Week 21: "Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized"

This week was so much fun! It started out with a bang. Literally!

We told some members we would help them move houses and we went by their house and the building next to it was on fire! It wasn't like a fire you could put out with like a cup of water either, this baby was massive! Then we helped them move for about three hours. We all thought it would be way easy so we wore our proselyting clothes and by the end we were all soaked with sweat. 

Check out my glutes!

There place was on the third floor so I got a nice workout for my glutes walking up that many stairs! 

Then this week we also had an exchange with the assistants to the president. That was really fun too! We made big meals so as to make them think we were good cooks. 

Next thing that happened this week was, Thanksgiving of course! So much fun. We got to go to The Bailey's house for dinner, and they had a turkey, stuffing, rolls, and all different kinds of food. It was super good. 

After that we drew names so we can start our secret Santa shopping.

This Friday we had kind of a second Thanksgiving feast… just the elders in our house. We had a true feast for fools. We made a ton of food. It was amazing. Friday also marks the start of my baking career. I made some cinnamon rolls, complete with icing from scratch. They had to have been good, because Elder Hibbert in our house ate like, six of them. 

We also received an announcement that the “He is the Gift” initiative has begun! So come on everyone, get into the Christmas Spirit! We have already started decorating our house and since our Thanksgiving meal, we have been listening solely to Christmas music. 

Now for the BIG news of the week which also explains the title. Our investigator who that thought he was going to have to leave for Vietnam figured everything out, and we were able to prepare him such that yesterday… he stepped into the waters of Baptism! It was so amazing! All the members were ecstatic and so was I. 

"Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized..." Mosiah 18:10

The members all brought food for him and the testimony he gave after was really special. He talked about how he doesn't have any family here, and now he feels like he does… one big family. My companion and I each gave him one of our shirts, a tie, and a pair of pants so he would look sharp. The feeling is something I will never forget. 

This week was one that will go down as a highlight in my journal for sure. 

Thanks for all that you do for me. Love you!

Week 20: "And yet… The Work Progresses"

This was a stellar week! 

We started it off with a real bang this Monday as my companion lost his ticket to claim his bike when we were at the market. It was actually pretty funny, because we don't speak very much Khmer! They wouldn't let him have his bike and said for him to come back later in the day so they could see if anyone else will take it. We decided to not fight it and just went to get our hair cut… and wait it out. We both cut our hair for a dollar #DealsForDays and the people there said that I looked a lot like Justin Bieber… 

which I didn't take too much as a compliment. 

Then we came up with the idea that we could go home and grab a camera with a picture of my companion and his bike. We found one and brought it back to them, and for some reason they thought it was way funny. Oh… and when I woke up in the morning, I began brushing my teeth as usual. When I looked down I noticed that my toothbrush was littered with little black worms. For some reason there were little worms all over our toothbrushes. 

It was gross!     

                         

                              On Tuesday we had an amazing lunch provided by our Senior Couple, the Baileys. We get to go eat lunch at their house during the last week of every transfer. We had pulled pork sandwiches, corn, and Sister Bailey made some amazing peach cobbler. We also celebrated the going home of my old companion and trainer, Elder Barker. It was pretty sad. Oh also, I don't know what it was… but I had some serious stomach problems. I could have received a frequent customer’s card for how many times I had to go to the bathroom. It really wasn't fun. We got a call later that day from a younger member named Nghia. He is like 14 and called saying he wants to start preparing for his mission and wanted to come with us. We went by to pick him up and it was so cool to see him waiting outside his house… all dressed up in his church clothes. Since then he has come with us almost every night this week. 

Wednesday, we decided to try out an angle for contacting in the morning. We went out, and as we were riding down the road, my companion stopped and said he had a feeling that we should talk with an older guy that he noticed a few streets back. So we went back and began talking to him. It turned out that spoke Vietnamese… and after some small talk, he said we could come by his house and talk some more. We ended up teaching him the entire first lesson. We taught him one more time since we first met him and he has accepted the Book of Mormon. 

Thursday was both good and bad. We had our weekly planning, and Elder Hibbert said that he still had money left over from his birthday, that his mom wanted him to spend on us… so he bought us all these humongous foot-long burgers called "Bazooka Burgers". They are so good. 

Then we went out and helped the Branch President some more while we waited for our investigator. We had previously set up a “members help” for the lesson, but decided that that particular member wasn't the best choice in helping our investigator progress because she is super intense, so we asked a different member. We went upstairs to go over the things we would share with the Branch President… and we found that super intense member asleep. I guess she learned where we were going to meet, and came two hours early so she wouldn't miss it. I am super grateful that our member wanted to help, but that was kind of nuts.

Anyway, we started the lesson and then things took a turn for the worst. You know how in those TV shows, like “When Animals Attack” or whatever… and the narrator says, "…and then things took a turn for the worst" That was what happened in our lesson. Our member help started talking about super deep doctrine while talking really fast… and wouldn't let anyone else talk. This went on for about an hour, when we finally got a chance to end it. I felt bad for the investigator…as that was only the second lesson with the missionaries. 

Friday we were out contacting and this homeless guy came up to me and started asking me questions. I took him aside because everyone had told him to go away. I sat down with him and ended up teaching him a lesson.  He told me about his life, and why he was living on the street. He said he used to travel a lot and how he studied to be a doctor. It seems that he had just made some mistakes and was living on the street. I told him that there is always hope, and he has the power to turn his life around. He agreed with me, and said he wanted to meet again this next week. I guess we will see how that goes. After that, we went and picked up my old Trainer, Elder Barker for the last few hours before he would board the plane to go home. It was a special experience getting to serve with such a seasoned missionary. 

We went to a recent convert’s house for lunch because she said she had prepared some food for us. Her first dish was rice porridge with a lot of squid in it. The second dish was actually pretty good, just some way good meat on rice with a little bit of pig skin shavings. Lastly was a bowl of soup with a whole boiled small chicken. This chicken was pure black. I asked what it was called. She answered me in English, "Chicken Black Man". I see this could be taken as offensive, but she is Vietnamese and English isn't her first language. I laughed so hard I almost died. She asked me if I would eat it but I told her I was really full. Actually, I just didn't want to eat it. I think she had made it as a joke because then she smiled and asked me if I was scared. Taking that as a challenge, I broke off the little foot (talons and all) and popped it into my mouth. She kind of made an "eww" noise and then laughed. It was really gross! She waited a little before telling me that you aren't supposed to eat the feet. (haha)… Oops. 

Saturday we contacted a whole bunch of referrals from the sisters. Then we went over to teach a little lesson to the Branch President's daughter who is preparing for baptism. She did not want to learn. It was a rough lesson. 

Sunday was...different. We met with an investigator before Sacrament meeting and taught a lesson. We made a whole bunch of calls reminding people about Church, and telling members about the investigators that would be coming in hopes to get them fired up. It worked! We had 74 people at church… which is only two away from our year goal! We had five investigators at sacrament. It was so cool to see everyone coming. The only thing that stunk (literally), was right as sacrament was starting. One of the ladies brought a sickly baby who wasn't wearing pants. He pooped all over the floor! It immediately started smelling like death, and we all hurried to try and clean it up. The members started smelling it… and kind of started freaking out. After using a substantial amount of glade air freshener and wet wipes, the mess was cleaned up. It wasn't but 15 minutes later when the dang baby pooped all over the place again. 

People really started freaking out! It was nearly a disaster. People were gagging and covering their faces with scarves and towels. Two more cans of air freshener were brought out, and people started yelling at the mom with the sick baby. It was sad when they made her take the baby outside. The missionaries didn't really know what to do. It was hard. After church, we went out and taught some lessons.  I was talking about the day with my companion and I looked down at my foot and noticed this pretty big black spot on it. I think there is like a fungus growing on it. I have to go talk to Sister Moon, the mission president's wife. Oh and yes, I do wash my feet. This week was a blast, hope you all have an amazing week too! 

Love you all, Elder Morris  

Week 19: "Parties, Movies, and Late Night Phone Calls"

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

Week 18: "There Can Be Miracles"

Well the title for this week pretty much speaks for itself. There were a lot miracles this week.

Monday we went to the Mission Home to pick up our suit pants from the dry cleaners. Then we cut P day short to meet up with some young men in the Branch. They said they wanted to prepare for missions and that they wanted us to teach them how to teach better. We shared with them about testimonies and the five points to a really strong and simple testimony. They loved it! We decided to go on splits so they could go with one of us to a Family Home Evening with an investigator, while we went to teach a lesson to another to a boy in the Branch also preparing for a mission. Our lesson went so good. He asked so many questions about missionary life and how to share with the spirit. I gave him some advice on things that have helped me a lot.

Tuesday an investigator called us in the morning telling us to come to get breakfast with him because he had a friend he wanted us to meet. I grabbed our things and ran out the door. His friend is this lady who has a few kids who are studying in Australia. She said she really wanted to learn but wasn't sure about coming to church on Sunday. She was very funny, speaking a lot of English to us. We tried to pay for the meal but she wouldn't let us, and in Vietnamese culture you don't try and force it or they will get really mad. So she paid for us, and we called her a taxi. She asked me how long I would be in the city. I said probably for a long time, she said, "good". She said she was going to go to a few places and might do some shopping and then asked me if I would like to join her for like a date (kidding of course). (haha) I explained to her that we don't date until after our two years are up. She laughed and got in the car. She is hilarious though.

Wednesday all the leaders had to go to a leadership training meeting which lasted for nine hours. I just dropped off my companions and went on an exchange with a Vietnamese elder from the other two Branches. I was senior companion for the first time on my mission. It was kind of scary, right when we got outside the mission home gate, they were looking to me for direction on where to go, so we decided to start out in the Branch 3 area. I have really missed Branch 3 and it was just like old times going back. We taught two investigators that I had helped to find last transfer, which was really cool. In our second lesson, the spirit was really strong. I didn't waste a minute in inviting their investigator to be Baptized. His answer was amazing, "Who's gonna do it?". I was so happy that he was making an effort to change his life for the better. He said he will try to come to church. 
Then I thought I would show one of the Elders (who is still in training) the house of a less active member. We went by his workplace as well and we actually found him there! I asked if we could share a lesson with him. He said he was having a hard time reading the scriptures, but that he is trying to pray. He agreed that he needed to come back to church. I was so happy to hear that from him. After that lesson, we headed back to the mission home.             We had about 15 minutes to spare, so we stopped at this really good ice cream place… because one of the other elders said he was going to die if he didn't get some ice cream. 

It was really good.

Thursday was great! We had our studies, and of course weekly planning. That went really well. I have come to realize that if your weekly planning doesn't go well, then your week doesn't either. We headed straight out and then went to teach a couple lessons. We had one with a new investigator, Co Huong.  She was a little uneasy about meeting with us at first, but this time she told us to come over right away! We sat down and immediately, she pulled out a little booklet. She opened it up… and I couldn't believe it. She had written over 15 questions that she wanted to ask from reading through the pamphlets. We answered a lot of them and then taught her about the Restoration. I pulled out my Book of Mormon and gave it to her and she said she wanted to read it. Later that night we went on a split. I went to go and contact, while my companion went to teach another investigator. It didn't take us long to find some people to talk to. We went down one street and found a huge group just hanging out together. We started talking to them and ended up having five people listening in on our lesson. We taught most of Lesson 1 with them and received a few phone numbers. In the lesson that my companion went to go and teach, our investigator accepted Baptism for the end of this month! We met her last week. I could not believe my ears!


Friday, we had Zone meeting and it was so good! It was all about the talk by D. Todd Christofferson,  "The Worth of A Soul". I got a better perspective on others as well as of myself. We need to see the potential of others. Having Christ like charity is a spiritual gift that we need to be praying continually for. I really enjoyed that talk, especially because he gave the same talk in a devotional at the MTC while I was there. Following that, I went on an exchange with my old Trainer Elder Barker! It was so great to combine forces again. It felt like it had been forever, but right away we got back into the swing of things. We went and taught a lesson to a recent convert. He helps us all the time to teach lessons and stuff. He asked if we could teach him a little more on Repentance. It was an amazing lesson and the spirit was so strong. Right after that, we went out contacting. He took me to this place where he had met a guy who spoke Vietnamese six months ago. He and his wife were home and invited us in. We naturally flowed into talking about the gospel. They were really interested, and they said they wanted to learn more about Christ and His Atonement. I gave them another Book of Mormon. They promised to read and pray about it.

Saturday wasn't too special. We went out to lunch with two investigators. It was actually really good. They are kind of better off than some of our other investigators so they wanted to go to a nicer place than the one that we chose. It was around three dollars each, which here is pretty expensive for a full meal. We taught a few more lessons that afternoon and then exchanged back. We taught a couple more lessons..

Sunday was great! We almost broke a record with Sacrament attendance! 67 people. Our Branch goal is 75 by the end of the year! I know we can do it. We had a few of the usual investigators and our investigator from lunch the day before came as well! We met her this week! I was asked by the AP's to sit next to the Japanese guy for sacrament and try and translate or something because he didn't get to take the sacrament in the International Branch. I taught him a mini lesson based on the talks that were given. There is a little chubby boy in the Branch here that is always eating and running around. We have given him the title, "The Juggernaut". Yesterday, he was running around during Sunday School with a dry pack of Ramen Noodles in hand. He was running around making fighting noises and whenever he would get tired and stop, he would take a bite of his Ramen and "Power Up". (Hahaha) Everyone got a kick out of that. 

After church, we went to go teach Co Huong, who I had previously given a Book of Mormon to. We went with the Branch President. As we sat down, I looked on her little coffee table and saw that she had all the pamphlets out and that she had been reading from the Book of Mormon. She told us all about Lehi's dream and how interesting and amazing it was. We taught her of the Plan of Happiness and that can share the fruits of the Gospel with her family as well. She always gets so excited when we talk about the Gospel with her. Then we went to teach another lesson, and on the way, a recent convert stopped us in the road. He led us to a guy who sells food from his cart. He told us that this guy was his friend and that he wanted to come to church and learn about the Gospel. Then we taught our lesson and as we were helping clean up their food cart, we bumped into another guy. We asked him if we could meet and if he would be interested in learning. He said yes and that he also had friend that would want to learn as well!

In the mission, they made a standard of Excellence for us missionaries. The goal for the total lessons in a week is 24. We ended up getting 26 total lessons! That is more than most of the Khmer companionships get (from what I hear) and more than anything we have ever gotten before. My testimony that the Heavenly Father's work is being hastened has been strengthened so much this week. I know that if we stay obedient and diligent, Heavenly Father with bless us and that we have to earn His trust. This one was way long sorry, but I am just so grateful for all that is happening here! Love you all and hope you have the greatest week ever.

Elder Morris

Week 17: This week was full of miracles.

"Save me a piece of that corn!"

This week was full of miracles.

Monday was pretty normal aside from we had to go to the mission home to pick up some Elders coming in from Ho Chi Minh for Visas so we went out early. It was alright, we had to take them home first so they could drop off their bags and then we got stuck in the worst traffic. We ended up not getting to visit anyone.

Tuesday, we went on splits with the Elders who were visiting and then we went out to meet a potential investigator named Chu X. Sounds way cool right? Then we just contacted for about 3 hours around the area. We found 0 Vietnamese People. That was rough. We also had District meeting which was really great. Afterwords they thought it would be a good idea to use our lunch to go to this Japanese place called Roku. It was pretty good, I had Katsu Curry. Then we split up again and taught some more lessons.

Wednesday was really good! So... we have a member who does this thing called "Ep Chai". Basically they pull a cart around and pick up plastic and things that they find on the side of the road and then try and sell it. She works all day and only gets a few dollars for it. We felt we should do something, so we decided we would wake up early and gather all the plastic we had saved up over the months and take them over to her house... along with a special cake-type thing that we got as a gift from someone. 

We filled up 3 garbage bags with plastic and a few other things, I even tossed in a few of our bowls. We looked like Santa delivering presents on Christmas as we carried these huge bags while riding to this member's house. We knew she wouldn't be home so we sneaked in and put all of the stuff into her little shack of a house, and then left. We decided to contact for a few minutes while we were already out and about. We chose this little alley... This is when the miracles began. 

We walked about 50 yards and then I decided to ask a guy if he knew where the Vietnamese people were. I thought I was speaking really clearly, but he just didn't seem to understand what I was saying. So I thought... maybe I should just ask in Vietnamese. He then began speaking back in Viet to me. After a minute or two of introducing ourselves and just talking, his friend came and sat down. We asked if we could share with them and they said yes. After that, another one of his friends came and sat down. We were teaching this guy and his two friends... and as I was showing them parts of the pamphlet, a lady just passing by stopped to see what we were talking about... and then she left. We taught them the full lesson 1... and then they said they wanted to learn more.

They all wanted pamphlets, and gave us their phone numbers as well! I am overjoyed and this amazing series of events. After thanking them for talking with us, we started walking back to our bikes. Just as we were nearing the road, a lady calls out to me. I turned, and to my surprise it was the same lady that had stopped to see what was being taught. She said for me to give me all the pamphlets so she could learn more... and to right down our phone number and address to the church so she could come this Sunday. 

I couldn't believe what was happening! I wrote down everything and gave her the lesson pamphlets and we left. We went home for some lunch and then went back out to teach a lesson with one of our investigators. This guy is really educated and I was warned beforehand that he loves to talk. I didn't prepare myself for what happened. He went on and on talking so fast that I didn't know if it was Vietnamese or what! I was lost for a good 30 minutes. The whole lesson was so confusing. After the lesson we decided to stop at a Corn stand. They just grill corn on the cob and then dip it in this like garlic butter sauce, it was amazing! 

We stopped off back at home to grab some more banana bread for our other investigator and dropped it off at her house. That night we had an appointment with another investigator and this lady who works with him came over and wanted to talk about the Church. We taught her Lesson 1 as well. It was a really really good day. :)

Thursday was also really great. One of the Elders in our house had a birthday and his mom gave him money to buy us all a treat or something. We decided that we would order in some smoothie type of drinks from this place called BOBA. It was way good. Then we taught a lesson at a members house and finished the day with another Family Home Evening at our investigator's house.

Friday we set up a morning appointment with the lady from the alley that wanted to learn and come to Church. She is a quick learner. Then we went to our investigator Anh Thien's house again. I was scared because of the last visit with him. He just talks so fast. We taught him about prayer and had him share his experiences regarding prayer. He told us that he prayed and feels he needs to be baptized this next week! I understood that part and almost jumped out of my chair! After that meeting we met with another investigator of ours who is having problems at home. Her parents are not big fans of the Church and it has been a real struggle helping her progress towards baptism. In our lesson, she explained how she received personal revelation after reading a talk that we gave her, about having courage to stand up for what you believe in. She said she wants to talk to her parents about the Church and that she needs to be more courageous, she also said she wants to get baptized.

Saturday was a little empty because six of our seven planned appointments fell through. In our planning for the day, I felt that we really needed to try and teach a recent convert of ours who hasn't been taught in over three months. My companions said that they have tried countless times and she always comes up with excuses why she can't learn that day. I told them that we needed to try... and that it would work this time. We went over there and she and her husband were eating lunch. I pulled up a chair and just starting talking with them. I asked if we could share with them and they said that they were too busy today. I suggested just sharing with them while they eat. They agreed. We shared about temples and family history. Well, they finished eating and the lesson continued on for another 20 minutes. I know that the Spirit was there and that is why this new member stuck around to learn more.

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. I love Fast Sundays! The lady from the alley came to church, along with anh thien and one other investigator. I felt that I should stand up and talk about how the Lord had blessed us this week... and how grateful I was for the efforts the Branch had made... and that our investigators have made. It probably wasn't the clearest of testimonies, but I am happy I went up. Then I got to teach the Priesthood Class with my companion. We taught about the Aaronic Priesthood. It was a good lesson and the boys tried really hard to pay attention. I am super grateful for them!

This week was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father prepares his children for the Gospel. I know that if a person will humble him or herself... and ask with real intent, the answers will come. I have a heart full of gratitude for the miracles, blessings, and tender mercies given to my companions and I. I love this Gospel and I testify that it is true. I know that... because Christ walked the path alone, we will never have to. I have seen seeds of faith grow within myself and I encourage all to feast on the word. I know that if we continually partake from the living waters we will be a light to others and our faith in the Redeemer of the World will be unshakable. I love you all and Hope you have the best week ever :)

Elder Morris

Week 16: I understood everything that was going on.

Well this week went by super-fast! 

Monday we decided that it was time that we go to Central Market and look for cool things to buy. Elder Cuong and I ended up buying two of the coolest hammocks and for only 6 dollars #Bargain. Next we went to visit a recent convert family. The mom of the family is Co Nhien. She is really interesting and says some of the funniest things. She just so happens to love everything Japanese, including me because I always get snacks from her :). Anyways, she was asking us about animals from America and other places. She started talking about animals in Japan and stuff and she asked me about the "Big Dragon". She said that it lives in Japan and terrorizes the people. The other Elders told her that it doesn't exist. She argued back saying that it did  exist because she saw it in the movie. Finally she asked me... since I lived in Japan. I didn't have the heart to crush her dreams by telling her that Godzilla doesn't exist, so I told her that Godzilla was really sneaky and that I have never seen it before. She seemed satisfied with that answer. 

Tuesday was nothing out of the ordinary. We contacted a ton after District meeting and that was about it. It rained super hard and we couldn't go outside. 

Wednesday we taught two more recent converts and then we received a surprise call from the Assistants asking us to come to a special Conference that night. We went and it was so cool! We had the presidency of Church History there in the Stake center. They all gave talks and some great advice. They talked about the importance of keeping records for our posterity. They committed all of us to write in our journals more often. It was really cool. 

Thursday we had to cut our studies in half because we got a call that we had to interview with President Moon. For some reason like half of the missionaries are scared of the president here. I think he is like super nice. My interview went really well and he gave me some really great advice. Then we went out contacting and for lunch we decided to try out this place that we found out by the national museum. It’s called Cartel and it sells like burritos and tacos. I was really surprised how Americanized it was. It reminded me a lot of Costa Vida, plus they were playing the Beatles so I couldn't complain. The food was pretty good.

Ok so Friday we had to go to the dentist office again for a check up on the stuff that happened the previous week. It wasn't too lame because this time they gave us juice and we got to put on some cool white crocs. After that we headed over to teach a family. I made it a weekly goal to participate even more in lessons, and this time I ended up teaching the whole thing. It is kind of stressful, but I am glad that my companions give me those kinds of opportunities. Then it was raining super hard so we took refuge inside the church. That day we had planned to meet with a youth who is preparing for a mission, but we couldn't get a hold of him and we assumed he wouldn't be able to meet. To our surprise, he came walking into the church and said he had time for a lesson. We shared a scripture that I read in personal study that reminded me of when I was preparing to leave. D&C 52:33.  We tried to pump him up as much as we could and I think it worked because since then he has already started on his papers and met with President Moon. It blows my mind that I could serve with him. 

Saturday was a blast! We taught an investigator in the morning and came home to study. It started raining really hard so we took that time to make Banana Bread for our investigators! It was a lot of fun. 

Then that night we were asked to come and help at a Halloween Party that the Youth had set up. This is really cool because it is the first time that the members prepared and planned everything without the missionaries help. Some of the people who helped plan were two brothers. These two boys are part of a dance crew that works with the Step Up movies. When we got to the church, there was around a hundred people there and even more kept piling in. It was so wild. I must say, there were a lot of immodest costumes and kids who dressed like Justin Bieber, but all in all it was really cool. I was so proud that the Youth put it all together so well. We shared for a little bit and they had prepared a sort of haunted house thing. The Elders went through first to see if everything was appropriate. We went with all the kids who were there. I guess some girls jumped in the back of our group because we were about half way through and some random girl tried to like grab my arm and stuff. I freaked out and like pushed her into the next room and ran back to my companion. I was more scared of her than of the haunted house. Yikes. I think everyone enjoyed it a lot, and after we left I guess they had a huge dance off. I saw a video that one of the members took. I think the whole dance crew showed up because there were a lot of dancers in the video. It was actually pretty cool.

Sunday was kind of a cool milestone for me. Nothing really special happened, but I realized in the middle of sacrament that I understood what the speakers were saying. Without even noticing, I understood everything that was going on. I was really happy :) 

Well there is my week for you! Thanks everyone and I hope you all have the Spookiest Halloween Ever ;)

Love, Elder Morris

Week 15: My Japanese is a lot worse than my Vietnamese!

Well this week was actually pretty slow.

Monday we didn't really do much out of the ordinary. We did get to go to this big store, I bought Yogurt that was on sale; a good Scout is thrifty after all ;)  (haha) 

月曜日はふつうでした。しかし、大きいお店に行って安くなったヨーグルトを買った。

Tuesday, we had two elders that needed to go to the dentist. One of them was getting his wisdom tooth removed. Yikes. That elder is our District Leader and on Tuesday we have District Meeting. The task to lead the meeting fell upon my shoulders. I prepared as well as I could in the waiting room of the dentist's office; which was really hard because they had National Geographic on the T.V. and it was about the biggest rescued crocodile in the world. 

火曜日に歯医者に行く必要がありました。二人長老がいって一緒に行きました. 一人は親知らずを抜きました。彼はDL。。そして火曜日は地域集会で、司会をすることになったので、歯医者の待合室で準備しようとしたが、テレビで世界一のワニの番組があって、集中できなかった。

The meeting went really well… I think. We had an appointment later that day teaching a family with three little kids. They are so cute and one of the little boys reminded me a lot of myself at his age. He had the same poofy hair and everything. 

会議はうまくいった。。。と思う。　そのあと、三人の小さい子のいる家族とのアポイントがあった。本当にかわいくて、そして一人の子はその年の自分のことを思い出す。。

Wednesday was rough. We had a whole bunch of really great lessons planned. But every time we were about to leave to the lesson, we would get a call saying that they couldn't meet. It was such a bummer. We ended up just contacting all day.

水曜日は難しかった。レッスンは沢山あったが、毎回、行く準備の途中電話があって予約を取り消される。残念でした。一日中ファインデイング。。

Thursday, we had a few more lessons fall through, but that was ok because we had planned a family home evening at an investigator's house. It went really great. We had his two youngest children learning too. We played a really fun game where everyone is in a circle and the person in the middle closes their eyes. A person outside the circle has to make an animal noise and the one in the middle tries to guess who is making the animal noise. It was really entertaining. 

木曜日：またレッスンはキャンセルされた。でも、その晩求道者の家で家庭の夕べをした。とても良かった。一番小さい子たちも学んだ。ある楽しいゲームで、皆は輪になって、中にいる人は目を閉じる。輪にある一人は動物の鳴き声をして、中の人は誰がやったか推測する。楽しかった。

Friday we taught another one of our progressing investigators. Things were all going great until this little chubby kid came over. He started making loud noises, spitting, poking our investigator, while he was farting up a storm. My companions and I were getting really frustrated. We tried to ask if he wanted to learn with us; even pulling out a chair for him. He just grabbed the Book of Mormon from our investigator and made things even worse. I was so mad that I wanted to drop kick that little poop. When the investigator began reading a scripture and he started poking her head again, I stood up and asked him to leave. He laughed and frolicked away.                                              That is probably one of the times in my mission that I was most angry thus far.

金曜日：ある進んでいる求道者に教えた。すべてはうまくいったが、近所のぽっちゃりした男の子が入って来た。おならをしながら。。音を出したり、唾を吐いたり、求道者を指で突いたりした。私たち皆イライラした。「一緒に勉強しようか」って行って椅子を引き上げたけど、彼はモルモン書を求道者からつかみ出した。僕は腹を立っていた。求道者はモルモン書を読もうとしたとき、またかれは指で突いた。それで僕は立って、「帰って下さい！」と言ったら、彼は笑って、はしゃぎながら出た。今まで、伝道中でこんなに怒ったことはなかった。

Saturday we had a lot of appointments! We got a lead that some people at the local cafe were Vietnamese. We went over there it turned out that there were a lot of Chinese people. But they spoke Vietnamese too… a very cool old couple. Then we did a split and Elder Tan and I went to meet our Branch President because he said he had a referral for us. It started raining really bad so he said he didn't want to go out in the rain. He made us eat dinner with them though. This one was rough. They brought out a bowl of noodles and with the noodles were a bunch of blood cakes. They are really gross, but bearable. Just little jelly squares of blood. Yum... 

土曜日：アポイントは沢山あった。近くにあるカフェにベトナム人がいると聞きました。行くと、中国人でした。しかし、その中のある老夫婦はベトナム語を話せました。そのあと、タン長老と一緒に支部長の家に行って誰かを紹介してくれることでした。突然、雨がふってきました。支部長は雨の中に出かけず、一緒に食事をするように言いました。今回の食事はちょっと難しかった。麺類を出してくれたが、中には沢山の血のケーキが入っていた。気持ち悪かった、でも我慢できた。ただ四角になった血のゼリー。。。んんん

Sunday was really great. It was my first time at the Branch 10 building. The members are all so sweet… greeting me with a lot of smiles and handshakes. In the middle of sacrament, a man came over and asked the assistants something. They came over and talked to me. They said that this man was Japanese and that they needed me to help teach him a lesson. I almost had a heart attack. I'll just say right now that my Japanese is a lot worse than my Vietnamese! I found out where he was from and that he is a teacher here in Cambodia. He wants to learn about the gospel, and has already read about the Restoration. The lesson was pretty hard but I think it went really well. He said he wanted to meet again and learn more so maybe I didn't botch the whole lesson. :)

日曜日はよかった。始めて、１０番の支部に参加した。会員たち皆はニコニコしたり握手してくれて、親切でした。聖餐会の途中、ある男の人はAPたちに何かを訪ねた。それから僕の方に来た。その人は日本人だと言って、レッスンを日本語で助けられるように頼まれた。心臓が止まった。やっぱり、今の所、日本語よりベトナム語のほうがうまいだろう。。その人はカンボジアで先生として仕事していると分かった。そして、かれは福音を勉強したいって言いました。彼は回復のことをすでに読んだことがあること言いました。レッスンはとっても難しかった、でもうまくいったと思います。また話し合いたいと言ってくれたので、私のレッスンはそんなに悪くなかったみたいでした。

After church the sister missionaries had a baptism! I was so excited because I hadn't seen one yet! It was so good! We sang a special musical number and we had to wait for some of the girl's family to show up so we sang like five hymns. It went really well and the spirit was strong. This week was a blast and I can't wait to see what this next week has in store! Love you all so much.

教会の後、姉妹宣教師のバプテスマ会があった！今までカンボジアで見たこと無かったので興奮していた。本当に良かった！そのバプテスマを受ける子の両親が着くまで五つぐらいの賛美歌を歌いました。御霊は強くて、集会はうまく行った。先週はすごかった。。そして今週、何が起こるか楽しみです。皆愛しているよ。

Elder Morris