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
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