GOODBYE & HELLO

Hey everyone!! 

Well this rounds out the last week in Cambodia. There isn't much else I can say that I haven't said within the last 2 years, but I just want to give you all a shout out for staying strong and still reading this after two long years!! Within the last couple of weeks we saw a ton of miracles and it's been amazing!! I don't think I could even make an attempt at expressing my emotions and feelings but something that I really liked this week was a quote that I read from elder Uchdtorf's talk. 

We Are Not Made for Endings

"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.

       Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.

      The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.

      How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

I think that describes perfectly how I feel about going home and having a new beginning. 

In closing these two years I just want to bear a short testimony that Jesus is the Christ and that Salvation is free for all those who are willing to follow Him. The Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith translated it from the power of God. I know that missions do change lives. It changed my life and it can change everyone around you as well. I have studied a lot about gratitude this week and I will forever thank the Lord for the years I have had to serve in this section of the garden, Cambodia!! 

Cool story this week: we helped one of the new members in our area do missionary work and he thought of a long lost friend that he hadn't seen in a long time. They had been separated during the time of the Khmer Rouge and for whatever reason in the past 50"s has not been able to reconnect.  We went to his house and he was wearing a nice white shirt and tie. We proceeded to bike 30 minutes under the hot son and they were finally reunited! It was awesome to watch them embrace each other after being separate for so long and it is so cool to see how the gospel brings people together. We sat around and chatted for about 30 minutes. The member's friend  wasn't super interested in continuing to learn but at least he knows the he is loved and not forgotten. I can't wait to meet with my family soon and embrace them after such a long time!! God be thanked for His perfect plan with no endings only beginnings. 

See you soon,

Elder Gochnour

Dont be sad because its over, smile cause it happened

 

HEY EVERYONE! 

Well sadly we are down to one week but its gonna be the best week in two years so I'm not worried about it at all! 

This was a really great week and we saw a lot of miracles.

I had the chance to go on an exchange with Elder Obray in Siem Reap! It was really cool for a lot of reasons: first it was cool because Elder Obray was the very first person that I went on an exchange with in the mission. About 2 years ago in Battambang Elder Obray and I were companions for a day. At that time we did not know the language and had no idea how on earth to do missionary work. It was pretty cool to be able to see how much has changed, how much language has been learned and confidence gained and how much our love for this work has grown. 

It was also awesome to spend the day in Siem Reap because I got to see a few people that I was really close to while I served in there. It is crazy how many opportunities I have had to see the people I loved, being able to go back and visit area's I served in earlier in my mission.  It has been so humbling to see how having God in our lives changes us and blesses us as we choose to follow him. It's often not easy to see the drastic changes that take place within the three months or so when you are there, but when I've had the chance to go back and see them later on I see how happy they really are and how lasting that happiness is. That is the cool stuff. I was able to see សុគុណ and her family whose grandma is now learning too! It was wonderful to see the least. 

Other than that we have had the chance to find some really cool new people this week. On Wednesday were biking around and trying to find good places to talk to people, and people that would be interested to learn about the gospel, but the whole morning we were struggling to have success. No one really seemed interested. We decided that maybe it wasn't the time and maybe we should just toss in the towel and start studies. We mounted our bikes and started off but right as we were leaving we saw this one guy that looked like a really happy guy. We just said hi as we passed by on our bikes and he very enthusiastically responded, "hey!" So we decided to take a quick u-turn and go talk to him. Turns out he is interested and has a lot of potential to be something special. I think it helped me understand better that truly no effort is wasted! 

I was on the phone last night with Elder Bohman and he reported about one of our investigators that we had taught together in our old area. His name is ភិរម្យ and he is about 18 years old. That guy has got a lot of faith. When I was there he would go to work every Sunday but the people that he worked for were very against him learning and going to the church because it meant that there was less time for him to forge metal. He just didn't care about what they said though. He would get yelled at by his boss every single day and then just take it humbly and then the next day just head over to the church so he could learn some more about God. Well turns out he decided to quit his job in order so that he could actually believe and worship as he liked. Well this dude is 17 and lives by himself and has no job no so he actually has nothing. He actually just had nothing to eat, but he never doubted! Elder Bohman told of how he prayed to God and asked for help and throughout the last couple of weeks there have been tons of times where he has been able to do little jobs and get enough money to keep going. I love these people. Elder Bohman said to me "you should see how happy he is!" He should get baptized next week. 

One thing that was funny that everyone said when I came back to BB (Battanbong) was, "the land (or I guess dirt is the better translation?) of Battambang is sticky!" Meaning it's hard to leave this great place. I think that sentence took a whole new meaning as of yesterday on our adventure to find some new investigators. On our way over there we attempted to cross this field of mud that didn't look to dangerous haha well long story short I learned how sticky the mud really was. It got so stuck onto our tires that they stopped moving forward and my bike came to a complete halt. I had to carry my bike back to the road and then we decided to walk our way there instead and my whole shoe was actually enclosed in mud. What a fun way to start the sabbath... but the good news is that the investigator that we found is actually a family of three with the cutest 11 year old girl ever. She and her mom went to church and we are working on their dad! It was a fun adventure with a rewarding finish and now I know what they are saying when they say the dirt is sticky here. 

A few short things:

-Got to go on an exchange with Luke Hopkins so shout out to all the people at Olympus and the squad back home. TTYL!! 

- The river has risen probably about 40 feet or so within the last week and it's insane!! I think that it might start flooding here soon which would be crazy. I'll keep you posted 

- A member of our ward passed away yesterday and we were part of moving the body into the casket and taking the casket to the church. Stuff like that is really the reason why we need to realize how fragile life is and how important it is to put our priorities first. 

 Finally, I have been listening to all of the Joseph Smith Lectures by Truman G Madsen lately and it has been really interesting and cool to learn about. I think it has really strengthened my faith and allowed me to understand more about Joseph's vital role as the prophet asked to restore His church upon the earth. I really like the phrase quoted in one of the talks. When someone asks Joseph who he is he responds by saying, "Noah came before the flood, I have come before the fire" I know that Jospeh was called to prepare us for the second coming of the Lord and restore all things. I am grateful for his sacrifices and I want to personally testify that I know that Joseph Smith was called of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. 

Hope everyone has a good week! See you soon!

Elder Gochnour

STILL HEALTHY, STILL HAPPY

Hello people!!

Well sadly another week down which means one less week in the kingdom of Cambodia.  Yesterday during sacrament everything kinda went haywire at once: 2 people's phones went off with the loudest ringtones and then we didn't have enough chairs so we had to help a lady turn off the sound on their phone because she didn't know how and bring in more chairs and then somehow I just ended up sitting on the floor during the sacrament hahaha anyway when we finally got everything figured out I sat down and one of the missionaries said, "pretty soon you're gonna miss all of this," and it just hit home. I really am going to miss this country and the fun, eventful times here.

This week was good! Our investigator a man named Huen finally came back from the forest where he works and we had a great lesson with his daughter and his neighbor and his neighbors kids. Sadly the only two that came to church were the two 9 year old girls haha, but they are the cutest kids ever. Also, Ra our investigator got his phone back and is progressing really well! He could maybe get baptized before I head out but whether I'm there or not, at least he is feeling the Spirit and accepting the gospel. Another cool experience from this week: we were walking down the road and Elder Se saw a guy in his house and poked his head in and said hi. The guy just said pretty much "what do you want?" And we just said "Uh, we are missionaries about Christ!" And he was "oh yeah that is way cool come on in!! And we had the chance to testify to him about the truth of the Book of Mormon because he is from a different church. It was super cool just to know that when we aren't scared to be bold and share what we have we can see the blessings. I love testifying of the Book of Mormon because I just want people to receive the help I have gained from it. Hopefully we can start teaching them consistently this upcoming week! 

This week some other missionaries had a baptism and it was really cool. I had the chance to baptize one of the ladies in our branch and I am grateful for the priesthood power and the chance that I have to hold it. I have seen so many miracles because of His power. Anyway the baptism was really cool because one of the sister's investigator got baptized because her son found the church in Thailand and told her that she needs to go to church. Yesterday she was able to be baptized and he spoke at the baptize via skype and it was a really special experience. He shared his testimony of how much he loves the gospel and how much it has changed his life. He also shared about how much he loves his mom and he got really emotional and I love how the gospel of Jesus Christ can really tie families together for eternity.

One of the elders in my mission sent me this. I think it's worth the read. I have been thinking a lot about how imperfect each of us are but how lucky we are that because of Jesus Christ we ALL get a second chance. No mistake or thing we do wrong is permanent and faith is always pointed toward the future. Everyone enjoy the read. I think it shows how much hope He gives us. 

The final story before Christ’s journey to the cross commences, is the story of Barabbas.

I don’t think that is a coincidence. 

Barabbas was put on a platform with Jesus

And Pilate asked the people which one of these two men should be released

“Give us Barabbas!” They cried. 

Barabbas.

The sinner.

Rebel. 

Prisoner.

They chose Barabbas. 

And they sent Christ to the cross.

Every time I read this, I get worked up by the injustice of the situation.

It was unfair.

Barabbas was unworthy.

He didn’t deserve to be set free. 

Christ carried the cross anyway.

As I sat reading the story this time,

I realized something:

I am Barabbas.

I am the sinner.

The rebel.

The prisoner.

I am the one chained up.

Sitting on the platform with my savior. 

And He took my cross.

It is unfair.

I am unworthy.

I don’t deserve it.

But He took the cross anyway. 

The people may have chosen Barabbas,

Taken off his chains and set him free.

But here is the thing.

Jesus chose Barabbas first.

Jesus loosed Barabbas’ chains first.

Jesus set him free first.

Jesus cried “Give me Barabbas” first. 

Did Barabbas deserve it?

Did he show gratitude?

Did he even acknowledge the sacrifice?

The answer is,

It doesn’t matter.

Barabbas means “son of the father.”

There is beautiful significance to this.

The point is, 

We are all sons and daughters of the Father.

We are all Barabbas.

The point is, 

it doesn’t matter what person was on that platform.

You.

Me.

Barabbas.

Christ would have done the same for each of us.

He DOES the same for each of us.

Every day.

Every day I step on that platform.

And every day, Christ takes my cross.

“Give me Jacob” 

He begs me..

Give me your pain. 

your guilt. 

your heartache. 

I’ll take it all. 

Every day, Christ looses our chains.

Every day, He allows us to walk free.

Do I deserve it?

No.

Am I worthy?

No.

But I am forever grateful.

Anyway have a great week and talk to you all next week! See you soon!! 

Elder Gochnour