Thirty days and one Fast Sunday to go.

Hello family and friends,

Monday was a routine day up until about 3:00 when we left our office to attend an engagement party. It was at our building which was convenient. One of our Institute students, Kong Mary will marry an American she met when he served his mission here in Cambodia.

Branch President Kim Sang is standing up front. He was not sure what to do because engagement parties are a new concept. I think the young women who are marrying Americans have created this ceremony as assurance that some day in the far off future they will actually get married. Engagements last many years because of the expense and legal hoops the Khmer have to under take to receive permission to marry someone who is not a citizen of Cambodia. The government does not want its people to leave the country.
The ceremony for the engagement was basically a wedding with the exception that no one was pronounced husband and wife. They exchanged rings.

Robert Baird served in Cambodia and was released just before we entered the country. Mary is a really special young woman. She is currently a District Young Women President. She teaches Institute.

Mary and Rob walk down the red carpet towards the main table where the ceremony took place. Dale and I were asked to sit up front and represent Rob's mom and dad. We were the only "white" people that fit the part. We are now in a bunch of their  family pictures. I guess it makes for a good appearance. Perhaps one day someone can switch out our heads for Rob's parent's heads.

The refreshments were colorful. There are lots of the same treat in different colors. It is like a tray of  decorated sugar cookies. Instead of cookies they make their treats out of sweet rice and coconut milk. They also served rolls with hot dogs in them.

Other refreshments were baskets and trays of fruit. There was plenty of food.

One of my favorite parts of the reception.

 Khmer children are precious.









We had to hurry home from the reception because we were meeting at the Khmer Surin restaurant for a farewell dinner for Elder and Sister Tuck.

Elder Tuck and Sister Tuck expressed some of their thoughts about their service in Cambodia. They plan to submit their papers again and hope to be on another mission  within the year.

Debbie, Sister Tuck, Elder Tuck, Elder Johnson, Chouen Khunty, Elder Westover, Sister Westover, Sister Kohls, Sister Capener.

Waiting for our receipts.







We had a routine Tuesday morning.  Later in the day we took a tuk tuk to Room Chang Dental to have Dale's permanent crown put on. As we left Room Chang we would walk a little and pause and walk and pause. Dale was not quite sure if the crown was fitting properly. After some debate he decided to let it be. It seems to be doing good. We walked to the Mission Home and the Service Center to do PEF business. As we walked home we stopped at Lucky's to pick up a few groceries. While walking home it began to rain. By the time we arrived home we were WET.  I had my umbrella, but it could not compete with mother nature. Dale walked pretty fast challenging me to keep up. I was a muddy mess. We cleaned up and got ready to go to the airport to see Elder and Sister Tuck off.

The Tucks will be forever grateful to Sister Kohls who helped them toss a whole lot of weight out of their suitcases. Sister Kohls is Queen Toss It Out!
The Tucks stayed in the Kohls' guest bedroom for their last two nights in Cambodia.

The Tucks were met at the airport by many of the members they served with. As they were getting ready to depart the group began to sing "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again". Many tears were shed and thank you and farewell hugs were given. The Tucks were/are great missionaries and will be missed and remembered for a very long time. New Senior missionaries will come and go, but there is only one Elder and Sister Tuck. The airport means Dairy Queen so we all got ice cream before we headed home.


Wednesday we arrived to work late because we went with Elder Westover to look for an apartment for Elder and Sister Wyler.  We were looking for a two bedroom apartment that had a private washing machine and was within walking distance of work. This endeavor was harder than we had anticipated. There are lots of apartment buildings in the area, but few vacancies. What we found was OK but we were hoping other places would come available. We arrived to work about 10 am. We did our routine office work for a couple of hours.  The day was short because we had to buy snacks for Career Work Shop. We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to the store. We did not want to pack 48 bottles of water from the store back to the office. We knew exactly what we needed so it was a quick trip. We unloaded the water bottles into the refrigerator and did a few more tasks. It was sewer boot conditions by the time we were ready to go home. I really did not want to wear the boots. We thought maybe we could make it home. As you know from past blogs the city has repaired the roads so now the drainage should be really good. The pipes are in place and the roads are paved.

What are your thoughts on the new and improved drainage system?
Since we have lived here we have never seen this part of the road under water. On our walk home this is the first major road we cross. In the past if the streets on our route home looked bad we would take a detour and  walk the road that you see in the photo where the cars are. We would cross the street and walk on the left hand side pf the road. This time there was no way this route was going to work.

When the cars would come to this point we had Tsunami waves lap up onto the "dry" spot where we were standing taking pictures.

Pushing water. This is looking at our regular walking route home.

Notice the girl pushing her friends moto. She came to this point. Her moto made a sick sound and stopped.

There were police at the intersection but they were standing on "dry" ground next to us. There wasn't much they could do. It was a major traffic jam. To add to the congestion it is campaign time in Cambodia and up the street was a parade of trucks with loud speakers promoting their candidate.

After evaluating our situation we had one choice. We had to walk in the opposite direction from our home and hope to find a side street that was not totally under water. What is usually a 10-15 minute walk home ended up taking 50 minutes. Our feet were soaked. We had to do some puddle jumping. Dale was better at this feat than I was. My shoes are now gross!



Thursday and Friday we taught our final Career Work Shop. We were blessed to be able to teach some of the best missionaries ever. These guys are true leaders and embraced their missions with their whole hearts.

Pictured here are a fantastic group of men:

Elder Mitton, Elder Gibbs, Elder Pearson, Elder Warr, Elder Rucker, Elder Edmunds, Elder Lor, Elder Meier

A mighty army indeed!




All these guys flew home Friday night. They flew from Cambodia to Seoul Korea and then to California.  You can imagine our horror when we saw the breaking news concerning the air crash below...

Dale was the first to learn about this crash. He told me and  I turned on CNN news. It was a horrific sight. We were not sure if it was the flight that our missionaries and President Moon's daughter were on. We waited until 7 am and then called President Moon. He was wondering why we were calling so early. To our relief we were told that our group from Cambodia landed in Los Angeles not San Francisco. We are grateful and relieved for our people but at the same time our prayers go out to everyone involved in the above tragedy.

Friday Elder Westover contacted us and said that  Elder and Sister Wyler had decided they would prefer a  one bedroom apartment.  We went with Elder Westover to check on a one bedroom apartment that will be available on August 1. It is perfect! Elder Westover signed a 6 month contract with the hopes that Elder and Sister Wyler will be happy and want to remain there for their full 18 month mission. If they change their mind then they can find something else after the 6 months are up. They probably will decide to sign a contract for their entire mission. The location is great.

Friday evening was laundry as usual... Did I mention that Friday evening was laundry AS USUAL? Dale consoled me by informing me that I only have four more laundry days in Cambodia. I hope that the one machine that works can hold out that long. At least this week I did not encounter a rat! Last week I screeched so loud when a rat missed running over my foot by inches. No one seemed to notice my scream. The guards didn't come to check to see if I was alright. I was glad because it was sort of embarrassing.

Saturday morning was uneventful.  We got home about 1 pm and we went to the roof to exercise. After exercising we cleaned up and ate lunch. By the time all that was done it was time to get ready to walk to the church for Institute and Seminary Graduation. There should have been about three hundred people at graduation but the attendance was poor.

Certificates mean a great deal to the Khmer students. Several of these students earned their four year certificate. They earn this certificate after completing classes for all the standard works.

Dale and I were recognized for our efforts too. This is one of the better photos of me. Can you tell that I am smiling?






Sunday we attended Sacrament meeting at the International Branch. The second part of our Sunday meetings were cancelled in order to view the broadcast "Hastening the Work of Salvation". This was already shown in the United States. We had to wait until it was translated into Khmer.  Several of the Senior Couples had viewed it on line and did not attend. The Kohls sat with us. Afterwards we walked home with them. They had a farther walk than us. Sister Kohls has a fractured foot but she walks on it anyway. Elder Kohls just keeps doing his taping magic and she is healing well.

Sister Kohls' well taped foot.








Sunday night we went to a Mission Fireside. It was raining so we hired a tuk tuk driver. Several young adults attended. President and Sister Moon spoke. They did a great job. By the time the meeting was over the rain had stopped so we were able to walk home. After we survived crossing the busy intersection it was a pleasant walk home. There was a light breeze.

A really cool announcement was made today in Sacrament meeting. There is a young LDS girl from the USA who is working with one of the local NGO groups in Cambodia. She had submitted her mission application to serve a mission awhile ago.  Her call was sent to her in Cambodia. When she opened it she was surprised and delighted to learn that she has been called to serve in Cambodia! She will begin her service in the country in December. She already knows many of the people here and she knows her Mission President. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

This was as close as we got to celebrating the Fourth of July this year. We were teaching Career Work Shop on the fourth. The Elders had gotten cupcakes with American Flags on them. One of the Elders left his flag behind so I stuck it to our office wall. " I Pledge Allegiance..." Hope you all had a great day and that this week is full of sunshine and happy moments.