Happy New Year.

Dear Family and friends,
We look forward to the year 2013 in which we will continue serving the young adults of the church in Cambodia. With the implementation of the new PEF 2.0 program we will also be creating loans for members over the age of 30 to enable them also to gain skills necessary to better care for their families.

We look forward to the end of 2013 when we will be reunited with you who we miss and love so much. We already anticipate missing friends we have made here.

 Today I was a victim of a thief. Dale and I were walking home from church. We attended the International Branch which meets in our office building. We were almost to the entrance to our apartment. Dale and I were walking side by side. I always walk nearest the curb. Dale was on my left closer to the street. I was carrying my scriptures in my right hand. A guy on a moto came up on my right and snatched my scriptures out of my right hand. I was holding them by the handle. My index finger, middle finger and ring finger are quite sore this evening. I am grateful that I had not packed all the things I usually pack in my scripture bag. It saddens me to think my scriptures, notes and my patriarchal blessing are no doubt in a Cambodian dump somewhere. I pray for a miracle that my scriptures will be thrown in the parking lot of a church building and returned to me. If not then I pray that this theft will turn to good for someone.

This passed week was very busy. Christmas Eve we did a service project cleaning and painting a building connected to an orphanage/school for the Steung Mean Chey dump children. This dump was finally closed. With its closinf many abandoned children who lived in the dump now live in the orphanage. The building we were repairing is to become a trade school where the children can learn how to sew, learn how to repair motos and such things. The buildings like most in Cambodia are pretty run down. The stench from the dump permeates the air, but is not nearly as potent as actually walking among the rubbish.

Dale and I worked on painting one of the tables like the one the young lady in the background is working on. All the workers were missionaries. All missionaries except those in Vietnam were in Phnom Penh for the Holidays.

   




Green, yellow, blue and white were the paint colors we had to work with. These types of project deal with speed instead of perfection. It helps when the air is wretched and everywhere you turn is dirty and fly infested. Speed overrides spills.

Taking a break. 

The school adjacent to the building we were painting. The children came out to see us. We heard lots of children yelling hello. Just before we left we sang Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The children loved it.

This was truly a hands on experience.

There were about 60 of us that served at the school. Other groups were busy assembling school supply kits, and English language packets and cleaning a volley ball field at one of the church buildings. We returned to the North District Building where all of the Christmas activities for the missionaries were to be held. We all were on our own to clean up and change our clothes and eat our lunches. Dale and I ate our usual  PBJ sandwiches. Other missionaries went out to eat. 

After lunch we met together for training. The Mission President and his wife chose to have a "homemade" Christmas dinner. All of the Senior couples worked to prepare the food. We had several slow cookers plugged into the walls to cook the pork roasts. After a couple power outages and a literal cord meltdown of one of the power bars the roasts were cooked.  Keeping jello cold for 120 people when there is only one warm refrigerator was also a challenge. The freezer was packed with ice cream snow balls. It all worked well and I did not hear that anyone got sick from the meal. We had rolls, canned corn, pork roast, baked potato, pasta salad, rice and jello with bananas. Dessert was ice cream snowballs with chocolate or strawberry topping. I do not think most of the missionaries realized the work that some people did to make the snowballs. A tradition in Sister Westover's family is to take ice cream in your hands and form it into snow balls and then roll it in coconut. Our snowball treat was rolled in almonds. I think had the missionaries made their own snowball they would have appreciated the nostalgia more. Instead they saw a dish of ice cream.  Sister Westover wrote home that she got near frost bitten fingers in Cambodia making snow balls. Hmm...

After dinner the missionaries received their packages from home. The Mission President also gave out gifts and the Senior Couples had a gift exchange. We took home some really good chocolates and a tin of Danish butter cookies of which we have consumed it all.

We helped clean up the kitchen and arrived home about 9:00 PM Christmas Eve. We got ready for bed and prepared for Christmas day.

Christmas day started at Lucky Grocery store. We got a ride to the North District building with the Westover's.  President Moon had called them and asked them to pick up more pancake mix and oil for the breakfast meal. We arrived at the church a little after 8:00 AM. Many people had already eaten. We ate scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, pancakes and juice. After breakfast we began our days training and devotionals. It was wonderful to have a Christ centered Christmas from sun up to sun down. 

President Moon  and the Elders cooking pancakes.

Senior Couples at work in the kitchen Christmas morning.

We were introduced to the mission goals for 2013. I lost the write up on what they were. They were in my stolen scriptures. In 2012 we had 600 baptisms in Cambodia and Vietnam. In 2013 we hope to have 720 baptisms. It is good to baptize people into the church. It is also important to help these people remain faithful to their baptismal covenants.There are about  10,000 members in this country. About 2,500 attend church. Too many fall away. Finding the lost sheep is always a priority. These people have received this wonderful gift of the truth in their lives. Circumstances arise which cause them to lose their enthusiasm for it. Being a Christian in a Buddhist family can be difficult. Giving up family traditions is hard. Often school and work keep members from being able to attend their church meetings. Sometimes there is no choice in the matter and at other times schedules could be rearranged. Commitment to the gospel does require life changes. These changes are far easier to make when the newly baptized member has support from those he/she loves. This problem is not unique to Cambodia, but can be witnessed anywhere the gospel has been taught. 

 Lunch for Christmas Day was catered by Viva, a Mexican restaurant. It was an easy cleanup and oh so good. We had burritos of some sort. Pictured above are Elder Henderson, (wife is taking the picture), Sister Yeates, Elder Yeates ( suffering side effects from Dengue fever), Elder Meier, Sister Meier, Sister Johnson and Elder Johnson. Dale was in charge of paying the delivery guy for the meals. President Moon had given him the money. The food arrived an hour late. One of the $100 bills President Moon had given Dale had a small tear in it. The delivery guy would not accept it. Elder Capener just happened to have enough money to exchanged his money for the $100 bill. The Khmer are picky about the money they will accept. If it is torn, wrinkled or too dirty they often will not accept it.

We had a wonderful devotional and testimony meeting to end our Christmas evening. Everyone was on their own for dinner. Some of the Senior Couples went out to the Titanic restaurant. We had eaten so late in the day that all we wanted to do was go home and go to bed. And that is what we did. 

Pictured below are all of the Senior Couples in Cambodia. Several will soon be going home. We will miss them greatly. They are really good people and have helped us so much with the PEF program.

Back: Elder Meier, President Moon, Elder Grimnes, Elder Westover, Elder Tuck, Elder Yeates, Elder Henderson, Elder Shelley, Elder Capener, Elder Johnson.

Front: Sister Meier, Sister Moon, Sister Grimnes, Sister Westover, Sister Tuck, Sister Yeates, Sister Henderson, Sister Shelley, Sister Capener, Sister Johnson.

The morning after Christmas we Skyped home. It was wonderful to speak to all of our children and grandchildren. The family teased me for taking pictures of the computer screen. Hey I thought it would be great for the blog. So here is what we saw.

Kyle's family minus Kyle.( I think he is adjusting the sound.) Elise, Kylise, McKenna, Ethan, Reece.

Jenni's family. Stuart, Rylie, Jenni and Owen.

Jon's family and Jay. Jon, Deidra, Avery and Jay.

Jay at home in Salt Lake.

You might have guessed that these Skype calls were a  highlight of our holiday. I am so grateful to be serving a mission at a time when family is only a few clicks away. 

I don't know if it was just too much excitement for the church computer to handle, but the same day we made our Skype calls home the computer died a horrible death. Unfortunately we had not backed up information since December 12. We had to take the computer to the repair shop. They had the computer for a day. When we got it back Dale spent hours rebuilding it. It is now up and running. Dale asked Sophornn if the couple before us had all these problems with the computer. This is the second time for us that it has completely broke down. Sophornn said that the other couple did not use the computer that much. He said Dale was working it too hard. It isn't used to having to do so much. Sounds like a good reason to me.

So the computer breaks on Wednesday and in the repair shop for a day. Dale brought in his laptop so he could do some work. We spent the days doing end of the month phone contacting. I am discovering many people have changed their numbers. When this happens I turn to Facebook which works sometimes. Once again technology has been a blessing... you just can't work it too hard.

Saturday evening there was a New Year Young Single Adult activity. It began at 5:00pm with a dinner. There was a live band. The activity was held in the parking lot at the North District building. The music was deafening. The movie Avatar was also being shown on a movie screen. It had Khmer captions. The music from the dance was too loud to hear the movie. We mingled with the people for about two hours. The young people really enjoy gathering together. What was interesting is that on the other side of the church gate concession stands were set up with food and balloons. Local vendors tend to gather outside of the church when big events are happening. They hope to lure in some customers. They can also enjoy free entertainment.

Beef Kabobs, buttered roll, pickled veggies and water was the dinner offered. Dale braved the food. I passed. It looked pretty safe.

Eating Beef Kabob away from the outside noise. Plus there was nowhere to sit outside. The mosquitoes were also having dinner... Me!

These young men decided to come inside to eat also. They were headed to eat in the chapel. I directed them to this spot instead. I felt it a better plan.

Some of our PEF students and other Young Single Adults in Phnom Penh. These were some of the first to arrive.

Dancing. You can not see it in this photo, but all dancing is done around a center spot. It is marked by a table with flowers or fruit or other decorations on it.

This week we plan to go to the Zoo. Hopefully we can get a picture of a monkey or two. Until our next blog report have a great week and whatever you do, DO NOT OVER WORK YOUR COMPUTERS!

Angels don't eat Jell-o!

Dear Family and Friends,
For those that are reading this we want to thank you for being interested and faithful in checking in each week. When we came on our mission we thought our Christmas would be low key with minimum stress. This has not been the case. We have been kept very busy during December. These past few days leading up to Christmas have been very full. Because of this it is 9:40 Sunday night and I am just now having an opportunity to write a few thoughts in our blog.

We attended the International Branch for church today. I was asked to say the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting. After the opening hymn I walked forward to give the prayer. As I passed the Chorister's music stand it went crashing to the floor. This was a heavy stand which made a significant sound as it fell. Wouldn't you know today our Mission President was in attendance. His family visiting from the states was also sitting in the congregation. After fumbling with the stand and getting assistance from one of the young Elders to put it upright I proceeded to the podium to give the prayer.

Elder and Sister Henderson the Humanitarian Senior Couple sat beside Dale and I in church today. Sister Henderson had something interesting written in pencil in her hymn book. Next to the title of  hymn number 23  "Angels We Have Heard on High" someone had written,"Angels don't eat Jell-o".  All I could figure out was that perhaps someone thought the words in the chorus sounded like, "Gloo-o-o-o-o-oo-o-o-o-o-oo-o-o-o-o-oria in excelsis Je-ell-o".  I once was told by a choir director to sing "in egg shell-sis Deo. Who would have ever guessed this hymn was about food?

We finally snapped a picture of the Christmas lights outside of the South District building where our office is.

Our church handbook of instructions specifically instructs us not to decorate the outside of our buildings. Do you think anyone will notice? Shh.. The fence and outside trees are a twinkly wonderland too. I imagine when the maintenance crew turns in the bill for the decorations it will be under the category light bulbs.

Dale wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and

I told Santa ...well...its a secret so I can't tell you.

 We wish you happiness as you meet with family and friends this week. As you enjoy all the fun activities this season brings be sure to also remember the reason for the season. Along with your Christmas presents may you also feel His presence.

We love you.

May God heal the USA.

Dear Family and Friends,
 Senior Missionaries are allowed to keep up with current events. We are aware of the horrific events that occurred in Portland and in Connecticut. We weep with our nation and the families that are trying to cope. I fear that people will blame God  for allowing these acts of violence and murder to happen. He is not to blame. Instead of blaming Him we need to turn to Him for comfort and hope. He sent His son Jesus Christ to this earth because of  the evil that is here. His Son did the will of His Father. God's plan is one of happiness for each us. This plan required an infinite sacrifice.  The Savior took upon Himself all of our sins and sorrows in the Garden of Gethsemane. He experienced a horrible death on the cross. Because of the divine within Him he was able to resurrect Himself.  These acts of selfless love and sacrifice prepared the way for each of us to overcome death and be forgiven of our sins. God is good. He is love. He stands at the door and knocks. I pray we each will draw closer to God and to our Savior. Let us each strive to have the Light of Christ shine brightly in our lives. Light will overcome darkness. May God heal the USA.

We are seeing Christmas decorations everywhere throughout Phnom Penh. The people love twinkle lights and glitter. Christmas lights are seen year round, but the addition of the Christmas tree turns our thoughts to something more than just bling.

Our church Christmas concert was Saturday. Friday evening we had one last practice. We left our office early to be able to help. Elder and Sister James offered us a ride. We arrived at the church building at about 4:30. We finished rehearsal about 9:00. No one had eaten dinner. We had never been to "the famous" Mike's Burgers. We decided to stop there before going home. The burgers were good but not the best food choice at 9:00 pm. Dale had a rough night because of it. The following morning we had to be at the church by 6:15 for our Institute class.


 Dale taught an excellent lesson. At 9:00 am we attended a teacher training meeting. At the conclusion we were offered a Khmer lunch provided by a local restaurant. We had chicken legs (not feet), rice,pork soup, marinated carrots, cucumber,and onion. After lunch we finished a few items of  business in our office and walked home. Dale took advantage of some down time to rest while I did a couple loads of laundry.  We got dressed for the concert and rode in a tuk tuk to the church.

The Christmas Concert was wonderful. The guards at the gate counted 1,100 people in attendance.

Making sure that everyone was dressed and where they were suppose to be for the Nativity was our responsibility.
Let me share some of the "behind the scenes" glitches we faced.
1. Everyone was told to wear white under their costumes.
a.) Mary came in an orange dress with a black insert at the bodice and forgot her sandals.
    Her costume had enough layers that the orange dress was OK. I searched the shoes of the choir members to find sandals for Mary.  Sister Capener sacrificed her shoes for our cause.
b.) One of the angels showed up in black, one showed up in brown polka dots and one showed up in a floral print blouse.
   We searched among our group for lighter colored tops for each of the angels. The main angels fabric was very sheer. One of the girls brought a light colored camisole.  The main angel wore the camisole. It could be seen through the costume fabric. The back was questionable but the front was OK. Fortunately the angels never turned their backs to the audience.
   The angels asked if angels wear earrings. I told them no they don't. They accepted my answer.
c.) One of the shepherds wore sneakers. I  hoped Sister James wouldn't notice. He was suppose to bring sandals.
d.) Our African King took a picture of the script with his Samsung Galaxy Seven.
  Dale was in charge of getting the kings down the aisle on time. As he sent them on their way he noticed a glow on the African kings face. Our king was reading the script from his Samsung that he had cleverly placed  inside the gift he was to present to the baby Jesus.

I was a bit panicked when I discovered that the position of the Nativity riser had been changed. When I had made the discovery the room was filling with people. People were sitting where the shepherds and kings were suppose to be. I had to do some quick shuffling.

The photographers were getting in the way too.  I had to tell one photographer he needed to move because in about 30 seconds the shepherds would be kneeling where he was kneeling.

Overall the program went well. The second to the last song the audience was invited to sing Jingle Bells. The  room burst into song. The people were clapping and having a wonderful time. The program ended with everyone singing Silent Night.

Our final responsibility of the evening was to gather the Nativity people together and make sure all costumes were returned. Clean up went quickly. Elder and Sister James provided us a ride  home.

Pictured are choirs from each of the church branches in the area.

                 Practice night photo.

Setting up the manger area. 

An artist from TaKhmau Branch offered this painting to be used at the concert. It was placed in the foyer.

Earlier this week we ate dinner at MaMa's New York Deli. This is MaMa and her grandson. 

Sophea Hun recently graduated from Build Bright University in Business Management. She owns a rice business.

Thursday and Friday we held a Career Workshop. Sister Johnson and Sister Brunelle are pictured here with Elder Meier. Elder Thomas and Elder Wright were also scheduled to take this course. They attended the Thursday morning session.  Elder Thomas had debit card problems that  he needed to resolve before he flew home the following evening.  He and Elder Wright were not in attendance for the afternoon session. Elder Thomas had never used his debit card while serving his mission. He needed cash for his trip home. When he inserted his card into the ATM machine it ate it!  Thursday afternoon was when the bank would allow him to retrieve his card. His card was returned to him. When he put his card into the ATM it was confiscated again.  Friday morning was his last chance to retrieve it. As a result the Elders did not complete the work shop. Sister Brunelle is ill and was returning home after 10 months of  service. She visited several doctors in Cambodia but none could help her. It was determined she should return to the states to receive medical help. It was a pleasure to meet and work with Sister Johnson and Sister Brunelle.

After church today we were invited to Elder and Sister Westovers home to make cut out sugar cookies with one of the Vietnamese branches. Pictured here is Sophy Lam. Her home was burnt down when she could not pay bribe money to the firemen. She has a positive outlook on life. She is one of the first PEF students we met when we arrived in Cambodia.

 Christmas music was playing as we worked on cookies. The aroma of fresh baked cookies filled the air. I was reminded of Christmas traditions at home. Happiness is good memories...

The packages are piling up at the mission home. Some packages are big and some small but all are filled with love from home. 

Life is fragile. May we each count our blessings and cherish every moment we have together. 

The first week of December.

Family and friends we have been pleasantly surprised to see Christmas represented in Cambodia. We expected very little since it is predominantly Buddhist. We have seen many decorations in the store windows and throughout the town. There are far more Christmas trees on display than I had imagined there would be here. 

Let me give you a account of what has been happening this week for us.

 Monday we went to Elder and Sister Tuck's home in Ta Khmau  for Family Home Evening. They were wonderful hosts. We had a traditional Christmas dinner with turkey, potatoes and gravy, green beans, rolls, jello, gingerbread cookies and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. There was plenty to eat and it was all delicious.

Sister Tuck is a Master  Gardener, sang in the Tabernacle Choir for many years, is an avid bird watcher and is knowledgeable in many areas. If she doesn't know how to do something she finds out  how and then does it. Elder Tuck is equally talented, although he never sang in the Tabernacle Choir.  I have stood by him when he sings. He has a beautiful voice. Elder and Sister Tuck are truly a great team. Sister Tuck thought ahead prior to coming to Cambodia. She packed red hot candy hearts from the USA knowing that she wanted to make gingerbread cookies at Christmas time. Elder Tuck purchased metal in Cambodia to make ginger bread cookie cutters for Sister Tuck. 

Part of our Family Home evening entertainment at their home was playing chimes. Elder Tuck searched on line to find directions to make chimes made out of pipe. Cambodian pipe is a different diameter than pipe in the states. The chimes Elder Tuck made were a bit different than the online pattern. Nevertheless he made chimes. Sister Tuck gave us each a chime and on her cue we tapped our chime with a stick dowel. Our job was to "name that tune".We played several Christmas Carols.  We actually recognized them.

Elder Tuck read several verses from the scriptures concerning the Savior's birth. We were each given a little yellow sack with Christmas symbols in it.

As you can see our bag contained an ointment, a flashlight, chocolate gold foiled money and the message in a scroll. We all appreciated the service the Tucks did for us. 

Sister James and Sister Rhyne helping to put the rolls and cranberry sauce on the table and fill our glasses with ice and water.

Sister Tuck is at the left of this picture. Sister James and Elder James and Sister Rhyne are on the right.

Elder Meier and Elder Capener and Sister Capener and Sister Henderson (in Santa Hat) waiting to sit down. Elder and Sister Capener are the Senior couple I wrote about who served the first 12 months of their mission in India. They will finish their mission in Cambodia. We are really blessed to have them in our area. They have lots to offer. They are eager to get to work.

Tuesday we worked in our office all day.  In the morning we had a Church Education Meeting where we discussed how the Institute and Seminary programs are doing in Cambodia. There needs to be more parental support to the Seminary program for the youth ages 14-17. In some areas the students are so spread out geographically that it makes it difficult for them to attend classes. Often students simply don't want to take the time to attend classes. Institute is another challenge. Institute are religious classes for Young Single Adults ages 18-30. For many it takes sacrifice to attend class. Most of these young people serve in three major church callings, have jobs that they work about 35- 40 hours a week at and also attend school. Some are able to balance their schedules and others have great difficulty attending institute. We offer an early  morning class each Saturday. The majority of our students seem to be able to attend at that time. I admire these young people who get up early to attend a 6:30am morning class.

Tuesday afternoon we held our Perpetual Education Committee meeting. Dale reviewed the new policies with the committee and we discussed what might be the best way to orient the leadership of the church in Cambodia to the changes. We presented several new names of students applying for loans. Some were put on hold because at the present time they are not living up to their promises.

Wednesday morning Dale and I arrived at our office early. Our names were drawn from a pool of Senior Couples to be interviewed by Salt Lake for feedback on our experiences in preparation for our mission. We interviewed for about an hour. We were completely honest, hoping that what we had to say would make the missionary program for future Senior Couples better. Hopefully the other Senior Couples interviewed also offered honest feedback. This survey will only be as good as the honesty of its participants.

Thursday should have been a routine day at work, but it was my turn to teach institute on Saturday and we were also asked to give talks in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. Instead of spending time doing phone calling I spent the day preparing for my talk. We also had a few students visit us at the office.

Friday was a repeat of Thursday.

Saturday morning we taught our institute class at 6:30am. We worked in the office until 10:15 and then went to the mission home to speak with the district leaders from all of Cambodia and Vietnam about the changes in the PEF program. The district leader from Vietnam would like to have PEF offered to his members but unfortunately his country at the present time will not allow us to do business there.  As Dale and Sameth introduced the changes, several questions were asked. We hope the leaders will be able to help us help the PEF applicants prepare better in selecting their fields of study. We had one student this week come to our office who has changed her major twice and also her school choice. This is after she has already received approval and the money is available for her. We attribute this to poor counseling with her prior to coming for a loan. She is one of several students with similar stories. When young people come to us unclear on what they want to pursue for employment they get discouraged and withdraw from school. The student then has debt and no work skills. Not a good situation and definitely not the purpose of the PEF program.

 Saturday one of our PEF applicants came to see us. He has received a Bachelor Degree to be a teacher. He paid for his education himself. He has requested a PEF loan to pursue a Masters degree. He wants to attend school in Phnom Penh.  He is studying to be a University teacher. His education in Battambang limits his job choice to Battambang. Receiving his Master degree from Phnom Penh opens the doors for him to be able to be hired at any University in Cambodia.

We had a conversation with him concerning the opportunity for scholarships in this country. He said that scholarships are only offered to graduating high school students. The scholarships are often given to a student who has connections with someone in higher authority. Grades and accomplishments are not necessarily a factor in receiving a scholarship. Scholarships are often offered as a way to fill desks at less desirable schools to create the appearance that the institute offers a good education by it having a large enrollment. A good education from these institutions is not necessarily the end result. Unsuspecting students that can pay tuition without loans and scholarships apply to these institutions believing they will get a good education. They see that the school has many students attending. Unfortunately the seats are filled with students that without connections would not be able to make it into a college. The scholarships are given for the soul purpose of making the school look popular. This leads to graduates that can not pass the tests necessary to get the good jobs. These institutions give the appearance of offering quality education but don't.  

The above article is not related to the corruption in the schools here.  Dale and I got a chuckle out of the wording to the title of this article. It reads as if corruption is something to be proud of..hmm

Sunday we spoke in Sacrament meeting. Being the Christmas season allowed us great topics to speak on. I was asked to speak about Christmas traditions that bring us closer to our Savior. Dale spoke on the importance of both giving and receiving. There was a good feeling as we attended church today. We spoke at the International Branch. It was enjoyable to be among people that speak English.

Sunday evening we helped with the practices in preparation for the Christmas Concert that will take place next week. All of the church branches in Phnom Penh will participate in this event. It is open to the community. We hope it will be well attended and have a good response from those that attend. Tonight we worked with the people that will represent the Nativity.

The concert will be performed in the cultural hall at the North District Center. It will be done on a stage. Hopefully next week we will have pictures to share and good things to report. The members have never done anything like this on such a large scale before. They have been working very hard to deliver a wonderful evening to honor our Savior and let their community know what we believe and who we represent.

 Our Prophet President Monson counseled, "Christmas is what we make of it. We can ensure that Christ is the focus of our celebration. We can establish our own traditions to capture the spirit of Christmas.

May you have a wonderful week filled with happiness.

Family and friends can you believe it is December? 

 December 2011 we were sitting at home contemplating what we would be doing in Cambodia. This past week has been slow at the office because of the Khmer holidays. It was Water Festival , but in the city there were no celebrations because everyone is mourning the death of their king. I believe he will be cremated sometime in February. Apparently celebrations did take place in the Provinces outside of the city. I wish we could have seen the activities. There are usually boat races on the river. The city was fairly quiet. 

Our office was open all week as usual. We had a little success talking with hard to contact students. The trick was to use Dale's phone which is not in their caller ID listing.  I was able to make contact with two students that I haven't spoken with in several months. That was my high for the day. Some students who have not paid their loan in months and years avoid us. We never pressure anyone concerning their loans. The students put pressure on themselves.  When they do answer our call they  instantly begin apologizing. The one sided conversation usually goes like this. "I'm am sorry I do not pay the loan. I'm sorry I don't go to the church. I am very busy. I still love the God and the church. Someday when I make lots of money I will come back and pay all the money's back so somebody else can have the blessings too. I give my money to family." I usually tell them we just want to know how they are doing and that we appreciate the payments they make when they can. Heavenly Father will be happy when they return to church.

Tuesday morning was the routine computer work and phone contacting. In the late afternoon we traveled to three different areas to inspect missionary homes.We hoped the trip would be quick with all homes in order, "spic and span" and ready to be deemed livable. Our tuk tuk ride was extremely dusty. We took precautions.

Best smiles ever!!

We arrived at our first check point in Kean Svaay earlier than scheduled. The refrigerators had not been cleaned yet. Refrigerators are always scary. We said we would check out the rest of the house while a couple of Elders worked on the refrigerators. Almost an hour later their place was much better. We gave them the go ahead to attend "Sports Day". I was insistent that they clean most areas before we left. We did leave with a few areas still needing work. We left with the promise by the Elders, "On our honor we will complete the jobs before tomorrow". An area under their stairs and back in a corner was missed. To tackle it at this point would mean all of the work that they had already accomplished would be trashed. I didn't say much about it except it looked like a lot of work. Cambodia dusty build up at its best.

Traveling towards the Killing Fields we arrived at our next destination, Steung Mean Chey. Even with the wait time in Kean Svay we arrived early for our second inspection. We miscalculated our travel time to these areas. Travel time like anywhere, depends on the day, time of day and how heavy traffic is. When we arrived at the apartment we sensed that the missionaries were not happy. Apparently there had been a Zone Leader meeting. This left two Elders at home to do the work of four. The Zone leaders had been told to work extra hard with their cleaning efforts on the previous preparation day. The reasoning was so that those left to do the work on deep clean day would not feel "life is not fair".  We are not sure what happened but  there was tension in the air. We went easy with our inspection critique. We committed the group to the "On our honor we promise to keep working after you leave". If anyone needed "Sports Day" it was these guys  They needed it to let off steam. The apartment was not as deep cleaned as it should have been but no one will die this week from some dreaded disease because of a filthy apartment. Any cleaning is better than no cleaning.

Our final stop was the Office Elders and Assistants to the President home. They live within walking distance of our home. For the most part their place is always orderly.  About 3:00 we received a phone call from them requesting us to inspect their apartment on another day. I told them only if they got permission from President Moon. They had been in training meetings all day and only had a couple hours to clean before we were to arrive. Apparently President Moon told them to do the best they could and that we were to do an inspection. They had about three hours to clean. Because they are rarely home three hours was plenty of time for them to complete the assignment.  Theirs was the only apartment that had washed their bathroom mirrors. At one of the apartments the excuse was that they had no Windex. I told them a rag and water would do. The reply, "Really?"  My reply,"Yes, really."

Wednesday Dale was sick. It was not his asthma. His digestive track was turned upside down. I walked to work by myself and Dale stayed in bed. I had an appointment to teach Sovanmony, one of our institute students, this weeks lesson. One of us also needed to be at the office because we had told our PEF students we would be available during the holidays. It was quiet until 3:00. At about noon I left the office to go to the  ladies room.The hall was pitch black. Apparently the janitor not realizing I was in the office switched off the lights. If anyone had come to see me they no doubt saw a dark hallway and figured the office was closed.

Sovanmony, who came for her lesson, knows enough English and enough about the gospel that we were able to have a meaningful hour of gospel study together. She reads her New Testament in Khmer and I read the same in English. We discuss what we have read. It is interesting how concepts and teachings are translated. For example when the scriptures talk about the will of the Lord. Sovanmony said that her bible talks about doing what Jesus's heart would have us do. The same message. In church today I was surprised when the teacher spoke of hiding your light under a bucket...I don't know if she meant bushel or if  the Khmer are not to hide their lights under buckets instead of bushel. I do see lots of buckets here and I do not recall seeing any bushels. I do know when the scriptures talk about the Lord providing food for His children the Khmer translation is rice. The examples may be different but the message is the same. Heavenly Father provides for His children and He wants His children to set a good example for the world and share the truths they know with others.

Sovannomy and I finished our lesson about 4:15. I closed the office and proceeded to walk home. When I got to the busiest intersection of my walk I was waiting to cross the street. A tuk tuk driver beckoned me to stand beside his tuk tuk and walk along side him. I did so and was able to cross the street safely. I said thank you in Khmer and he chuckled. The rest of my walk was pretty uneventful. A few people asked me where Dale was. In "cave man" Khmer I said he was not feeling well.

Dale was doing better when I arrived home. He said that he slept until about 10:00. He showered a couple hours later. He really hadn't eaten much. I made some chicken soup. That seemed to help. Later that evening  his laptop started acting up. He ended up staying up half the night trouble shooting. He finally gave up and went to bed for a few hours.

 Thursday morning we walked to work together as usual. Another slow day but, I was able to speak with one student and did email messages to some. Whether we will get any email replies is yet to be known. We were looking forward to Friday. The office staff would be back to work. We were hoping to have calls made to our non English speaking students.We got a call letting us know that the Khmer staff would not be back to work until Monday. There will be no non English speaking student contacts for November...this is F.R.U.S.T.R.A.T.I.N.G!!!

Friday was another quiet day. We had two students visit the office. Dale sent text messages to some of the non English students. They don't speak enough English to have a meaningful conversation with us but they are able to read simple text messages. We prepared for institute for Saturday morning.

Saturday started with Institute class at 6:30 in the morning. We had a good turn out of students. Dale taught the lesson. He always does a good job. The students enjoy his personal stories and he is good at explaining concepts. After class we met with Mok Sarorng who needed money for her next term. She still has money available. We created a payment requisition for her and verified she was keeping her promises which are to be current on her loan payments, be active in church, have 75% institute attendance and keep in contact with us every 90 days. She qualified. She is a wonderful person. She served a mission in Cambodia and now her sister is also serving a mission in Cambodia.

Saturday evening we met with the other Senior couples in Phnom Penh for a welcome dinner for Elder and Sister Capener. We ate at the Khmer Surin. The Capener's transferred from India to Cambodia. They will complete their mission in July. There has been problems renewing visas in India. Apparently the Capener's are not the only missionaries to have this problem. There are concerns that some of the young missionaries in India will  also be transferred somewhere else. The Capener's served as Member Leader Support and will continue this assignment here.  They were assigned to the Kean Svay Branch. We will no longer travel that dusty trip. We will miss the members but are happy they can have Senior Missionary support. This will be a real blessing to them in locating members that have become less active and helping them understand the programs of the church. This is the Capener's second mission. They also served as country Humanitarian Directors in Russia. They said it was a difficult mission, but one they loved. Sister Capener said that about six weeks home from their mission in Russia they were wanting to serve again. Three years later they began their second mission. It is wonderful that they are helping here in Cambodia. We were talking about what to expect here and Sister Capener said that Cambodia is much cleaner than India. I thought to myself, that it is incredible that it could be worse. I do not doubt it.  I just am amazed.

Today we visited Tuol Tom Pong Branch. It was a good day. We actually had someone sit with us to translate in all our meetings. Samnang, one of our institute students asked me if I would like him to translate for me in Relief Society. I said sure.There were no women available to help me.The sisters in the room were upset because they thought it not proper for me to have a male translator in Relief Society. I told them it was OK. The teacher who speaks a little English told Samnang that it wasn't necessary for me to have a translator because I could understand pretty well. I said ,"not really". When I can read the lesson in English I can sort of figure what the class discussion is. Today the lesson was from the Liahona Magazine. I did not have a copy. It was good to have a translator.

Tomorrow evening we will be meeting with the Senior Couples at Elder and Sister Tuck's home for a Family Home Evening Christmas dinner. They live in a Villa. We have been there once before. I put pictures of their home in a previous blog. They want to move to a smaller home and wanted to do one last big group entertaining in their home before they move on. We were told to come hungry. Looking forward to the feast.

We didn't take too many pictures this week. We have seen a few decorated Christmas trees in some of the businesses. The Lucky Grocery store is selling candy canes. I think we will have a low key Christmas when it comes to the glitz this year. We will keep it simple. Alleluia!

 As we walked home from work we looked up and there was the moon. The moon is the moon is the moon wherever we are in the world.

Yard decorations. We are considering shipping an elephant home for our front yard. What do you think the neighbors will say?

Just a few things that need to be transported across town. Are you sure there is no room for the mattress and box spring? I see an air pocket.

Until next week . "Speak no evil".

The last blog for November.

Family and Friends,
We hope everyone got their fill of all the wonderful tastes of  Thanksgiving. We were blessed to be able to speak with each of our children and their families. We spent Thanksgiving morning walking to the grocery store and home again. We left our apartment early in the morning to beat the heat. Reality is that once the sun is up, beating the heat is nearly impossible. We returned home about 11:00 sweat drenched and happy to be blessed with air conditioning. We stayed home the remainder of the day emerging from our cool apartment as the sun was setting. Our mission was to eat our Thanksgiving feast at Brown's Restaurant a few blocks from our home. We had heard from other people that they had good muffins and deli sandwiches. We had ham sandwiches and split a pumpkin muffin. If you dissect our sandwiches, our Thanksgiving feast becomes ham, salad or relish plate, roll, ice water and pumpkin muffin for dessert. It was yummy and I did not have to cook nor do dishes.That has not happened in decades!! I do look forward to next Thanksgiving when tradition will prevail.

To purchase a 16 pound frozen turkey in Cambodia costs about $75. We heard that you can purchase live turkeys in the country. A 20 pound live turkey costs about $20 plus the mess and trauma executing Tom turkey involves. We were very content with our $3 deli feast.

Two of our PEF students who visited our office this week told us of a tragedy which occurred in the Kean Svay area. It happened near the young Elder's home. Weddings in Cambodia are celebrated on the streets. A fancy canopy is set up and the area under the canopy becomes a dining area, stage and dance floor. We were told that while a wedding celebration was in full swing a Lexus driver cut off a truck which caused a collision of Lexus, truck and wedding guests. Several guests were injured. One was transported to Vietnam where medical care is better. In Cambodia "an eye for an eye" is administered quickly. The guests at the wedding took the 22 year old truck driver and beat him to a pulp. The Lexus driver thought he could  push his wealth around and declared he was an important person. The wedding guests did not think he was that important and beat him to a pulp also. I am so glad we do not have car owner responsibilities and risks while here in Cambodia. We do just fine walking and using tuk tuks.

We are learning that Senior Couple missions can change at any time. Fortunately we seem to be safe, but there is a Senior Couple due to arrive in Cambodia on November 30. It is Elder and Sister Capener from Pleasant View, Utah. They have served a year in India New Deli. They were unable to renew their visas and so will complete their mission here. Pretty crazy! We are not sure where in Cambodia they will serve but we will learn where soon enough.

Saturday we interviewed with President Moon concerning how to train the leaders in Cambodia on the new PEF policies. We will be on the agenda for their December 8th training meeting. Hopefully we will be able to communicate well with these people to allow smooth transitions to occur.

This week is water festival days, but there are not to be celebrations due to the country being in mourning over the death of their king. It isn't stopping anyone from taking the days off though. I imagine there will be small celebrations taking place under a different "title". The mission has planned a sports day for the young missionaries in Phnom Penh. We will be doing lots of traveling this Tuesday to inspect their homes. We need to be very strict with them. These are cautionary measures to keep these young people healthy. Too many are getting sick...and their sickness could have been prevented if they were handling food properly and cleaning their eating areas, etc. better. We hope they take this inspection seriously. We were told not to leave their places until they pass inspection. Time to put on the white gloves...this is Cambodia ...beige will do.

Today we visited Kean Svay Branch. One of our PEF students was trying to help me speak Khmer correctly. It amazes me how the sounds I hear are not the sounds I am supposed to make. I know lots of words but I do not pronounce them correctly. Talk about frustrating. Chev Vibol was trying to help me soften my sound on certain words. Not so easy to do. I spoke to another PEF student about how hard it is for me to speak their language. People don't understand what I say. He told me that Cambodians from the city often can not understand Cambodians from the country. I guess it is like that good old Southern drawl that can be so difficult to understand if you are from the Northwest. Why did those stupid people build the Tower of Babel anyway? Life would be so much easier if our languages had not been confounded. Then I consider what a grand job we are doing with massacring our English language without God's  help.

 Dale was able to take some fun pictures this week. Hope you enjoy this visual record of life in our neighborhood this past week.

 As we were enjoying our Thanksgiving walk Dale looked up and decided to take this shot. Very tall buildings are being constructed all over the city. People that have moved away  from Phnom Penh for any length of time will probably not recognize their city. It has been slowly evolving and now its evolution is becoming more visible.

While shopping at the Lucky Market Dale decided to snap a few pictures of food choices we did not buy.

We don't eat food that needs a manicure. About three weeks ago we had an opportunity to have chicken feet for lunch. It was the main entree for the luncheon at our Church Education training meeting. We declined and ate PBJ sandwiches instead. The Khmer love to gnaw on these. One young man said chicken feet are good but he likes chicken butt better. Yum! I know that there are people in the states that enjoy these parts of the chicken too. Dale and I have not been hungry enough yet.

The other evening we heard all kinds of commotion and so looked out our apartment window. There was a large crowd of people congregated at the  "IN and OUT" store. I first thought someone had been injured but as we looked closer we could see that a movie was being produced. Dale got the camera and  took a few shots.

This lady is yelling,"Get Up! Get Up!" and there is a guy lying on the sidewalk. At one point the lady stands up and she has a gun in her hand.

A Classic movie being born. Where do I buy my ticket?

ACTION PACKED

Take Two!

And to think this is all going on right outside our apartment window. The next night they were filming at the restaurant across the street. Can't get more exciting than this. 

Pink tuk tuk belongs to the movie crew.

Saturday we walked back to work from the Mission Home. This shrine is near a big turn around area. I believe this is the king that recently died. Notice the black and white tassels.

This is a grassy strip just behind the shrine. Grassy areas are so rare that this was a pleasure to see. 

Banana Man. We see him all the time, however,we usually don't see him on our block. Yesterday he was a few feet from our apartment. He asked if we would like to buy some bananas. I had to say I was sorry I already bought some. We had just come from the little community store we like and had bought some little bananas. They were in a clear bag I was holding so I showed him. He laughed and was thrilled to get his picture taken. In the background of this picture you can see our construction worker friends that we so often mention.

Can you believe that this is the end of another month in Cambodia?  The next time we blog it will be December...Fa La La La La La La La La.

Saturday as we were walking I looked up and saw this sign and asked Dale to take a picture. This is a  common phrase for the people here to say in addition to saying good bye. So until next week good bye and...