The First Real Week 7/10/16

XIN CHAO

We got the transfer call last night. Chi Trinh and I will be headed to branch 3 up in north stake and Chi Dao and Chi Cheney will stay here and watch over Branch 6 & 10. 

This week, I can testify that the gift of tongues is so real. Heavenly Father has been helping me so much with both languages and I can really see His hand in my life and in the work. 

So this is how the whole Vietnamese thing works. The Vietnamese are just spread out all over the city, but most of them are located in three areas and that's what Branch 3, 6, and 10 are. Our areas are abnormally huge compared to the Khmer programs areas. We just really have to put on our best listening ears to see who speaks Vietnamese and see if they want to learn or not. Other than that, we go visit less-actives or active members. 

Yesterday, I gave my first talk in Vietnamese! I got up there and was so nervous but I started speaking and it just felt so easy and I really did feel the Holy Ghost just guiding me through the whole thing. But as soon as I thought about myself being up there, I panicked and got way nervous again and started stumbling over my words. The members are wayyy nice though and were so encouraging and were so amazed that I spoke both language, which is way funny because so do they! Hahah

In one of the Sunday school classes, we were talking about what we could do to have a better relationship with Heavenly Father. One of the members brought up strengthening our prayers. Awesome, right?! But wait, and then she said what we need to do it change into our best clothes right before we pray and then kneel and pray in front of the altar of God each of us should have in our homes....That's the church in Cambodia. There's a lot of misunderstandings and little knowledge about a lot of things, but these saints are awesome because what they lack on knowledge, they make up for in their amount of faith. They know of the importance of the Gospel and the power that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have and it's awesome! 

I'm so happy to be here! Sometimes, when I am on my bike I find myself being overcome with an immense feeling of peace and love in my heart. I would not change my mission call for anything and am so honored to be serving these people. 

I can't wait to tell you about the new area next week!! I heard it's an awesome area for Khmers and Vietnamese! 

I love you all!!

Love,

Chi Ca Nguyen

P.S. People still don't say my name right hahah

Picture 1 We matched but you can't even see dang it 

Picture 2 One of the members had us over for FHE and made us some bomb viet food that tasted just like Mom's

Picture 3 My very sweet companions

 PICTURE 4 COOL DUO LINGO NAME TAG

The Week of the Other Side! 7/3/16

Xin chao/ sua sdei!! 

This week, I hit many milestones. One, I turned 20 and now I am officially an adult. But that's ok because we all know that I am a 5 year old at heart. Two, I hit my half way mark! That means 9 months left. At first, I thought that my mission was going by way fast but then, I got switched programs and now, it has significantly slowed down. Hooray to learning a new language! 

These past few days have been the most exhausting and emotionally draining ever, but I have two of the BEST companions in the mission. Sister Dao is from Colorado and has been out for a long time and dies in three months! Sister Trinh is from Ho Chi Minh and has been out for six months! Sister Dao and Sister Trinh have been nothing but supportive. They really want to help and take care of me so this is what they do, Sister Dao speaks in Vietnamese while Sister Trinh translates. When we go to appointments, Sister Dao bikes in front and Sister Trinh bikes behind me and they sandwich me like a new born baby. 

Right now, we are waiting for Sister Cheney, the new Sister, to get here in a week!! We are so excited for the work to be growing!! Once Sister Cheney gets here, Sister Dao, Sister Trinh and I will split and become two companionships.

There are only 3 Vietnamese branches and only 9 missionaries! 

Yesterday was the first day of church and it was SO EXHAUSTING. We cover two Vietnamese branches which in essence covers almost all three Khmer stakes in the City! We sat through six hours of church yesterday. The first three hours were great! And I understood a lot and it was awesome, but then the last three hours in Branch 10 were incredibly tiring and I think I actually started falling asleep. Afterwards, one of the counselors from the branch presidency came up to me and asked if I was the new Sister and what my name was. I replied and he said "cool. I have a present for you" and gave me a topic card for talking in sacrament meeting next week. I'm way nervous but my companions have a lot of faith and confidence in me. I speak mediocre enough that people ask whether I am from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh! hahaha 

The Vietnamese Program has been a complete 180. I admire this group of missionaries more than anything. They are some of the most hardworking and humble people I have ever met. They are so good and have been nothing but encouraging and charitable. I am more than honored to be here doing this work with them. This is going to be an awesome 9 months! 

Sorry, this email is all over the place. A lot of things happened this week and it was a little overwhelming and I can't really organize my thoughts ahhh 

This is my favorite quote this week, "Do you know why this Sister is so big? It's because she drinks elephant milk!" -one of the members. Thank you to Heavenly Father for allowing me to understand that much haha  

I know that Heavenly Father will help me through this and I am more than grateful to be serving in Cambodia! I have seen His hand so much in my life and in this work already! I love you all! And shout out to mom, I can actually talk to you when I get home!! NO MORE KITCHEN VIETNAMESE!!!

daoy seckdeisrolan,

Chi Ca Nguyen

Picture 1 and 2 and 3 Goodbye to some of the TTP members/ investigators

Picture 4 Some of the TTP Youth got me a cake for my birthday! haha so sweet!

Picture 5 My companions and my RC, Thanh! I am actually serving in her branch now! 

Picture 6 can you guess which legs are mine?  

The Week of the New Mission Call 6/26/16

Hi, 

Before I say anything let me flash you back to my training days, probably my second month in country. I was at the mission home and President Christensen pulled me into his office and asked me about my Vietnamese abilities. I told him a little better than kitchen Vietnamese but that I did not know how to read or write. He said that was fine and that it would be easy to learn. I asked him what his intentions were and he said he wouldn't switch me over to the Vietnamese program unless something happened to one of the Sisters or unless they really needed me. He asked me how I would feel if I switched over and I said politely that I would be more than happy to but that I was having so much fun in the Khmer program and that I really loved the language! I was relieved and continued on with my mission when he told me not to worry. 

This week, transfer calls came. I was feeling pretty peaceful and was really pulling for another transfer here in Toul Tom Pong. Well, President called the other set of sisters in our house and I heard Sister Lines scream and we all suspected that he was calling to ask Sister Schwab to be Sister AP. But then she looked up and pointed to me (Xiong and I lost our phone this week, so he couldn't call us directly) This is how my conversation went with President...

"Hi, Sister Nguyen. How are you doing?"

"I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous?"

"Why are you calling me President?"

"Well, it's the Sunday night before transfers and you know what I usually do, right? I call people. I have a special assignment for you"

I thought he was going to call me to whitewash or be a Sister Training Leader or finish up training one of the new missionaries, but no. He switched me over to the Vietnamese program and my heart literally dropped and my stomach twisted and turned. I sat crying on the phone asking him not to because I was just beginning to learn Khmer and I really was loving it. He said that he felt really strongly about this and that he really felt that it's what Heavenly Father wanted as well. He added that I knew enough Khmer now and that it was time. Anyway, I'm way sad, and really nervous because it will basically be like training all over again -- learning a new language and all. But I am SO grateful and honored to be able to help the church grow here. Plus, I'll still be in Cambodia, only now I'll be speaking Vietnamese and be in the same two area for the rest of my mission. It's cool too because I'll be basically starting a new mission exactly on the day of my half way mark! 

This week was way interesting. My companion is going through some of her own struggles plus she has had this nasty cold so we didn't proselyte very much this week. We got maybe two hours of proselyting in each day. So basically, I sat inside the house, updated Convert Baptismal Records, and cleaned the house a million times. I really started to go stir crazy. It's funny because on Thursday I was way bummed that we didn't get to go out and then our house literally flooded and I ended up mopping the house down for the rest of the day. It's like Heavenly Father knew I was bored and wanted to give me something to do. 

I love this area so much. I'm more than grateful to have served here for so long. The members here are the best and are so loving. I'm so sad to be leaving them. I love my companion. And I'm grateful to have been able to serve in the Khmer program. I honestly think Heavenly Father let me marinate on this side of the mission for this long so I could meet some of the mission's best missionaries. 

Ok. That's all from me. I love you all so much and am thankful for your support. I hope you are all enjoying your busy summer and soaking up the sun! 

Love,

Chi Ca Nguyen 

Picture 1 Sister Ren who was in the house with me during training came for an exchange with Sister Schwab!

Picture 2 Pharun in TTP. She's awesome and knows so much English. She's leaving for her mission pretty soon!

Picture 3 Probably my favorite investigator ever. Her name is Thida and she's so awesome. She was so sad I was leaving but said she would still learn and get baptized because she's getting baptized for God not for me :)

Picture 4 Kanika. She was born in America but lives over here. She's the best and I love her like a little sister. 

Picture 5 PUPPIES

Sorry, I''m way bad at emailing. 6/19/16

Sour Sdei!

Sorry, I''m way bad at emailing. This is what's been up lately. 

Toul Tom Pong is kind of plateauing right now. We haven't been able to find new investigators that really want to learn about the gospel. And those we do find end up being in a different area, so we have to hand them over to the other sisters. The other day, we came out of a lesson at the church and walked to the front and there was a random lady standing there with her male friend. She asked our investigator, Sophaly, about English class but wouldn't look at me when I tried to answer. And then she tried to quietly ask Sophaly what nationality I was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I answered and told her I was from America, but I was Vietnamese. And then I think it finally clicked in her head that I spoke Khmer. We ended up talking for a little and turns out she's way cool. After talking she said this to me in her cute broken English, "I think you are now my best friend. I always come here to ask questions about English class and then leave after I ask, but this time, I stay and talk to you. I feel so good when I talk to you. You make me so happy. You can come to my house and I will make you food, Chinese or Khmer!" I asked her if she wanted to learn about Jesus Christ and she said, "Yes. You can come to my house and teach me." Big bummer, she is in Comkarmon, but the desire is still there so we gave her to the CKM sisters. Even though it was a bummer, I was so comforted in hearing what she said. We really do make a difference as missionaries, even though sometimes we don't see the immediate effects.  

Our mission is doing a HUGE focus on Family History and Temple Work and so we've been going around and teaching that to basically everyone including our super active members. It's been way good and we've gotten a lot of training on it. There's this little book we invite everyone to fill out. It's called, "My family Book" and there is a section for "Me" and Mom and Dad and Grandparents and stuff like that. It's way fast and so fun. I love families, so I'm so happy we're really emphasizing the importance of it. What's way cool is that most Khmers understand the importance of families already! One of my companions told me, "Sister, have you ever wondered why Khmers always say their last name first on everything?? It's because we always think about our families first. In America, you say your first name first, because you think about yourself" (YIKES) but there's that. Also, our mission just got a senior couple who specializes in Family History and Genealogy so the work is really about to pick up!! 

On Thursday, Sister Soem came back to TTP for an exchange and we were back at it. It was so much fun beign with her and teaching with her again! She's soo good and I could rave about her forever. Plus, the members were so happy to see her again and it was way weird because they were talking to me so much because they were so happy we were back together. But once she left, they were back to normal...hahaha 

On Saturday, Thanh got baptized into the Vietnamese 6th Branch! We showed up at 11 and THANH WAS STILL NOT THERE. So I stated pacing and getting really nervous, but then she finally showed up! We ended up having to ask a member to translate for me, Sister Xiong, and Thanh. Thanh had to get up and bear her testimony but couldn't do it in Vietnamese so she read off of a paper she wrote in Khmer. She was so nervous haha,but now she's determined to learn Vietnamese so she can actually understand what's going on in church. And then after the baptism, as their "light snack", the branch provided us with bun cha gio thit nuong. It was like a full on meal and it was AWESOME. It's funny because when we were preparing for the baptism, I asked the Viet Elders if there was anything we could do or bring to help and in his broken English Elder K said, ""it's ok. my branch will take care of it. after the baptism we will feast". And we really did end up feasting! 

After that, we had mutual with the YW and they demanded that I show them how to make cake. Joke's on them, because I had no idea how to make cake and actually just got the recipe off of the internet. It ended up being a big mess because 1. Mixing bowls are not a thing in Cambodia so we mixed everything in small bowls or the cookingpans 2. Ovens in Cambodia are awful. It ended up taking a lot longer than expected and creating a huge mess. The Young Women then decided that I really didn't know how to make cake. It tasted pretty good though. Also, we had to use duck eggs because we couldn't find any chicken eggs hahahah

Well, that's everything exciting that has happened this week. This next week is transfer calls and I'm a little nervous/anxious to see if I will be staying in TTP because I have been here for three transfers already! Plus, this transfer that is coming up is going to be an 8 week transfer! OOOHH AHHHH ok. 

I love you all. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Happy Sunday. I hope you have a splendid week and are all enjoying Summer!!!! 

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

Picture 1 EM BE THANH GOT BAPTIZED

 Picture 2 The whole gang

Picture 3 Oops

Picture 4 The most appetizing cake you will ever see in Cambodia....

The Week of 80 Smiles!

Sua sdei! 

This week was good! It was a little slow at first. For some reason, slowly but surely, we have been running out of people to visit. Our days used to be super busy, but now no one is home lately and so we are really struggling to find people to see. The Elders said the same thing was happening to them as well, so I guess it's kind of comforting knowing it's not just our companionship? We ended up doing a lot of English class contacting (standing on the side of the road holding up a sign to advertise our English class. It got a little boring so we decided to make a game out of it and see how many people would smile back at us in the span on one hour. 80!!!)

Two weeks ago in English class, one of the Vietnamese members brought a khmer nonmember with them and referred her to us. She told us she really wanted to learn and so we took her number and gave her a call the next day but she told us she was too busy because she has two kids in school and she is learning how to do nails. The week after that, we ran into her while we were proselyting and asked if we could come see her, she said we could come eat rice with her but that she was only free for one hour because she had to go back to work. We turned around to take a phone call, and then when we turned back around she was gone. Well, this week, the Vietnamese elders have been bugging us about the referral they had for us. We finally found time to meet with the elders and follow them to the referrals work place and turns out it was the Bong Srey from English class! That's three times now that we've run into her. We sat down and talked to her to just get to know her and teach her about prayer. Th spirit was soooo strong and sh said we could come see her at her work place anyday around 4! 

On Wednesday, we had English class again and ended up getting a lot of potential investigators from it -- including a couple! Which means we might start teaching a family(ish)!!! 

On Friday, we met with Srey Niang again and we always have to give ourselves time when we go to see her. She talks for forever. We read a scripture with her, and ended up stumping her with one verse. She read it over and over again and then got really quiet and summarized what it meant to her (which was totally different from what we thought it meant!). She talked about how it made her think about all the wrong things she's done before and how awful she felt for it. But then she started talking about how much her boyfriend has been a help for her and an example to her of strong faith. She said before she was like a tree and he was like a rock that she leaned on whenever the winds blew, but now that he's on his mission, she feels like there's no rock there. We told her about how she is never alone. If anything, we are here for her, but more importantly, Christ is ALWAYS there for her. We told her to rely more on Christ and to let Him help her. By the end of the lesson, we were all crying and it felt good to connect with each other. 

On Saturday, we had surprise service! We helped some members in Comkamon shovel a HUGE MOUND of dirt to make a foundation for their home. It was just us four sisters. The members were so happy and impressed and said we did enough work for 10 men. The next day, they got up and bore their testimony in sacrament meeting about faith and expressed their gratitude for the sisters #YEAH #GIRLPOWER Afterwards, we went out proselyting and were super sore and still are to this day. We met with Thida, one of our investigators and she is doing so WELL!! She has learned all by herself how to read the scriptures and apply it to her own life and she even confessed to us that she wants to become a missionary as well! IM SO HAPPY. It's so hard though, because we only get to meet her once a week. I really wish we could meet her more, but it's also good because she doesn't not feel like she is being rushed or anything! 

This week, Elder Wong from the Seventy will come and share a few things with us and then we have Zone training on Friday and more service on Saturday! It will be a busy week, but hopfully we get to find more people to teach! 

I love this work. I really do. I'm grateful to be serving in Christ's name, teaching and comforting others in place of Him. I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU GUYS ARE NICE TO THE MISSIONARIES BACK AT HOME. 

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

Picture 1

Srey Kaa was finally baptized! 

Picture 2 there is no picture 2. Sorry. I'm bad at taking pictures. 

The Week of Translated Whispers!

HI. SORRY. NOT MUCH TIME TO EMAIL. I AM WELL AND HEALTHY. 

The work has been good! 

1. KRISPY KREME (the donut business, not the rapper now known as froggy fresh) IS HERE IN PHNOM PENH CAMBODIA

2. We splurged and impulsively bought a dozen 

3. We started meeting with a Less-Active named Srey Niang. Her boyfriend is serving a mission in Vietnam and so she stopped going to church for a little bit there, but has been coming back. She's way cool and I love her so much. She likes to call me Sister Pig because I am so big compared to Khmers

4. On Wednesday, we got switched around a little bit and Sister Xiong and I ended up teaching basic english class by ourselves. More than 45 students!!! And then for spiritual thought, one of the native vietnamese elders got up to share and the class just went wild because he was so quiet and he didn't speak the clearest english ever. it was rough haha

5. WAIT. Last week, we went to visit Thanh and this small frail old lady who lives next to her started throwing sticks and stuff at us through the small hole in her fence. It was way scary. We asked Elder Khanh about it and he said she's probably possessed. Turns out she just hates missionaries. Don't worry. I am 100% sure we are safe though.

6. Srey Kaa the 8 year old we have been teaching ccame to meet bishop for an interveiw on Friday. She was SOOOO nervous. She had us come into the interview with her and wouldn't even look up at bishop or open her mouth. She would whisper stuff into my ear and then I would have to say it aloud. By the end of the interview, she was smiling and laughing, but still not speaking. 

7. All of our other investigators are doing way good and I am so grateful to be serving in this ward!!!! 

8. Can you believe I have already been out for 8 months?? That was way fast. I hope it slows down!!!

9. I LOVE YOU ALL. I PRAY FOR YOUR HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. 

OK BYE BYE

LOVE,

SISTER NGUYEN

Picture 1 They have mango flavored donuts lolol

 Picture 2 look at how Thanh's dog sleeps hahaha

The Week Soem and I Broke Hearts‏

Sua sdie! 

Last night we got transfer calls and I am staying in Toul Tom Pong and Sister Soem is leaving to Stung Mean Chey. I am so sad to be separating from her. She is literally the best, 10 out of 10, two thumbs up, would recommend to a friend. She has helped me learn and grow so much these past two transfers. Lucky for me, we will still be in the same zone so I can see her at zone training :) I am not too bummed about staying, I kind of had a feeling I would be here for a while longer. Sister Xiong is my new companion. I do not know much about her so will update you next week. 

The youth in our ward were pretty upset that one of us is transferring. They even cried and have been very sentimental with us hahaha 

As for the work, it is still the same. We have three progressing investigators right now who are all on track to receive baptism in June or early July. Thida, Sophaly, and Thanh. They all come to church each week and are keeping the commitments we give them. The only problem is that they don't quite read the BOM as often as they should be. We are still trying to figure out what to do about that. 

This week, Sister Soem and I were waiting outside of the church for our investigator to show up for an appointment. A random moto pulled into the church and three American looking girls got off and came up to us to ask about the free piano class we teach. I was expecting them to speak English BUT THEY SPOKE FLUENT KHMER. Would you imagine that? A bunch of Americans speaking fluent Khmer! Turns out they are actually half Russian, half Khmer. But they don't look one bit Khmer. They showed up just half an hour early for piano class so we invited them to sit and wait for the other missionaries to show up to start teaching piano. But instead, they  ended up sitting in on our lesson with our investigator, Sophaly. As we taught them all, the spirit was I N C R E D I B L E. Afterwards, we asked the oldest, Bong Srey if she wanted to learn more. She said she didn't want to bother us but we told her we were full-time missionaries and all we do is teach! Se was so happy and said she would love to learn about Jesus Christ. We were soooo excited but ends up she is in Comkarmon area, right on the border so she is going to be taught by the CKM sisters. 

We didn't get to do much proselyting this week because the electrician came twice this week and stayed for five hours each day. It was frustrating because he told us he would come at 7:30 AM but didn't come until 10.

There was a HUGE Young Single Adult conference this past weekend for the all of the YSA in Cambodia. More than 500 people showed up. Some of them were definitely not old enough and most of them were definitely not "young". But it was way cool to see so many members gathered together to meet. The President of BYU-H came to talk to them about studying at BYU-H and the Us Ambassador of Cambodia even came to talk about getting visas. It was awesome to see them promoting the importance of getting a good education. 

On Sunday, the elder's investigator, Vireak was baptized! His parents were very against him getting baptized and even threatened to kick him out of the house. His father even beats him sometimes as well. We told him he didn't have to rush into this decision. He prayed and thought he would put off baptism for a little while until he could find a steady job and place to live. He decided one Sunday to go to a different ward. Stung Mean Chey,  just to get away from everything for a little bit. When he went, one of the Recent Converts of that ward got up and shared his testimony of the importance of baptism. And then afterwards, the SMC elders had a baptism. Vireak took this as an answer from Heavenly Father and came back the next day and told us he wanted to be baptized! I am still a little nervous for him. But we are definitely praying that he will be safe and be comforted and that his parents' hearts will be softened. 

Not much else happened this week! Sister Sok is sick and we are very worried that it might be something neurological so if you guys could please pray for her, that would be awesome! 

Ok! Have a fantastic week! I love you all so much and am so happy to be here in Cambodia doing the Lord's work and serving His children. 

Love,

Sister Nguyen

P.S, ITS SO HOT OVER HERE

P.P.S IT'S STARTING TO RAIN/FLOOD. PLS PRAY FOR ME. 

Picture 1 We went to eat Korean food after district meeting. And now we have been craving kim chi ever since

 Picture 2 Vireak's baptism! Here are a portion of the youth in our ward

 Picture 3 Soem and I with our favorite grandmother

 Picture 4 Sophia was choking me