This week was a great one like always! To start off we got our transfer calls: I will be staying in Siem Riep and my new companion will be Elder Moore from Lehi UT. I am excited to go to work!
They will be splitting our area which is kinda interesting because the work is a little bit slow right now, but hopefully, we can get it going, and on the bright side we won't have to bike so far now! Only just kinda far. I will be sad to leave the legendary trio, but like they say all good things must come to an end (except eternal happiness because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Well anywayyy I will still be zone leader with Elder Baird my former comp and it should be a good transfer! Also, my other former comp Elder Tuft got called as Assistant shout out to the legend!
We got to go to Angkor Wat today which was an amazing experience. Everyone should go there at least once in their life. It is truly a symbol of a nation here, and I am so grateful to serve is this beautiful and unique country. The best in the world.
Missionary work is the best work. We should be having a baptism this upcoming week for a 10-year-old who has gone to church his whole life, but his parents let him live with his grandparents and they didn't baptize him when he was 8. Sadly, a common thing here, but I love connecting with the little kids and seeing how pure their hearts are, even if they don't fully understand the significance of all the doctrine. He knows that God loves him and that he has a prophet who leads and guides this church! What more could you need? We have some other really cool investigators that we have been working with, but we have struggled to find time to meet with them and get them to church. We are doing our best, but kinda just the story of life as a missionary! We have a lot of potentials so hopefully, things start speeding up and our investigators get going!
This week we went on exchanges with the Assistants which meant a 6-hour bus down and back, so that kinda wrecked our week. However, on that bus, I had the chance to read in the book, Jesus the Christ! What an amazing book. I am almost finished and I read a lot about the conviction, trial, and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Some pretty sad stuff. In reading, I became more aware of the injustice that Jesus Christ faced in his life here on earth. I think that we all feel like life is not fair. “Why can't we be cool and popular like them? Why can't I be smarter, funnier, kinder? Why did this hard/bad thing happen to such a good person? Why did God place me in such an unfair circumstance?” I think that we have all asked ourselves one of those questions before. I know I have. I see it here every day in Cambodia. These amazing Christlike people who face challenges financially and physically that we can't even imagine. Hardships that don't even compare. Why? As of recently, I have thought a lot about the justice and mercy of God. The age-old question all rings in our heads, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
This week I found an answer of my own. Take a second to look at Jesus Christ. The kindest of us all. The most humble. Our perfect older brother. He never mistreated or misused another person. He never spoke an ill word. And yet He, the greatest of all, was forced to face betrayal. He who never sinned was condemned on false charges. He who forgave, served and helped, with pure love, was forced to suffer on the cross. Is that fair? Is God an unjust God? No. We will have trials, that is part of this life. But it will never be something we can't handle or that he will leave us alone to handle on our own. This world isn't fair, but that doesn't mean that God isn't perfectly just. He will exalt us and bless us more than we can ever imagine. We must endure with grace and humility. Christ was asked to suffer and He did it willingly. Can't we follow His perfect example and do the same? I invite you all if you have ever felt that your life is unfair, to take a few steps to Calvary and bear His cross. Yes, this life isn't fair, but because of Him, everything will be made right. Every hardship we can push through in this life and everything that felt unfair or unequal will just be a greater blessing bestowed on us in the life to come. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His perfect example to me. May we all try to be a little bit more like Him this week, and forever.
This week I found an answer of my own. Take a second to look at Jesus Christ. The kindest of us all. The most humble. Our perfect older brother. He never mistreated or misused another person. He never spoke an ill word. And yet He, the greatest of all, was forced to face betrayal. He who never sinned was condemned on false charges. He who forgave, served and helped, with pure love, was forced to suffer on the cross. Is that fair? Is God an unjust God? No. We will have trials, that is part of this life. But it will never be something we can't handle or that he will leave us alone to handle on our own. This world isn't fair, but that doesn't mean that God isn't perfectly just. He will exalt us and bless us more than we can ever imagine. We must endure with grace and humility. Christ was asked to suffer and He did it willingly. Can't we follow His perfect example and do the same? I invite you all if you have ever felt that your life is unfair, to take a few steps to Calvary and bear His cross. Yes, this life isn't fair, but because of Him, everything will be made right. Every hardship we can push through in this life and everything that felt unfair or unequal will just be a greater blessing bestowed on us in the life to come. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His perfect example to me. May we all try to be a little bit more like Him this week, and forever.
Funny story to end this week: Because we went to Angkor this week we wanted to get haircuts so we could look fresh. There is this Elder named Elder Nhiev, who is an absolute legend from Jacksonville Florida. He went to public school in Florida so I thought that of course, he knew how to give me a fresh fade! Welllll..... let's just say that he didn't. I ended up with a pretty comical haircut on the back of my head, but it is all for the experience! Sorry, mom! (he ended up trying to save it with safety scissors....) (I will not be including pictures of the aftermath)
Until next weeks adventures,
Elder Gochnour
Until next weeks adventures,
Elder Gochnour
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