Cambodia

Cambodia

Officebourne

I serve in the International Branch now. It is the coolest branch in the entire mission. It should be called the fish-out-of-water branch because everyone here is so random. We have a Palestinian recent convert, 4 broke Nigerian investigators, a Sri-Lankan former spy with 2 kids that only speak Khmae, an infamous former mission president, a bunch of people working at the embassy who are probably CIA, and much more. It is the most diverse branch in the entire world probably. I love it.

                                       We taught a crazy lesson to these guys this week: 

The drunk Asian guy is Visal, the black guy with the glasses is Patrick, and the other black guy is Tony. Both of the black guys are Nigerian. Both of them are investigators. Both of them are broke. Both of them were supposed to meet with us separately but they showed up at the same time. 
So it was already awkward that we had to teach them both together. But then a drunk guy starts talking to us from across the store. By the way we are in a random convenience store in the city. The random guy tells us that he is a priest in the LDS church since 1996 but he has been inactive since 2006. So we talk to him for a second and then he comes over and starts helping us teach our investigators about the Book of Mormon. It turned out to be a decent lesson. He actually still knew what he was talking about. But it was a nuts lesson.

      This is my comp. His name is E. Lambert. We were companions in the MTC. He is majestic.


                                                               We drive a car now! 
                         
                             President Christensen puts stuff like this on my desk now: 

                        One of my good friends Elder Kim finished his mission this week!


Life is good. This week I learned that if you don't eat any food you will probably not feel good and then get sick. My advice to you is to eat food.

More advice: Watch General Conference. If you don't know where to start just go with this one: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/tomorrow-the-lord-will-do-wonders-among-you?lang=eng

I hope you like it.
Love,
Elder Osborne

CAR WASH YEAH

My comp and his brothers:

We did a free car wash this week. Credit for the idea goes out to Elder Hall. It was super dope. We got a bunch of supplies and made some big signs and put on a bunch of sunscreen and then washed cars for 4 hours on Saturday afternoon. The people would come into the church parking lot with their car or moto and park it and then sit down under the shade at a table full of pamphlets and pass-along cards. A set of sisters would be siting right there to talk to them and explain about the gospel. In 4 hours we got about 40 people to come and get their stuff washed. Super worth it. Would recommend 10/10.

Pics!







Aaaaaand, we had to have the most classic song of all time playing the entire 4 hours: 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-IWIHxmYRw

This week I said some goodbyes and took some goodbye pictures because I'm leaving Battambang.

Pu Thy and family:


Bong Thai: 

My ghetto comp:

My favorite family in Cambodia:


This morning we had a little going away party with the whole crew!

Swag cake:

Goofs:


I sure will miss Battambang!

Sorry for the short email! I'll get you a good one next week!
Have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end!

Love,
Elder Osborne

One Year in Cambotown

This week we partied hard. We celebrated the equinox with avocado shakes. We taught 31 lessons. We found some new investigators.

Monday: We rode the bamboo train!

                                       VIDEO -- https://youtu.be/Z2gZbHjbi6M


We had family home evening with our former Branch President. We played a game where everyone has to go around and say one fruit and you can’t repeat. The catch is that you can’t show your teeth at all!!!!!! wow. If you lose then you get smacked in the face by a handful of baby powder.



Tuesday: A member needed some help moving dirt to make a new room in his house. So all 10 of the missionaries in Battambang went to his house and helped shovel and carry dirt buckets for a few hours. And then they fed us mangoes and apples and deep fried breaded bananas.

Wednesday: We celebrated the equinox. Even though it wasn’t actually the equinox we just needed something to celebrate. So we taught some lessons and got avocado shakes and taught English class.

Thursday: We made a super good khmae dish call khaa. You take palm sugar and cook it until it’s all candied and then cook pork belly in it and then add water and let the water simmer down on low heat for 3 hours. We also put hard boiled eggs in it to cook in the flavor and then we added bok choi at the end. It was magical.

Friday: I went on exchange with my former companion Elder Olson!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a beautiful reunion. And it felt like an eternal reunion because it was a really long day!!!! So fun. I am very thankful for all of my companions and I'm thankful that I'm friends with all of them!!!

Saturday: We went to a place called Aek Phnom to contact. It is a 30 minute bike ride out. It was really cool. Some way old ruins.

Then we had some good lessons with our investigator. The lady on the left is Koy.


Sunday: We rode our bikes up to the church and our branch presidency was outside talking about how they had nobody to speak in Sacrament meeting. So me, another sister, and Sister Spencer (our senior couple) were assigned on the spot to talk about Christ on Easter. It went pretty alright. I shared about the fall of Adam and Eve and then the Atonement and especially the Resurrection. I said that I know I will be able to meet my grandpa one day and that everyone else will meet their ancestors again. I love Easter. A couple of our less active members showed up too!

Including Bong Ra!!!


Then we gave Alex a blessing because he’s been puking a bunch!!!



That was my week! Thanks so much! Love you!

Swaggy Old Dude:



Love,
Elder Osborne
Read more »

Siem Reap

This week we did an exchange in Siem Reap with Elders Walker and Xiong. Holy cow. It's a different world up there. Definitely not Cambodia. It's about 10 years ahead of the rest of the country. I took a lot of pics. 

The night we got to Siem Reap there was a big concert going on right next to the Elders' house and it sucked out all of the electricity in the whole area. At 10 pm we called President and asked if we could get a hotel for the night. So at 10:30 we all put our PJ's on and rode bikes 15 minutes over to a little hostel owned by one of the members in SR. All 8 of us slept in one tiny room with 4 bunk beds. It was epic. Then we rode back to the house in the morning and we had an epic day. The day included renting a Giant bike, eating a $15 burger at Hard Rock Cafe, riding past Angkor Wat, and teaching some lessons.

Khmae dictionary - dope (verb). To dope someone is to give them a ride on the back of your bike/moto. It is very common for Cambodians and elders to dope each other if there is a lack of bikes. The person getting doped is usually the loser because it is very uncomfortable.

We taught a couple of good lessons while in Siem Reap but one of them was my favorite. We taught a guy named Meytrey. Coincidentally, he is the owner of the hostel we stayed at. We taught him about repentance and the Atonement because we are trying to get him back to church. At the beginning of the lesson Elder Walker asked a super good question. He asked "Do you think God loves you?" There was a moment of silence and then he said that he didn't know for sure. When he said this the Spirit rushed through me and I had a huge burst of love for this man. I felt that if he didn't know God loved him then at least I did and I needed to tell him. I waited for the right moment in the lesson and then expressed my testimony that as a representative of Jesus Christ I knew that He loved this man. I felt the Holy Ghost confirm my words and charity warmed in my heart. I'm so grateful to be here and be His representative to help people know that He loves them.

I REQUEST YOUR HELP! 
In English class every week we share a 30 minute spiritual thought after we are done teaching. Usually it's pretty hard to keep people interested, especially the members that come. We teach the spiritual thought in English and then have a translator stand up there with us. This last week I downloaded the new Easter video and showed it to the class. It was super good and most people payed attention. I request for you all to hook me up with some other good videos I could share. It would be best if they were super easy to understand and didn't have too much talking in them. If you could send me some links so I can download them next week that would be super useful!!! THANK YOU!

Can you see the resemblance?

Cute grand-kids of our investigator:

Mango season is ramping up!

Allred's Kitchen VIDEO: https://youtu.be/-cya9_chNTs

Love you!
Love,
Elder Osborne

Catch you on the flipity-flip

Hello.

We played a game at English class:

VIDEO:     https://youtu.be/2aNHChDKBk8

My comp is black now:




It's not what it looks like:


(it's herbal tea)

Things on my mind this week:
  • Alma 42
  • Our best investigator who just moved to Siem Reap
  • Turning outwards. Not being selfish.
  • How to teach lesson 1 without confusing people.
  • The light of Christ
  • Pokemon
  • White rice. It is the devil.

My sister asked me a question and I went overboard so I don't have much time to write much else.

From Sally: Question of the week. How did you gain your testimony of a living Prophet? What is the prophet's role in the church and what does that mean for us? 

My answer: MY FAVORITE QUESTION!!! I know for a fact that we have a living Prophet on this earth. He has 2 inspired councilors. We also have 12 Apostles who know Christ personally. I have a distinct and separate testimony that each one of these men are called of God.

At the beginning of my mission I liked to read talks by the Apostles and stuff. They had some cool things to say. They are really smart and they know a lot about the scriptures. But sometimes I would read something they said and dismiss it because I thought it wasn't really correct and that they didn't actually know what life is really about. I remember reading one talk in particular and thinking it was a bunch of bologna. I was kind of frustrated at it and I told my comp. I said that I didn't like the talk at all and didn't believe what it said about a sensitive subject. My comp (who I will ever be grateful for) told me straight up that my thinking was stupid. That kinda stung. I was butt-hurt a little bit. But that night I couldn't get to sleep. I just kept thinking about what he said. After thinking about it for a while in bed my hurt feelings went away and I realized that he was right. I prayed to Heavenly Father to help me be more humble, to help me forgive my comp, and to help me to be more submissive to Christs Apostles.

Since then I have purposely downloaded every BYU devotional by every living apostle and listened to them all along with various conference talks. When I listen to them speak I can feel the authority in their voices. After I listen I pray and ask if they really are called to be Apostles and if what they said was really true. Then I listen. I have gotten personal confirmations of the Spirit for each of those 15 men. I know that each of them are men called of God to guide us in this day.

Now for the role of the Prophet. The Prophet is the mouthpiece for the Lord. He is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything. The living Prophet is more vital to us than the scriptures. If I could have a living Prophet or all the standard works I would take the Prophet. The Prophet can lead us on any subject. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time. He could speak on basketball or Japanese anime if he wanted. He wont, but if he did we would follow it. He can definitely speak on moral matters such as gay marriage or abortion. The Prophet will never lead us astray. He will not necessarily be popular to the world. I know that if we follow the Prophet we will be blessed. We need to conform our thinking to follow him and the Apostles. If we ever listen to something that the Prophet said and think it is wrong we need to humble ourselves and repent. I feel very strongly about this and I know it is true.

I love the Prophet and the Apostles. They are genius and successful men if you ask the world. But that pails in comparison to the fact that they are called of God to receive revelation to lead His church on the earth in this day.


Love,
Elder Osborne

It's Complicated

After a day in Cambodia you can write a page about it.
After a week you can write an essay.
After a month you can write an book.
After a year in Cambodia all you can say about it is "its complicated."

Yesterday President Christensen came up to Battambang to work out a hairy situation with some members. We had to translate. Basically there was a disagreement, it got physical, a lawsuit is happening. And thus we see, despite our perfect doctrine and perfect Leader (Christ), our members are still not perfect. Which is okay. We are working on it.

Last week we spent $15 on ice cream sandwiches:



This we had our big leadership meeting in the city again. It was super good this time. Its always good. But sometimes its actually not that good. This time it was more of a council meeting and we all got to ask questions and talk about our zones. Elder Allred and I made a zone vision and we got to share it with the Jedi council. Our vision for our missionaries in our zone is to become Zion-builders and better conduits for the spirit. We are going to focus on strengthening our branches to make them more like Zion and we are going to be obedient in order to have the spirit with us always. I heard a talk in the MTC by Elder Cook that said "missionaries are not the marketing department of the church, they are the branch and ward builders." I thought that was really cool and we will incorporate that into our zone this transfer.

Some weird elders at the Jedi council meeting:


Hitting the city:



This week my testimony of a living Prophet has been growing. The President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Prophet of God. His name is Thomas S. Monson. He will not lead us astray. If we follow his council we will prosper.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson_fourteen-fundamentals-following-prophet/

I know that this church is true even if its members are not perfect.

Love,
Elder Osborne

TREAT YO SELF

Sometimes you just gotta treat yo self. 

This week we started off with a party.



Then we chilled at the Sky Bar. 



Then Elder Asay and I had to go our separate ways. 


It was sad.




But then we partied again at the mission home.



And reunited with some old friends. 



Then I met my new comp. Without prior communication we wore the matching ties we bought on our exchange we did together 10 months ago.




Then we partied some more at English class.


Then we saw the sunrise.




It has been a good week. My new comp Elder Allred is super fun. We talk a lot. Its going to be a fun and fast transfer.

These past couple weeks we have been working with active members a lot. We decided that we can't really do much without the help of our branch so we are trying to enlist them on to our train to salvation. We will all shovel coal into the furnace together. Its been cool to really get to know the members in our branch and hear their stories.

When we go over to members houses we usually share a lesson about the restoration and Joseph Smith. They all know it by heart already but it is always good to review and share the first vision again. I always try to make it so I'm the one who gets to recite the vision because I love doing it. We talk about the restoration and the church and then we ask the member "what blessings have you received from the restoration and the restored church?" Everyone always goes off about all the good changes that have happened in their lives since they have joined the church. New views on life, broken addictions, fixed families and marriages. So many good things come from the gospel.
Then we invite them to work with us by asking,
"Do you know of anyone else that would like to receive blessings like you?"

We have had a decent amount of success actually. We received 3 referrals in the first week we tried this. Now we are teaching a new family because of it. I know that this work is for every member. We all need to help out and care about others. As we open up and share the gospel we are inviting others to be happy.
Sharing the gospel is one huge fulfillment to the commandment
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".

Go invite a friend to learn with the missionaries!

Love you all. Thanks for the birthday jokes!!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Osborne

Hello Everybody



Sometimes you just gotta treat yo self. https://www.dropbox.com/s/w91r8hgpjquof6k/IMG_0984.JPG?dl=0

This week we started off with a party: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r6c4d6qt7vpve9u/IMG_0941.JPG?dl=0

Then we chilled at the Sky Bar: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk4mmo41ztvix8q/IMG_0951.JPG?dl=0

Then Elder Asay and I had to go our separate ways: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wgyxluvl4fptye7/IMG_0955.JPG?dl=0


But then we partied again at the mission home https://www.dropbox.com/s/30qdla9471sxb12/IMG_0959.JPG?dl=0


Then met my new comp. Without prior communication we wore the matching ties we bought on our exchange we did together 10 months ago. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4tut5au9dcy97sb/IMG_0960.JPG?dl=0

Then we partied some more at English class https://www.dropbox.com/s/0p360pqq85fh9fw/IMG_0976.JPG?dl=0



It has been a good week. My new comp Elder Allred is super fun. We talk a lot. Its going to be a fun and fast transfer.

These past couple weeks we have been working with active members a lot. We decided that we can't really do much without the help of our branch so we are trying to enlist them on to our train to salvation. We will all shovel coal into the furnace together. Its been cool to really get to know the members in our branch and hear their stories.

When we go over to members houses we usually share a lesson about the restoration and Joseph Smith. They all know it by heart already but it is always good to review and share the first vision again. I always try to make it so I'm the one who gets to recite the vision because I love doing it. We talk about the restoration and the church and then we ask the member "what blessings have you received from the restoration and the restored church?" Everyone always goes off about all the good changes that have happened in their lives since they have joined the church. New views on life, broken addictions, fixed families and marriages. So many good things come from the gospel. Then we invite them to work with us by asking "Do you know of anyone else that would like to receive blessings like you?"

We have had a decent amount of success actually. We received 3 referrals in the first week we tried this. Now we are teaching a new family because of it. I know that this work is for every member. We all need to help out and care about others. As we open up and share the gospel we are inviting others to be happy. Sharing the gospel is one huge fulfillment to the commandment "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".

Go invite a friend to learn with the missionaries!

Love you all. Thanks for the birthday jokes!!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Osborne

BALD



hello i cut all my hair off. it was annoying. https://www.dropbox.com/s/0jyrru6gx7pm2vn/IMG_0898.JPG?dl=0

Our AC broke. Good thing we have a trillion fans. https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cwuzoeurf3lq5r/IMG_0894.JPG?dl=0

We met a cool old guy who really didnt want to learn about Jesus at all but he really wanted to give us some coconuts. Of course we accepted. Who turns down a coconut? https://youtu.be/o6rxBserIGI

Just Kidding. It just Angelina Jolie shooting a movie about the Khmer Rouge.

This week we got to watch a big training video by some Apostles and people on the missionary committee. It was awesome. My favorite part of it was when Elder Bednar taught a lesson about the Holy Ghost to a classroom of 20 missionaries. He talked about our role in teaching people vs. the role of the Holy Ghost. As a missionary and as a teacher our role is to bring the message of the gospel "unto" the heart of the learner. We cannot force our message into anyone or force them to follow Christ. All we can do is teach them to bring it "unto" their heart and them invite them to "act" in order for them to allow the Holy Ghost to bring the gospel "into" their hearts. Pretty complicated huh.

We cannot force anyone to follow us. Gods gift of moral agency cannot be taken away. We can only teach and then invite people to test out our message. If they test it out with an honest heart then the Holy Ghost will confirm to them that the gospel is true. 

I want to tell all of you that the Book of Mormon is true. It testifies of Christ and shows us the way to follow Him. Every time I read the Book of Mormon I feel the Holy Ghost testify to me that it is true. I know it is true. I want to invite all of you to test out this teaching. Try reading the Book of Mormon and see if it is not true.

How many Bishops does it take to change a light bulb? 
Just one, but the light bulb really has to want to change.

We have been teaching some people and inviting them to act recently. One cool new investigators that we have right now is a guy named Chai. He and his son started learning 2 weeks ago. Teaching them is super weird because they live in a hotel on the 4th floor so its suuuuper quiet every time we go over. A nice change to the usual hectic lessons on the side of road next to a busy market. Chai was shy to pray the first time we met him but then the second time we went over he gave the coolest most sincere prayer ever asking to know if what we taught him was actually true. We just gave him a Book of Mormon this week so hopefully he will get his answer soon and commit to repent and be baptized. 

Life is good. We are all just trying to be perfect. But we're not. But we're trying so its all good. One day we'll get there. Keep trying.

Love,
Elder Osborne

P.S. Shout out to Grandma Juanita for emailing me! Keep it fresh Grams!

I love Cambodian bus rides

I don't have a lot of time. We are going to Phnom Penh in a couple of minutes.

So this is my video https://youtu.be/gq3XvrtR-eI

We had a couple of pairs of extra glasses laying around our house so I put them in my backpack. A lady that we visited said she couldn't see very well so I gave her a pair of glasses and they worked! https://www.dropbox.com/s/ir5s8akrbh65hg8/IMG_0852.JPG?dl=0


We took a taxi 3 hours to Siem Reap to do some interviews. I got the best seat: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xr9pkwsfy8g2a13/IMG_0863.JPG?dl=0

This week has been really good. We've had a lot of disappointments but we are holding on to a lot of shining lights in our area at the moment.

I heard a quote in a BYU devo recently that said something like "When we focus on the good in a situation we find the energy to fix the things that are bad."
This is true! Be optimistic. You will have more energy to fix what's wrong. 

Yesterday was Chinese New Year so nobody came to church. We aren't even in China. But, our cool recent converts came so it was totally worth it! I got to pass the sacrament with a young man I taught. How cool!

I love this work. I love my mission.

Love,
Elder Osborne

Monkey Mountain

We went to a cool place. Monkeys are a lot scarier than I realized.

We also had a baptism!! Rithy and Dary are the coolest! https://www.dropbox.com/s/w9x42cumox8bpin/IMG_0826.JPG?dl=0

I feel like we just started teaching them! Because we did!!! These 2 were the easiest investigators of all time. Its like we didnt have to teach them at all. We just gave them the Book of Mormon and they taught themselves! It was awesome to see them progress so quickly as they read the Book of Mormon. This is how all investigators should work! The Book of Mormon will teach you all you need to know. Its just getting people to read it is the hard part. Dary said "At the beginning I was nervous and didnt know if I really wanted to be a Christian. But then I started ready this book and now I'm not scared at all. I'm ready." The Book of Mormon really is the foundation of our testimony of Christ. It contains the fullness of the gospel. If you just read it everything will make sense, I promise.

We have one family in our branch that used to be super solid. Now they are less active because they got into a bunch of debt and are super busy paying it all off. They sell sugar cane juice on the corner of one street in our area so every day we do our part and go buy some juice for 25 cents and sit with them for a couple minutes. Sometimes I wish I could do more.

This week I was listening to a question and answer session by Elder Bednar. He was at the MTC and was talking to a bunch of missionaries. He got a bunch of good questions and he had a bunch of even better answers. His answers were all really good but there was one thing that stood out to me even more than his actual answers. He was about to bare his testimony and he said "As a servant of the Lord and as an Apostle of Jesus Christ..." Right then I felt the spirit super strongly. The spirit testified to me that what he said was true. I learned for myself in that moment that Elder Bednar was a real apostle of Christ. It didnt come from his words or his answers or from any other source than God. I know that Elder Bednar was called of God to be an Apostle on the earth at this time.

After being effected by his testimony I have started to testify in the power and authority of my calling as well. I say something like "As a servant of God, I promise..." and then I testify to my investigators. Its been really cool and a couple times I have felt the spirit super strongly too. I know God has called me to this work. Even though I am super not perfect He still trusts me. 

I love my mission.

Love,
Elder Osborne

Batman

We are going to some bat caves today. I don't think we'll see the bats though because they come out at night. Its going to be cool though.

On our way to church yesterday we saw a less active that we have been working with. He was riding his moto and said hi to us as he rode next to us. He was dressed up in a white shirt and slacks! Super stoked! So we asked him if he was going to church right? NOPE. hes going to somebody's wedding. Dang it. lol. 

The lady giving the closing prayer at church got up and recited the Lord's prayer. Nice.

Why do we obey? What motivates us to be obedient and follow Heavenly Fathers commandments? 
A fear of punishment? To get rich? to get a hot wife? to look cool and be the AP? out of love for others? out of love for God?

Any obedience is better than disobedience. But I have learned that the motives behind our obedience is so important. Willing obedience is so much more effective that unwilling obedience.

As missionaries we have the opportunity to serve and obey everyday. We get up, study, ride our bikes, teach, and talk to people. All of this can either be done grudgingly or with love as our motive. If we simply do the work we are definitely doing a good thing. We are helping people change their lives. But if we do it with the wrong attitude an motives we can still be unhappy and not receive any growth because of our service.

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

We need to think about why we obey. As missionaries we need to think about why we serve. I think that when we desire to be obedient in order to better serve others and better serve God we are on the right track. I have been asking for charity in every single prayer for a couple months now and I know I am starting to change. 

Why do you obey?

Love,
Elder Osborne

My week in video form: https://youtu.be/_o3OYeXvGzg

This email is mostly unimportant

Hello!

We have been teaching a couple really good investigators. One of our recent converts told us that his little brother and mom wanted to learn with us so we have been teaching them for the past couple weeks. They are so prepared!! His mom Dari has always wanted to join a Christian church since she was a kid. She always saw the children praying and singing hymns and wanted to join but her parents were strict Buddhists. Now that he son has joined and she has a way to learn she is eating everything up like candy. She is in 2nd Nephi and has already finished reading the BoM stories picture book. She and her family have come to church the last 2 weeks. Its so refreshing to see somebody so excited about the gospel. She recognizes the worth of what she is learning and is so happy. She has already told her whole family about it and invited them all to learn too. Maybe some more will come of that. She and her youngest son are scheduled for baptism on the 30th. Please pray for Dari and Rithy.

My week in video form! https://youtu.be/oPH6LLs7O28

Love,
Elder Osborne

This next part is entirely unrelated and unimportant. Read as you wish. 

We have this one investigator who is quite friendly and fruity. He oft invites us to come back to his place at night. Most of the time we decline. But this week we taught him and it was weird and I just want to give you a picture of this setting real quick. 

He lives in a 15 by 15 foot room. There is a single queen-sized mattress on the floor covering most of the room. The main other corner of the room contains a big Buddhist shrine with golden statues and fake flowers and rotting bananas that have been used in a ritual. The walls are completely bare except for a bunch of dirt splotches, 2 weird framed portraits of his grandparents, and pink curtain lace draped across the middle of the room. https://www.dropbox.com/s/g4j9zirpxo353ph/IMG_0109.JPG?dl=0

We walk up to his place after scheduling him an hour before. He is sitting outside on a table in nothing but a towel. Okay, pretty normal for Cambodia. We say hey. Then we look to go in his room and see a random girl chilling on his bed. Well, thats a little awkward because we are planning to teach him the law of chastity today. Elder Asay looks at me uneasily. I know what hes thinking. I only say one word to him. "Yolo". So we sit down and the girl gets up and sits around with us just like its normal. I guess she will listen in too. So we start the lesson with a prayer. We start talking to him, asking if he has prayed and read the scriptures lately. He says yes. We start teaching about commandments and the law of chastity and then we are going thru the points thinking it is really awkward because this random girl is there. Then another teenage kid walks into the room and sits down. Doesn't say anything. We keep teaching. Then we see the girl and the kid make some weird hand signals to each other. Wait, its sign language. What the crap. They're both deaf! Why does our investigator have 2 deaf people staying at his house with him?? And this whole time we thought it was awkward telling this lesson when actually this girl couldnt hear anything we said. 

At the end of teaching the commandment we ask him if he has any questions or concerns with what we taught him. He said that lots of guys come to him and ask to be his boyfriend but he always just tells them no. Mhmm. We close everything up and as we are saying a closing prayer another person walks in the room. "Amen". We look up and see a rather large man bending to lay down on the bed right behind our investigator. Yep. Totally.

That was entirely unimportant but I just wanted to pull you into my life a little bit. Cambodia!
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)