What Happens When: The Jungle is No Longer Your Playground
Suisaday!
How's it going?
NEWS TIME:
I'm getting transferred from Kampong Cham Province and I will be headed back to the city to an area called Toul Sangke!
surprise: I'm training a mini-missionary for 2 weeks!
surprise #2: after those 2 weeks, I will be getting an AMERICAN trainee straight from the MTC in P-town.
Surprise #3: We are opening Toul Sangke.. which means starting from scratch since there haven't been sisters there for a long time
So WOW. This next transfer is going to be full of brand new experiences! I'm way excited!
We learned a lot this week at zone training on becoming Preach My Gospel missionaries. I learned a lot about the importance of the spirit and being worthy to preach His gospel. It's such a great manual for not just missionary work, but for personal conversion. The reason PMG came about is because President Hinckley saw a problem: How could a missionary serve and study and preach for 2 years and come home and go less-active. How could that happen? so they changed the missionary program to first get the message the gospel to the missionary to be converted first, who then can take it to the people. It's great! We also arranged a musical number on a piece of lined paper for us sisters to sing. Mix up of the Missionary version of "As Sisters in Zion", "Hie to Kolob" (by request), and "We'll bring the world his truth"... don't ask me how, it was a miracle that it worked out! And elders even cried. Therefore, it was a success. :)
Because I will be leaving this area tomorrow, I'm way sad I won't be there, but Jariyaa is getting baptized on saturday! I'm SO excited and happy for her. I've taught her for the last 5 months and she is more than ready to make covenants with Heavenly Father. I've realized the blessing of gettting to work with her. She is so sweet, though she has literally nothing. She lives under a small covering on the side of the road with her elderly mother. She doesn't have enough herself, but she gives so much to those around her because she truly has charity. We taught a lesson and read about standing as a witness of Christ for our entire lives and the next day she was so excited to tell us "Sister. Yesterday, at the market, I saw that guy that doesn't have legs or any food so I bought him some soup and some water because that is what I promised Jesus I would." The one who has the least lovingly gives the most! She's a great example to me. I'm so excited for her to finally be baptized. She's going to be a great member here in KC!
We started a PMG class here because there are 3 sisters who will soon be leaving on missions and there isn't any sort of mission-prep going on around here so we took matters into our own hands. It's really fun to share experiences and teach about missionaries and review some of the simplest things about being a missionary. My favorite is when we make them role play. These girls are just too funny!
I translated at a Self-Reliance conference for our branches on saturday. There were two very great speakers that helped us learn that self-reliance is not just being rich. I learned that it is "trying the very best you can with your abilities and having full faith in the Lord and doing what He wants you to do". Self-reliance is not doing things alone... just means learning to align yourself with the Lord's will. Really good for the members to hear I think.
Goodbyes get harder and harder every transfer of this mission. This week, some of the finest missionaries Cambodia has ever had will be going back to the homeland and I feel like part of our team is getting taken away! That is one of the pros to having a tiny mission with a very small number of missionaries. We all learn to rely on each other and help each other through the hard stuff and laugh together at everything else. It's the life!!!! We had a final dinner at our land lord's house with all the elders and sisters in KC. We sat on the floor and made what they call "cow climbs the mountain" beef and a pile of veggies in a big pan in front of you...except it was a little different... but it was WAY good. Definitely doing that in the homeland someday!
Alright, gotta go get packed. This week was great and this next transfer is going to get even greater! That's a rap on the KC jungle y'all. Looking forward to mounds of traffic and the "bridge of the devil" in TSK. Adventures!
Love you lots, miss you more, and I hope you read your scriptures!
Love,
Sister Haddock
Saying goodbye to Ming Sovanari (she's a great member here)
"special meat" stand just opened up down our favorite street. YES. (that is sarcasm)
My favorite Om Jan Ton. She says "sup homey" every time she sees me. ALREADY MISS HER.
some kids in our branch taking a nap on cardboard while waiting for their family to come home
Cambodia has the sunrise of all sunrise
Bloody fish gills for dinner anyone?