Update 87: Out With the Old and In With the New

Well, kind of. We got transfer calls and Elder Phork and I get to be companions for another transfer! I thought for sure he was going to be reassigned, but I get him for one more. Also our house mates are staying the same too (for now), so the wonderful baking continues! 

As far as investigators go, no one has been progressing really. We went and visited a ton of our investigators Sunday morning to take them to church and no one could come. One of our potentials did show up right at the end though for the closing prayer and then left after. So, we'll follow up with him. The real success comes in your commitment to the Savior and to doing His work and becoming a more deliberate disciple yourself. I challenge you all to pick one way in which you can become a more deliberate disciple of Jesus Christ this week; maybe pray, read your scriptures, do service for others, or any other part you need to work on. As you strive to do as Christ would, you will see His power in your life, changing you to be the best you that you can be. Let me know how it goes for you! 

460: They get real creative with power lines here

467: Left is Dy and right is Nimol. I know both from a year ago when I served in TukThlaa. Didn't have any pictures with them yet so I snagged one after English class

471: The chef and the peach cobbler

478: This past week was Chinese/Vietnamese new years and everybody was drunk. Did an exchange and Elder Tveten played As Now We Take the Sacrament for a bunch of drunk partying people on their karaoke keyboard. 

483: Eating round two of the peach cobbler with Cold Stone ice cream

493: Choir practice

494: Eating rice with an incense stick in it to keep the mosquitoes away

513: House on the roof

518: House eating chocolate gravy and biscuits. We like good food :)

521: Lunch at a members house. I ate small little fishes fried up (eyeballs, bones, and all) with sliced cucumbers wrapped in lettuce dipped in fish sauce. Who would've thought I'd ever be adventurous enough to eat such a dish. 

Love from Cambodia 

- 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 

Update 86: Massive Success in Finding

This has been a great come back from last week. We had a total of 12 new investigators! A good normal week is 2 new investigators. Pretty sure 12 is more than I had my entire time in the office. A couple referrals from members, a couple former investigators, and a lot of success from contacting. I did an exchange with Elder Selman from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon, and during that time we got 4 new investigators from contacting and teaching them with the pamphlets when we contacted them. We also got a new investigator for the sisters as a referral from someone we contacted. Teach when you find, find when you teach. It works! We also didn't really have a chance to meet with our investigators this week so the teaching pool just changed out or freshened up.    On Sunday Elder Nguyen and I exchanged to get his patriarchal blessing all figured out. When he got it at the MTC in the Philippines they forgot to declare his lineage, so he got that added on by the patriarch in my ward here.

Love y'all! 

- 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 

410-416 we had a large activity last p-day with the zone. Fun times!

425: When personal study gets real cool because of the lighting in the room

437: Lunch says hello!

440: It's dark outside but there is still Sunlight streaming through my window! (little packets of Sunlight dish soap)

444: An odd concoction of supposedly edible substances 

446-448: One of our new investigators, Tee, he lives on a boat house that wobbles back and forth. Also has a sketch iron beam as a bridge to his house. He half jokingly asked if we knew how to swim as we walked across. 

449: Palm fruit! It's real sticky and slurpy, kind of like slightly sweetened jelly

Update 85: MLC, Zone Conference, and Exchange with the APs

This week was real busy, but I love you all!

There was a lunar eclipse and then the moon turned red. 

I have had some good food this week!

Made a make shift soap holder in my shower out of tape. 

Got a box of copies of the Book of Mormon on the back of my bike. 

Lots of meetings, learned a lot, but time to get back out and working in my area again this week. No new investigators to tell you about, but Mekara wants to get baptized and came to a soccer activity! Just need to get a schedule set with him to meet and teach him. 

The work rolls on.

- 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 

Update 84: Phone Fun

Well, less fun. Calls just tend to not go through here for some reason. 

We did get two new investigators this week: Vantee, and Boromay.

Did an exchange with Elder Woolf. Made some American style ham fried rice for Elder Phork. Got soaked on Sunday and gave a talk (I got up and spoke in church per request of the leadership) 

I used Uchtdorf's talk about returning home to our Heavenly Father as my references material. I'd encourage you all to read it as a summary really can't do it justice, but just know that you Father in heaven loves you and wants you to return home to Him.

Love,

- 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 

Update 83: First Full Week in Tuolsengkay ទួលសង្កែ

Since I am short on time, here is some stuff I've responded to peoples personal emails that I spliced together to give you a gist of stuff going on. Enjoy! 
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On my way to this internet shop I was actually just doing math to try and figure out if two 6 in pizzas are equal in area to a 12in pizza. .. pizza's important yo.

They just opened up a Costco here, well, practically. It's a Thai chain called Macros, but it is pretty much an Asian Costco. Pretty far though, next to the new AEON construction site in TukThlaa. We biked there this morning and it was so weird because I had biked through there a year ago and it was just an empty lot, and now there is a giant building.         
 

Christmas slide show: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Vznh4BAp2YlIpGTfHONMBYwx8sEyMUg/viewj        I put this together for the mission while I was in the office. It's our mission's visual summary of 2017, enjoy!

Other than that life is staying real busy with random stuff happening every day. Elder Selman is passing a kidney stone so that's fun. The house is him, Russel, me, and Phork. Quite the time. Anywho, best wishes from Cambodia!
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I am indeed finally out! The great escape I suppose. It is very weird. I forget if I said this in my general email last week, but it's kind of like ending my mission I'm guessing. I left home, got used to missionary life, and I'm going to have to come back and adjust. Well, I left the normal missionary work, adjusted to the office, now I've left and have to adjust to normal missionary life again. Some parts have been clunky, but we're getting there. It's helps that my companion is the best ever, I'm supposed to be finishing his training, but he doesn't even need it. Helps me get back in the groove that I can rely on him too.

Woah, that's a really busy schedule. "And no more happiness!" (my sister can't have dairy anymore. Let us take a moment of silence...) Well, I just bought ice cream today to take home and put in the freezer for the first time in Cambodia, so I'll enjoy it in your stead :) 

Band! I was just listening to some instrumental music this week and was thinking about how much I miss music and I hadn't really realized it. You've still got it? Yes! That means there is hope for me! Haha, there is a music school in my area and I thought about going and asking if they have a tuba I could play...  (doing marching band when I get back, but I wont have practiced in two years..)
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Other that that, one cool experience to share from this morning. We stopped by a little shop to buy an SD card reader for Elder Phork and as I was waiting a man came over and started talking to me and pretty much contacted me. Where do you live? How long have you been here? I told him my name and he read "Jesus Christ" on my nametag and said "Oh, I'm Christian too!" Then after inviting him to learn he turned us down. We invited him to church and he said he might come try it out and then asked for our number. It'll be interesting to see if he goes anywhere.

The work rolls on!

- 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

Pictures: 

One is of me with a grandpa we're trying to teach.

Two of coconuts, one to drink, one that's been jelliefied. 

One of some cool buildlings. The Khmer buddhist buildilgns, little shacks, and a giant construction project in the background. 

And other good stuffs. :)

Update 80+: Christmas Came and Now the New Years is Here and now transfers have come...

Hello everybody! This is Burny. How art thou this fine day? I was given especial permission to write Elder Taylor's weekly email, but I don't really know what he did, so I will let him have the keyboard back now.

Thank for our special guest this week^^. Elder Burnett just popped into the office as I was starting this and asked what he could do to help, so I gave him free reign of the keyboard. 

I hope everyone's Christmas was fantastic and thank you to everyone who sent me Christmas notes! 

*a few weeks later*

Well, I never finished the above email, but no point starting a new draft. 

Vivian got baptized! 

Transfers have come and gone and I am now in Tuolsengkay ទួលសង្កែ up in north stake (elder Cox replaced me in the office; for those of you long time readers you'll remember that we were companions before in Jim Gau Moon. I inherited the office spot from my trainer Schiefer, and now my kind of son Cox inherits it from me). I am finishing training Elder Phork (said poke) since his first trainer just finished his mission. He is an excellent missionary though and I feel like I'm being trained sometimes since I'm just getting out of the office after 7 and a half months. He knows the people, the area, the language, I just give input on what to do sometimes since I've been a missionary longer. It was a bit rough starting back into things, but now my Khmer is picking up again and the rust is falling off. Really helpful having a native companion, we just speak Khmer all day except evenings and an hour of language study. 

So far we have a couple investigators, no one progressing too far. They did just have a baptism though last week, so we've got an RC named Makara មករា who is solid. Now we have the task to get out there, go to work, and find people who will accept Christ gospel in their life. 

Sorry this email is super weird.. 

Love yall!

Cool fact, there are monkeys in my part of my new area that climb on the power lines.

- 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