Transferred and The Island

Hey! I am gonna be super lazy this week so here are some bullet points of what happened and what's new with me and my area:

• The night before we left for my new area, Kampong Cham, my two favorite Cambodian families fed us dinner! So yeah two dinners in one night! I had only had one dinner appointment my whole mission before that night, I almost forgot I was in Cambodia (jokes).    It was really hard to say goodbye to them. 

• Transfers were crazy. Packing, riding the bus, then having the bus breaking down and finally getting into the city late, 10:15pm! Then up again at 5 am to play basketball so I was really tired, but BALL IS LIFE!

• We chilled in the city (Phnom Penh) until Thursday because Elder Cunningham's Visa was messed up and we have to go back down again this Wednesday, but it was fun to eat a lot of American food and to chill with all the Elders that I love so much and hadn't seen for so long!

• I am serving in Branch 2 in Kampung Cham. The branch is super awesome and there are some really great members, but on average we only get about 40 to 50 people at church every week, which makes things hard. 

• We have 5 investigators which is a lot different from Battambang, but the best part about it is 2 of the 5 are some of the strongest, most intelligent, and most faithful people I have ever taught. They are amazing. Lee Meng is a 40-year-old who is an absolute baller, and he is already helping the branch run better and giving advice. He knows five languages and he drives a car. Also, he has been to church for 5 weeks straight, all three hours. YUP! 

• The other guy is Chantuu. He is a college kid age, but he is just straight brilliant. We read the scriptures with him, and he understands everything better than me. Super cool!!!!! So things are good. Lot's of time spent finding new people, but we just need to trust in the Lord and be grateful for those elect that we do have. 

• This area is hard because there are huge empty fields that take up about a fourth of our area, then we have the city part of KC which takes up about half of our area, and is all shops, and lastly all the area that isn't in those two parts is either too far away or is Muslim. 

• In Khmer, Cham means Muslim and Kampung means port. So basically this place is the port of Muslims. Long story short, they aren't as nice and friendly, and it is much harder to have people to listen to our message, but you GOTTA LOVE IT, BABY! 

• The best part about my area is that we have the island in it. I am not sure what the island is called, but it is just straight beautiful. I love it there. It is a long bike ride, but being on the island makes me feel like I am in rural Cambodia where I belong. It is amazing there. Also, the church building here is BRAND NEW and it is way dope!

Anyway,  To end I will share a little bit of the talk I gave in Sacrament yesterday. 

Our faith must be centered around Jesus Christ. When I first entered my mission I thought that faith was believing in things you couldn't see. Which is true. But true faith is more than that. I could have faith that Duke is gonna win the national championship this year, but if that didn't happen  - then what? Did I not have sufficient faith? Obviously, that comparison is a stretch, but what is most important, is building our Faith around the only perfect being that has ever walked the Earth. Around our Savior, Jesus Christ. The only faith that can be pure, trusted and sufficient, is faith in Him. In his love, in his Atonement, and in his mercy, to offer us a second chance and the chance to have eternal life. One of my favorite verses is found in Ether 15:34. 

It reads, "Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I 

be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen."

Our whole purpose in this life should be centered around our eternal salvation, around our chance to achieve eternal life with the help of our perfect, Heavenly Advocate, Jesus Christ. Although we all face trials and suffer, we may always have faith and hope that through Jesus Christ everything will be okay! 

I love my mission and these people, and I desire their salvation! Please center your life around receiving the most glorious gift God has to offer and look to the future with hope!

Joy in the Journey! I met a dude who knew Donovan Mitchell. All the way out here in crazy Cambodia. That is how you know he is gonna be a legend! OOPS. Go Titans, Utes, Duke and everyone else. Also, read the Book of Mormon! I love you all!

// Elder Gochnour