Joy In The Journey

Phnom Simpov

So the first news of the week is I officially reached 180 lbs. on the mission....! WHAT THE. 

I guess all I have to say is oops hahaha. This country will really do it to you. The good news is that I am just packing on the pounds because Dengue fever has increased by 300% in Cambodia.... So just in case I catch it I will have a few extra pounds to lose :) (don't worry mom I wear bug spray)

Anyway super amazing week this week! I LOVE MY MISSION! I am just gonna cut right to the chase. We had a lot of success this week and hopefully, we will have four baptisms this week. I don't know why, but the Lord is really helping us out here. Please pray that everything can go smoothly and that they can enter into the straight and narrow path because life can get pretty crazy here sometimes.

A really humbling experience happened this week. We got a referral from this recently returned missionary and he led us to their house. These people were poor. Like really really poor. They are both about 55 years old and they have a two-year-old child. The Dad has hurt legs and is hardly able to walk, and cannot leave the house because they don't have a Moto and he can't ride a bike. The wife collects aluminum cans all day, every day and yet she only makes about 50 cents a day. Yes, 50 cents. She works about five to six hours every day for fifty cents. I don't really know how they eat. I don't know how they survive, but yet they still have hope. They let us share about God and you could really see the hope enter into their eyes as they gained the knowledge of an ultimate being that loves them limitless. This place is really humbling. I feel so spoiled for the things that I used to take for granted back home. That couple, who has nothing, scraping by with the raw necessities of life, had happiness. And although they don't know if they are going to eat tomorrow they still smile and laugh. Humbling. 

Other than that we had a fun trip to Phnom Simpov last week again! It is pretty amazing there. Look up pictures if you don't know what I am talking about cause I can't send any. Lot's of monkeys, shrines, and caves! Also went on an exchange with Elder Lackey on Friday. He is a great guy!

I don't really want to write much more this week so I am gonna keep it pretty short... Pretty crazy that I hit my 6 month mark this week. 

One thing that I realized when I was studying is that our earth life is a lot like when missionaries go out and serve a mission. We came to earth to learn, grow, gain experiences and be tested. I came on my mission to share the gospel, but also to strengthen my own testimony, to learn, to grow, to live on my own, to become independent. The similarities are crazy. When Adam and Eve fell they were cast out of the Garden and were taken away from the gift of being in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Here in Cambodia, I am very far from the presence of my amazing Earthly parents. We have trials in life that allow us to become stronger and help us to learn for ourselves. I have had trials on my mission that have tested my faith, and allowed me to learn for myself. When I first got to my mission I was looking forward to the day that I could go home and step off the plane and just have everything be over, but this week I have realized (with the help of my Dad) that it is always about the JOURNEY! 

Right now I don't want to go home, but I am learning that that is part of the process.  I do look forward to the day that I can be reunited with my family. This week my thought process has changed a lot. I have realized how much I love these people of Battambang, and of Cambodia in general. I fear the day that I have to leave these people and say goodbye to this amazing, fun and unique culture. 

I think that is how our earth life is too. We come to Earth and we build relationships, friends, and meet amazing people. We don't want to leave them. Death is a part of our earthly life and no one looks forward to death but it is a hope for us to live with our Father in Heaven again.  I know I am not making much sense, but what I am really trying to get across is that LIFE and this mission is all about the JOURNEY!!!!! 

I was thinking about 2 Nephi 2:25 "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." This holds true for my mission too. I left my parents, friends, and home to come to this place. But that shouldn't be a sad thing. It should be something that allows JOY!!! So, in the end, I just want to say that I am trying to find joy in this journey. I am trying to enjoy every single day whether it is sweating in the hot sun, gaining weight, killing spiders, or fixing my bike. I would invite all of you to find JOY IN THE JOURNEY as well. Don't waste time waiting for life to be perfect and to be in a situation where everything is going smooth. Every situation and place in your life should be a time of happiness. Don't be someone that is always waiting for tomorrow to be happy. BE HAPPY TODAY. Those good days will come, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the bad ones too!

A quick quote from President Hinckley "Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef in tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.

Life is just like an old time rail journey…delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

Anyway, that is all I got for this week! Sorry, I wrote so much. FINAL SHOUT OUT TO RALPH AND ABBY FOR MAKING ME AN UNCLE!!!!! SO EXCITING!!!! I LOVE THAT CUTE BABY OLIVER JAMES!!! And also you named him after me without even realizing it hahaha YUP! In Khmae James and Jacob are the same name, so yeah, taking after his favorite uncle already. OOPS! 

P.S. I took James McDougal's advice and tried to use the quote "I am not a businessman, I am a business, man." by Jay-Z in Khmer and let me tell you, it didn't work out. 

JOY IN THE JOURNEY!!

Elder Gochnour