Week 21

October 6, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, so much happened this week! First of all, we had our transfer call come late last night. All of the sisters have some sort of change this transfer, as the mission as a whole is receiving 30 new missionaries on Thursday!! We have 5 new American sisters coming and my companion will be training one of them in a new area (Pochentong)! I will be staying in Teuk Laák, but I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Fife and she is half Thai, half American, but she grew up in the US. She is about half way done with her mission. I have learned SO much from Sister Kuoch, my current companion, and have loved learning about her and her family and the culture in Cambodia. I am also really excited to learn from Sister Fife!! 

Another big event of this week was that last night, around 12 pm, we received a call from the 2nd counselor in the bishopric of our ward, informing us that our Recent Convert, Om Phany (50 year old woman), passed away. She was the one suffering from cancer. It truly was a miracle that she lived until now and that she had this past week to be with her family. She told her husband, who is not yet a member of the Church, that she wants him to learn with us, get baptized, and be sealed with her. This morning we stopped by their home. I mentioned in a previous letter, that when someone dies they put up a huge event sized tent in front of the house and lots of monks come and say prayers for the person. (Her mother wouldn't allow her to have a service at the church). When we went to see her, they were still in the process of setting it all up, but it was definitely a different feeling than an LDS funeral. The friends and family were all in tears. We quickly payed our respects, gave the family a small amount of money (cultural thing), and left. Although we were sad about Om Phany, we are grateful she is no longer in pain. 

On a different note, we had another HUGE miracle this last week. About a month ago, we contacted a young mother with a new born and 2 year old, standing on the side of the street. She was kind, but she didn't seem too interested... or so we thought. On Tuesday evening, Sister Kuoch and I were finishing up a lesson, and when we received a call from this lady, Bong Phala. She said she wanted to meet with us immediately, and to stop by her home if we could. Luckily, we were just around the corner. As we entered her humble abode, she poured our her heart to us. She told us that her husband had lied to her and actually had another family that he was now going to live with. This lady started working again after only 2 weeks of having her new born. At her place of work, they beat her 2 year old. She has AIDS. She has no friends and really not much food. It is heart-breaking. She wanted to meet with us, in hopes that our church had an orphanage she could put her children. Unfortunately, we don't... but we do know of some members that have connections that we were able to tell her about. We also told her that we could share a message with her, that will bless her life and 100% help her in this difficult time of life. She was in tears as we taught her that she has Heavenly Father that loves her and how she can pray to Him at ANY time. She said she wanted to come to church, but she didn't have a bike or any way to get there with her new born and 2 year old. MIRACLE, on Sunday, a less active that is helping her find an orphanage was able to pick her up on a moto (motorcycle) and bring her to church!!! I am hoping to help her lots this transfer.

Our other investigators are unfortunately not progressing right now. It seems as though Satan has gotten hold of a lot of peoples hearts in this area, but NO FEAR, the missionaries are here to kick him out of Teuk Laák! :) 

I was able to attend the General Women's conference in ENGLISH with all of the American sisters on Saturday. WOW, Elder Uchtdorfs talk was exactly what I needed to hear and an answer to my prayers. As he testified about the love that the Lord has for each of us INDIVIDUALLY, I truly felt the spirit. We all need to remember that it isnt about the make-up, the fancy clothes, the houses, the cars, the body type, etc. God loves us for us, and that love doesn't changed based on worldly possessions or appearance. I can testify of that truth. The people here get by on literally just a few dollars a day, they dont have fancy clothes or cars, and their houses are barely standing, but I know for a fact that Heavenly Father loves each one of these people and desires their Salvation. 

Thank you so much for the continued love and support!!!

Love, 

Sister Lindley

Week 20

I September 27, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

So remember that holiday I talked about last week? Well, the official "Pshume Bun" day was on Tuesday. Because literally no one was in Phnom Penh, we have zone conference. It was amazing! I really came away from it with a greater desire to serve God with all my heart, might, mind, and strength (D&C 4). 

President Moon talked about a lot of things, but I just want to share some things that really stuck out to me.

1. We are commanded to preach the gospel by the spirit. We can only do that as we overcome fear. Before the Resurrection of Jesus Christ took place, Peter was a fearful disciple. He feared man to the point of denying that he knew the Savior. After the resurrection, he preached the gospel until his death. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ changes EVERYTHING. Knowing that the Savior lives, means that the Atonement is real and that each of us can also live again. Which means, we need to prepare by living the gospel- faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the holy ghost, and enduring to the end.

2. We talked a lot about the difference between faith and knowledge. If all we have is knowledge, it does us no good. If we have knowledge about the gospel, that is great, but it doesn't save us until we have faith- meaning we act on the knowledge that we have received. This principle is so important because it is the first piece of the doctrine of Christ, and is the foundation to everything we do.

On Wednesday, the holiday continued, and so President Moon asked each of us to spend the morning deep cleaning our apartments. Its always great to live in a clean space, so I enjoyed that. That afternoon/evening we visited a couple recent converts. 

We have one recent convert, Om Phany (pronounced om paney), that is on deaths door. We visited her in the hospital and the doctors told us that the cancer has taken over her whole body and it is only a matter of a few days until she will pass. That experience was particularly hard. The hospital was fairly nice, but was like a ghost town. Hardly anyone can afford the health care. Om Phany is not one of those people. After giving her a few pain meds, they sent her home to pass on. She spent that next day half unconcsious, saying things that didn't make sense. Her sweet husband sat by her bed (beach chair) the whole time. They thought she would pass on Friday night and prepared their house. The culture goes that when someone dies, they paint all their windows white, and take everything out of their house and dress the person in white. Well, at about 2 AM on Saturday morning, Om Phany suddenly came to it and was extremely confused as to why her house was empty and all their cousins/aunts/uncles were sleeping on the floor around her. They told her she was about to die and she said she felt okay and wanted to eat. MIRACLE. She hasnt eaten in days and has a bloated stomach. Sister Kuoch and I visited her on Saturday morning and were AMAZED at her progress. I know that all the priesthood blessings she received were what have given her this extra time to spend with her family and children before she passes, and she knows that too. Her husband isn't yet a member, but has come to church the past couple months, even without his wife. He had tears in his eyes as he told us about this miracle. 

Anyway, that was the biggest miracle of the week. The work slowed down quite a bit with the holiday, but we are hoping to have a great week this week with over 30 lessons planned and a baptism on Saturday. 

As for the cultural aspect, this last week I saw a total of about 10 rats the size of a small cat, half of them alive, half of them dead. One group of young teenage boys decided it would be fun to play soccer with a dead one. I also ate more rice this week then I have ever eaten in my life. With this holiday they make this treat with a banana in the middle of sticky rice. The first time I ate it I didn't love it, but I can honestly say that it is delicious. Also, remember how I didn't like the soy bean/coconut milk/ice treat? I love it now. My taste buds are definitely changing! I also ate a soup made from fish and fish bones... I didn't know until after I ate it. It was interesting... but I am learning!

Thanks for all the love and support! 

Love, Sister Lindley

Week 19

September 22, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

I wanted to start this email off by explaining something about the names that I use in my emails. Whenever I say Bong or Ming, that isnt their actual name. In Cambodia, there is no word for "you". Whenever we address or are speaking to someone, we call them by their name. BUT if they are older than us, we must address them by their "title" and then their name. If they are the same age or within 10 years older than us, we call them "Bong _____". If they are around 40 to 50 we call them "Ming______" for girls and "Look Puu______" for boys, and if they are in their 60s we call them "Om_____". If they are super old we call them "Look Yay____" for girls and "Look Taa_____" for boys. I just had to clarify that so everyone didnt think that everyone here has the same name. 

Anyway, this week was good. It was a little slower than our past weeks because this Tuesday is "Shume Bun". I am not 100% sure what it is, but everyone and their dog leaves the city (I am in the city), and goes to their home town (outer provinces). It is a Buddhist holiday and people take food to the Watts, but everyone in Cambodia celebrates it, whether they are Buddhist or not. We had about 75 in church yesterday, but only 5 in relief society...

One of the highlights of this week, was that we now have 2 more investigators! They are friends with some of our other investigators and so we teach them all together. There are four of them and they are all about 20. They are students and so they don't have much time to learn with us, but when they do, they are awesome!! They have only heard of Jesus Christ, and so every thing we tell them is new. It is so interesting to tell people about the Atonement when they have never heard of it before. They are usually in awe that Jesus Christ died for them and knows exactly what they have been through. That is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary; helping people understand that they are not alone and that Christ can ease their pains and burdens.

All of our investigators but one have gone out to the provinces for Shume Bun. It is super frustrating, but has given us a chance to focus on Bong Leda- our investigator that is still in the city. She is all ready to be baptized, she just has to get married to her boyfriend. Their wedding is planned for December! YAY! She is so awesome. Her story is very interesting. She is 21 years old and grew up in the city. She began dating a less active, Bong Samnang. They really hit it off and wanted to get married. As custom goes, the male must pay the females family to marry her. If they dont offer enough money, or if someone offers more, the father of the daughter will chose the man with the most money. Bong Samnang and his family are very poor, as his mother is widowed and has 7 children. A 60 year old man offered Bong Leda's father a large sum of money to marry her and Bong Leda was terrified. She left her family and was therefore disowned. The widowed mother took Bong Leda in and Bong Samnang used all his money to buy a small house for the two of them. They now live together, but they will be getting married in December and want to be sealed in the temple a year from her baptism! She is one of my favorite investigators and is honestly like a best friend to me. I love her!

Anyway, I hope all continues to go well at home for everyone. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love, Sister Lindley 

P.S. Last week I saw a store called "6-eleven" hahaha. Gotta love Cambodia :)

P.S.S. I ate 100% Cambodian food for a straight week! My companion and the other 2 Cambodian sisters that live with us made me food every day. They told me it makes them happy when I eat Cambodian food. They made mostly vegetarian dishes and I LOVED it. We all contribute 5 dollars and buy enough food to last a week.

Week 18

September 15, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Once again, this last week was filled with lots of adventures and miracles; typical for a missionary serving in Cambodia.

 

The weeks are beginning to pick up pace and go by quicker and quicker! As I read in the Book of Mormon about the 14-15 year missions Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah served, I can't help but think of how quick a year and half will go. I have already been serving for 4 months! I know that these next 14 months will fly by and I need to give the Lord everything I have, even when I want to give up. 

Last Monday after going to the market (we go to the market at 5:30am- our assigned wake up time- because if we go later then the food won't be fresh), studying, and emailing, Sister Kuoch (my companion), Sister Dy, and Sister Ky, went to the mission home to grab a few needed proselyting materials and such. On our way home we ate lunch at Burger King (it is SO nice) and stopped at an American grocery story to grab some milk, cereal, and toothpaste. As we were leaving the store, we realized that it was POURING out side. Literally- cats and dogs. None of us had our ponchos, and so using the bags from our purchases, we covered our precious materials (Book of Mormon and pamphlets) and headed home. By the time we got home we were all completely soaked and- I never thought I would say this- but cold. It was a fun experience though!

This last week we were blessed with 5 new investigators!!! They all seem genuinely interested and all want to meet with us again. Only 2 of the 5 came to church yesterday, but we are hopeful they will all come next week. We also had 4 of our other progressing investigators attend church, so we were very happy about that. It is great when investigators can make it to church because they can learn SO much and feel the spirit as other members testify and teach.

Speaking of members, right now we have a recent convert, Om Pany, that is suffering from Cancer. Because of language barriers, I am not sure of all the details, but as we went to visit her this past week she was very emotional and confined to her bed (a beach chair). She was also hooked up to an IV (hanging on a coat rack). She has so much faith and wanted to attend church, but was too weak. However, it was so touching to me that her husband (not yet a member) came to church for her. He looked stressed and heart broken, but was willing to show God that he and his wife need a miracle.

On Friday I was lucky enough to do an exchange with the Sister Training Leader in this area, Sister Hartley. It was fun to be with an American, but it was also very difficult because she pushed me to do most of the talking, as I was leading the area. I was very shocked with how much I actually did know, as I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I was able to clearly teach and even read a few verses from the Book of Mormon. 

On a less spiritual note, I almost DIED! Sister Kuoch and I were heading home from our last appointment on Saturday night and were stuck in heavy traffic. There was about a foot gap between me and a Car side by side. We were stopped, when out of no where a motto (motorcyle) zoomed in between us going about 30 MPH. The side mirror of the car flew off and the car had a significant dent on the side, but the man on the motto didn't stop and zoomed away. Although I felt the breeze of it all happen, I was also left without a scratch. I know for a fact that angels were protecting me! Just a few nights before, we saw a man unresponsive laying in the middle of the road with his motto compeletely crashed. There is a rule here that if you hit someone and hurt them,  you have to pay for their medical injuries which can be very very expensive... but if you kill them, you just pay for the funeral- very cheap. So basically- you have to do everything in your power to not get hit, and if you do get hit, you need to get up and leave as soon as possible. 

Oh, one other quick miracle. The ward missionary meeting was canceled on Saturday and so Sister Kuoch and I had an hour to fill. We needed to contact 52 people that day in order to reach our weekly goal, and so we headed to the nearby library- full of college students! In less than an hour, we were able to contact those 52 people and many of them showed genuine interest! It was great!

Anyway, thank you for all your love and support and prayers! I feel them every day! I love you all! 

Love, Sister Lindley

P.S. The computer I am on this week doesn't work to send pictures- sorry!! I will send some next week!

Week 17

September 8, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was challenging, but we also saw a lot of great things happen too! Once again, one day this week, the streets were flooded with about 2 feet of water. That really makes it challenging to contact people because everyone is either in their houses or in a mad rush to get into their house. When the rain hit this time, Sister Kuoch and I had just received a call that one of our investigators had a couple friends at their house that wanted to learn. Our plans were flexible and so as we were on our way to teach them, water was spraying us from all directions... I don't even know how that happens! Once we got to our investigators house we were drenched! But that wasn't our biggest problem... because the roofs are all tin- it makes it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to hear anything. We sat there for about 30 minutes until the daughter asked why weren't teaching them! haha She said she would say the prayer and after she did, miraculously the rain slowed and we were able to teach the lesson. This family is AMAZING and their friends were also very open to learn with us as well! They have SO much faith. The Mom and ten year old son can't read, but the seven year old and 15 year old daughter can, and so they read the Book of Mormon to them each night and LOVE it. Unfortunately they aren't very educated, and so it has been difficult to understand, but just by showing Heavenly Father that they are trying is incredible and fills their home with the spirit. Yesterday they came to church for the second time and they will be getting baptized at the end of the month! 

This week was also full of lots of service. We spent a couple hours helping a less-active with her business. Basically what she does is grind up rice until it is a powder and then puts about 3 tablespoons in a little bag and seals it. Apparently Cambodians put it in soup and it is delicious. Our ward also had its turn cleaning the church this Saturday. Sister Kuoch and I decided we would go and help and so we showed up at 8 AM and discovered that the Elders from our ward were the only other people there. After a while, the second counselor from the bishopric showed up as well and between the 5 of us, we managed to clean the church. You may be thinking that it can't be that hard, but the stake centers here are HUGE! It was great to help though!

On Sunday we had quite the miracle! We had just finished Sacrament meeting, when a husband, wife, and their 1 year old son came walking in. They said that they saw all the bikes/motos out front and wondered what this church was all about. They ended up staying for 2nd and 3rd hour of church and LOVED it! Turns out they live right near our house, and so we will be teaching them this week. I am super excited!

We had two baptisms planned for this weekend, but unfortunately an issue came up with one investigator and her baptism is postponed temporarily. BUT, Sotheavy, our 14 year old investigator is getting baptized on Sunday! I am so excited for her. She is so cute!

Anyway, the work continues to move forward in the Teuk La'ak Area of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission! Tonight we are going to teach a new investigator that we found through English Class. The Lord has blessed us with MIRACLES. 

As I was reading from the Book of Mormon this morning, I read from Alma 26 and really found strength. Ammon and his brethren had just labored for years in sharing the gospel and is talking about their success and says, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." This last week there were a few times when I felt like I wanted to turn back- especially when I was biking through the rain- BUT I know that if I bear with patience the afflictions that I feel, the Lord will give me success. I know that is true for everyone that is going through ANY trial. Trust the Lord!!

I love you all!!! Thank you for the support!

Love, Sister Lindley

P.S. On a more cultural note, now that I am living with all natives, I have seen some very very interesting meals. Pig skin soup, frog, deep fried fish (the whole thing... including the eye balls!!!), etc. Luckily it doesn't offend them when I choose to eat my American food Mom sent me :)

Week 16

September 1, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was crazy!!! But every week is crazy here, so that isn't saying much :) I have officially been here for 1 transfer! Woo! I survived!! I can't remember if I told everyone this, but after about two weeks in the country, an American sister and her native companion moved into my apartment! It was great to have someone to talk to about all the cultural things I didn't understand. Well, she finished her mission on Friday, and now Sister Kuoch (my companion) and I live with two other native Cambodian missionaries! That means that I am now 100% immersed in the language, so hopefully this transfer my language skills will improve a lot. Already, I have noticed an improvement. Sister Melton (American sister that finished) had her parents at church yesterday and I was able to translate for them when she spoke! It surprised me at how much I actually know.

Anyway, now on to my week. Last Monday a couple of us sisters when to a clothing market. There were a ton of tourists there and it was weird to see so many Americans! I bought a couple fun elephant print pants for about 3 dollars each and enjoyed myself. Today we are going to a different market, a more local one and apparently a lot cheaper. It should be fun. Monday night, Sister Kuoch and I went to visit an active member that is struggling financially because her husband has a blood disease that requires him to go to the hospital to get blood transfusions twice a week. She was so sweet and really wants me to learn the language quick. She is going to teach me a lesson for about 20 minutes before we share a spiritual message tonight. I am excited!

Tuesday we had district meeting, and talked about the importance of enduring to the end. It is so important to help the members here understand this concept because so many of them think that once they are baptized they are set. We all need to continually have faith, repent, keep our baptismal covenants, and rely on the Holy Ghost to guide us!

Wednesday was CRAZY! Dark clouds rolled in at about 4 or 5 PM and then the rain just started to come... and when I say come, I mean the heavens were literally open and I was concerned we would need Noah's ark to survive. We were doing service for a less active when this all happened, and we only had about 15 minutes to get to the church for English class. Normally that would be sufficient time, but as we put on our ponchos and headed out, I realized this was going to be an adventure. We literally rode our bikes through 2 feet or more of water. There were WAVES on the street! Everyone had taken cover, but we had to get to the church and so as we rode through the streets, everyone was looking at us like we were crazy. Nevertheless, we made it to the church! Luckily the rain slowed down and about 50 or 60 people turned up for English class. Because it was the last week of the transfer, we had a murder mystery activity! Afterwards, we divided everyone into about 5 groups and taught the first lesson (in Cambodian so they could understand it). It was cool to see how many people were interested in taking a copy of the Book of Mormon! I am not sure if they wanted it because it was an English book, or because they are interested in the Gospel... but I like to think it was the latter.

Thursday was full of rain as well, which made is super hard to contact... but we met up with a less active and she took us to a referral- a family! Well, a mom and her 3 kids and 1 nephew. We have already taught them the first and second lesson and they all came to church yesterday! They are SO humble and prepared to hear the gospel message. Getting to their house was interesting and quite frankly, a little bit scary.... They live next to a small river. The name of the river is stinky water, and it is very stinky, but I am not sure it is water. It is black. We had to park our bikes a block away because as my companion puts it "ot mian savatapiap" (dont have safety). After walking next to the river for another block, we walked down an alley, up some very steep stairs, and down another alley. There were definitely angels protecting us, and I hope they will continue to protect us because this family is so awesome and we are going back three times this week :)

Our other investigators are continuing to progress, and we will hopefully be having have 2 baptisms next week! 

I can't remember what day it was, but sometime last week we made a quick stop at a members house, and she was adamant that we had to eat dinner at her house. yikes, I was more than a little nervous. As I watched/helped her make the  meal, my nerves turned to complete fear. The meal consisted of boiled pig skin, pigs foot, some sort of fish, a few baby shrimps, and a couple veggies. She also had some leftovers, of a delicacy- fish that has been preserved for a long long time and smells just wonderful. I put a smile on my face, and swallowed all my food whole. It was a great experience and super kind of her to feed us because she doesn't have much. 

I hope all is well at home, I love you all so much! Keep reading your scriptures and going to church. There is power and answers in the Book of Mormon, I promise!

Love, Sister Lindley

Week 15

August 25, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week was awesome. We received transfer calls last night and Sister Kuoch and I will be staying in Tuek Laák. The only change that affects us is that the other sisters in our apartment have switched, and now I will be living in a house full of Natives (Cambodians). I am SO grateful for this experience to learn more about Cambodia and really progress in the language. 

Right now we have four really solid progressing investigators. We had one really awesome experience with one of them last week that I want to share. We were planning on meeting with one investigator (Bong Mala), but it fell through... which was actually a miracle in disguise. We met with Bong Kontea, another investigator instead. We had planned to teach the other person about prayer and the importance of recognizing the Holy Ghost and we felt impressed to teach Bong Kontea the same thing. As we began, she asked us how we knew the Church was true. Wow, the spirit was SO strong as Sister Kuoch and I shared our experiences and testimony with her. We then asked her about her baptismal date that she was hesitant about and she said she would pray about it again. I have a feeling that good things will happen with her! 

Right now we have 2 investigators that are set to be baptized in two weeks, Sotheavy (14 year old girl) and Bong Leda (22 year old girl) and they both came to church yesterday. There is no real big concern with either of them, and they both have family members that are already members so they are being fellowshipped really well! I am excited for them to experience the blessings of making their first covenant with God! 

On a more sad note, we had to drop one investigator this last week, Ming Nuan. She is so cute, but she is addicted to alcohol and hasn't really shown us that she is willing to stop. We decided we will still meet her once a week, but for now, she needs to think about what she wants to do with the course of her life. We are hoping that she will realize how much the gospel will bless her life, and we continue to pray for her, but because this is the Lord's time, we need to make sure we use it wisely. 

On a funnier note, my bike got stolen this week! We were in teaching our recent convert, and as we went back outside we quickly realized that my bike and helmet were nowhere in sight! Luckily, there was an extra missionary bike at the church, and I found an extra helmet in our house! I am slowly adjusting to the food here, and have actually found quite a few DELICIOUS treats that they sell on the side of the road! I will try and do better at taking pictures this week... unfortunately i dont have any. We had 28 lessons last week, and this week have a goal of 30! Last week, our mission had 3,000 members attend church, which is just 400 away from our goal for the year! There are about 14,000 members here... so that tells you just how much less active work we are engaged in! The work is great and moving forward! I love you all!

Love, 
Sister Lindley