The Week of Floods, Bread, and No Gas 9/12/16

Xin Sdei! 

The weeks just keep getting better and better and so I'm thankful for all of your prayers!

This week had a lot of potential to be the worst week ever, BUT IT WASN'T.

The rain has started and our bottoms are soaked for more than half of the day, but we are still trucking. 

On Thursday, Chi Trinh prepped super yummy curry to eat and only had to throw it on the stove. When she went to turn the stove on, WE WERE ALL OUT OF GAS. So we threw it in the crockpot to eat later and called the gas people. We left and came home later that night and realized that the curry had taken a really wrong turn and turned into this mush that looks like you would feed it to someone who just came out of a coma and forgot how to chew. Also, the gas people never came so for the next three days, we lived off of our microwave and gross leftovers hahah We have literally been eating bread and instant noodles for every meal. Yesterday, we were on our last bag of noodles. Each of us had one bowl for lunch and were still so hungry but since it was Sunday, we didn't want to go out and spend money. But it was as if Heavenly Father really knows our needs or something! Because we went to visit Co Phuong and she gave us two bundles of bananas to eat and we were so grateful! After church, a truckload of members were inviting us over to dinner and FHE and we were completely shocked because normally, no one invites us over and we didn't even tell anyone about our stove problem #miracles Chi Trinh and I were reminded of this scripture that we always share with the members that if they try to find God first, they won't have to worry about worldly things. 

This week, I learned about patience and really prayed for opportunities to develop it. 

We were sitting in Vietnamese class this week and this super old Om pulls me over next to him so I could translate in Khmer. Every time I tried to stand up to go help someone else, he would pull my arm and make me sit back down. I was getting super irritated but remembered that sometimes Heavenly Father answers our prayers through others. So I just sat and stared at Om just pondering this opportunity I was given to work on patience. I asked Om about himself and his family. I kept asking him questions and he asked me "what do you want from me??" I told him I didn't want anything and just wanted to get to know him. He told me his family ran away from him and my heart basically broke into a million pieces. He said, "Since, I've met you, I've been super happy. Because you always translate for me. Do I make you happy?" I told him of course! and that he could treat me like his very own daughter. He looked at me smiled with his three toothed smile and said thank you. 

Ba Xum is still alive and kind of crazy. She told us she memorized the entire BOM and that literally made me laugh out loud. 

Phi Ngan is doing so well! She is coming to church every week and even tried fasting for the first time yesterday. Hahah she had to leave church because she was so hungry that she was shaking. It was way intense but we are grateful for her faith and willingness to keep the commandments! 

Right when Chi Trinh and I got to church yesterday, Chi Trinh got asked to speak during sacrament meeting and they asked me to play piano. We were both caught way off guard. Chi Trinh was so nervous that she messed up a million times trying to say hi. Also, I don't play piano and I never have. Branch President got up there and said "sorry. this piano player just got shipped over from america" And that's how the church is running in Cambodia. One day, they'll get it down and be super organized and it'll be awesome. 

I love you all. I hope you have the best week!!

Love, 

Sister Nguyen 

The Week of Gibberish! 9/04/16

Sua sdei/ Xin Chao!

This week, Chi Trinh and I are trying to amp our language study and so have been trying to combine all three languages when we speak to each other. Sometimes, we say things in Khmer that end up being really bad things in Vietnamese. E.G. one of the words for how in Khmer translates to "I have to pee" to Vietnamese and Chi Trinh thinks it's hilarious. Hahah

This week, our investigator Chi Loan dropped us because she is following too many religions to add another one on haha. We asked her if we could just read the Book of Mormon with her and she said, "yeah probably not" and so we bore our testimony to her and left. It was way sad. 

This week, I FINALLY GOT TO SEE SISTER LUKE AND IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. She came into the mission home, we locked eyes and screamed and ran into each other's sweaty arms and just held each other and cried. I think that's what it's like when you meet your loved ones again in heaven, right? If so, that was one of the best feelings ever and I can't wait. That was tender mercy number one. 

On Monday, we took Chi Trinh out for her birthday! We took her out to lunch and let her eat TWO WHOLE bowls of Pho all by herself. And then, we headed back to the mission home where Sister Leavitt bought her a box of ice cream that she ended up passing out to everyone else. And then the other viet sisters surprised her with a cinnamon bun hahah It wasn't much, but when we got home and reevaluated our day, Chi Trinh just cried and said she was just so happy because she had never had a real birthday before. That was tender mercy number two.

Since a lot of the members here are preparing to go to the temple in November, they are meeting with President Christensen to get approved financial aid to pay for the trip. A lot of them asked us to translate for them this week and of course we were more than happy to do so! I got to translate for one of the counselors in the district presidency. President just asked him about his living situation and how long he had been a member and what his source of income was. At the end of the interview, President asked Chu Dung if he had any questions. Chu Dung took off his glasses with tears in his eyes and pulled out a really dingy tissue. He said, "I have waited 16 years for this opportunity" and just buried his face in the tissue and cried. It was such a tender moment. I am so happy the Saints here are finally getting the chance to attend the temple. That was tender mercy number three.

Also, I got an awesome package of letters from the Relief Society back in Lewis Center. Shout out to all you moms, you're the best and I am grateful for your support. Tender mercy number four. 

I love this work so much! I am grateful for this time we have to preach the gospel 24/7. It's crazy to think that this is the only time we'll ever have in our lives that is 100% completely devoted to spreading the word. I know Heavenly Father's hand is in this work. I know Christ lives and He loves us. 

I LOVE YOU ALL. 

Love,

Chi Ca Wing 

My memory card literally just got a virus as soon as I finished this letter so I can't send you pictures dang it. hahah 

 Imagine this,

1 Our entire zone got matching t-shirts with Troy Bolton's face on the front to amp zone unity. 

2 The grossest picture of me and Sister Luke drenched in sweat hugging each other 

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 

The Week of Sprinkled Miracles 8/21/16

HI! 

SO we were lead to a handful of Potential Investigators this week and have been teaching them and it's awesome! Only one has come to church so far but we remain hopeful and very grateful because THERE'S ACTUALLY WORK TO DO NOW. YAYAY!

I can't remember that much else from this week because it's going super fast. 

Have fun going back to school!!!

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

Pictures 1 and 2 language study in three languages

That's all I have because my camera is still broken oops hehe 

The Week of the Soggy Bom 8/14/16

Hi friends and family! 

This week, it rained like crazy and I forgot to plastic bag everything so everything in my bag got SOAKED including my camera (so no more pictures for a while) and my scriptures. I've tried to let my books dry in the sun and several fans but nothing has worked and its still way soaked haha It's tricky when we are in lessons and I try to open up to a specific scripture but can't because the pages are stuck. But apparently, all of the members have water damaged scriptures too and I can't believe I'm talking about this as if its supposed to be entertaining 

Chi Trinh and I have just picked up a new investigator!!! Her name is Phi Ngan and she is the girlfriend of the branch president's less active son! She has learned a little bit with the missionaries before but never with sisters. We committed her to be baptized and she said yes

because she wants to become a daughter of God! She remembers a lot and it has honestly been such a tender mercy! She even came to church yesterday :) The only problem is that she is living with her boyfriend and probably breaking the Law of Chastity. BUT WE'RE WORKING ON IT. 

We found one of our less-actives! Well, actually, she found us! Her name is Co Anh and she just got of out prison! yayyyyyy She called us up and asked to meet us at one of the members house. We sat on the floor and she just bawled and told us how much she wants to repent and that she will never leave God again. It was really sad hearing her story and we are going to try to meet with her more often to help her out. Oh! Don't worry she wasn't in jail for anything super bad. 

Yesterday, we went to go visit one of my favorite families! Co Nga and Chu Salin live in Toul Kork and are a little ways away from our house but we bike there every Sunday and they feed us a million mangoes from their mango tree plus they're hilarious. Co gave us the mangoes and said "be careful, if you eat too much, you're going to diarrhea." and then she squated and shot finger guns from her bottom 

We sat down with them and asked Co if she was reading the BOM and Chu jumped in and said "YES! Co is awesome! She reads it till 3 in the morning!" I thought wow! That is awesome! and then Chu got up and said "It's because she's on the toilet until 3 in the morning" and ran out of the room laughing hahahaha Co sheepishly laughed and said "yeah. its because my stomach doesn't like mangoes" 

This week, we got Sisters in our house and I realized how much I missed the company of other people. It has been way fun, plus it's Sister Haddock! So we just sit and reminisce on how easy the MTC was and how naive we were. 

WELL. That's pretty much the week haha. The days are going by super fast and I can't recall where this all started and can't believe we have been out for so long already. 

I love you all and hope you have fun getting ready for school to start again >:) Have a blast this week!

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

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I can't even tell you what happened this week 8/7/16

HELLO! CONGRATULATIONS, HANG!!! I AM A NEWLY DECLARED GREAT AUNT!!!

And baby Zara has just enough time to reach the cute stage of babyism by the time I get back. 

This week was so good!

We found a super
lost less-active that is about an hour away by bike super away from society! After we visited her, she told us she didn't even really live there hahaha the worst

We found out last night that we are getting Khmer sisters in our house! WE ARE SO EXCITED TO HAVE FRIENDS. 

I don't really remember a lot from this week, but here are some mediocre pictures.

BYEEE 

Love,

Sister Nguyen 

Picture 1 Service: Peeling a million bananas

Picture 2 Sister Larsen is dying this week and I am so sad 

The Week We Became The Wedding Singers 7/31/16

Good week! 

We had Sister Cheney with us for a while and it was a blast! Hahah. We had to fit the three of us on two mattresses and those were some of the most uncomfortable nights ever haha I don't even remember sleeping. 

Sister Cheney is a champ and is literally so good at the language already, it's incredible. We are all so impressed and grateful for her addition to the program. It was so fun  to be with someone who is so new to Cambodia. You kind of realize some of the things you do aren't actually normal or acceptable. I think Chi Trinh and I have been out for so long we just kind of forget haha 

On Tuesday, we called up one of our Potential Investigators and she told us we could come to her house. Well, 3 hours later, and tens of thousands of phone calls to her. We never found her house and are pretty sure she sent us on a wild goose chase just to mess with us. She kept changing the location of her house and we were so naive and so hopeful. That was a very rough day for us. 

Wednesday, we had our last English class and will be heading over to the North Stake Center this week. We had soo few students that Sister Christensen said it wasn't worth it. 

On Saturday, all of the Viet missionaries were asked to sing at Anh Lim and Chi Dung's wedding. They're both returned missionaries and were sealed in the temple and it was just so touching to see their example. The District President married them and when he announced them man and wife he said "you can kiss her now or you can continue to kiss her when you go home later" hahaha it made everyone feel really awkward. 

Yesterday, for the second time ever on my mission, we had an actual branch council and it was awesome to see ALL of the leaders there. There is a real difference in the Khmer and Vietnamese branches. There are so few Vietnamese members here, they really focus on sticking together and keeping the members active! 

Oh! Also we met with that woman with the fourteen kids and actually got to teach her and her husband. Half of the lesson was in Khmer and half in Vietnamese. It was sick. They have agreed to meet with us again tomorrow! We're so excited and really pray we will get to start teaching their family even if it will be in half Khmer and half Vietnamese. 

That's pretty much anything exciting that happened! I love you all and am grateful for your support!! 

Love,

Chi Ca Nguyen/ Sister Wing 

Picture 1 Toilets in odd places 

Picture 2 One of the Stake Counselors backyard is a river that leads to Thailand 

Picture 3 We just shut down the English class here in TSK :( Only six-seven students each week. 

Picture 4 My favorite students that are technically not supposed to be in this class 

Picture 5 SERVICE. Peeling something? 

Picture 6 A cool wall at our member's house. 10 points if you can find my name. 

Picture 7 Sister Cheney/ Chi Tuyet and I found out we have the same blanket haha go target

Picture 8 Beautiful bride and Handsome Groom