ktocambodia : November 2016

Week 73 - Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet?

11:18 AM

Yes it's Taylor Swift (my companion loves Taylor Swift)

I told her I didn't like this song till she explained the meaning. (that awkward stage when you need to dtr) and now we literally use it as our catch phrase. (but not for relationships, obviously, just for defining what's going on)

for example:

When we went to visit our sick RC (who has chicken pox) and she hugged us before we could pull away. (she looked so miserable I don't think I could've denied her hug, we just prayed really hard it wouldn't spread) so then the next few days we literally asked each other "are we out of the woods are we in the clear?" are you itchy? no. good.

Also, when your investigator wants to be baptized on Christmas Eve and you have to break it to her that she can't yet... Are we in or out of the woods?

Or when your companion says tropical guide instead of topical guide "are you speaking clear yet?"

okay sorry enough of that!

This week was fun!

Thanksgiving was good we ate with our district for lunch at some buffet place... we ate khmer food... haha it was really good though! (but that night Sister Snooks and I caved to cravings and ordered a turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry sauce on it ) Downside of the week was Bong Hian dropped us... She said it was all just too hard on her family, but we left things on a good note. We did some service at her house before we headed out . I'm really gonna miss her, but maybe now's just not the time.

Sooo, the work here is slow right now but that's okay; Sister Snooks and I have a lot of fun contacting. And our investigator who wants to get baptized just needs to finish the lessons (which is tricky when you have business trips) but she's doing great! I'm really excited for her.

Anyways I'm just really grateful for people and experiences. Spiritual experiences, funny and crazy experiences, and I'm very glad Heavenly Father has blessed me with amazing people to enjoy them with. (both and home and here)

That is all I have for this week!

If you really want a good laugh read Sister Snooks email, it's her story so she gets to share.

Love you all!

Sister Semones

Sister Snooks blog : cambodiansistaa.blogspot.com

Thanksgiving Dinner - Khmer Style with our District

Sister Snooks is so funny!

Two Crazy Sisters!

Zone Thanksgiving FHE with Pumpkin Pie, we love our Sr. Couples, Bro. and Sister Oveson!

I love every minute I get with Sister Schwab!

Caved in to our craving! Turkey Sandwich

Teaching family history to BM in our branch. This is a picture of him when he was younger. He is such a wonderful Branch Missionary.

A new English class flyer, we think is looks like Sister Snooks and Semones!

Pday is twin day!

Week 72 - Really?!

10:23 AM

This week was so good! Busy but good! The night before Sister Winters left we had a lesson with our investigator Bong Amap. She's learned with like 3 sets of sisters, and pretty much told us straight up she was lazy sometimes and wouldn't always keep commitments. So yeah, we would try to meet her every once in awhile to keep her interest but she wasn't fully on our radar. At one point she wasn't progressing at all and we had a lesson about scripture reading and receiving personal revelation that it's true through the spirit. (She told us she just wanted to see God and Jesus Christ) but we gave her the commitment again to read everyday and she accepted. And she actually kept her word, but a week or so went by and it got harder to meet with her and she eventually told us she was too busy to meet aka dropped. So about a week ago I get a call from her on the phone and she says "Sister, Can I get baptized this week?" it was so out of the blue! I explained to her she had to continue meeting with us and that keeping commitments would help her prepare for baptism. She agreed and said that was what she wanted. So in the lesson with her we started reviewing lesson 3 (the gospel of Jesus Christ) with her and for some reason we had the thought to just stop in the middle of one of the points and ask if she was still reading everyday. And she told us YES! I've been reading everyday and I prayed and I got an answer. And in my mind I was like "really?! maybe she had a dream" (common in Cambodia) but then she started explaining and it was amazing. She told us she didn't see God or Christ but she felt something like we had explained; she felt so happy. She said that the night she got her answer she prayed differently than she had before. She was like "it was so weird I felt like a little kid who just goes to their parents and tells them everything. I talked about all the things I've done wrong and how I wanted to change; and I prayed about the Book of Mormon and I had this really happy feeling in my heart. She said it was a different kind of happy than she's ever experienced before. She said before I just thought I was smart and I just wanted to know things/see things, but I know the feeling I felt was real. That's why I called you and told you I want to be baptized. Anyways it was one of those moments you wish you could just replay over and over because it was so amazing! So, She is doing awesome now and is keeping all of her commitments.

Sister Winters is out of the nest now. And she is rockin'it like I knew she would! Now I'm having a blast with Sister Snooks! I'm so excited to serve with her; she's like a long lost friend. Today we went and played lazer tag with some people in our zone, and we ate lunch with a member, so that was way fun. Alright out of time.

But all in all I'm thankful for the Book of Mormon, the restored gospel, personal revelation, wonderful people around me, and of course my sweet family especially my mom. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Love, Sister Semones