This week pretty
wacky!
Monday we went to the
market to look around for some stuff. As we were walking around, we got a call
from our investigator who we had planned his baptism for this week. It was hard
to hear him, but what I did pick up were the words, "sorry, arrested, and
leaving".
I was a little concerned by
this. The reason things are wacky lately is because the government of Cambodia
has started tracking down the Vietnamese people and asking them for papers. If
they don't have papers, they either get forced to move back to Vietnam or they
have to pay the police officers off. From what I have heard, this is a method
they use to make more money.
Our members have been pretty
shaken up by all this stuff because most of them don't have the proper paper
work. Anyways, we went over to our investigator's house to find out more about
all this. He said not to worry, he just got caught by the police with the wrong
paperwork and he had to lay low for a while or he will be sent back. I couldn't
believe how calm he was about all of it.
Tuesday started out a
little rough. I woke up and started the day off as I usually do ironing my
shirt and doing a light workout. I went upstairs and we got a text from the
district leader asking if we could teach the District meeting in two hours. My
companions were still asleep, so I replied yes. I started looking up scriptures
and putting together a lesson for the meeting. It took everyone a little longer
than expected to get ready and we got out the door late.
We arrived at the meeting about
15 minutes late. It wouldn't have been a big deal, except President Moon
decided that he would attend the meeting this week. My comps, being zone
leaders, instantly started pooping their pants. I was in panic because I was
giving the lesson! We walked in and after apologizing for being late we began.
The District leader finished the announcements and invited my companions to
teach the lesson. He was pretty surprised when I said that I was giving the
lesson because I guess he thought one of my companions replied to the text
earlier that morning. With sweaty palms and a shaky voice I shared some points
I had thought of. After the lesson, we finished with a word of prayer. I was
just happy it was over, or so I thought.
President Moon asked if he could
talk to me. He said that he had asked the District Leader to have the zone
leaders teach the lesson so he could see how they would do. He said he was
really surprised that I shared the lesson. He gave me some points of advice and
thanked me for the lesson…so scary. After that, we went to get some lunch and then
did service at a member's house. We pealed a lot of hard boiled eggs for them.
By the end, I had gotten pretty good at it.
Wednesday was a bummer. We
spent almost the whole day inside because Elder Pham was really sick. I updated
the book and had two personal studies. (haha), we also watched 17 miracles on
the little DVD player. It had Vietnamese subtitles so we counted that as
additional language study. We finally got out at the end of the day, to teach a
less active member and his two sons. We had planned a lesson on reading the
Book of Mormon. The spirit led the lesson and we ended up teaching about the
Temple and ordinances essential for our salvation. He said he wanted more unity
in his family so they could be happily sealed together forever. It was so
cool.
Thursday we had a lesson
with a potential investigator named Chi na. He didn't have a lot of interest
the first time we met, but he invited us to come and share our message with
him. We got there and at first we didn't say much. He was looking at his phone
and we didn't really know how we should start. I got this impression that we
should watch the Mormon Message called "The Hope of God's Light". I
told my companion how I felt and he thought we should try it. They don't have
it in Vietnamese, so I told my companion he would be translating this one on
the fly. He did an amazing job and the spirit was so strong.
After the video, Chi na asked if
there were more movies like this one that he could watch. He also asked if we
could teach him more about Christ. We gave him a Book of Mormon and gladly
accepted a return appointment.
Friday we had an exchange.
The District leader would come up to our area and would jump in with us for the
day. We started off by teaching a member out of a talk from General Conference
earlier this year. After the lesson he made us some amazing food. We contacted
for a while until we had to go to the fireside. We heard some amazing talks and
it really motivated all the missionaries.
 |
| Emmie |
Saturday we had some
lessons with our Recent Converts. They are so much fun. Co nhien learned again
with us and she is a hoot. She loves trying to speak in English so it gets
pretty interesting when we go over there. Then we went to teach our
investigator Chu Ken. In the middle of the lesson his friend came and sat down
to listen. It turned into a big discussion about the dumbest things. I couldn't
understand a thing they were saying so I looked around and noticed another guy
sitting behind me listening. I began asking him questions and we had a great
talk about some different principles in the Gospel he had questions about. At
the end of the night we were invited to attend a member's birthday party. The
Branch President's daughter was turning 8. It was a lot of fun. She reminded me
so much of my little sister Emmie.
This little girl was so excited that she
could now get baptized! She even prayed over her cake right before she blew out
the candles. At the party one of the members started asking me about Japan. She
asked me in English if I knew about the "Cinnamon". She said a little
while ago "Cinnamon" covered the people and a lot of them died. I was
so confused. As she kept explaining this disaster, I realized she was trying to
say Tsunami. I explained what she was saying and we got a good laugh.
Sunday our rations were
getting dangerously low. For breakfast Elder Pham ate a tomato with a pack of
cheese and crackers. Elder Tan ate some old fruit from the fridge and some
flavored water. I made myself makeshift oatmeal with some marshmallows I found,
so I microwaved it and it turned into a pretty decent Rice Krispy treat. After
church we lucked out because a member was having a get together and we ate some
food. Last night was transfer calls! I am going to be staying in the area for one
more transfer! I am so happy that I don't have to leave and start from scratch
again. This week was so good. Love you all
Elder Morris
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