People Matter

This week we had zone conference in Battambang and it was probably the last time that I will ever be able to go there until I end my mission and come back to visit. The sweetest part about all of it was the fact that I was able to do an exchange in my old area that I once spend so much time and so many long days sharing the gospel. I learned from this gifted day the importance of relationships in this life. YOU DON"T TAKE ANYTHING WITH YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE FROM THIS LIFE. The only things that we get to take are the memories we have and the relationships that we make. 

Biking around Battambang and meeting again with some of the amazing people who had the courage to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints was something that I will never forget. There is no sweeter feeling then seeing someone that you haven't met for so long and then coming back in contact with them, with a warm embrace. Those are the moments that you cherish forever. I could write a novel about every single one of those special people\ children of God, but I will have to save the stories for later. 

Another thing that was so cool and amazing to see after being away for so long was the effect that the gospel has had in those people's lives. Sometimes we can't see in when we are with them in the moment, but after a year and a half I can tangibly see the difference from those that have been faithful in this gospel and those that have lost their way for whatever reason. What an amazing testimony builder to know that the gospel ACTUALLY works and ACTUALLY changes peoples lives. 

Anyway other than that it was just another amazing week in the kingdom of paradise. It is SO HOT and we still ride out bikes SO FAR every day, but we are loving it. I have lost a few pounds so it is all for the better. Our investigators are doing awesome and we are hoping to have some baptisms this week, but Satan always tries his hardest at the times that are most important, so keep them in your prayers! 

That is all I have for this week. I invite all of you to read the talk Oh Be Genuine by Elder Uchtdorf or the talk Lift where you Stand.  They are both amazing. 

My favorite scripture I read this week and one thing that we are trying to focus on in our mission is in 4 Nephi 17:17 "There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God."

We are all one in Jesus Christ! We are all trying our best to follow Him. So may we look around us and help our brothers and sisters in this path to eternal life. I love you all! I am so grateful for this gospel and I know that it can change lives. I love my savior Jesus Christ and I have a testimony of Him and His perfect life.

Love,

Elder Gochnour

PS

here are some other highlights of the week that my comp wrote about that I didn't have time to so shoutout to Elder Richardson for helping me out:

"apparently now here in Cambodia, all around the country they're out of electricity idk how that is a thing but apparently it is so they're doing rolling blackouts hahaha  - Every day they'll shut the power off from the morning till the afternoon except a couple nights ago it shut off for a few hours at night and I just woke up sweating NOT FUN !  I guess it's from a lack of rain??   This whole country runs on hydroelectric stuff but we got a lil rain so hopefully that clears up ??   

Our mission president and wife and a senior couple were coming back to Siem Reap from the zone conference to do district conference with the two branches up here in Siem Reap and we got to drive with them and also meet Elder Subiantoro from Indosesia who's a new Area 70 and he's way dope. 

Sister Lewis our mission president's wife had a dream of seeing some waterfalls so drove to see waterfalls this morning!! They were about an hour and a half away from the city  - I've seen some waterfalls in my life but this one was definitely the prettiest."  

Death and Hope

Honestly, after a year and a half of putting in the good fight to send a weekly email every week, my desires to continue are quickly fading. It seems like I just learn so much every day, and especially every week, that I feel sometimes it might be pointless to even try to share the experiences that I had this week. But thank you for reading!

Anyway, a theme that was very prevalent this week was death. Haha, now I know that, that doesn't sound like the happiest thing, but let me give you some stories to why I wish to write about that today. On Monday night, a beloved member of the church's grandmother passed away. We wanted to support her and we decided that we would attend the funeral, to show that we care about them. We attended the funeral (very different from the US of A) and it was difficult to describe and put into words the experience of attending a funeral. They make food and all of the family gets together for a couple of days. One thing that I thought was really amazing to me was the fact that even though this families grandmother had passed away, they were doing everything they could to serve the Elders and make us feel welcomed and get us food, etc. I realized how Christlike these people are. Even when they are going through trials they take time to look around and serve those around them. 

After eating they invited us to the Hai Sop (literally no idea how to spell that in english) which is when they do a march in all white and pull the casket all the way to the pagoda where they burn the body. We figured because they invited us, we had better attend. Because only part of the family is Christian they did a traditional Buddhist funeral and burned the body. It was quite the experience, marching under the burning hot sun, and then arriving at the pagoda watching the monks bless the body and then place the casket into the designated place where they started the fire and closed the door. An experience that I will never forget. I was grateful to be a part of it and embrace a little more of the Khmer culture. 

During one of our lessons this week, the our investigator that I talked about before shared something that really stuck with me. She said that before, when she believed in Buddhism, she feared death. In this culture you have to pay a lot of money for funerals and pay a lot of money for all of the traditional Buddhist things that are necessary for the spirit to enter into Paradise. She was worried that if she died that her family wouldn't have enough money to pay for all of that, and  she had so many questions about what would happen when she died. She said that now because she believes in Christianity she doesn't fear death anymore. Because she believes in Jesus Christ she knows that it will all work out. She has clear understand about where she is going and why we all need to die. How hopeful this message is. I love sharing this gospel with these people and helping them understand that because of Jesus Christ death and the grave have no victory. 

This morning I read in 1 Corinthians 15:

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am so grateful for the knowledge that although death is heartbreaking, it is one small step in our eternal progression toward ultimate happiness. 

Also I came up with a play on words that I really like:

Helping

Others

Prepare

Eternally

Funny story:

Yesterday at the end of Sunday School we sang Angels We Have Heard on High haha and the foreigners visiting where like, "don't they know that this is a Christmas hymn?" I simply responded, "Welcome to Cambodia."

P.S. My motto for the transfer is "Put your shoulder to the everything!!" The wheel isn't enough. We must put our shoulder to everything

Love you all!

Elder Gochnour

Come, Come Ye Saints

Hello family, friends and anyone else who is crazy enough to still be reading this,

This week was actually pretty wild. Before I start with my week though, I just got done reading all of the other missionaries around the worlds emails, and I had a few thoughts. 

• First this is an amazing and glorious work and I am so grateful to be apart of it.

• Secondly at times it probably feels like I have portrayed my mission as a happy, perfect experience full of only sunshine. I would like to say that every week there is some rain, and that sometimes things might not be as ideal as we all make them seem haha. But I think the reason I always end up talking about the good parts is because this is a gospel of hope. In life I think the world tries to get down on us, and make it seem like we are just another someone trying to make it, but on the mission I think you really feel the power that you have as sons and daughters of God to change lives. Anyway, just know that although the mission isn't perfect, it is the most rewarding thing.

Anyway, my emails have been kinda long so I will try to keep it shorter:

We have some great stuff going in our area right now! If I took time to type out every miracle that I have seen this week you guys would be reading an encyclopedia. 

Here are some fun stories that will be enough to give you a taste of life here in the Kingdom

• We are currently teaching a GOLDEN investigator and her family. It has been really cool because my companion and I just met her walking on the road about four weeks ago. At first she said that her husband had no interest, so we had to give her over to the sisters. Well long story short the sisters have been taken out of our area, and it has been a miracle to have the chance to teach her again! She went to church with her husband and two kids and they loved it. I can't say all the amazing things that have happened, but I think the coolest thing was that when she recounted the experience of first meeting us that day on the red dirt road, she said the following, "I have met with many other missionaries and always invite them to sit down and talk with me. But when I talk to them, I don't feel any warmth. When I first met you guys I didn't know what it was but I just felt warmth inside of me. It wasn't anything strong, but it was just enough to notice it." That is the spirit if you ask me. Anyway they are on track for baptism and please keep them in your prayers. 

• This week there was a lady in our ward who we asked to help us take one of our investigators to church. She has a disabled leg and so she sometimes is scared driving her tuk-tuk on roads that don't have a lot of people because she doesn't want to be killed (these are her words not mine). However she told us that she would do it anyway because she has faith in God and she will die for Him! I told her that reminded me of the hymn Come, Come, Ye Saints (go give it a read) and then she proceeded to sing the whole entire first verse over the phone!!!! Not even joking. We were totally down so we started joining in and singing! At the end of the first verse we belted the words "All is Well! All is Well!" Thinking that it would be over. She then proceeded to sing the whole second verse hahahahaha. At the end of the call she ended the whole phone call in the name of Jesus Christ. Sorry mom, but that was the best phone call I have had on my mission. I love this country, these people and their courageous faith. 

• Last P-Day we ate pig head for lunch. It definitely did not taste good, but it was a good experience. I ate every part of the head and I will say that the meat around the cheek bone was the tastiest. The tongue and the ear tied for last place. 

We were supposed to have a baptism this week, but our investigator does not have a marriage certificate, but should be getting it this week!

Anyway lots more stories, but not enough time.

So many spiritual thoughts to share, but for this week I just want to take it back to the basics, the 

gospel through the Book of Mormon in Alma 41:

5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness. 

7 These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

 I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the knowledge that it gives us about His plan and His Atonement and I am so grateful for the chance that God has given us to CHOOSE where we want to end up. If we desire to go to Heaven we can! We just have to desire then DO! 

Please read chapter 41 in Alma in the Book of Mormon and keep in mind your own desires in life! What are you willing to sacrifice to follow Him? Is your desire for the here and now, more dominating than your desire for salvation in the future?

I love you all!

Elder Gochnour

hello

Okay so I was HORRIBLE at timing out my emails I hope to get the hang of this call and write change so with the little time I have here are some things from my week. 

Transfer calls came and I will be staying in Siem Reap and my new companion will be Elder Richardson from Mesa, AZ! We have a few mutual friends and he loves basketball so I think that we will get along very well! I am excited for the work that we have ahead of us. Expect Miracles.

We had a baptism this week for my guy, Sothearea! He is a legend and we picked him up as a new investigator the first week I got here and have been teaching him ever since. He was, as they call in the profession, prepared! No matter what we taught him, it seemed to just click with him and make perfect sense. He had no problems and just kept doing all the little things to follow God (stay tuned, more to come). 

After Sothearea's baptism he bore testimony of his gratitude for God.  How before he found God he felt lost, and hopeless. He is a very studious guy (19 years old) and very smart, and he said that all his knowledge didn't give him any purpose or answers. Until he found the Gospel! Now he is full of hope. He is the most smiley dude ever. Because of people like him, everything we do as missionaries is all made worth it. 

The other part of this story comes from the person who baptized him which is this guy named Channy! He is one of my best friends here. When we first came, he was doing okay, coming to church when he was asked, but not making any extra effort. We made a big effort to involve him and get him pumped up about going on a mission and it has been amazing to see the change that has occurred in his life. He is so bold and so happy to be a Christian (even if that means that sometimes he won't be accepted or gets made fun of in his own country). He always gets so excited to help us teach and share the good word. We had him baptize our guy Sothearea and it was amazing and quite the experience. He had never baptized anyone so the first time he finished saying the prayer he grabbed the back of Sothearea's shirt and literally just SLAMMED him in the water. I am talking full on WWE body slam. There literally was a splash zone from the slightly brown water in the font, that got on me. He had to baptism him a few more times with us asking him to, "please do it a little bit softer" and not take him from the "ropes with full force." You gotta love Cambodia.

I am out of time, but I want to end with something that I realized this week while reading a General Conference talk. It is the importance of doing the little things, and especially, the primary answers! Here is what I mean: in primary everyone knows that when you don't know what the teacher said, or you forgot what the question was, or you just flat out weren't listening, you could always resort to saying something along the lines of: PRAY, READ YOUR SCRIPTURES, BE NICE, FOLLOW JESUS, GO TO CHURCH, and you would pretty much always be right. I realized that the primary kids are RIGHT! Even though all the primary answers and the little things seem so redundant I know that if we ACTUALLY DO all those things like; Being kind, reading the scriptures, going to church, praying, and doing all those things with a sincere heart then everything will work out! Everything. 

We don't have to complicate the gospel. We just have to follow God and do the little things that He commands us and he will bless us abundantly! Thanks be to God for the primary children of the world, and may we ever try to do our best to live by their words of wisdom. After all everyone knows, “By Small and Simple Things Are Great Things Brought to Pass”

(Alma 37:6-7) 

I love you all!

Elder Gochnour

GOD IS THE GARDENER

What a week it was to say the least!

Some highlights of the week are as follows:

• We went on an exchange with the son of the Thailand mission president which was awesome! Jarom was his name and he was a way kind kid. It was cool to see that missionary work is still the same no matter where you are. We biked him around the dirt streets and actually taught some cool lessons!

• They were fixing a road while we were biking home (already a little bit late) and my tire went flat. I had to fill it up a few times just to make it home, but then on top of that my wheel wouldn't spin because it was so clogged up with mud haha. It just got stuck and wouldn't go back or forward. Pretty funny times. Made it home caked in mud

• We had zone conference and it was awesome! I love spending time with President and Sister Lewis. 

• We focused on EXPECTING MIRACLES! Our Heavenly Father is a God of miracles and we just have to ask and be faithful enough to see Him work His magic! Kinda cheesy, but if you expect miracles in your own life you will see the results. 

• And BTW I would love to hear of  a miracle you have seen in your own life if you have some free time. (jacob.gochnour@myldsmail.net)

We also had interviews with President and he shared something that really stuck with me. I asked why more people don't CARE! Why doesn't their personal salvation mean more to them? Why don't they want to have peace and happiness in this life? Why doesn't it matter to them? I just didn't understand. Although he didn't answer my question directly he just said something that really stuck out to me. He just said that you can't let it get to you. In our world today the adversary works SO HARD to try to beat us down and mix up the things that are most important, THE FAMILY! We just need to be optimistic and take on every day with a smile! 

I went on an exchange with Elder Phork (khmer) and he is the man. He recently had a family member pass away and he said the coolest thing, "honestly I don't know how I would have reacted if I wasn't on a mission. I probably would have been mad or something. But because I am on a mission I have peace and I know where he is going." We were able to teach about the plan of salvation to an investigator and the spirit was pumping! 

We were supposed to have a baptism this week, but our man had a meeting at his work he couldn't miss, and his two friends (who would have gone to church) went to the same meeting with him. Another investigator went to church, but before sacrament started he has something come up and had to leave, and our other investigator got bit by a dog with rabies haha. Those are just a few of the many that weren't able to go lol..... We have been working as hard as possible, but often times things don't work out the way we would like them too. 

 I was given the opportunity to read the talk called God is the Gardener, and it was just the medicine I needed! He tells the classic story about how the gardener had to cut down the current bush in order to show the true growth and fruits that the bush could bring forth. ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’ 

I love this work. Sometimes you get home and you are tired and you don't know exactly why everything that happened, happened, but I can say that God is the Gardener. Whatever undertakings may demand of you and of your attention, I tell you, young men and young women, you cannot make a better resolution today than this: “I am going to keep close to the Lord. I am going to understand Him better, and, understanding Him, I will understand myself and will try to put my life into harmony with His.” For I have come to know that every man and every woman has potential godhood dwelling in him, for God is in reality the Father of us all. 

That is all I have for this week! I love my mission and I love my Savior. This gospel is about becoming, and everyday we need to do a little better than yesterday! I love you all. 

Elder Gochnour

P.S. Everyday as we bike and walk the streets we see dogs fighting and it reminds me of how the world is. We are so blessed that we have a place of refuge from the world in our Heavenly Father's care. This is what one of the missionaries from my area wrote:

"Just know that every morning, everyday, every night is a warzone. All the dogs in the neighborhood just go at and are always fighting. A lot of times multiple dogs gang up on one dog or its one dog goes at it with another and every other dog in the area runs to get into the fight. We watch them fight from our balcony, sometimes they fight within our apartment gates or sometimes on our stairs. but just know that it is truly a doggy doggy world out here." 

HEY

We had a great call from Jake last night and so it meant that he had not time to write - here is the little he wrote! 

Sorry for not having the chance to send out an email this week. I love my mission and I know that the church is true. Go read the talk The Gospel and The Good Life. Joy in the JOURNEY!

Elder Gochnour

no TIME>>>

I titled this email "no TIME", because I have about 8 minutes to type my whole weekly email so yay! I guess I still need to work on the procrastination problem that was so prevalent before my mission. 

Another fantastic week of work and miracles! Our investigator names Sothiarea is doing awesome and should be getting baptized soon! He brought his two friends to church and now they are learning with us too! We have been working hard with the members and we have some potential member referrals so we have a lot of good things going! 

There are still times when it feels like nothing is going right and times when it feels like everything is going right haha, but for the most part I just love being a missionary.

A few short stories that happened this week:

• Elder Moore and I bought matching all gold Elephant ties so you know we had to break them out went Elder Meurs (a General Authority serving in the Asia Area Presidency) came to encourage members to serve missions. It was a great meeting and a have a testimony that the leaders of this church are called of God.

• We had a great lesson with a VERY SHY investigator. He is a really nice guy and says powerful prayers, but it is hard to get him to share his feelings. We really wanted to help him to come to church and to feel of the Holy Spirit there, and so we focused our whole lesson on helping him attend church. At the end of our lesson we committed him to come to church and he didn't respond. So we asked him again and there was still no response. We tried asking him in different ways and he just was kinda looking around awkwardly. I tried to just sit there and let him feel the spirit, but I am not exaggerating we were literally there for 30 MINUTES just waiting for him to say SOMETHING! It was crazy and at one point I just started breaking out laughing because it was SO uncomfortable. Literally 30 minutes. We eventually just said goodbye and left, and then returned a later day and kinda talked him through it.

I am out of time so here is a clip from another elder's weekly that I serve with about a service project we had. 

•  This week the Elders of Siem Reap were blessed to do our favorite service project in Cambodia, digging a ditch. The Branch President asked all the Elders to come help him dig this ditch because he is going to start breeding fish. Since it is service you know the Elders are gonna jump on that. The first thing about this service project, is that the Branch President just lives so far away, it's okay, no biggie, just an hour of biking, it's just fine.  I lost feeling in my butt 10 minutes into the ride. When we get there we start digging and this dirt, is the HARDEST dirt I've ever encountered in all of my years. This dirt, is just hard for absolutely no reason but it's okay, we've got 8 Elders plus a few members, no biggie. It's just dirt, we just gotta dig it up and move it. Lets just say, for the next 2 hours, we didn't get to dig a full ditch. They had already dug one ditch a day before and this ditch was about 6 feet deep. Our ditch we dug was about 2 feet deep. We just got absolutely rallied. Elders : 0 Ditch :1. We were all just crazy tired, and then we had to do the hour bike ride back home.  Elders : 0 Ditch : 2. we just got our butts kicked that day.

One other thing is I had the chance to finish the book Jesus the Christ. It was an amazing experience to read that book and my favorite chapter was called, A Long Night of Apostasy. In reading this chapter I came to understand one of the reasons that there needed to be an Apostasy, because Joseph, needed to usher in the dispensation of the fulness of times, through a miraculous restoration. I know that Joseph truly did see God the Father and Jesus Christ and that the Lord's true and restored church lives today. I am grateful to serve Him and declare that a prophet leads us and guides us today, and that God gives us prophets because He loves us. Anyway, PLEASE go read that chapter and you will thank me later.

I love you all!

Elder Gochnour

"You guys save everything!"

Howdy folks!

This week we had MLC in Phnom Penh and exchanges with the AP's so we didn't have much time in our area, but it is all good in the hood! 

Exchanges with the AP's was an absolute BLAST! The reason being: I teamed up with Elder Tuft again and it was just like we were back together 8 months ago. It is crazy how fast the time has flown, that feels like just yesterday. There were some miracles that happened while we were there: we found a random lady from Chbar Ampov (my old area) and her three daughters who want to learn and get baptized. Those things don't just happen. The fact that we were in a place that he had never been and I happened to be there (probably the only Elder the lady would have recognized) isn't just chance. The Lord prepares it, we just have to notice His hand in our lives. 

We have a new motto in our mission "Expect miracles" if we go out there everyday expecting miracles the Lord will deliver. No doubt in my mind. 

I don't think anyone really reads these emails anymore except probably my mom so I won't go into much detail. The city was super fun because we were in the heart of Phnom Penh. You go behind the buildings and it reminds me a little bit of what my boy Elder Smith feels like in Mexico. Don't worry though mom, I locked my bike and had the Lord protecting me. The highlight of the week was when we were in one of those musty alleys, and a white guy walks past us, while we are in the process of trying to contact a Khmer guy. He said something along the lines of "Do you guys focusing on saving the children or do you focus on saving the trees and that stuff?" Kinda an odd question, and not quite sure how to respond, I just simply said "No we are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints!" Then came an answer that I wasn't expecting, but surprisingly made my whole week. He said, "Oh! You guys save EVERYTHING!!" I have never heard anything more true in my life! In this, the Lord's church, we do save everything! We offer salvation to all of the Sons and Daughters of God if they are willing to accept it. Long story short, it was great to be back with Elder Tuft, and I am so grateful for the Lord and His miracles, and this mission that He has given to me that changed my life. 

Back in our area we worked VERY HARD. I am talking leaving the house in the morning and not coming home or taking a second to rest until we get home at night. So hard that I get home and just fall asleep without even taking off my bag. Honestly, after all of our efforts, the immediate fruits have not yet shown, but I know they will. And if all else fails, at the end of the day I feel happy and there isn't anything better than that. This week I had a lot of cool spiritual experiences, so many to name them all. As a mission we have been memorizing the Living Christ and I almost finished this week. I have seen my testimony of HIM grow so much as I memorize the testimony of our prophets and apostles. If you have not had a chance to read it recently, I would invite you all to study through it again! I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that he is our source of joy and true happiness in this life.  His hand is present in our lives everyday, we sometimes just need to take time to step back and realize it. He truly is our Living Savior.

I also had the chance to finish the Book of Mormon again in my mission. I read a whole new paperback copy without any markings and I spent the whole time reading about how I can better learn how to love! I can testify with all of my heart that the Book of Mormon is true and that God loves us and teaches us through that sacred book.

I love you all

Elder Gochnour