Three hundred and thirty one ground hog days to go!

Family and friends,
These blog entries come quickly. This entry will be short. We had our usual frustrations and also some blessings.

If you recall last week I blogged about a man who set up his air compressor shop on the sidewalk. He was gone the other day when we walked by so Dale snapped a shot of his place. His hammock is missing and he has some additional furniture.

His hammock usually hangs between the post behind the umbrella and the fence.

This is the lot on the other side of the fence by his spot. The wall with all the trees along it seems to be the public restroom for this area. There is usually at least one guy using it when we walk by.

A new store is going in on the other side of the wall which we are excited to have open. It is on our route  to and from work. It will be nice to have another shopping option close to home. We also noticed that there will be a "Mall" opening near us in January.

This guy also has an air compressor shop. His has been here ever since we arrived in Phnom Penh. This is also his home. He resides about three blocks from the new shop seen in photos above.

He has a good business. People are always pulling up with their motos, carts, bicycles, or tuk tuks to have their tires pumped or repaired. Dale purchased a tire stem from this guy when he was fixing up his bicycle.

 If you recall, we gave the bike to a PEF student so he could go to school. We have learned not to give things to people anymore. This student is really behind on his loan, has quit school, had another "hair brained" plan to learn Korean to get a job in Korea. He borrowed money from a friend to go to this language training school. He has now quit that school and has moved to Siem Reap to live off of friends if they will have pity on him. He "just can't find a job". The problem is he can't find a job that doesn't require him to work. He has a sob story to tell and uses it on compassionate Senior Couples. We know he didn't take his bike with him to Siem Reap. He probably sold it for rice or a bus ticket.

This is a common sight on our walk to and from work and as we walk the streets of the city. This lady has everything she needs to prepare and serve meals. Her eating utensils are stacked in the basket behind her and in the basket up front is a little cook stove with fuel and her rice, herbs and all that is necessary for food preparation. The other day she had set up shop by the tuk tuk drivers. Apparently they chose to have their supper prepared by her. As you can imagine sanitation is not taken into consideration.

We often observe the smaller restaurants washing and chopping food directly on the ground.To keep the area clean they do lots of sweeping and hosing of the ground...that's comforting. Makes me more anxious to have dinner there.

We see lots of mats or tables set up to dry fish and other foods. Of course this is near the dust and exhaust of traffic passing by. It is especially appealing when it is directly on the ground. Our PEF students have said that people in Cambodia have lots of problems with their stomachs, etc. I can't figure out why.

As we were walking home these guys were getting ready to "nam baay"..."eat rice". They are a construction crew that have been working on a building about two buildings down from our apartment. As we walked by we saw a fire going with their black pot on top. We stopped and Dale took their picture. Everyone is always so willing to have their photo taken. I imagine these guys live on site until their job is completed and then they move on to another project and another home. Once again, "God Bless America". Please kiss the ground at home for us. I am sure it is amazingly sterile compared to here.

We did our shopping last night and I got the laundry done. I do not know if my clothes are going to hold up this entire mission. They will not be rags, but the colors are faded. At least white shirts don't fade...they do turn yellow. I have not yet found a tailor to have clothes made. Most of the people that have had things made have used members in their branches and are the Member Leader Support missionaries. We just don't get to know the members as well. I was really excited that a new tailor shop was opening up in our neighborhood but it looks like it specializes in evening gowns. I just need a couple of blouses and skirts. Ready made clothes are smaller than my size and made with transparent fabric.

The biggest blessing this week was a visit from a couple of our PEF students. Both of them female. Both requested a blessing from Dale. Both are successful in their jobs and school. One of them had just left her job and was in transition. She called us last night and told us she will begin a very good job this coming Monday. She was very happy about this. Her story of family abuse is sad. She is really a sharp woman. Family concerns and feelings of guilt haunt her. She feels an incredible responsibility to help her mother financially. Her mother plays on her daughters good heart and requires her to support her abusive, lazy son. The son is the oldest in the family. He is in his early 30's. He does not work. He steals and lies. He is in the process of getting a divorce. He has a daughter that he expects his sister to support and raise. His ex-wife to be is his equivalent in character. They were probably too much alike to be happy together. The father in this story is also abusive and left the family years ago. This family has been very wealthy, then poor and now the mother and brother and niece live a comfortable life because of our PEF student. She is the signer for the home everyone lives in. We gave some counsel. It is easier said than done. There is a cycle that needs to be broken. It will take courage to act upon the counsel she was given.

We attended the International Branch again this week. It was a fifth Sunday. We pay our fast offering to Tuol Tom Pong so we like to attend that branch on Fast Sundays. We will attend there next week. Sacrament meeting was really good today. Elder Nelson whom some of you may know from a documentary shown on the BYU channel spoke. The documentary follows him and his brother from young boys through their missions. Elder Nelson spoke on the importance of the family. He spoke about our family on earth and our family as children of god. He shared a poem that was used in a past conference talk. The message is powerful and draw homes the importance of seeking the one.

’Twas a sheep not a lamb
That strayed away in the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong:
They lead the lambs astray.
Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong,
It won’t take long till the lambs are as wrong as they.
And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when the sheep are lost
What a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay.6

Tonight we had a PEF fireside. It was the second one we held this year in Phnom Penh. It was a bit disheartening in that this program is under the direction of the Priesthood and no one was represented tonight. Dale and I and the institute director were the only leadership in attendance. The institute director did all the speaking since it was all in Khmer. We had about 25 in attendance. Our attendance should have been better. We found out that some of the branches didn't announce it. This was a second chance fireside. The Provinces do much better in getting people to come. Why the students that already have loans came I do not know. We hold these firesides to introduce the program to prospective PEF students. Communication here is not good. We probably had eight people that did not already have loans. As a result no one really had any questions. One prospective PEF student came into the chapel just before the closing prayer. He said he would visit us tomorrow so we can explain the program to him.

The month of October should be fun with institute. We are going to hold our classes on Saturday mornings at 6:30. All Saturday evenings this month but one are booked with conference meetings. In November we will return to our evening schedule. We will be teaching the New Testament. I love the New Testament. I look forward to coming to know the Savior more.

Thank you for your prayers. We pray for you also. Have a wonderful week.