Cambodia has ribs...lots of ribs!

Family and friends departure day is getting close. Dale and I spoke in Sacrament meeting at the International Branch today. I spoke on service and Dale spoke on what is truth. The meeting did not start on time.  The person assigned to conduct was late and there was no bread for the sacrament. As a result most of the members who are usually late were seated in the chapel before the meeting began.  That was a nice change. If we had started on time we would have had plenty of time to present the talks we had prepared.  Because of the late start the time factor became an issue. Sacrament meeting did end a little later than usual.  About 13 members that have been attending the International Branch for the past several months will leave Cambodia at the same time we do. The core group of active members that work and live in Cambodia is about 25 members which includes children.  The branch members are used to waves of members coming and going. To be the Branch President of such a diverse and small branch has its unique challenges. Although the branch is small and transit it is great to have an International Branch in Cambodia. This is a place where  members far from home can meet and understand through a common English language gospel messages each Sunday. While members are living in Cambodia they have wholesome activities to participate in. They are able to interact with people of a common faith and standard of life.

This week we had plenty of time to work on our talks. The office was very quiet. I have made few phone contacts. My logic is that if I keep the phone lines quiet for the next month perhaps the students who ignore PEF calls might answer their phones the next time caller ID shows PEF.  Dale will send a click-a-tell message in another week to announce the Wyler's arrival. The second part to my logical stratagem is that the announcement of "new" missionaries may spike their curiosity. Shh...don't tell!

We continue to pull things together at the office for Elder and Sister Wyler. The mouse for the office computer no longer worked. Dale got a different one. We replenished the money in the petty cash box. The printer ink cartridge for the office printer was shot. That is now replaced. We are now finetuning the office.

Elder Capener called to see if Mr. Fix It Guy could check out his lap top. We had a nice visit with the Capener's Friday afternoon while Dale did some trouble shooting. The diagnosis...the lap top needed to stay at "the shop" for a day or two.  Dale feels that most of the problems have to do with cleaning house. Elder Capener had installed new antivirus software. Dale looked at that also to see if that was part of the problem. The Capener laptop is large and heavy so Dale has chosen not to haul it home. Since we were at our office building on both Saturday and Sunday Dale was able to slip into our office to checkout the laptop status. He feels confident that progress is being made. He will know more in the morning.

We usually leave the office at 4:30. Dale was waiting for one more thing to check on Elder Capener's laptop before we went home. I can't remember when we got home but I know it was after 5:00.





National Elections in Cambodia will be July 28. We are a bit anxious about this. We have been told to stay home as much as possible on that day. It is a Sunday and church will be held as usual. Police and military presence will be beefed up. The last National Elections were held in 2008. In 1998 there were about 20 LDS missionaries in the country. Due to civil unrest they were sent to Thailand for seven weeks. Sam Rainsy is the candidate that is running against the current leader Hun Sen. Sam Rainsy has been in exile for several years. In the past week the king gave him a pardon to return to Cambodia for the elections. If he did not have a pardon he would be arrested. The turn out of people welcoming Sam Rainsy at the airport and then to his campaign rally was huge. Sam Rainsy wants to move Cambodia to a more democratic government . His plans are contrary to what the current government has in place. We have been told that if Sam Rainsy wins there could be riots in the streets. I just hope that things are calm by the time we are to take flight back to the USA. Through our PEF student's facebook entries we are able to watch the events of  his arrival.

Tonight we heard a lot of commotion as we were sitting in our apartment. We looked out our window expecting to see Hun Sen's campaign group. The people who campaign for him are paid. For the past several weeks each evening they parade down the streets of Phnom Penh playing music and promoting their candidate. To our surprise, instead of Hun Sen's campaigners it was the CNRP (Cambodian National Rescue Party). These people want Sam Rainsy to help their country. It was an impressive showing of volunteer citizens with great hope for change. The people on the side streets got out of their tuk tuks and cars to take pictures and watch . No one seemed angry to have to wait for the procession to pass by. As we watched the spectators you could see excitement and hope in their countenances. Only time will tell what the outcome of this years election will be. We pray that there will be little to no violence in its aftermath.

This week we received countdown information concerning our departure date.  A combined farewell/welcome dinner for us and the Wyler's will be held on August 5 at 6:00 at the Viva Restaurant. This is Mexican food which I prefer over Khmer food.  I remember the funky meals that were served to us on the airplane trip to Cambodia. With that in mind I think the Wyler's will welcome a great tasting chicken burrito or taco. They will have many Khmer meals to face in the next 18 months.We also received our official E-mail informing us of our exit interview with President Moon. We will meet with him at 5:00 on August 6. After our interview we will enjoy dinner with President Moon and his wife. The next step will be our trip to the airport.

The most exciting event of our week was a phone message from Touch Sophornn.
Announcing d arrival of our baby girl-Chantelle Anne Touch.  Baby arrive last nite (July 17) at 10:23. She weighs 3.6 kilos (about 7 pounds).  She came fast n strong.  She's healthy and gorgeous. She's an additional joy in d family. Blessing fr above I am ok. Anybody who wants 2 show me how 2 burp a baby? 4goten na!

We were informed that Ludy, Sophornn's wife is doing good although she is quite sore. She left the hospital on Sunday. I believe her parents have arrived from the Philippines and will stay for a couple of weeks to help.

Saturday several of the Branches celebrated Pioneer Day. Friday Meas Sameth left work early to prepare for his branch celebration.  He said another branch is joining with his branch for their activity. They rented ox carts for the members to pull about 3 miles up a mountain (hill). He said that they rented two buses. He expects about 160 members to participate in this event. Not every one will ride on the buses. There are some great pictures on face book dealing with this event.

We did not attend any Pioneer Day celebrations. The Vietnamese Branch will celebrate next Saturday. Their celebration is at our office building. Last year we peeked in on them. We will probably do it again this year.

We got this photo off face book. Sister Johnson is riding in one of the ox carts. Such a trooper!

More face book pictures of the members in Meas Sameth's Branch. I have no idea where they got the cows from.  Sameth only talked about ox carts and people pulling them. If you want ribs...Cambodia has ribs. Lots and lots of ribs.




Saturday morning we stopped by Dara Photo to have our missionaries photo cards made. We ordered 20 cards. That is probably 10 too many. We wanted extra just in case.  Dale continued trouble shooting Elder Capener's laptop. The Kohls had service work to do at our building. They called and asked if they could take us out to lunch as a thank you for the work Dale did on their laptop. They came by at about noon. We walked to Ma Ma's New York Deli for fish'n chips. We had great food and conversation.

After lunch we all walked to our apartment. The Kohl's had never had "the tour". Other than the laundry situation they really liked our place. There place is older but it is a great location for where their office is. Sister Kohls eyes got big when she saw our pool. She said she would use it every day. Dale has used it twice since we have been here. After the apartment tour we showed them where we get our hair cut. That was where we said our goodbyes for the day. The Kohls went to Lucky's to buy groceries and  Dale and I went into to the hair salon for our last hair cuts in Cambodia. After we cleaned up from getting our hair cuts we hired a tuk tuk to take us to the bank to withdraw some cash and then on to Digi Internet Service to inform them of our move out date. We planned our tuk tuk route so we would end up at the Chaktomuk Church Building  at 4:00.  It was the Central District (Vietnamese)  Institute/Seminary graduation evening.

Lim Sophy, one of  our PEF students and member of our early morning New Testament Institute class received her four year diploma for having studied all the standard works.

Central District Seminary/ Institute students 2013.







After graduation we walked to Lucky's to purchase a few food items and then we went home. As we were walking home Dale started to get sick. He was pretty miserable up until late Sunday morning. By Sunday evening he was doing better.

Sister Noun is our Khmer Institute student that is now serving in the Tacoma Washington Mission. Her sister, Den Chen came by our office with a package to deliver to her. A few weeks ago she asked if we could take a package of Khmer T-shirts in our luggage to be mailed to Sister Noun. We said sure. She brought them by this week. Sister Noun will be happy to receive them. We hope we will be able to see her. It will all depend on if she is in Tacoma or somewhere else. We may have to simply drop the package off at the mission home.

The last of the piping for 63rd Street. This the point where all pipes meet. Once this is connected we hope that the flooding problems will be resolved. Once again, only time will tell!

Can you believe that we only have two more laundry days in Cambodia?






I just asked Dale, "How can I end this blog?" He said,"Good-bye".

"GOOD-BYE"

Such inspiration is mind boggling!