The Week of Colds and Shivers 10/31/16

Hello! 
Halloween was this week and it was hilarious. On Monday, our entire zone got together and celebrated and played a bunch of Khmer games and spray painted and carved plastic bottles instead of pumpkins hahah. I taped  a fin to my back and stuck a barbie to my dress as my victim and was a shark and Sister Galland rolled out of bed in her pajamas and was a Khmer hahahah. 

After our zone party, we booked it to our branch activity combined with all three branches and get this! Only like 10 members showed up and the rest were a bunch of nonmembers who just wanted to party hahah. We tried to contact them but a lot of them weren't interested and really just wanted to party. Dang it. 

This week, Sister Galland and I caught a bad cold and were in the house a few days this week and I hated it. It just hurt so bad to be inside when you know you could be outside proselyting instead. It also made me love my mission and going out A LOT more. So I guess it was the best of both worlds. 

We had a miracle happen this week. We went to go visit Phi Nhan who hadn't been able to meet with us for a few days. When we sat down with her, we could tell that she was sad so we asked her what was wrong and she said "nothing nothing". And then we read in the BOM with her and it was just a weird atmosphere. after reading, she pulled out a picture of the temple and said "OK. give me the lesson" and we looked at her really weird and said "today, we are teaching about eternal marriages!" and she just rolls her eyes and sighs and says "I've been waiting for you guys to come over this whole week." and then!!!! she went on and told us about how she is thinking about leaving her boyfriend! like moving out of his house BECAUSE she wants to get baptized so bad and this is just impeding and keeping her from baptism! and i just thought back to when i met with president and asked him about what we could do to help her because her baptismal date had passed like three times he said she had three options 1. get the marriage license with out approval of her boyfriends mom 2. wait for her boyfriends mom to accept her or 3. tell her to move out and stop living in sin. and i thought holy cow we definitely can't tell her to do the third one because she ahs no where to go!!! but president said if she really is repenting and has faith she will do it. AND LOOK AT HOW MUCH FAITH AND REPENTING SHE IS DOING. She even told us, "don't worry sister! i will tell you where i move to so you can keep teaching me because i want to learn the gospel and be a daughter of God" 

Other than that, life is really good. It started raining at 3 am yesterday and never stopped. Crazy. 

I know this is the Lord''s work. OK. HAVE A GREAT WEEK. 

LOVE,

CHI CA NGUYEN 

p.s. that little girl's name is legit "angry bird" hahahah khmers are SO FUNNY I CANT HANDLE IT 

The Week of KAMPONG CHAM 10/23/16

Alright. This was probably one of the harder weeks. But it was still a blast.

So on Monday, we made the trek out to KC and I probably...no I legit cried a bit when I left the city because it felt so good to see the Khets and actual vegetation. 

We got there around 6, unpacked and settled in and made plans for the next three days. 

So on Tuesday, we went to branch 1 area and the elders and sisters helped us out a bit. We went along the riverside and actually ended up meeting a lot of Vietnamese. The catch is that they all live ON the water and we have to take canoes out to their homes or walk on really sketchy bridges that aren't really stable. We came across a family and told them we were missionaries and they directed us to another family and then we told THEM that we were missionaries and they started going on about this Vietnamese teacher guy from America who also teaches about Jesus. And then they told us we could come over whenever, they would always invite us because all the Vietnamese people are brothers and sisters. The rest of the day, we went out to Branch 1's furthest area Ro Ang and no Vietnamese were spotted. We would ask people and then they would point us to a small village and then we would bike over to the village and they would look at us and say "nope. no Vietnamese here" and it was that way for a while. 

On Wednesday, we took a different approach. Instead of asking where the Vietnamese were, we just contacted in Khmer but gave everyone two pamphlets, one in Vietnamese and one in Khmer because we found this out. The Vietnamese people here get really nervous when we ask them if they are Vietnamese. For example, we were at the market and a guy kept staring at us so we walked over and talked to him in Khmer, but he wasn't speaking clearly so I asked him what nationality he was. He said he was Khmer and that he lived over in Phsaa Thom (which is where all the Vietnamese live) and so i asked him if he knew Vietnamese and he said no, but then the next day when we were scoping out the area, we saw him speaking Vietnamese. So we concluded that the Vietnamese just don't want to be found. And it was a little discouraging. 

And then on Thursday, at one last attempt, we went to go find a member in Phum Thenang to help us out because I knew she knew some Vietnamese. But when we got there, she wasn't home. So we rode home and on the way home we saw the member and stopped her. She gave us a number for another member who was actually Vietnamese. We called the guy and found his house after 45 minutes of looking. And we asked him where most of the Vietnamese were. He said öh you want Vietnamese? come with me" and walked us over to this little shack where a bunch of foreigners were sitting. One of the men said in Vietnamese "where are you taking the tourists?" Turns out, he was the Vietnamese guy from america that the first family told us about. We talked for a while and they are also missionaries for the evangelical(???) church and have been working with the Vietnamese in Kampong Cham for 10 years. They invited us over for pho the next day and said they would love to sit down and talk with us sometime. 

Then we came back and on Saturday, we went to see our investigator Phi Nhan. Who tried to run away and hide from us! We sat her down and she prayed and in her prayer she said "I heard Sister Nguyen was moving to Kampong Cham and I got so sad because Sister Trinh already left me. And I didn't want to learn with the elders because I don't understand anything they teach. I was going to run away and hide from the sisters, but I know I need to have faith and learn about the gospel. " And after the prayer, I looked her in the eye and asked her if she still had a desire to learn. She cried a little bit and said of course, she was just scared. and then I looked her in the eye and promised her we would do everything that we could to help her get her marriage certificate and be baptized and that if she didn't understand anything we taught or if Sister Galland or I didn't speak clearly, then she needed to tell us so we would try again. And It was just a really humbling moment for all of us. 

this week, i felt even more gratitude for this opportunity to be a  missionary and be serving the Vietnamese people in Cambodia. They have become nothing short of a family to me. I love this calling and I love this work, 

Love,

Sister Chi Ca Nguyen 

 Pictures 1 & 2 My Beloved Sister Galland is a gem 

 Picture 3 POOCEY. DO YOU REMEMBER HIM?? 

Picture 4 The Great Neak Ming landlord who is the best person ever and ran and screamed when we surprised her

The Week of Meetings! 10/16-16

Dear All! 

This weeks was a little rough, we had zone conference, all day koon training for the new missionaries, and a couple meetings with President about the Vietnamese program, so we didn't get much proselyting in. Plus, our elders are white washing and asked us to show them around so we've been super busy.  

For koon training, President ordered sandwiches and took us to the river side to eat and he sat us down before we ate. Turns out, he took us to the spot where President Hinckley dedicated Cambodia for the preaching of the gospel and then he read the dedicatory prayer and it was incredible! It made me realize how grateful I really truly am to be a missionary in Cambodia. THESE PEOPLE NEED THE GOSPEL SO HARD. 

On on of the days, we took the elders to Co Sa Ly's house and for the first time in the three transfers I've been here, SHE SMILED. AND THEN ON SUNDAY SHE CAME TO CHURCH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER. So basically, miracles are happening.

After talking to President, this is what's happening to the Vietnamese program! We are opening one new area and the elders are going to try to find people to teach! It's about 26 kilometers north of our current area! My companion and I are getting sent to KAMPONG CHAM this week to find Vietnamese people too!! I'm way pumped to go back and really pray that every one is right and there really are colonies of Vietnamese people out there! I hope we are successful because we would all of us want to see the Vietnamese program grow! 

I don't have much this week, but hopefully next week we'll have a lot to tell!

I love you all so much and am forever grateful for you love and support

love,

sister nguyen 

---

The week of the Granola Baby! 10/9/16

Xin Chao! 

Good week.

On Monday, we had FHE with Co Nga and her family and it was probably the funniest thing ever because the Khmer elders were also there and so the entire FHE was in Khmer actually. 

Wednesday morning was transfers and so we went up to the mission home with Chi Trinh's luggage and right when we got there President called all of the Viet missionaries into his office and said there was a slight problem and MY HEART DROPPED AND I WAS SO WORRIED THAT THE MISSIONARIES GOT REASSIGNED OR WENT HOME. Anyway, he told us that their visas got delayed and they wouldn't come until Saturday! So I would have to go in a trio with Sister Haddock and Snooks for a little. And so I got to be in the Khmer program again for a few days and it was a blast. 

Then on Saturday morning, we finally got our new missionaries. I got my new comp, Sister Galland aka Chi Ha and she's way sweet and super hip and so cool and I could literally sit and listen to her talk about her entire life. She wants me to speak Vietnamese to her all the time hahaha Also, get this! In college she roomed with a return sister from this mission Vietnamese speaking and ended up getting called to the same mission! 

For the past two days, we have just been watching conference and so we haven't had any time to actually go out and proselyte so this week will be way good. 

Hmm, I loved this week and conference was so good and I really like the overall message of giving the Lord your everything in any calling He gives you and when we do that, He magnifies our abilities and talents. 

I love this work! I love Cambodia! 

Love,

Chi Ca Nguyen 

Picture 1 FHE

Picture 2 Not your average city view

Picture 3 NEW KOONS

Picture 4 Grilled Cheeses 

The Week It Rained Miracles! 10/2/16

HI. THIS WEEK WAS SOOO GOOD.

But first, let me tell you. Transfer calls came last night! I'm staying in Branch 3 and get to train Sister Galland! Woot. 

Now let me tell you about this miraculous week we had. Literally everywhere we turned, there were so many blessings from Heavenly Father. On Monday, after going to the market in the morning, Chi Trinh wanted to buy bread to eat and so I gave her some money and she walked over to the bread lady and tried to speak khmer to her, but the lady just happened to be Vietnamese! We contacted her and she literally said, "Wow! I'm so happy there's a church so close. The one I go to is so far away. Give me your number" We died. 

Then on Wednesday, the Toul Kork Khmer sisters gave us a referral for a family! We went to go meet them Thursday and taught them the entire first lesson. Only the mom, Chi Lien and her daughter Cenda are learning with us. They are super poor and don't have a way to get to the Vietnamese Branch all the way in Toul Sangke so we invited them to the khmer branch on sunday and they said we could come over in the morning to walk to church with them!

Friday was Pchum Ben holiday in Cambodia, so we stayed inside and cleaned our entire house and then got to watch Ephraim's Rescue afterwards and it was swag. 

Early Saturday morning, our investigator Phi Nhan called us and asked us to come over because she was sad. So we headed over and she pulled us into her house and we sat down and saw that all of her clothes were packed up. And then, she just cried. It was way odd because she is one of the toughest cookies I've ever met. She told us about how her and her boyfriend got into a fight and he told her she needed to leave the house or he would leave. She was way sad because she said he was headed on the wrong path and she just wanted him to follow the Gospel like she was. She also said she would probably just run away because she was too embarrassed to go home and couldn't stay here. Chi Trinh told her to calm down, not be so irraitional and just pray for guidance from Heavenly Father. Her entire prayer, she just wept and prayed for her boyfriend to be happy and it was heartbreaking. Afterwards, she just randomly flipped open the BOM and we read with her and she read Alma 26:27. It was perfect. She said she would keep trying to help him and that she wouldn't run away.

The rest of the day, we were still picking up the pieces from Pchum Ben Holiday so no one was really in town. We went to English class and literally only 5 students showed up for advanced class. BUT LISTEN. One of the people who showed up was Co Loan who we contacted ages ago! She agreed to meet with us and so we taught her and it was amazing! She kept asking questions about everything we taught and it was so good because she was really understanding. And then we taught her about prophets and she goes "oh. It's someone who guides us" At the end of the lesson, we knelt and asked her to pray and when she was done praying, her face was soaked in tears. We hugged her and she said she just felt so happy. 

Then after English class, Chi Trinh and I had to book it over to Branch 6 to watch Womens General Session and we decided to take a different road. While we were biking, we heard "Chi Ca!" We both stopped and turned around and saw a lady pulling a cart full of cardboard and plastic bottles and she came up to us and started talking to us. Turns out she is a super less-active in branch 10 but moved to branch 3 and hasn't been to church in years. We were both way shocked and ended up inviting her to church. I know it wasn't a coincidence and hope she recognizes it as Heavenly Father trying to pull her back on the right path. 

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and Co Dung who we committed to sharing her testimony like a month ago ACTUALLY GOT UP AND EVERYONE WENT CRAZY. She's been a member for almost 20 years and that was the first time she ever got up. 

This branch is improving like crazy

Honestly, every day is filled with so many miracles and I testify that it is truly the Lord's hand in this work. He loves His children. I know this is HIS work and I am eternally grateful and so privileged to be a part of it. 

I love you all. Can you believe it's been a year? It feels like 5 minutes. 

Bye.

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

Picture 1 Sweet Sister Luke

Picture 2 Sisters from our MTC group 

Picture 3 This is a member's grandson who walks around during our lessons chanting Buddhist chants...

Picture 4 Some of our MTC group on our year mark! 

The Week of the Throwback! 9/25/16

XIN CHAOOOOOO

This week was awesome! One of my favorite yet (I think I say that every week oops). 

Last Pday, we had a zone Olympicday and it was hilarious. We made pinewood derby cars out of bell peppers and carrots, played human foosball and played a bunch of other games and it was a blast.

This week, the Vietnamese program met with President Christensen to prepare for District Conference. President was assigned to teach the members about how to work with missionaries (BLEST. THANK YOU) So he asked us the problems we were having in our branches and we narrowed it down to the members aren't really sure how to run a branch council and don't really understand what their responsibilities are. So President had us put on a little play of a fake branch council for district conference compiled of these we have all heard before from actual members. Some of my favorite lines were "oh. sister, she's hopeless!" or "well, that's probably God punishing them" It's crazy. Anyway, we put on the play and President did an evaluation of the "branch council"

with the members and hopefully they learned a lot.

Thursday, I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF GOING ON AN EXCHANGE WITH SISTER SOEM. AND IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER. She took me to Kheansvay with her  and even though we only got one lesson in, it was so fun. We ended up doing service for half the day for a member. But I realized how much Khmer I forget and it was so sad. Sister Soem was even shocked haha 

District Conference this weekend was just really good, and Chi Trinh and I learned a lot of things that we could better apply to our everyday lives as missionaries. Now I am way pumped for General Conference and can't wait!

This week is transfer calls! Scary! We'll find out on Sunday what's happening. Half of the Vietnamese district is going home and we're getting a whole new batch of white people for the first time in a long time! 

OK. I'm out of time. GOODBYE

love,

Chi Ca Nguyen 

Picture 1 SISTER SOEM. She said "Put your sunglasses on. Don't smile"

 Picture 2 Chi Trinh riding through the streets

 Picture 3 EM THANH FROM THE TOUL TOM PONG DAYS 

   Picture 4 The cutest picture of the Viet sisters you will ever see