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
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