Monday, August 29, 2016

The Week of Butterflies 8/28/16

Hello!
Let me start out telling a small story. I ran into two elders from my group this week and we talked about things to do to get rid of stress (because being a missionary can be hard). Anyway, one of the elders was talking about working out and then another said, " I write in my journal every night and when I'm biking, every time I see a butterfly I think of three things I'm grateful for" and I was all like "what the heck? I've never seen any butterflies in Cambodia" and then they said "???? they're literally everywhere. you're just not looking for them" and I went home and pondered for the rest of the night of what Heavenly Father wanted me to learn. And I had to ask myself if I was really putting in an effort to look for things to be grateful for or was I just focusing on all the things going wrong? The next day, we walked into our church building an there was a butterfly just sitting on the wall as if it were waiting for me to notice it. And then I realized, I am very grateful for the hardships we have on our missions and in life. If it was easy the whole time, how the heck would we grow and truly "put off the natural man and becometh a saint"? 

Anyway, this week was awesome! 

Our investigator, Phi Ngan, is progressing so hard and it's crazy! She's asked us to meet her three times a week and is reading all of the reading assignments we give her. She is always trying to share the gospel and truly understands what we teach her. WHAT A BLESSING. 

We also picked up a new investigator named Chi Loan. Her husband is a former investigator of the elders and just started learning again. It's really hard to teach Chi Loan because her understanding is sooooo basic. We taught her five different times how to pray and she still doesn't remember. BUT while we teach her, she spits out a million questions which really makes us think she very much wants to understand this gospel. 

This week, we went to go see Ba Xum who is a 90 + year old who lives with her daughter. She was just sitting in front of her home waiting for us and quickly welcomed us in. She told us she had been waiting for us all week. She told us how sick she was and that her limbs were frail and numb. She said,"every night, I shower all clean. I eat until I'm all full and I lay down to sleep hoping I'll be dead by the morning" ...... After the lesson, she pulled me back and showered me with Asian grandma sniff kisses and said "I love you so much" and sent us on our way. Chi Trinh and I went home that night way worried she was going to die. We called the elders the next morning and begged them to go over and give her a blessing. They went. SHE'S STILL ALIVE. WE ARE SO HAPPY. At church, she pulled us aside and said "Thank you so much for sending the elders over. I feel a lot better" 

Mostly all of the active members in our branch are preparing to go to the temple in Phillipines at the end of November and we are so happy for them! We've been doing all we can to pray for them and try to help them prepare. 

MY MTC COMPANION SISTER LUKE IS NOW IN CAMBODIA AND SHE BROUGHT ME FOUR BOXES OF GRANOLA BARS AND WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF HER AND SO HAPPY SHE IS BACK. i get to see her today and I CAN'T WAIT! 

Chi Trinh and I were sitting in ward council yesterday and both had the same feeling. We love the people here so much. They have become a family to us and they have grown so much and we are genuinely happy for them. Neither of us wants to leave this branch at all. I love the people here! 

I'm so happy to be doing this work! 

Love,
Chi Ca Nguyen 

Picture 1 Our investigator fixing my bike

Picture 2 Em Thao goes with us every Saturday and Sunday morning to proselyte. This was shortly after a dog peed on us. hahah 

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