Hello, World! It has been a while since I really sat down and did a fleshed out weekly email. To all of those who actually read my weekly updates, sorry they haven’t been very informative. I’ll try to rectify some of the injustices with this update. (and this coming week I'll do a picture update email)
As most of you probably know by now, I’m an office elder. What is an office elder? Well, my official title is Mission Secretary and my companion, also an office elder, is the Mission Clerk. He largely handles numbers, baptismal records, and bikes for the mission. My main job is to handle incoming/outgoing missionaries, manage the mission’s Facebook pages, come up with/film/and edit videos to put on said pages, handle all phone issues, create maps when needed, and order nametags for missionaries who need new ones. Both of us also have a smattering of other smaller jobs that only need to be done every once in a while. We also get saddled with random projects as they come up and need to be done. For example, this past transfer has been very busy with preparing for Pshum Bun and General Conference. As office elders, we planned, coordinated, and prepared for both of these events that took many hours to do. On top of our bottomless pit office jobs, we also proselyte; or rather, we teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I first got to the office we had a good amount of people to teach, or investigators. During the transition of Elder Ashcroft and Elder Nelson most all of our investigators dropped us or weren’t really progressing. Since Elder Nelson has been here, we have started to have more investigators again. Which is great! But it makes my life that much busier. There is some general background; I’m on the computer a bunch, and when I get my day off I often don’t even get that much time off because I’m needed elsewhere to prepare for an impending meeting or event. So, when I really do get free time, I just want to go take a nap, read, or play a couple games with the other Elders in my house. (All of which I did this past Monday = preparation day = p day = my day off; well most of a day, from 4:30 – 7:30 are proselyting hours)
Ok, down to the good stuff; teaching the good word of God. As of right now my teaching pool consists of: Deepak, Kena (she’s kinda sorta back!), Osada, Bernadette, Sheryl, the Pervaiz family of 5, and Moses. We also have several potentials that we are trying to meet with this week: Travis, Ron, friends of DeePak, Sylvester and his 2 friends, Vivian, and the Yarza family. We also still try to visit Ben and Roat, our recent converts that were baptized last transfer, and with the two Pakistani families that are also recent converts: Wajid and Ayeshu and the Ghil family. I could write a small novel trying to tell about all of my experiences with each of these remarkable people; instead I’ll have to try to limit myself to a respectable email length.
Deepak: Manages an Indian restaurant right across from one of our churches and has been meaning to come to our church for a long time, and finally did a couple weeks ago. He really wants to become a Christian but these past two weeks has been quite busy and not been able to make it to church or meet with us.
Kena: I was her initial contact back when I served in Jum-Gow-Moon ចំការមន and we passed her on to the office elders since they teach the internationals. Then I was transferred into the office and taught her once and she went to America for a month or so. She continued learning there with the elders and came back ready to be baptized according to the elders that taught her in America. She got back, we had two or so lessons and she dropped us. Stopped coming, stopped learning. Then two Sundays ago one of the young women in our branch that she had been close friends with told us that Kena was thinking about coming back to church because she missed how she felt. Then she showed up to the Sunday morning session of conference and stayed for the branch luncheon. She’s back!
Osada: Is an eccentric old Japanese man that has been learning and coming to church for at least one year, maybe three? He has also been learning Khmer on top of his English for a little while now. Teaching him can be a bit difficult at times, language wise, but we’re getting there.
Bernadette: A wonderful woman from the Philippines who is here with her member boyfriend. We are making slow, but steady progress. We’ve been meeting her for as long as I’ve been in the office.
Sheryl: I don’t know too much about her yet. We’ve met her once and she comes to church sporadically for even before I was in the office. Her husband, Ron, became interested in learning right before they went to France a few weeks ago. Will be following up on them.
Pervaiz: A Christian refugee family from Pakistan. They are struggling to manage here in Cambodia, but their faith in Christ is strong. They are currently still looking for a house the is cheap enough for them to rent close to the church so that they can come to church on Sunday. As it is we’ve met with one of the sons the past couple times and the family has all been out looking for a new house (besides the oldest son who has a job).
Moses: Is an eccentric Chinese man. His English is probably a little worse than Osada’s. He used to meet with us often when we had Drew here helping us teach. (he was an intern here from America that served a mission in Taiwan and speaks fluent Mandarin) Since he left he’s been too busy to meet, but still comes to church about half the time.
Travis: A referral from the TukThlaa sisters. He teaches with a recent convert of the sisters from TukThlaa and she invited him to come to church. He came for all of church and is excited to meet with the missionaries to discuss the church more. We are set to meet him on Saturday right now.
Sylvester: Is another Indian man who showed up to church unexpected but very welcomed. We haven’t had a chance to teach him yet, but we are excited to get to know him and his story better.
Vivian: Is a Chinese woman who showed up to conference sessions on Sunday with 3 friends. She believes in Christ and has been looking for a place to worship and feel of the Spirit. She had been going to a Buddhist temple every morning, but was so happy to find our church and loved the way she felt while she watched general conference. It will be an exciting lesson when we get to teach her about God’s temples here on Earth.
Yarzas: Are a less active family. I’ve met two of the children who have come a couple times. They have a younger sibling who turned 9 not too long ago and now needs to be taught the missionary lessons before they can be baptized. (Fun Fact: Their name is Aiken, which is also the name of my home town in South Carolina) We’ve been scheduled to meet them twice and once their house flooded and they refused help and the second time our car broke and their house flooded again. Then this past Sunday they were going to a party. One of these weeks we’ll get to meet with them!
Ben and Roat: Are doing well. Roat is helping her family set up a business selling purses, makeup, and such while she is still around. She is a native who is married to an American, but her visa expired and she got kicked out of America with her kids and now they’re waiting for paperwork to be figured out. She has such a good heart and a sharp mind. Before, when she was in America, she would just send money and that wasn’t working. Now she has a hands-on chance to fix it.
Wajid and Ayeshu: Were baptized the transfer before I got to the office. They are so kind and always insist on us eating food, even though they are struggling. (It’s really good food) Their visas have expired and they are at a loss for what to do and prayers could be used in their behalf. If they were to try to leave country at this point they have an almost $1000 fine.
Ghils: Are another Pakistani family of recent converts. They have a crazy family story from the past 3 or 4 years. In the secret filming video in this link they talk to their oldest daughter http://www.bbc.com/news/
These people are a big focus in my life right now. It is an amazing, indescribable experience, being a missionary.
3 Nephi 5: 13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.
Amen.
- Elder Taylor
Letters will be joyously received at:
Elder Taylor
Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission
House 2B, st. 222 off Norodom
P.O. Box 165
Phnom Penh Cambodia
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