons and he said that was fine with him and then he gave us his number. We contacted others but the above seemed the most promising. I really enjoyed contacting cause it was good practice for small talk and it was fun to get a better sense of the people of Cambodia. After contacting, we went and grabbed lunch with Sister Fields and Sister Loftus (ate a delicious piece of cheesecake) and headed to the next area in the city, Tuel Tom Pong. We stayed with Sister Spangler and Sister Uresk (the sister training leaders). I went on an exchange with Sister Uresk that night. I got to practice my biking in the city skills aka weaving through cars/ motos while wiping rain out of you eyes. (Its pretty much like the real life version off frogger, both stressful and thrilling haha). We went and taught a lesson to a recent convert who isn't paying tithing. I explained how we have to first have faith and that God would bless us. She explained how she earned so little she was embarrassed to pay her tithing. We shared with her the story of the widow's mite and I related that example to her. I told her she could be strong like the widow and that Heavenly Father would recognize her effort and sacrifice. I felt Heavenly Fathers love her and it was a really spiritually uplifting lesson. She promised she would start paying her tithing, so I'll have to ask Sister Uresk if she followed through. After we headed to the church to teach English class! it was so fun!!!!! Sister Harris and I helped teach the advanced class with Elder cook and Elder Rom.  Sister Harris and I gave a lesson on the importance of relationships and how we need to spend less time on social media (the topic of the night) and more time with individuals and Heavenly Father.

The next day Sister Harris and I visited her old investigators. We first met a lookyiay ( the title for the oldest people in Cambodia) she was so sweet! but I had a really hard time understanding her (especially cause she only had one tooth left) but you could tell she was a really happy person. I have
a lot of respect for her she lived through the khmer rouge lost her husband and yet she looked so content and happy with her life, definitely a blessing of the gospel and the plan of salvation. We then visited with another member in the village. She literally lived in a 6x 12 foot room. Sister Harris sat on the bed with her and I sat on a stool next to her chickens (yes she had free roaming chickens in that tiny room of hers). Not going to lie I was having a hard day with the language in those first two lessons and I felt kind of discouraged, but our third lesson we went a taught a family who are still investigators (eternigators) and I felt like I was able to express everything I felt I needed to in that lesson. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and explained how God asks us to do hard things but always provides a way. I shared my experience about not playing volleyball on Sundays and it turnout to be the perfect lesson because they missed church the last Sunday. I loved teaching that family! They were really engaged in the lesson and their children were so cute. You can tell they really want and need the gospel in their lives.
After teaching we headed back to the apartment and made homemade egg rolls and ate some type of sketchy sandwich... it tasted good haha. Sister Harris and I then headed back to Sister Loftus and Fields house. I went on another exchange with Sister Fields and I was so pumped for the lesson.  We planned on teaching about obedience and following the prophets and I felt like I could lead the lesson (and even teach the whole thing) but of course a wrench was thrown into the plan. 3/4 of the people we were going to teach couldn't make it and Sister fields thought it was best to just read from the Book of Mormon so the one girl wouldn't get ahead of the others.  I'm not even kidding... fear like struck my heart because like READING is a beast. We had a picture book with us and we let the girl pick and picture and we flipped to the correlating verses. She chose a picture of Christ healing the sick. Luckily the girl read phew. The mom (who is a member) and her daughter (investigator) shared what they liked about the scripture. The Mom mentioned how she wish she could have been there and experience this same thing. I testified how we could all have this experience. I explained how we are all spiritually sick and that if we come unto Christ and use his atonement we too can be healed and experience that same miracle. I felt the spirit when testified of Christ and his healing atonement. I was able to convey the message I needed to and words I had learned over the past two months came back to me. It was also a neat experience because it was an answer to a prayer. The day before I was reading "encircled in his gentle arms" an article from President Uchtdorf in the Ensign. I prayed that I would soon have the opportunity to teach and testify about the atonement specifically; Heavenly Father answered my prayer through this lesson. I know that that was the lesson that need to be taught other wise we would've taught the lesson we had planned. Teaching about Christ and his atonement is the most important thing and I'm grateful I have the opportunity to share the good news with the people of Cambodia.
Friday all the missionaries and trainers went to the mission home for orientation. It was so fun to see everyone again! We had some great meetings and good meals. We had the opportunity to share our testimony and the day was great. It was fun to meet new people chat with MTC friends and eat good food (especially the homemade Cambodian curry for dinner, I could go for more right now)
Saturday we travelled back to Kompung C ham and attended a baptism. It was great, a little girl name Julie sang I am a child of God it was so powerful. (she's getting baptized in 2 weeks). I also got to see Muaylee the girl who helped me read some hymns. 
Sunday I went to two branches, and in the second branch we taught primary for 2 hours (that was long, but also fun). I had to introduce myself in branch one. (I have quickly learned the most important phrase I should know is "My ethnicity is Chinese, everyone here thinks I'm either Japanese or Korean, like really only 2 people have guessed right) when I told them I was Chinese from the pulpit they all got really excited and were like "ohhhh" or "really?!" ha-ha the rest of the day we went and visited people who didn't come to church.

This morning we went to the pasaa (market) and man the heavens opened up and it dumped a ton of rain on us. It was so fun!  Okay well that's all I have for this week.
love you all tons 
love Kendall!!!!

So yeah, I sent the email on Monday around 3ish but then I was talking to one of the sisters and she said her mom said that you said you hadn't heard from me since I’ve been here.... So here's what happen in case you didn't get my email... I didn’t email you when I arrived in Cambodia because we had to run to catch our bus to our area (missionaries don’t spend the night in the mission home anymore). I asked Sister Christensen to email you for me (maybe she forgot or it didn't go through.....) and on Monday I didn’t email till late because my companion has been in the hospital and I can’t leave her. Luckily Sister Christensen brought me her laptop. I sent you my weekly email from her email because missionary portal wasn't working (it started working later and that’s when I told you I’d email you again this week). But idk if her email is working. If you didn't get it I can try and send it again from her laptop.... she is really chill so I’m sure she will let me. I AM ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT HERE!!!!! Even though it stinks my companions been sick it gave us the opportunity to tour Cambodia a little. I've taught a lesson now in three different areas! (One area with my comp before the hospital and two after we left the hospital on exchanges) it’s complicated to explain in an email, later. Anyways love you bunches and I was worried you hadn't heard from me love love love you!!! I'm safe and happy!!!
Love, Kendall