Update 31: No Time for Long Winded Emails!

Sorry guys, short on time this week! Enjoy and email any questions you have!

Report 30: Water Week! Rain and Baptism

Don't have lots of time this week because I'm going to go eat some Khmae food that my companion is making for an Elder get together, but here you go!:

Kid having fun with my helmet and the light I put on it. ​

Teaching record of an investigator that my teacher from the MTC taught!​

Paulaa, the fine young man that I baptized on Saturday. The font was being finicky. It was low. So we turned it back on. Rushing around getting things ready, and as I'm changing the bathroom stall starts to flood. Forgot to turn it off. So turn it off. But by the time we get in the font to baptize him it's back to low again. Ended up having to dunk him 3 times to get him all the way under.​

Couple guys we stopped and helped with their work. Said we could come share our message some time. So in Cambodia people throw trash on the side of the road and it gets gathered in piles. Then every once in a while they burn it all. So we helped them sort out stuff to burn and rocks to throw back off the road. ​

Pretty view out of the window. ​

Nice old guy I met that I could barely understand. He lived in America for 10 years. He thought I gave him my photo book at first, but I just wanted to show him my family ​

It poured on us. Can kind of see here but there is a waterfall coming off the church roof. ​

Went to find a members house and had to go into a sketch part of the city. Made for a fun adventure and turns out they'd moved to Battambong, which is hours away. ​

The crew (and a random guy, always seems to be a random guy who jumps in your photos) who sang a special song for our baptism, Families Can Be Together Forever. ​

All is well on the other side of the world. Hope all is well for yall as well! 

- Elder Taylor

Update 29: First Full Week of the New Year

Questions:

How is the new area going?    Starting to get to know all the roads and houses of people we visit. Way more American food to temp my wallet.  

What messages did you share this week?  This week we shared a lot about service, missionary work, and the temple. 

Any investigators??   We actually have several. Some can't meet too often though. Two have prepared themselves to be baptized this Saturday! We teach English class twice a week (wed and sat) and we (missionaries here in Phnom Penh, my companion and I get a few) are getting lots of people who want to learn from those. 

These guys guard the church building. It's super common for buildings to have guards. This one guy was trying to grab a bird I think. Love how the guy on the ground has his hands clasped together in anticipation. 

Do you see it? (It's an airplane! and a Cambodia sign.)​

#throwback Here's some calculus a member had me help with. I think I did it right... One of our investigators is teaching himself how to code C++ too and I took a look at programming just the basic "Hello World" program and didn't remember any of it on my own. Kmae is taking over! ​

My name is everywhere. (It's how they romanize the word for heart.) ​

Fishys! ​

Very polite dog. (There was another one there that was not so polite)​

Service project! Cutting limbs off a tree for a nice old lady that literally looks like an upside down L. ​

Super cool member who was some high up general in the Khmae military. He had all kinds of awards and things from Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, England. ​

ons of road construction going on down this one stretch of road and I just had to get a picture in one of these things. ​

All of my companions up to this point. My dad and the two brothers. ​

Had two flat tires this week, which was annoying, but it all worked out for the best. Each time I had a flat tire I came out of the church to discover it. I realized after some thinking that it is a blessing that it didn't happen while I was riding because that could have been bad depending on where I was at. Also second time I wasn't able to get a new tube but Elder Try, my companion, was able to fix it himself using a piece of rubber, some aluminum, a makeshift can of fire for heating, and a compressing machine to melt the rubber to my tube. You work with what you can get here and the Lord makes it work. 

Hope your new years is starting off with a blast! 

- Elder Taylor

Week 28: I Made it Big in the City!

I'm in Phnom Penh! My new area is Tuk Tlaa. It is close to the airport so airplanes fly over head quite frequently. We have an orphanage in our area with several members there and they are all super cool! I've met lots of new people and it's hard to remember all the Khmae names, but I'll get there! One really cool thing is that I've had lots of complements on my language and that I speak super clear, especially since I've only been here 4 months. I know that the Lord truly helps me with the language so that I will be able to teach his children. Ok you know what comes next (at least if you've been reading my emails): 

New planner for the new year! (next 6 weeks = one transfer)​

Had some more bike fun yesterday with a flat tire. It all worked out quite well though. My super cool blind member in KC pumped up my bike for me when it didn't need it and here a couple weeks later my inner tube exploded from the extra pressure. It happened while I was in church, so it was a blessing that it didn't happen while I was riding it or that could have been really bad. Then a senior missionary was at church and he drove me to the bike store since I'm in the city now and he paid for my new inner tube. Then my actual tire was frayed and had a hole in it too and the store gave me a new one for free. ​

​This is a Cambodian "normal" bike shop. Random guy on the side of the road.

Here is the installation of the new tire and tube!​

The new study place​

Nothing like a new jar of peanut butter! ​

Elder Tree Sr. My new comp. He's a super cool guy and knows lots of English, but his pronunciation needs some help. We help each other. ​

The new house. You can't really see it because of the trees (mango and jack fruit). It's a proper neighborhood though with speed bumps and a guarded gate at the front. And most everyone has a car. It's a condo sort of complex, they call them boar-A's. Super different from the countryside. ​

City life. Name of the game, dodge the rear view mirrors. ​

Goodbyes in Kampongcham​

Some of my favoritest people in Cambodia. Sad to leave them. ​

The senior couple in KC, aka the Clauses. Love them so much too. ​

We put on a play of Christ's birth for the Christmas party. I was a councilor to King Herod. ​

I like this photo for a couple reason. First is that I was getting a picture of the white thing on the truck with a cowboy hat. Lots of the cars have them and I think it's super funny. They also have them in neon green. Point two is the random guy I caught yawning. ​

Khmae kids being cute. ​

God loves us. It's a new year with lots of potential. Take it by the reigns and come off conquering! 

- Elder Taylor