Monday, September 16, 2013-8:07 PM/Sunday, September 15, 2013 10:14 PM
Cambodia: Land of Delivery Pizza?!?!
Dear Family,
Does anyone like pizza? I don't know if you realize how lucky America is to have great pizza. Pizza is a wonderful food. Maybe Elder Walker Johnson can make me some wonderful pizza after our missions :). Well, even being in a third-world country we have pizza! So Elder Lyman and I decided on having it delivered to our house at about 8:30 pm on Friday the 13th! Haha that was our celebration for that day.
This week was fantastic! So many things happened and it was so much fun. Let's see, last Monday after we emailed Elder Lyman and I proselyted and tried to meet with a half-investigator. He wasn't home so we decided to play keep the ball in the air with tons of little kids. They thought it was hilarious that two barangs (Cambodian for Frenchman, that is what they call all white people) would play with them.
This week I went on 2 exchanges. With Elder Lyman and Elder Blocker (another elder in my house) being Zone leaders they have to go on exchanges with district leaders and Elder Lyman has to go on exchanges with our district too. So the first exchange was me and Elder Khem. He is a full Cambodian...from Texas :). Haha. He is Elder Blocker's comp. So the two ZLs left to different areas for a day so Elder Khem and I had our whole branch as our area for a day. We had a full day scheduled but many fell through. However, I think they fell through for a reason. In the time that they were scheduled we contacted 3 young men who were going to a university. They all knew how to pray and believed in God. So hopefully this week we can meet with them and teach them. It was really cool though because i know the Spirit directed me to where to go. We found them in less than 2 minutes. The Lord was directing us. Later that day we taught an investigator and a less active named Ganiga. She is like 23 and has been a member for a year or two but doesn't come to church because her family does not support her at all. Her younger sister was one week away from baptism then randomly just stopped learning and didn't want to join. That was sad. But we visited her and she has a strong testimony of Joseph Smith because I asked what her favorite story from the Book of Mormon was and she just talked about Joseph Smith. She told us everything that is in Preach My Gospel about it. She is awesome. The rest of the exchange was good. We just taught two other less actives in Elder Khem's area the next morning.
English class this week was fun. It was on Happiness. So for the Gospel discussion we decided to reinact the story of the Prodigal Son. (I didn't know this before but prodigal means wasteful, interesting). Anyways I was the good son and Elder Lyman was the father. Elder Blocker was the prodigal son and Elder Khem was the party people (the prodigal son's friends). It was a lot of fun.
I just want to say that Elder Lyman is wonderful. He is 6'3", from Logan, Utah, loves basketball and football, plays the piano and loves Les Mis, doesn't sing but he likes music, and he is an awesome missionary. He is very patient and loving with the people. Oh, and he likes good food :).
So we get along pretty well :).
I had another exchange from Thursday to Friday. I went to a different area with a Khmae elder named Elder Keo (Guy-oh). He is really nice and quite but loves teaching. We ate at a wonderful khmae restaurant and had this food called cha gruing, cha means fry and gruing is a type of seasoning thing that they use a lot in food. It is really good.
Sunday! The best day of the week! Why? Because the Sacrament and baptisms! Yesterday, I was asked to pass the sacrament. I was super excited to do it again. I miss passing the sacrament. It is such a wonderful feeling knowing that you are acting as the Lord while passing the sacrament. I loved it. A lady actually quoted Les Mis in her talk today too. That was impressive. Also, we had a baptism!!!! Last week I talked about Ray. He got baptized this week. He has been a golden investigator wanting to do the right thing, taking each commitment like it was a bowl of ice cream, and even already helping us teach other people the gospel. Ray has been prepared by the Lord and has a wonderful testimony. He teaches too with clarity so he is a wonderful help. It was a beautiful service.
So I want to talk about some cultural things. First, food. The food here is probably 75% chas, or stir fry dishes. Probably most things you eat are fried in oil. So not always the healthiest thing. The only things they don't fry is fruit, which can be expensive :P. For breakfast, if you eat the khmae breakfast, it is baay saec chrut (buy psych jroot). It literally translates to: rice flesh pig. It is a box of rice with pork strips on it with some pickled vegetables and seasonings on top, sometimes served with an egg. It is very good depending on where you go. Sometimes they give you a soup (more of a broth than soup but yeah whatever) too. We shop in markets outside and the food just sitting there in the open. But I haven't gotten sick yet from food :). Also, we bleach a lot of our food or cook it really hot so most germs/bacteria/other stuff dies. We do have some supermarkets here the equivalent of Smith's back home. It is called Lucky's and we go every week. Elder Lyman and I have a standard 4 now: cereal, milk, bread, and yogurt. The cereal is expensive but when you get 6 bowls from spending 6 dollars on one box of cereal and milk, then that is definitely worth it. It is awesome.
Now for my language. My language has gradually improved. I can talk about the first 4 lessons with pretty good detail. Lesson 5 is still hard with all the commandments like chastity and tithing and fasting. I think that my understanding and listening is a little better than my speaking but I'm trying to increase my vocabulary. Some days it is easier and some days it is harder. My reading is getting slowly better. I can read the letters it is just slow sometimes but reading is really quite fun! It feels like reading elvish.
So I love my mission! Thank you all for the prayers on my behalf. I love you all. May God hold you in the palm of His Hand.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Monday, September 23, 2013
Week 24/ Week 16 Cambodia: First time I have seen a van in a living room :D
September 8, 2013 10:27:36 PM MDT
To the Fam,
I LOVE YOU!!!! You are all so wonderful and I miss you. But I am loooving my mission too. I feel like every week I grow more and more to love my mission and I am coming to find how the Lord looks at missionary work and taking His Gospel to all His children.
So this week we had an exchange with the APs. Usually for exchanges the companionships change companions for the day. But with APs they split up and go with your companionship. So we had a tripanionship for a day. (APs only go on exchanges with Zone leaders, Elder Lyman my comp is a ZL). So they came Tuesday night till Wednesday evening. The APs have this van...and so we parked it in our living room :). It was SUPER funny.
Wednesday night we had English class. I am teaching the advanced class with Elder Lyman. It is a lot of fun. They understand a lot of english. So for the Gospel Discussion (last half hour of English) we decided to teach on charity and using the Good Samaritan and act it out. For the day we had taught on body parts so we wanted to identify parts of the body that was hurt. I was the guy who got beat up :). Apparently I had a broken arm and a bad case of the laughs. I thought it was so funny I couldn't stop laughing while I was "unconscious." It was great.
So we randomly saw goats by our house :).
Oh so Elder Lyman plays the piano a little. And President said it was ok for him to give piano lessons. He has two students and teaches them. Then while we wait for another he plays the piano. I miss the sound of live piano playing :).
We have wonderful investigators. We have 3 who are really close to being baptized. Within the next 2 weeks probably. All are young men between the ages 23-28. Ray (sounds like the word rye) is one and he is probably going to be baptized this week. We meet him 2 or 3 times a week and we love him. He is quiet spoken but knows that this church is true. He and I have grown really close. The other investigator that I have really gotten close to is Veasna. He has already read into Jacob and beyond. He understands the Book of Mormon and loves it. He loves learning and meeting with us. We meet him 2 or 3 times weekly also. I have so much love for both of these investigators and I am so excited for them to receive the blessing of baptism. They will be wonderful members.
This week at church I saw Bun Thouen again. Bun Thouen is the tuk-tuk driver of my grandparents who served in Cambodia 10 years ago. He is a former branch president and is currently half inactive. But both weeks in this stake he has come. He also brought his family. His family hasn't been in an even longer time. He is a high councilman so he is more active and just goes to other branches a lot. But it is so wonderful to get to meet people who know my grandparents and help them grow in the faith. It was wonderful.
Well, that's all I got folks. Remember to be happy, be safe, choose the right, remember who you are and what you stand for, talk to strangers and make new friends, come back alive and temple worthy, don't go biking in heavy traffic or bad weather or when it is dark (haha umm....oops :P), smile, have fun, "Return with Honor," "Serve with No Regrets," "Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose," and until next time may God Hold You in the Palm of His Hands.
Love,
Elder Johnson
I LOVE YOU!!!! You are all so wonderful and I miss you. But I am loooving my mission too. I feel like every week I grow more and more to love my mission and I am coming to find how the Lord looks at missionary work and taking His Gospel to all His children.
So this week we had an exchange with the APs. Usually for exchanges the companionships change companions for the day. But with APs they split up and go with your companionship. So we had a tripanionship for a day. (APs only go on exchanges with Zone leaders, Elder Lyman my comp is a ZL). So they came Tuesday night till Wednesday evening. The APs have this van...and so we parked it in our living room :). It was SUPER funny.
Wednesday night we had English class. I am teaching the advanced class with Elder Lyman. It is a lot of fun. They understand a lot of english. So for the Gospel Discussion (last half hour of English) we decided to teach on charity and using the Good Samaritan and act it out. For the day we had taught on body parts so we wanted to identify parts of the body that was hurt. I was the guy who got beat up :). Apparently I had a broken arm and a bad case of the laughs. I thought it was so funny I couldn't stop laughing while I was "unconscious." It was great.
So we randomly saw goats by our house :).
Oh so Elder Lyman plays the piano a little. And President said it was ok for him to give piano lessons. He has two students and teaches them. Then while we wait for another he plays the piano. I miss the sound of live piano playing :).
We have wonderful investigators. We have 3 who are really close to being baptized. Within the next 2 weeks probably. All are young men between the ages 23-28. Ray (sounds like the word rye) is one and he is probably going to be baptized this week. We meet him 2 or 3 times a week and we love him. He is quiet spoken but knows that this church is true. He and I have grown really close. The other investigator that I have really gotten close to is Veasna. He has already read into Jacob and beyond. He understands the Book of Mormon and loves it. He loves learning and meeting with us. We meet him 2 or 3 times weekly also. I have so much love for both of these investigators and I am so excited for them to receive the blessing of baptism. They will be wonderful members.
This week at church I saw Bun Thouen again. Bun Thouen is the tuk-tuk driver of my grandparents who served in Cambodia 10 years ago. He is a former branch president and is currently half inactive. But both weeks in this stake he has come. He also brought his family. His family hasn't been in an even longer time. He is a high councilman so he is more active and just goes to other branches a lot. But it is so wonderful to get to meet people who know my grandparents and help them grow in the faith. It was wonderful.
Well, that's all I got folks. Remember to be happy, be safe, choose the right, remember who you are and what you stand for, talk to strangers and make new friends, come back alive and temple worthy, don't go biking in heavy traffic or bad weather or when it is dark (haha umm....oops :P), smile, have fun, "Return with Honor," "Serve with No Regrets," "Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose," and until next time may God Hold You in the Palm of His Hands.
Love,
Elder Johnson
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| So this was a wedding at the church :). Elder Lyman is on the right, I'm in the middle, and Elder Johnson the II is on the left :). HAPPY MARRIAGE!!! |
Week 23/ Week 15 Cambodia: Land of Change
Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 9:55 PM
Dear Peoples of other Places besides Cambodia,
Well everyone, it has come. I have been transferred!!! Yes. I am no longer with my awesome trainer but I am with another awesome companion named Elder Lyman. He is Zone Leader and is a super hard worker and is fantastic. He one of the biggest missionaries we have :) haha so he's big and I'm little. Super fun. He loves sports (football and basketball), loves music (Les Mis and the Forgotten Carols for example), and loves being a missionary. He is so wonderful.
So let me go through the week a little. I didn't get the call to be Emergency Transferred (when you transfer not on a regular transfer date) until Tuesday night. I had proselyted with Elder Noot and Vuat until then. I was tranferred Thursday morning so I could teach English class on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun and I taught well my last time. I got to say goodbye to my recent convert Sok Eang who I baptized. We got to teach them one last lesson and as she said the closing prayer I peeked and saw her, her already member husband, her 12 year old son, and newborn baby. I pictured them in all white, sealed in the temple. It was a beautiful sight.
So Thursday morning I packed everything I had into a tuk-tuk and headed to the mission home to meet Elder Lyman. We planned for the week once we got home. Oh our home is HUGE!!!! It's got 4 floors plus a balcony. 3 bedrooms, 2 storage rooms, a kitchen, two huge living rooms, and 6 bathrooms!!! It rocks!
My new area is on the opposite side of the city than my last. My area is now near the north west side of the city. It is called Tukthla (duck tla). We have like 5 investigators with a baptismal date the coming month. All of them are super good too. I have already gotten close to them and am so happy to teach them. I love learning from Elder Lyman. He is a great teacher and is always helping the investigator or member do better. We also do lots of less active work too. We had one less active come back yesterday to church. Less active work is so fun. I used to never think about working with less active members before my mission but you do it just as much as with investigators.
Something funny about my new Zone is that we have 4 Johnsons in it. We have Elder and Sister Johnson, a really old, crazy senior couple. We get to translate for them once a week so I got to ride in their really nice car. Ahhh cars. AC and automatic drive. Boy do I miss driving my car Harold. haha Anyways (Uncle Greg that is for you ;)) we have the Johnson senior couple, then there is Elder Johnson the II, he has been out for a year now, and I am Elder Johnson the III. All the Johnsons are in one zone now. Johnson Zone!!!
Finally we had Sunday. Sunday is my favorite day of the week as well as Monday. The Sacrament is so much more to me now than it ever has been. Every week I WANT the sacrament and I realize I NEED it. The sacrament is so much more than just making us clean from our sins. It can give us strength to help us do better, be better, be stronger to resist temptation and overcome evil. We can receive help from on high to make ourselves claeaner, happier, and stronger. More loving, kind, obedient, diligent, and virtuous. I know it is so important. I love it and I hope you grow to love it too.
Well that's all I got. Love you all so much and miss you. Thank you for all the prayers.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Dear Peoples of other Places besides Cambodia,
Well everyone, it has come. I have been transferred!!! Yes. I am no longer with my awesome trainer but I am with another awesome companion named Elder Lyman. He is Zone Leader and is a super hard worker and is fantastic. He one of the biggest missionaries we have :) haha so he's big and I'm little. Super fun. He loves sports (football and basketball), loves music (Les Mis and the Forgotten Carols for example), and loves being a missionary. He is so wonderful.
So let me go through the week a little. I didn't get the call to be Emergency Transferred (when you transfer not on a regular transfer date) until Tuesday night. I had proselyted with Elder Noot and Vuat until then. I was tranferred Thursday morning so I could teach English class on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun and I taught well my last time. I got to say goodbye to my recent convert Sok Eang who I baptized. We got to teach them one last lesson and as she said the closing prayer I peeked and saw her, her already member husband, her 12 year old son, and newborn baby. I pictured them in all white, sealed in the temple. It was a beautiful sight.
So Thursday morning I packed everything I had into a tuk-tuk and headed to the mission home to meet Elder Lyman. We planned for the week once we got home. Oh our home is HUGE!!!! It's got 4 floors plus a balcony. 3 bedrooms, 2 storage rooms, a kitchen, two huge living rooms, and 6 bathrooms!!! It rocks!
My new area is on the opposite side of the city than my last. My area is now near the north west side of the city. It is called Tukthla (duck tla). We have like 5 investigators with a baptismal date the coming month. All of them are super good too. I have already gotten close to them and am so happy to teach them. I love learning from Elder Lyman. He is a great teacher and is always helping the investigator or member do better. We also do lots of less active work too. We had one less active come back yesterday to church. Less active work is so fun. I used to never think about working with less active members before my mission but you do it just as much as with investigators.
Something funny about my new Zone is that we have 4 Johnsons in it. We have Elder and Sister Johnson, a really old, crazy senior couple. We get to translate for them once a week so I got to ride in their really nice car. Ahhh cars. AC and automatic drive. Boy do I miss driving my car Harold. haha Anyways (Uncle Greg that is for you ;)) we have the Johnson senior couple, then there is Elder Johnson the II, he has been out for a year now, and I am Elder Johnson the III. All the Johnsons are in one zone now. Johnson Zone!!!
Finally we had Sunday. Sunday is my favorite day of the week as well as Monday. The Sacrament is so much more to me now than it ever has been. Every week I WANT the sacrament and I realize I NEED it. The sacrament is so much more than just making us clean from our sins. It can give us strength to help us do better, be better, be stronger to resist temptation and overcome evil. We can receive help from on high to make ourselves claeaner, happier, and stronger. More loving, kind, obedient, diligent, and virtuous. I know it is so important. I love it and I hope you grow to love it too.
Well that's all I got. Love you all so much and miss you. Thank you for all the prayers.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Week 22/ Week 14 Cambodia: Land of Exploding Grenades
Sunday, August 25, 2013 9:00 PM
Dear Family and Friends,
Yes, there are exploding grenades everywhere in this country!!! Haha in Cambodian we have a term "bauk gro baik" (spelled how you would pronounce it in English). This is the term that means to have been ditched or stood up. So many times on a mission you need to have patience and get used to being stood up and having an appointment fall through. This week I think we had one fall through almost every day and one day we had all 3 fall through. But we are ok. We continue to do work.
Even though we do our best it is still difficult to be happy and optimistic when things fall through. This week was especially hard on us. We did all this preparation in anticipation and then it falls through. It is hard. I was in a down mood one of these days when I remembered that I had my grandfather's (mom's dad) conversion story. I unfortunately hadn't read it yet. I decided to read it in a spare, private moment. I want to share a brief outline of his story.
My grandfather was raised in a home with a mom who believed in a God. She had my grandfather and his brother go to many churches. In one day he said they might go up to 3 different churches just to worship God. They moved to California where they went to many churches and my grandfather got a job. He also was enrolled in school. At this time his family moved to Arizona and he stayed behind because he was earning money for the family. At this time in high school he met J.R. in biology (I believe). He found out that J.R. was a Mormon. They quickly became friends. J.R. introduced my grandfather to his friend group and my grandfather started going to activities, mutuals, and even sacrament meetings. They never pressured him though to get baptized. It was 3 years later that J.R. was about to leave on his mission when him and my grandfather talked. He asked my grandfather if he wanted to be baptized. With a little apprehension but with no doubt in his mind my grandfather said yes. J.R. then baptized him a short time later. I am forever grateful that my grandfather decided to join the church. It was the "small, still voice"that told him that it was true, he said.
When I read my grandfather's story I was immediately grateful to him and the Lord for showing him the way. I was also relieved of my burden and sour mood and was able to work harder afterwards.
There really wasn't much else that happened this week. Thank you all for your prayers and support. They are much appreciated. May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Dear Family and Friends,
Yes, there are exploding grenades everywhere in this country!!! Haha in Cambodian we have a term "bauk gro baik" (spelled how you would pronounce it in English). This is the term that means to have been ditched or stood up. So many times on a mission you need to have patience and get used to being stood up and having an appointment fall through. This week I think we had one fall through almost every day and one day we had all 3 fall through. But we are ok. We continue to do work.
Even though we do our best it is still difficult to be happy and optimistic when things fall through. This week was especially hard on us. We did all this preparation in anticipation and then it falls through. It is hard. I was in a down mood one of these days when I remembered that I had my grandfather's (mom's dad) conversion story. I unfortunately hadn't read it yet. I decided to read it in a spare, private moment. I want to share a brief outline of his story.
My grandfather was raised in a home with a mom who believed in a God. She had my grandfather and his brother go to many churches. In one day he said they might go up to 3 different churches just to worship God. They moved to California where they went to many churches and my grandfather got a job. He also was enrolled in school. At this time his family moved to Arizona and he stayed behind because he was earning money for the family. At this time in high school he met J.R. in biology (I believe). He found out that J.R. was a Mormon. They quickly became friends. J.R. introduced my grandfather to his friend group and my grandfather started going to activities, mutuals, and even sacrament meetings. They never pressured him though to get baptized. It was 3 years later that J.R. was about to leave on his mission when him and my grandfather talked. He asked my grandfather if he wanted to be baptized. With a little apprehension but with no doubt in his mind my grandfather said yes. J.R. then baptized him a short time later. I am forever grateful that my grandfather decided to join the church. It was the "small, still voice"that told him that it was true, he said.
When I read my grandfather's story I was immediately grateful to him and the Lord for showing him the way. I was also relieved of my burden and sour mood and was able to work harder afterwards.
There really wasn't much else that happened this week. Thank you all for your prayers and support. They are much appreciated. May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Week 21/ Week 13 Cambodia: Land of MOTOS WATCH OUT!!!!
Sunday, August 18, 2013 8:51 PM
Dear Family and Friends,
So in case you couldn't guess by the title there are so many motos here. Probably 80% of the traffic is motos and motorcycles. You should see what they can fit on them. I need to take more pictures of them. Some moto drivers are really good...and some are really bad. Like the one that hit me :D. Haha yes I got hit by a moto. I was crossing a street I had enough room to cross. I was just watching one car to make sure it slowed down from me. And from the other direction a moto hit right into my front tire. I flew off my bike but miraculously landed on my feet then stumbled to the ground. The biker saw he hit a white person and kept going hahaha. I was fine. Nothing was hurt except a bag of flower and my basket on my bike. It was thrilling :D.
Before I get too far I want to thank Uncle Neil for the wonderful email. It was so nice to get it. I think Singapore has about the same temperature as Cambodia right now actually. So we both got it really hot. And Aunt Karen thank you so much for the package with the Provo tie clip and twinkies. I didn't have a tie clip of the temple till now and the twinkies :D SO GOOD!!! Thank you!
This week was interesting to say the least. On Tuesday we had Zone conference and President came to teach us. We focused on helping the members grow stronger and help them invite others to church. I especially loved his talk about the Atonement and the Sacrament. We can use the power of the Atonement everyday but we need to renew the power of remission of our sins and that is by taking the Sacrament every week. We offer our sins every week at the feet of Christ as our sacrificial lamb. The Sacrament helps us prepare for the Temple and the laws and covenants found within. It is such an important, eternal ordinance. I know it and I testify that we can become clean through the power of the Atonement by taking the Sacrament. I loved it.
We taught a few lessons this week and contacted a lot. I am becoming so comfortable contacting. Some days it is still really hard but a lot of the time I don't have much of a problem just talking to people. My comprehension still isn't high but I am comfortable at trying.
So this week Elder Noot got a new trainee and I got a new companion :D. He is Khmae and his name is Elder Vout. He is 26 years old and comes from Kompung Thom, the heart of Cambodia. He is awesome and has the missionary spirit. He also knows how to cook! I have eaten rice for pretty much all but one of my meals since he came but I'm excited to eat good food. Having a tripanionship is hard. It is difficult to teach but we are still learning. I will learn a lot from it.
So about contacting. Contacting questions is really different from Stateside missions. Here in Cambodia typical questions consist of: How many kids do you have? Where do you live? When are you usually home? And so I have come to realize that missionaries are stalkers in a sense. I am sure if we asked these questions in other places we would probably get the police called on us :). But Cambodians don't care so we do.
Well, that's all folks. Until next time may God hold you in the palms of His hands.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Dear Family and Friends,
So in case you couldn't guess by the title there are so many motos here. Probably 80% of the traffic is motos and motorcycles. You should see what they can fit on them. I need to take more pictures of them. Some moto drivers are really good...and some are really bad. Like the one that hit me :D. Haha yes I got hit by a moto. I was crossing a street I had enough room to cross. I was just watching one car to make sure it slowed down from me. And from the other direction a moto hit right into my front tire. I flew off my bike but miraculously landed on my feet then stumbled to the ground. The biker saw he hit a white person and kept going hahaha. I was fine. Nothing was hurt except a bag of flower and my basket on my bike. It was thrilling :D.
Before I get too far I want to thank Uncle Neil for the wonderful email. It was so nice to get it. I think Singapore has about the same temperature as Cambodia right now actually. So we both got it really hot. And Aunt Karen thank you so much for the package with the Provo tie clip and twinkies. I didn't have a tie clip of the temple till now and the twinkies :D SO GOOD!!! Thank you!
This week was interesting to say the least. On Tuesday we had Zone conference and President came to teach us. We focused on helping the members grow stronger and help them invite others to church. I especially loved his talk about the Atonement and the Sacrament. We can use the power of the Atonement everyday but we need to renew the power of remission of our sins and that is by taking the Sacrament every week. We offer our sins every week at the feet of Christ as our sacrificial lamb. The Sacrament helps us prepare for the Temple and the laws and covenants found within. It is such an important, eternal ordinance. I know it and I testify that we can become clean through the power of the Atonement by taking the Sacrament. I loved it.
We taught a few lessons this week and contacted a lot. I am becoming so comfortable contacting. Some days it is still really hard but a lot of the time I don't have much of a problem just talking to people. My comprehension still isn't high but I am comfortable at trying.
So this week Elder Noot got a new trainee and I got a new companion :D. He is Khmae and his name is Elder Vout. He is 26 years old and comes from Kompung Thom, the heart of Cambodia. He is awesome and has the missionary spirit. He also knows how to cook! I have eaten rice for pretty much all but one of my meals since he came but I'm excited to eat good food. Having a tripanionship is hard. It is difficult to teach but we are still learning. I will learn a lot from it.
So about contacting. Contacting questions is really different from Stateside missions. Here in Cambodia typical questions consist of: How many kids do you have? Where do you live? When are you usually home? And so I have come to realize that missionaries are stalkers in a sense. I am sure if we asked these questions in other places we would probably get the police called on us :). But Cambodians don't care so we do.
Well, that's all folks. Until next time may God hold you in the palms of His hands.
Love,
Elder Johnson
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| BOOKS!!!!!! |
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| PIGGGSS!!!!! |
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| Elder Noot and Elder Workman (Vietnamese speaking) |
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| Vietnamese Sisters and Elder Tien (Vietnamese) |
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| Scones and Potato Soup night!!! |
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| Our tripanionship with Elder Vout |
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Week 20/ Week 12 - Cambodia: Land of Miracles
Sunday, August 11, 2013 8:52 PM
Yes it truly is the land of miracles, but I think that is how every mission is. The Lord is hastening His work.
So fun little things that happened this week: we played basketball!!!!!, had a branch FHE which was so fun and SO much food, got the new Khmae version of the Bible (with tabs!!!), got to see one of our less actives be called as the Young Men's 1st counselor (he is so active now :D), and got soaking wet WHILE wearing my raincoat from Mr. Macs :). Haha I think the rain in Cambodia has some coat piercing magic or something :). Oh haha Elder Noot and I also blew money and went to an Indian restaurant called Shakti Shiba (or something close to it, with a name like that who wouldn't wanna go?). Boy was it delicious :D.
One day at the church I did hear a piano and violin duet. It was a Khmae and an International member playing Praise to the Man. Boy was it heavenly just because there is very little music here in Cambodia...well that's not true. There is music but it is very traditional and noisy and weird. Really hard to understand and they just blast it. But I got to hear wonderful music. I was so happy :). Sometimes I just decide to sing while riding my bike and I don't care who's listening because I like music and Cambodians are just awkward people so singing will biking isn't to bad :).
So to the miracles. This week we got several new investigators. One of them happens to have been a referral who we actually have met several times. Before we even got the referral I actually played him in Chinese chess. He destroyed me twice in a row but it was fun. He looks JUST like Mr Miyagy (Miyagi...IDK the spelling). His name is I Kong (how you would pronounce it in English is Ee Gohng). He is wonderful. We also had several other investigators come to church. It was wonderful.
Yesterday, was Sok Eang's baptism. It was super spiritual and wonderful. I had the privilege of performing the baptism. It felt so nice to wear all white (unfortunately I did forget my white tie at the apartment :P). I think I did a pretty good job, I only had to repeat the prayer once! Haha, but it was really spiritual. I know that the Lord loves Sok Eang and is happy that she has covenanted to follow Him. I know that we are bringing Salvation to His children. I felt so warm, peaceful, and happy the rest of the day and still today I feel it :).
Finally, we had transfer calls last night. President Moon is so spiritual and goes by revelation so transfers are always a surprise. This transfer: Elder Noot is staying in our area, he is a District Leader, and is training again. As for me........ I am staying with Elder Noot in our area!!! We are to be a tri-panionship!!! It is really exciting. Elder Noot says that there have only been like 2 tri-panionships during his year here and there has NEVER been a trainer and trainee stay together for 3 transfers in his time here. I am SUPER HAPPY!!! Elder Noot is my best friend on the mission and we are doing WORK here in Cbarumpou (in English it is jbaa- um- boh).
We had many miracles this week and I am eternally grateful for them. Until next week may God hold you in the palm of His hands.
Love,
Elder Johnson
P.S. A shout out to my little brother who isn't so little anymore but still my brother!!! I LOVE YOU!!! Helaman 11:19, Alma 56: 47-48
Yes it truly is the land of miracles, but I think that is how every mission is. The Lord is hastening His work.
So fun little things that happened this week: we played basketball!!!!!, had a branch FHE which was so fun and SO much food, got the new Khmae version of the Bible (with tabs!!!), got to see one of our less actives be called as the Young Men's 1st counselor (he is so active now :D), and got soaking wet WHILE wearing my raincoat from Mr. Macs :). Haha I think the rain in Cambodia has some coat piercing magic or something :). Oh haha Elder Noot and I also blew money and went to an Indian restaurant called Shakti Shiba (or something close to it, with a name like that who wouldn't wanna go?). Boy was it delicious :D.
One day at the church I did hear a piano and violin duet. It was a Khmae and an International member playing Praise to the Man. Boy was it heavenly just because there is very little music here in Cambodia...well that's not true. There is music but it is very traditional and noisy and weird. Really hard to understand and they just blast it. But I got to hear wonderful music. I was so happy :). Sometimes I just decide to sing while riding my bike and I don't care who's listening because I like music and Cambodians are just awkward people so singing will biking isn't to bad :).
So to the miracles. This week we got several new investigators. One of them happens to have been a referral who we actually have met several times. Before we even got the referral I actually played him in Chinese chess. He destroyed me twice in a row but it was fun. He looks JUST like Mr Miyagy (Miyagi...IDK the spelling). His name is I Kong (how you would pronounce it in English is Ee Gohng). He is wonderful. We also had several other investigators come to church. It was wonderful.
Yesterday, was Sok Eang's baptism. It was super spiritual and wonderful. I had the privilege of performing the baptism. It felt so nice to wear all white (unfortunately I did forget my white tie at the apartment :P). I think I did a pretty good job, I only had to repeat the prayer once! Haha, but it was really spiritual. I know that the Lord loves Sok Eang and is happy that she has covenanted to follow Him. I know that we are bringing Salvation to His children. I felt so warm, peaceful, and happy the rest of the day and still today I feel it :).
Finally, we had transfer calls last night. President Moon is so spiritual and goes by revelation so transfers are always a surprise. This transfer: Elder Noot is staying in our area, he is a District Leader, and is training again. As for me........ I am staying with Elder Noot in our area!!! We are to be a tri-panionship!!! It is really exciting. Elder Noot says that there have only been like 2 tri-panionships during his year here and there has NEVER been a trainer and trainee stay together for 3 transfers in his time here. I am SUPER HAPPY!!! Elder Noot is my best friend on the mission and we are doing WORK here in Cbarumpou (in English it is jbaa- um- boh).
We had many miracles this week and I am eternally grateful for them. Until next week may God hold you in the palm of His hands.
Love,
Elder Johnson
P.S. A shout out to my little brother who isn't so little anymore but still my brother!!! I LOVE YOU!!! Helaman 11:19, Alma 56: 47-48
SCONES!!!! Patrick Star is now a scone!!!
Look what Elder Noot and I drew on the wall!!! LOTR!!!!
The day of coat-penetrating-rain.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Week 19/ Week 11 Cambodia: Kingdom of Wonders (that really is the nickname of Cambodia)
Sunday, August 4, 2013 8:50 PM
Another Email from the Kingdom of Wonders. Weather report: hot and humid with lots of clouds and a 90% chance of showers later tonight. Time: 9:30 am local. Drink of the day: Coke (or beer if you are not a member).
Each week it feels like we have a lot of appointments cancel or not show up but at the end of the week I feel blessed for what we did do. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you were committed to bringing the gospel to others even though lots of things fell through.
Even though things fall through we are having success. This upcoming Sunday we have our first scheduled baptism. Her name is Sok Aang (yes all you Avatar fans it is pronounced the same :)). She has been a golden investigator. Her husband who already is a member wanted her to join and she has been committed since the first lesson. She really is so wonderful and we are so excited for her.
Now for you who believe that being in a hot, humid area will help you keep your weight down, let me tell you: haha nope. Eating rice for most of your meals doesn't help you lose weight. I totally thought that I would have no problem losing weight and would have to worry about being to skinny. The only skinny people here are the ones who have had a bacteria infection and throw up a lot. Most other people have the beer bellies. Haha.
So Elder Noot and I are the teachers for the beginning English class we teach every Wednesday night. This past week we had an awesome gospel lesson (the class is 1 hr of English and 30 minutes of gospel lesson). For gospel lesson I had Rothana (a 22 year old young man) come up and help us be an example for us. I used him as an example as a person who got into some trouble. Every time he did something wrong in the story I smeared peanut butter on his face to say that he wasn't clean anymore. He needed to repent to get clean. It was a great lesson. (I got this idea from my grandma who did this on my face for one FHE a couple years ago :)).
We contacted lots of people this week and have a few good potential
investigators. I am starting to be able to understand a lot more now but some days it is just really hard. It is a very cool language.
I did have an awesome dream this past week that was really cool. I pretty much was Nephi in the book of Helaman preaching to the people to repent from his garden tower. Only I was on a fountain instead and preaching to a market. I did say though "Oh ye wicked and abominable people, repent!" Haha thought it was really cool :).
Well that is about all I got for this week. I know that this is where I need to be right now. I love this work. The field really is ripe for harvest. The Savior loves each of us and I know that He Lives. May God hold you all in the palm of his hand.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Another Email from the Kingdom of Wonders. Weather report: hot and humid with lots of clouds and a 90% chance of showers later tonight. Time: 9:30 am local. Drink of the day: Coke (or beer if you are not a member).
Each week it feels like we have a lot of appointments cancel or not show up but at the end of the week I feel blessed for what we did do. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you were committed to bringing the gospel to others even though lots of things fell through.
Even though things fall through we are having success. This upcoming Sunday we have our first scheduled baptism. Her name is Sok Aang (yes all you Avatar fans it is pronounced the same :)). She has been a golden investigator. Her husband who already is a member wanted her to join and she has been committed since the first lesson. She really is so wonderful and we are so excited for her.
Now for you who believe that being in a hot, humid area will help you keep your weight down, let me tell you: haha nope. Eating rice for most of your meals doesn't help you lose weight. I totally thought that I would have no problem losing weight and would have to worry about being to skinny. The only skinny people here are the ones who have had a bacteria infection and throw up a lot. Most other people have the beer bellies. Haha.
So Elder Noot and I are the teachers for the beginning English class we teach every Wednesday night. This past week we had an awesome gospel lesson (the class is 1 hr of English and 30 minutes of gospel lesson). For gospel lesson I had Rothana (a 22 year old young man) come up and help us be an example for us. I used him as an example as a person who got into some trouble. Every time he did something wrong in the story I smeared peanut butter on his face to say that he wasn't clean anymore. He needed to repent to get clean. It was a great lesson. (I got this idea from my grandma who did this on my face for one FHE a couple years ago :)).
We contacted lots of people this week and have a few good potential
I did have an awesome dream this past week that was really cool. I pretty much was Nephi in the book of Helaman preaching to the people to repent from his garden tower. Only I was on a fountain instead and preaching to a market. I did say though "Oh ye wicked and abominable people, repent!" Haha thought it was really cool :).
Well that is about all I got for this week. I know that this is where I need to be right now. I love this work. The field really is ripe for harvest. The Savior loves each of us and I know that He Lives. May God hold you all in the palm of his hand.
Love,
Elder Johnson
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| MEAT LOTS OF MEAT!!!!! |
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| Me with lotus flowers behind me and my awesome helmet!!! |
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Beautiful Lotus Flower
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THE HORN OF GONDOR!!!! Boromir!!! |
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| Me in the jungles of Cambodia :) |
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