The week we had to take Sister Semones to the bus station for transfers- Week of 1/17

Hey guys!

This week was super fun! On Wednesday, we were scheduled to do service in the morning. We were supposed to go with Sister Brown and Sister Ren, but Sister Brown ended up feeling a little sick so she stayed home with Sister Semones and so just Sister Ren, Sister Nhem and I went to do service. We gathered rice and it was kind of the worst. Being bent over for 3 hours picking up rice is so nauseating. I felt so sick but, afterwards, we looked at the three fields we gathered and were so satisfied! Can I just say for the millionth time how much I love service? I LOVE IT. And then after we came home, we had to take Sister Semones to the bus station for transfers. It was a little sad but mostly, we are really excited for this awesome opportunity she gets to have!

Thursday, after weekly planning, we went out to meet all the people for the day, but literally NO ONE was home. Sister Nhem and I were more weirded out than frustrated. Even Om Naa who is always on the side of the road at her shop wasn't home. And so after many failed attempts, we pulled over to the side of the road and just laughed to keep ourselves from going insane. And then Sister Nhem said, "Heavenly Father please help us to find someone to teach!!". And then she remembered a girl who we had contacted at a less-active's house. So we called her up and she agreed to meet with us! We went to pick her up from her school and had to dope her all the way back to the church. It was way far and so tiring haha. Turns out, her name is Linda! Everyone laughs when I tell them that's my name and they always say, "that's a Khmer name!". Anyway, she thinks it's so funny and so she just calls me Sister Linda. It's really weird to hear your first name!! In my dreams at night, people even call me Sister Nguyen and when I try to think of a memory, I always remember the person saying Sister Nguyen instead of Linda. Anyhow, so we taught her the first lesson and she just looked terrified the whole time. Haha, it was so bad. I'm so glad Sister Nhem saw that too because then she told her that we were both converts and that everything was strange when we first started learning too but that she promised that Linda could only know if what we were teaching was good or not if she tried it out for herself. So Linda agreed and even said she would come to church on Sunday! 

Friday was our best day yet! We managed to get so many lessons in and even picked up another new investigator! Her name is Srey Nic and she has a super good friend who is a member. SO funny, we were teaching about the restoration and had her member friend Leakhana sit in to help us teach. And then we asked Leakhana to share some of her thoughts about the Book of Mormon and she was doing awesome and then she started talking about how we can't drink coffee and how her mom drank coffee and needed a blessing from the elders. Sister Nhem and I were really caught off guard but all we could do was continue. 

Sunday was like any other Sunday. Not many people showed up and it was a bummer. The District President met with our District Leader and talked about how the numbers for Kampong Cham are really falling. So we are trying to come up with proposals on what to do. All in all, we are still staying positive and trying to work harder than ever to help this area really grow! It's so hard when you love these people so much and when they see God's hand in their lives but still don't care enough to come to church. BUT Sister Nhem and willing and ready to work our butts off! Sorry I don't really have anything spiritual to share. I hope you're all doing well and handling the cold well too! 

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

Picture 1 We climbed a tower last p-day, this was our view! 

Picture 2 too hot in Cambodia 

 Picture 3 stopping traffic to proselyte for our free English class

Picture 4 Do service - get a free turnip! 

The Week of the Mighty Miracle!!‏

HI ALL. BEFORE ANYTHING. CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED? VIETNAM IS BECOMING ITS OWN MISSION ON MARCH 1!!! I AM WAY PUMPED. All my cousins and aunts and uncles better watch out for the missionaries coming their way. So many prayers and so much fasting and work and most importantly will of the Lord gone to good. What a privilege to say we were here when it happened! 

Ok. On Tuesday Sister Nhem and I went to the city because Sister Nhem is a Sister Training Leader and had to go to MLC. So I went out with Sister Haddock and Sister Pace and we went contacting around the city while our companions were in the meeting. It was way fun but biking in the city is way scary haha Anyway, I always learn a lot from them and am so happy to see they are doing so well and learning so much! Sister Pace just opened up a jar of wisdom on us and it was a lot of what I needed to hear. 

There was no service this week on Wednesday and it was a bummer. We went to teach our investigator Bong Thaa about the woman with the issue of blood and how she acted on her faith in Christ, but when we got there we realize we all forgot our bibles at home and so just went to teach an impromptu lesson about the Priesthood. It turns out, Bong Thaa and her baby are super sick. We told her that if she wanted to, the Elders or someone from church would be more than willing and happy to give them a blessing. She was so glad to hear that and we told her she could come to church on Sunday and ask one of them. She told us she would come, but ended up not coming. We hope it's just because she couldn't find a ride :/ 

Thursday was an interesting day. After weekly planning, I was not feeling too good but decided to go out anyway. We went and waited at the church for one of our potential investigators to show up. She ended up ditching us for the third time in a row and then I ended up getting a fever haha. It was already 4 o clock by then so we just finished up teaching before curfew. We taught Om Naa which was a referral from the Elders and she is SUPER SWEET. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. Every time we come, she just calls us srey s'aat and then smiles and absorbs the whole lesson in. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she already knew so much about the creation and Adam and Eve. At the end of the lesson, she told us she knew that she had to keep the commandments and follow Jesus Christ in order to live with God again, but that Sunday was her only day off and she wasn't sure if she could come to church. We are excited because she still wants to learn and we can see that she is actually taking things in and remembers things from previous lessons! And then after that, we went to teach Ming Sotea who is an inactive. She's super awesome and every time we go t teach her, the spirit is incredible. We decided to teach her about forgiveness because Bong Thaa our investigator lives across the street from her and they've got some weird beef but we wanted Bong Thaa to have a way to get to church and were hoping Ming Sotea could help. Anyway, we finished our lesson and she said she would try to offer rides to Bong Thaa and then she looked at us and asked if she could ask a question. And then she asked about Heavenly Mother and I was really surprised. We talked about it a little and it was way fun. 

I woke up Friday morning and my fever was gone! So I'm still alive and healthy (obviously)!! We had zone training on Friday and it was a blast! Right before we started, our zone leader walked in after getting off the phone and was like, "Ok. We have some exciting news. Starting March 1st, Vietnam becomes its own mission!". My mouth literally dropped. Everyone was so happy, mostly because now when we do mission prayer, we don't have to pray for the missionaries and people in Vietnam anymore. We're not sure what will happen but are so excited to hear! Anyway, what I took away most from zone training was to 1 BE DILIGENT 2 Tie in the Atonement and Restoration to EVERY lesson because those two things bring the Spirit like no other and 3 Take personal responsibility. I swear the Elders in our zone are so in tune with the Spirit, because I know for me, it was everything I needed to hear. This was a great transfer but I'm hoping to apply what I learned from Zone Training to this new transfer and back it even better. 

Saturday, Sister Nhem woke up feeling a little under the weather so we stayed home in the morning and finished cleaning the house. In the afternoon, Sister Semones and I went out to teach a recent convert, Om Cianthaan, while Sister Nhem stayed home with Sister Ren and Brown. We brought a bible to teach her and she said she didn't have one and I said don'r worry we'll bring you one tomorrow, you can use mine right now. And then she ended up writing in mine and taking it home. Hahaha she's old and crazy but I love her so much. 

Yesterday, we had all these lessons planned for after church and they all fell through. We ended up dropping one of our investigators because she hides or pretends top be asleep every time we come and just doesn't want to learn anymore. And then Om Naa hurt her back so she had to go to the chiropractor so we decided to contact. I got to play badminton with random people and I found a Vietnamese guy on the side of the road. We tried to give him a pamphlet but then he told us he didn't know how to read. And so I tried talking to him in Vietnamese and he would just reply back in gibberish. It was a little frustrating so we went home and just snacked on some Oreos to end the day. We got transfer calls last night, Sister Nhem and I are going to finish up training here in Kampong Cham and Sister Semones is going to train!!! Isn't that way cool? I'm so pumped for this transfer and hope it's even better than the last and that the work in Kampong Cham will really start picking up! Hope the new year is going swellingly for 5 of you who actually read this!!! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Nguyen

P.S. I have absolutely no pictures this week sorry lol 

P.P.S. WAIT JUST KIDDING. Here's a picture of Sister Pace, Haddock, and I with our

American food in the city.

The Week I Bought A Bottle of Sriracha for 7 dollars # worthit‏

Hello all!
I'm getting really bad at remembering what happened during the week which I think is a sign that I need to write in my journal more just like President told me to do. 

On Tuesday, our companionship did exchanges. Sister Nhem went with the Branch 1 sisters for the day and left me and Sister Semones to cover Branch 1 and 2. I was a little nervous, not gonna lie, because we are both pretty new to this whole Cambodia thing and aren't exactly fluent. But we were way pumped! Well, most of our appointments fell through except for our investigator Bong Thaa. We taught about fasting and tithing and were feeling pretty good because she understood everything and was way willing to follow both commandments! And then while we were teaching her how to fill out the slip, she stopped us and started talking about literally every single problem she had especially with her husband. So we sat and concentrated really hard on what she was saying and then I started crying a little because she has so many trials, but through everything she always remembers that God can and will help her. She told us every time she got really angry or frustrated she would go and say a prayer. I was incredibly touched by the amount of faith she has. These people have so much faith and desire to follow Jesus Christ because they want so much to have happiness in their lives. They are incredible examples to me and I will never be able to compare to them. Anyway, by the end of Tuesday, Sister Semones and I were pooped because we basically just contacted the entire day. It was way fun but made me really grateful to have Sister Nhem to help lead and guide. Basically everyone we contacted that day told us they couldn't understand us which is probably true half the time but also mostly just because we look foreign and they don't want to have to put in the effort to try and understand us. 

On Wednesday, we harvested some more rice fields! Service is literally my favorite because physical labor is probably one of the only useful things I know how to do and allows me to physically see the fruits of my labor because sometimes with teaching, it gets hard. Harvesting is always a fun time and the family always feeds us delicious foods afterwards so we always leave super happy. 

Wednesday night, we got a call from the Elders in our branch telling us that we were having Branch Council the next day and that the Branch President was going to come. We were way stoked because this guy's super inactive and the branch hasn't had a Branch Council in 5ever. I thought it to be a miracle! So the next day, we show up for Branch Council, and we all sat down and waited for the Branch President. One hour later, and he still hadn't shown. Turns out, he was going to Siem Riep the next day and couldn't come to the meeting. And thus goes Kampong Cham. I only hear negative things about this place and it's a bummer. But I was reading in the New Testament somewhere and Jesus is talking to His disciples after they've had a long day of fishing and have caught nothing. They get super bummed but then, He tells them to cast their nets in one more time and they're all like, we havent caught anything all day why would we catch any now? And then He's like just do it. SO they do and catch so much fish that their boat starts sinking because it's so heavy. And they just cry because they can't believe they doubted Him. Anyway, I really took that story to heart because all I hear is "oh KPC is so hard. No one wants to learn. Every one is less-active" and sometimes, it's hard to not think like that too, but then I remember that The Lord will provide a way. All He's asking for us to do is to not give up and to trust Him when He tells us that they are people out there that want to learn, keep trying. I think when I remember that, it's a lot easier to feel optimistic and to go about this work with joy! 

Friday, Sister Harris and Sister Young came down for exchanges. I was with Sister Harris for the first half of the day, and we didn't have enough bikes so we were just doping each other around the whole day which sucks when your bike is literal garbage. But it was way fun because she gave me so much helpful advice and really pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to teach. I loved it because sometimes, I have trouble being able to teach just because I'm in a trio and I'm so new I feel like I don't have anything important to say. But Sister Harris told me that the best time to plant my tree, besides 20 years ago, is now! AKA it's never too late to start teaching. Funny story, we went to pick up Om Cianthaan for a lesson and Sister Harris borrowed her bike and doped her. Om fell off her bike when we stopped and peed her pants right then and there. She wasn't even phased. It was hilarious. 

Yesterday, we contacted one of the referrals the Elders gave us. She's this cute old lady who in interested in learning because she saw how much her mom loved Jesus Christ and wanted to know why. We sat down and taught her the first lesson and it was awesome! She's way cute and so genuine and really wants to learn. She even accepted baptism and we are going back to teach her on Thursday!! After the lesson, we went contacting and ended up contacting this old old Om outside of her house. She wasn't interested, but after we were done talking to her, her neighbor, a Lookpuu came over and asked what we were doing. We told him that we are missionaries and then he walked back into his house and we thought he was just walking away. But then he waved us over and pulled out three chairs for us to sit down. We were so shocked and he said he was super interested in learning. But it turns out he doesn't have a family so we can't teach him and have to hand him over to the Elders. I'm way excited about this one though! 

This was a super good week with a lot of learning experiences and many miracles with the gift of tongues. Like always but especially this week, I am reminded of my purpose here. It's to completely forget about myself and to help others come unto Christ. Because this gospel is a gospel where we take what we are given and learn in joy not in sorrow. We rejoice because we know that even though today was hard, the Savior can and will help us overcome it. And that through the Atonement, we can look forward to better days. I love this work! And I sure do love my God! I love you all and hope you take this new year as an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with God even more! 

Love,

Sister Nguyen

Picture 1 Pday last week hot pot and sushi buffet in the city #blest

Picture 2 By the Mekong River right over the bamboo bridge!

Picture 3 Full-time missionary, Part-time Balloon animal artist

Picture 4 Sister Nhem's graduation last week 

The week Christmas happened!

Hello all! 

This has been a crazy week with Christmas and coming to the city and all. We went to Sister Nhem's graduation today and so we didn't have much time for email but I'll try to make it quick. Christmas was great! Our district went and gave gifts to our branch presidencies and sang carols to them all day. I got to skype home to family on Saturday and do miss them so very much but love Cambodia too much to desire to go home. We had an activity with first and second branch on Saturday for Christmas and more than 200 people showed up including less actives and so we committed almost all of our recent converts, less actives and investigators to come to church the next day and none of them ended up showing up. Bummer. I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting and was incredibly nervous, I'm pretty sure one of the Lookpuus yelled at me to speak up. All in all, Cambodia is still crazy, I think I'm still sane. I'm just incredibly grateful for the opportunity we had to remember the great gift of the Savior that gives us hope and helps us to endure. I hope that everyone can not only take time of Christmas to remember that but also in all we do each day. I'm pumped for New Years and hope everyone has a safe and happy one. Love you all and will hopefully send pictures next week!! 

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

The week, My Favorite Week So Far!‏

Hi all!

Cambodia is still great and I am still loving it and super optimistic :) This week was way fun! On Wednesday, we finally got to do service!!!! On our way to service, we had to take this mile long bridge made completely of bamboo to a tiny little island where our entire district plus our zone leaders helped a member harvest rice. My knees are still swollen from kneeling and I've got a few callouses but I'm so happy. It's difficult to serve people sometimes when you can't speak but being able to do actual physical labor made me incredibly happy because it was a different kind of service than we usually do. The members fed us afterwards and by gol it was so goood. Sister Brown and I sat down with one of the Bongs after eating and helped her wash the dishes and just talked to her and it felt so nice because there was no pressure or anything. It was just a nice casual conversation and tons of dirty dishes. Later that day, we headed to English class and the Elders made me translate the spiritual thought from English to Khmer. I was so nervous that I was literally turning red the entire time and getting feverish haha. But with divine help from the Lord, I didn't mess up anyone's chance at salvation I don't think. 😬

And then on Thursday, since my trainer is a Sister Training Leader, she went on exchanges with Sister Semones to Battambang and I stayed in Kampong Cham with Sister Ren and Sister Brown who we share an apartment with. It is so interesting to see how different companionship do things. Sister Brown and Ren literally contact everyone they see and are literally afraid of no one. It was so fun being with them and definitely have been three of my favoritest days so far. Being with Sister Brown was super helpful because she just got to Cambodia too and like me, her language skills are not too hot but she literally talks to everyone. The entire time I was with her I was just like, 'huh. I'm really quiet compared to her". And so this week, my goal is to talk to everyone and contact as much people as possible because everyone deserves to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!! We went and visited one of Sister Nhem, Sister Semones, and I's investigators. Her name is Bong Taa. She's super nice and has a baby and is always just sitting outside on her hammock. We taught her about the Law  of Chastity and her sister and aunt? neighbor? not sure, sat in on the lesson. They easily remembered all the points and it was way cool. Bong Taa's only problem is that her husband is currently working in Phnom Penh and lives there because of his job and they aren't legally married and that's keeping her from receiving baptism. And I guess that is the problem with more than half this country. No one is legally married, they just have a traditionally ceremony and then live together. We encourages her to try her best to get the paper work done, because she wants to get baptized because she said that God gave her a miracle and healed her baby. Hopefully ervything works out. We also visited Sum Si Niat who just got back from living in Vietnam for 3 months with her boyfriend. She's in the same situation but keeps asking us if she can get baptized already. Yesterday, she even asked the Branch President if she could get baptized on Christmas hahah. We're working with her and are super optimistic.

 While going out with Sister Brown and Sister Ren, we visited a lot of less-active members and shared with them the message of CHRISTMAS! We tried to help remind them of the importance of Jesus Christ and tried to get them to come back to church. Everyone always says they will come and then no one ever comes. I just want them to be happy. Everyone we visited told me I looked Khmer which made me super happy because I want to be Khmer sooo bad. I just want to understand these people and their situations so I can help them, but with it being Christmas, I was just reminded that that's not my role. That's the Savior's job. Through Him, everything is possible -- even learning this language! My role is just to share that with others and help them see that He lives and He knows them and understands and wants to help. This morning when I was studying in 3 Nephi 17-18, I was so touched by the love Jesus had for the people. It is such a tender moment in the scriptures. And for maybe just a moment I felt an immense love for the Khmer people. I know that this gift of charity is only from the Lord. I feel closest to Him when I feel it overtaking my soul and I feel so far away from Him when I let myself feel frustrated or angry at others. I'm forever grateful for the Savior's perfect example.  

All in all, this was a very interesting week. Someone told me I looked italian??? Sister Nhem found out she is going back to the city next week for three days and we get to go with her because she is graduating!! How many people can say they graduated university while on their mission?? Crazy. Anyway, this will be such a fun week because CHRISTMAS!! I hope you all get to share this tender holiday with your families and remembering all that the Savior has done, does, and will do. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share that message with the people of Cambodia. Love you all and may you have the best week ever!! 

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

PS sorry, i only have pictures from service :/ 

Picture 1 We harvested about three fields and it took a good two hours

Picture 2 About to conquer the rice fields 

Picture 3 Working hard

The week I ate LARVA!

Hello all!

This week was full of several tender mercies. On Tuesday, we held signs up outside of the church for free English classes and that was fun. Not a lot of people stopped to grab flyers but they smiled so I guess that counts as something, right? Anyway, so on Wednesday, we taught an English class with the other elders and sisters from our district. I was pumped because now the Khmers had to try to understand me and I felt powerful. So this random girl comes and sits next to me and I was like alright cool. She was having trouble pronouncing some of the words and so I tried to help and decided to strike up a conversation. I asked her what her name was and stuff like that and she looked like she wasn't understanding me so I had to tell her that I didn't really know Khmer, I was Vietnamese and from America. She said something about Vietnam and I didn't really understand her so I smiled and nodded #classic. And then she asked me if I knew Vietnamese and so I asked her back just because that's what I do to everyone and she said yes! Turns out she's half Vietnamese and half Khmer and lived in Vietnam but was in Cambodia for school until the 24th. And so we talked for the rest of the time and she asked me what I was doing here and if I was scared because apparently I look terrified or something?? Not sure. But I told her we were missionaries and that we teach about Jesus Christ and that for me the Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought me so much comfort and guidance. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would be interested in learning. The next day, we taught her and she asked if our church taught weird things like everyone has to be a sister. Sister Nhem told her that this was a choice because we want to share our happiness. Anyway, she had a bunch of good questions and in the end she accepted baptism!! So I am way pumped.

On Thursday, we made the trek to Phnom Penh for training. We caught a free bus ride with a bunch of members who were in Kampong Cham for a service project but on their way back to Phnom Penh. The entire bus ride was literally the worst. We heard Adele's and JB's new song and it kind of was awful. Sister Semones and I definitely bonded though and laughed the whole time at the Khmer's song selection. Some of the songs were in English but I don't think they knew what the lyrics meant because I'm pretty sure it wasn't appropriate to play at a church activity. On one of our pit stops, we met some of the other members on the other bus and a bunch of them spoke Vietnamese but i couldn't keep up haha. Also Sister Nhem held a tarantula and it was disgusting watching it's little sack jiggle. People actually do eat that here and I'm real tempted too. Also at the pit stop yes, Sister Semones and I ate larvae and it was pretty yum.

On Friday I saw all of my MTC district and I WAS LITERALLY SO HAPPY. Everyone sounds like they're doing awesome and having a lot of the same experiences! It's crazy how different you can look in a week. I missed them so much and I still do. They are a special group and are like a family to me. It was so heartbreaking to say bye because it'll be for a while but honestly, wouldn't want it to be any other way because we are here to do the Lord's work! And plus, they're homies for life so we've got all the time in the world after this. But for now, our time is devoted 10385048% to the Lord and to the Khmers. After our full day of training, we all went out a Christmas caroled around the city. It was super fun. And now I am back here in Kampong Cham ready to try harder and ready to forget myself. I'M GOING TO LEARN THIS LANGUAGE AND I AM GOING TO TRY MY BEST TO HELP THESE PEOPLE.

This week, my study was a lot about the Lord's work. I love Luke 4:18 because it lists off all the things Christ did during His ministry. And we are told so many times that our work is His work. The two are inseparable meaning we can do the same things Christ did during His ministry. Maybe not literally healing a leper or causing the blind to see but in a figurative sense yes. How great is that! The best way to make Christ's ways our ways is to learn of Him. This work is hard but I know it is worth it, if not for me then for them. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else in the world right now. Anyway, until next week!! I love you all and hope you are having fun preparing for Christmas!!!

Love,

Sister Nguyen

Picture 1 At Watt/ Mountain Haan Ce with GMO fruits 

 Picture 2 At Watt/Mountain Haan Ce Pday rocks

 Picture 3 Sister Nhem with satan in the form of a bug 

 Picture 4 Watt/Mountain Haan Ce again. Aren't my companions the cutest? Yes.

 Picture 5 In the city caroling and cornering people to give the pass along cards about Jesus 

 Picture 6 Good friends after a long day of training 

The week my brain went missing!

HELLO! HELLO! HELLO!  

I am currently sitting in an internet shop in Cambodia in my pday clothes getting ready to go "hike" a "mountain". I'm not so sure they're qualified to be called mountains. But we shall see.

Boy, do I have so much to say and how lucky are we that President Christensen doesn't give us a one hour limit? Literally #blest 

The plane ride here was great! Not many troubles. We were able to call family and such and had a few minutes left over on our call card so called our Lookruus and Neakruu and were sooo happy to talk to them. Hopefully we didn't annoy them haha. A couple of Elders and Sisters from our group lost some luggage but hopefully that got taken care of. As soon as we got to the mission home, we met our trainers and were ripped from each other. So no chance to really say goodbye, which was probably for the better. But we get to see each other one last time on Thursday for training. I am excited because I miss our MTC district like no other. 

Ok so let's talk about what you're all really wondering about. CAMBODIA. My first area ever is....KAMPONGCHAM! IIt's in the coutry side about three hours from Phnom Penh. It reminds me a lot of Vietnam except dirtier so I don't think I am that culture shocked. The food is heaven and my body really likes it, so the possibility of losing weight is nonexistent because I eat more than I am able to bike off. I freaking love Khmer food. In case anyone is wondering, haven't had poop problems YET and I have not eaten any insects yet either. Anyway, no one here believes I'm Vietnamese. Everyone's initial guess is Chinese or Korean. And then when I tell them my name is Sister Nguyen, they all tell me about the place where you can go get money called "Wing" and then I have to tell them I don't have money. After that, they're too lazy to remember my name or read my plaque so they just call me Sister Vietnam. Also everyone always tells me I look like someone they know that lives a few houses down. I guess all of Cambodia looks like me. My trainer is Sister Nhaem! She's a native but speaks a LOT of English. I'm in a companionship with her and Sister Semones who has been out for three months! They're both super nice and have been super helpful in this transition. We had zone training the other day and were able to talk a little bit about how to help our members. So Sister Nhaem, Semones and I are actually serving in Branch 1 and 2 of Kampongcham. There are a bunch of inactive members here and everyone leaves after the first hour of church. The area is a little weak but we are excited to get to work and help these people. Our apartment is apparently the nicest in the mission. Yes we have AC #blest but we are sandwiched between two or three watts and they are super SUPER loud. I went to my first real Cambodian sacrament meeting yesterday. It is true, reverence does not exist in this country. Everyone talks during the whole thing and the kids are running around playing and talking to people on the pulpit and chasing after the sacrament trays. BTW THE SACAMENT BREAD IS THE BEST THING EVER. It's like sweet coconut bread and I died when I ate it. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting so I got to hear a lot of the testimonies of the members. Although this place is completely insane, I have to say that the Holy Spirit that is here is the same that I have felt everywhere. These people have amazing faith that I admire so much. For example, one of the members in Branch 2 doesn't have use of her legs but still comes to church every week. And church is not close. The members here have been so kind to me and are always encouraging me to keep trying. I love these people so much already. But the language barrier makes it so so hard. I never understood what it felt like to have a "broken heart and contrite spirit" until now. I feel completely helpless and useless. BUT I am fully dependent on my trainer and the Lord. I only want to help the people. I only want to get to know them. But not knowing the language makes it so hard. I trust that God is going to help me through this like He has with every other trial I have had. I am optimistic and cannot wait until I can truly serve the Khmers. I was reading in the Book of Mormon and was just pondering and asking myself how the heck I am going to be of any aid. And then I flipped to 2 Nephi 32:3, saying that if we feast upon the words of Christ, the words of Christ will tell us all that we should do. So I have restarted the Book of Mormon and trust that it will help me to know how to help these people see the importance of the gospel. 

A lot of this week was about overcoming fears and just remembering why I am here. Sister Nhaem told me to not be afraid of contacting even if I don't speak the language because this is the reason I am here...to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who am I to decide who gets to hear about it and who doesn't? And the worst they could say is no. SO BUCK UP, SISTER NGUYEN. Anyway, I love you all so much and am grateful for your thoughts, kind words, and prayers. I would not be here without your powerful testimonies and incredible example to help me along the way. Until next week! 

Love,

Sister Vietnam 

Picture 1 Our family. Sister Nhaem is my mom, there's "not so little baby me", and Dad Sister Semones

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 Picture 2 Riding down dirt roads