Jeff and Ilene Thalman

The miracle of Family History

2011-06-08T01:16:00.000-07:00

Elder Liggett helping members and non member do family history in Chup with a wireless modem on a church owned laptop. Not a sign of wi fi signal for miles around and the computer worked perfectly.
"I can envision the day when members of the church will be able to set in their own homes and do geneology. "
Pres Harold B. Lee
EVEN IN CAMBODIA OF ALL PLACES
Where no records have been kept and 1/3 of the population was killed by a vicious regime 40 years ago and the work will still get done. It can now even be typed in Khmer and when they go to the temple their cards will be in their own language so they can read and understand it.
WHAT A MIRACLE!!!!!

Vuthie on Elder Liggetts L is not a member. His wife is preparing to go to the temple in Aug. He has shown no interest in the church at all since we have been here, but this really got his attention.

Here you can see we are helping Chhith Borey put family names in so she can do their work when she goes to the temple.

Deemong helping Borey type in Khmer (74 letters in the alphabet and the regular keyboard works if the templates are installed on the computer sometimes you have to hold down 3 keys to get the right letter, but it works

Look how interested

Elder Liggetts grin says it all.

Vuthie, Boreys' husband, typing in his families names. He really loved doing this. There was a wonderful spirit there that night. He is one of 12 siblings and every one but him were killed by Pol Pot in the 70's. I know we all felt the spirit of Elijah that night and the interesting thing to me is look at the pictures. The one above my head is Vuthie's father who just died in Jan at age 94, the picture of the Savior above Borey and the Hong Kong Temple above Deemong.
Even with no records kept church leaders have said they will be able to get this important work done. All they have to have is their name as best as they can remember a birth year and death year... the best they can remember and the temple work can be done. How amazing to sit and watch this happen!!!!!

More stuff

2011-06-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

I would really like to bring the colt home for the grandkids. They are the cutest little horses and so gentle, but boy do they work them . They pull these little carts all over the place and haul any thing imaginable.

The family well

They dip their water with the bucket

House of single mom and 2 kids who just got baptized. Note the rose on the R near the door entry. It was what they gave to all the mothers on Mothers Day.

Looking down a typical lane in a village in KC

Looking the other way. So pretty and green because it has rained so much this year.

Another typical house

The family supply of cooking fuel. Eveyone, even many who are well off cook with wood. It is like camping all the time.

Cucumbers drying in the sun. They dry them to about 50% and then put them in water or something and wait until they are really smelly and then eat them. We have not had the courage to try them.

Our bridge leaving KC going toward Chup and Viet Nam. The water is beginning to rise and will be over the big cement platforms in a month or so.

Khmer medicine. He has some type of arthritis and hurts all over. He bought these pads he sticks on his feet and it supposedly pulls all the acid and poison out of his body and cures whatever ails him. They have some chemical on them that turns black when it comes in contact with sweat and they are convinced that it is poison coming out. Maybe it is who knows.

Some type of weird chicken or Guinea hen

Front of the 3rd branch church

Another baptism by the Richfield kid

Tons of these all over. They usually hook them to carts and make them work.
There is not a milk cow in the country.

Another small horse. Note the ribs sticking out. Every animal here looks like they are starving.

Flowers that grow all year round

2011-06-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

These are 2 members from Chup. The one on the R rides his bike every Sunday for 33 K and has never missed church since the started to learn. The one of the L joined about 6 months ago and never misses either. The one by him is a new investigator who is really learning fast and bears his testimony all the time. The 2 sisters are so excited about it. I put it in with the flowers because he had this little table set up when we went to teach him. The flowers are real and with the table cloth and all he could help with the relief society.

The following are flowers mostly around branch 3

Very pretty and smell so good

More random stuff from Cambodia

2011-06-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

She and her sister sit and sew sequins on fancy dresses all day long. Every little bright thing on the dress as 1 to 3 stitches in it. Makes us tired just looking at it.

Use every inch of your 3 wheeled bicycle

Bocha which in Khmer means blessing. He and I are real buddies and he knows the Bogh high 5 with both hands and runs and does that with me everytime he sees me.

Bocha's family. Oldest son on the R got home from his mission not too long ago. Girl on the L has helped us a lot to do family history and types it in Khmer. She is really planning on a mission too.

He ate the whole thing so Mom Thomas don't worry about him losing weight over here. We are so glad he got to come here first so we could spend some time with him. He is an awesome elder and doing a great job.

Brings back memories of working for Evan L

Passing out school bags to primary school kids. They just loved it and so did we.

Our handsome Deemong with his mission call. He is our interpreter and leaves for his mission 2 days after we leave to go home.

Deemong and family. His mom and sister sew most of the bags for the school kits and Biset in the front keeps us all laughing. They are really a great family. Deemong had just opened his mission call.

The boy on the L was baptized a few months ago so he got to baptize his little brother. His father is now learning also. These are two really great kids.

Well drilled by LDSC and helped to be paid for by your humanitarian contributions. The money is really well spent and goes to help the most people whether they are members or not.

They post a sign like this at every well and we have helped do a lot of them and it really changes lives. Just think water is right in the back yard not down in the river.

Doing family history with Dy and his family. They are going to the temple in August and are so excited.

Dy and his family holding book in Khmer Preparing for the Holy Temple

2 handsome elders with 5 baptisms this day.

Ming Nie. We have never went to visit her that she was not reading the Book of Mormon. She is an amazing story how she joined the church and does so much to help the missionaries.

This is a kid just getting over the chicken poxs. We had an epidemic here and even one of the Khmer Sisters got them, but she was way to embarrassed to let me take her picture. Notice the rotten teeth

Two wet elders. This is the best according to Elder Thomas

Floating water purification on floating village by Seim Reap

2011-04-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Went to Seim Reap about a month ago to dedicate a water purification project that the church helped organize and pay for.

There are 11,000 people living in this floating village on the Tonal Sap Lake. It was 1.5 hr boat ride from Seim Reap to the floating village. The people have been drinking the water out of the lake for centuries. At any given time there are more than 3000 people sick with some water borne illness. The church partnered with several other organizations to built this water treatment platform. They treated us like royalty when we arrived and really made a big deal about what was done.

Part of the floating village

This little kid was my buddy on the trip. He is from Seim Reap. His dad is the Elders Quorum Pres and they just went to the temple in Hong Kong last month.

This is a luxury cruise ship on the lake. Kind of like a houseboat on Lake Powell

How most all the families get around the village

Kids in the floating village hollering HELLO!

The treatment platform

The welcome

The ramp leading to the treatment platform

More floating village

More Village

Water skiing boat. Note the rooster tail

More floating village

More Village

Treatment Platform

Coming ashore

Dignitaries

Religious Leaders

Kids who get the clean water

People at the ceremony

Dancing girl in trad Khmer dancing outfit

Water bottle in the treatment area

Filtration system

More filtration system

Elder Peterson filling the first bottle to be given to villagers

Villagers coming to get free water

More Villages getting water

More Village

Village

This family makes their living pulling along side of boats and having you take a picture of the kid and phython and the want money. Worth a buck to me.

Inside the treatment area with clean water from the filthy lake

Elder and Sister Houser Great friends from Payson and came the same time we did.

Arriving back at Seim Reap in our custom cruizer

Disembarking

More disembarking

Walking up the ramp to dry ground

Our driver for the day. He is the Branch Pres of Seim Reap and a really great family Their daughter was just called to serve a mission in Cambodia also.

School is in session

2011-02-09T04:17:00.000-08:00

Bikes parked at an elementary school where we did a latrine and water catchment

Sitting in class and looking at the funny guy with the white skin and long nose taking a picture through the window.

And you kids think you desks are bad.

Sista Thalman & Sista Noera, Kosal's and Houa's chickens

2011-02-09T00:21:00.000-08:00

Sister Neora and her adopted mom. These two have really gotten close and they are so fun together. Sista Neora is the only member in her family and all of her family is pretty anti, but she is so tough about it and such a great missionary.

Growing chickens just getting their feathers.

Kosal and Hoa and one of their chickens. Look at the drum sticks

Boy these chickens have grown fast and boy do they know how to eat. Just like growing kids I guess. They were one day old when we got them and now they weigh 1.5 kgs. They sell them when they get to 2 kg. That will be in about 12 days.

Chick

2011-02-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Kosal and Hoa and a chick the first day they arrived. It really put a smile on their faces. Kosal is in such a bad way, but he always has the biggest smile and this really put a smile on his face and Hoa's too. I told Kosal to smell the chicken and then asked it what it smelled like. He said well it smells like raw chicken. I said no try it again. Well he couldn't figure it out until I smelled and said to me it smells like money. It really put a big smile on his face.

The island in the dry season

2011-02-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

This cart came through town with this whole load of pottery. Lim said they came from nearly 60km away and take a few days to get here. They try to sell it all and then go back home and start over again. The long stick over the cows is a shade he made so the cows could walk in the shade. Pretty thoughtful I'd say.

On our way to the island. Lim would not take his car over the bamboo bridge again because he is afraid it will fall through the bridge and he is probably right. You can see the bamboo bridge in the center of the pict. When the water comes up in the rainy season they take the bridge apart and float it to each side of the river. When the water goes back down they put it back together again. A real project.

This is a members house on the island. They ride their bikes across the bamboo bridge and it is about 4 to 5 miles one way. They never miss except the mom who is now to weak to ride her bike. She got bit by a cobra and has never been the same since, but she did survive. Sister Thalman trying to work up the courage to climb the steep stairs.

We rode a gombay or tuk tuk to the island this time. I tried to talk my senior companion into letting us ride motos, but she said it is against the rules and would turn me in if we did. So we settled for this. It was really rough riding, but we made it over and back.

The back of the house

Looking down from inside the house. Our shoes are the black and brown ones. We take our shoes off about a kazillion times a day. The steps really are that steep. Kid of scary so we go down backwards.

This is the power supply to the house. The battery by the pole. Note the Hong Kong temple on the pole and the air conditioned floor.

Another members house on the island

Sugar cane. They just peel the outside off and eat. They say how sweet it is, but to me it tastes just like a sugar beet for those who know. Pretty close to a raw potato

A pod that grows on trees and in about a month they will harvest it and let it dry and then cut it open and it has something in it that looks just like down and they put it in pillows and mattresses and it works pretty well.

Tobacco They grow it all over the island

Ilene's runaway ox cart / School Kits to orphanage

2010-12-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

Incident in an Ox Cart

We had just finished harvesting rice and were going back to the van. All the girls got in the ox cart so they wouldn't have to walk the mile and a half. The cart driver is deaf. They went over a big bump and as girls will do they got screaming so he stopped the cart to let those who wanted too to get out. Well Sister Thalman was half way out and he took off. Sister Sok tried to help her out, but they just took off. At least she stayed in the cart and didn't fall out on the way acrossed the field. Sister Neora is in the cart behind Sister Thalman screaming her head off. Like a good husband I knew I could not outrun the cows so I just kept videoing. Everyone came through it unscathed thank goodness.

Khomly sewing bags for the orphanage

Sophal also sewing bags.

The supplies for the school kits

The District YW Pres. She was so excited to do this service project and she is one heck of a good girl.

On the table ready to go into the bags

All of the bags in the bags. We had nearly 130 kits with note books, ruler, pencils, colored pencils, sharpener erasers etc..

At the church waiting to go to the orphanage

Arriving at the orphanage

Kids getting ready to get their school kits

Getting ready to pass out the bags

Passing out the bags

More passing out bags

Passing out bags

One happy little kid with no family

Girls with no family

So excited to get something

Pretty sad, but makes you happy someone will take care of them

Cute boys who were really thankful for the gift.

So excited

More kids. So many are cross eyed because they know nothing about ambliopia

More girls headed into those important teenage years with not much future. Sad

In front of orphanage after they received bags

Thank you for the school supplies

More of the kids

The rest of the kids

Too many to fit in the picture

More Kids and sister Neura in front

Member kids in front and orphans behind

Another big thank you

Elder Thalman and 2 new buddies. The Kid on my left has some mental issues and could not figure out how to hold up two fingers. Such a cute lovable kid

Members who helped with the project

Members They had sooo much fun doing this and there was a great spirit there

In the van on the way home after the project. It took two trips to get us all to the orphanage and I told Lim our driver that his van was not even close to being loaded like the good taxi drivers do. Well we put eveyone of us in the van. We had 21 and they sang jingle bells all the way home. Pretty interesting in a Khmer accent. These are such great kids and they had soooo much fun. We will try to do it again at another orphanage or school.

Water festival that turned tragic and other random picts

2010-11-23T19:44:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE--BELIEVE ME WE HAVE SOOO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!!!!

We are doing really well and just loving this experience. The members and missionaries are so great and we spend a lot of time with both. We even found a Norbest turkey in PP that was born and raised in Moroni, Utah. We could not believe it. 14 lbs and $45.00. It will be worth every penny. Just hope it will fit in our toaster oven. The missionaries are so excited and so are we. It is just a normal working day for them and us, but we get to have 1 1/2 hours for lunch on Thanksgiving so that will be great. Will post more picts on Facebook. The boat festival had the greatest fireworks display we have ever seen. The sky was totally lite up for more than 30 minutes. The booms were so loud it would jiggle the cafe we were in. We were upstairs so we had a great view. After we left for the night they were having a concert on the island acrossed the river. No one is really sure what happened, but many people panicked and tried to cross the bridge and nearly 400 were killed by the stampede on the bridge. So far no members are involved thank goodness. It is a pretty sad day for Cambodia. We were right across the river from the island and the bridge was just down the river a ways from where we watched the boat races and fireworks.

We appreciate all the comments and staying in touch with all of you.

Two old codgers on the bank of the Mekong at sunset. Sets about 5:30 pm every day.

Baptisms done by friends and family... the way it should be all the time. If only that were possible.

Two great sistas' Sista Essma on L the day she went home to Idaho, Sista Neora in the center and our great driver Lim and Lim's Limo in the background.

A member gave us these delicacies all plucked and skinned, that is all though. They don't clean anything over here. Not even the spiders. We give all of it to Lim and he loves it. This is in his fry pan. We didn't even dare try it. Weak American stomachs

Check out that goiter. Really common over here. This is the great grandma, The daughter has one also. The granddaughter probably will too. This is the great granddaughter on her lap and she probably will too. We got some iodized salt for them. Hope it helps the younger generations They have so many funny ideas about things. Caused mainly by no education.

Cute little Meng Hoa. His dad is a quad in a wheelchair all the time. He loves to go to church with us and everytime we go visit he starts pushing his dad's wheelchair to the car so we can go. He really gets upset if it is not Sunday and he can't go.

Boat races. The island in the background is where the tragedy happened on the bridge. We were about
1 1/2 miles from the bridge but were home in bed when it all happened. Just heard sirens all night long and could not figure out what the heck was going on.

About the same age as Hannah Kate. Closest Sista Thalman will get to holding 5 (that's right, five new ones since we have been here. Trent and Debbie are getting one too.) new grandkids for several more months

Counted and there are sixty rowers on the longest boats. Right on the other side of green patch above the long boat is where the bridge is were so many died.

Another race boat.

Old Glory at the side of river with many other flags from all over the world. Made us feel so grateful for good old Utah

Operation smile is a success. Just bumped into here down at the riverside. They fixed her lip very well.

A few of the masses before a lot of people showed up. Pick pockets galore.

You can get your custom made coffin for 1,700,000 reil. That is $400 US. No embalming so many will be creamated before they are even identified.

This is how they are identified. No dental records or anything like it. Family members just show up and see if they can identify who their family members are. Then they have to make all arrangement to take the body to where they want it to go. Pretty sad day.

This is a picture on the bridge. Many fell off of bridge or jumped into the water. Boats picked up some, but many were drowned because most people here cannot swim. Some they will never find.

Picture of bridge right after people were cleared off

Picture the next morning on the PP side of the bridge

Picture in the middle of bridge the morning after the tragedy.

More high times in a developing country

2010-10-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

The family on the R just went to the temple in Hong Kong. They are so faithful. He teaches physics at the local high school His kids are so awesome. Sister Neuor and Pin, The boy on the L. the top one just got baptized and the one by me is still learning. Both have no idea who are where their parents are. They just showed up at this members house and said we want to learn the gospel. They live by the Viet Nam border and ride their bikes 2 hours each way to church every Sunday. They are great kids and say how much the gospel has helped them already. They brought 2 girls with them last night who want to learn also because of what they saw in them and how they had changed.

A truck they use to haul stuff from Tialand. Notice the nice cushioned seat and great doors and modern steering wheel. Hard to believe that it even runs but it goes 2 times per week. I think it is left over from the Viet Nam war.

Front view of the truck. Look at the modern cab and the air conditioner. I does have a winch and a radiator.

These people really have an interest in family history and we fill the pedigree charts out for them and then by the end of the month they will have the family search in Khmer and we can get it in the computer. What records there were were all destroyed by Pol Pot so the church just lets them guess on the dates. Most can only go back to their grand parents and some do not even know those names because so many were killed by Pol Pot.

This is a real common seen as we go around the villages visiting members. Kids just gravitate to Sister Thalman because they can tell how much she loves them.

More beautiful flowers. Since the rainy season came there are flowers all over the place.

Khmer rice threshing machine. He puts rice in the big funnel and it comes out without the hull on the basket below.

Key, Vanes wifes' baptism. He is the guy who came 3 miles in his wheelchair to church the after the first time the missionaries met him. He is now one of the gospel doctrine teacher and does a great job.

Water filters. We just placed 300 hundred of them and the branch presidents really did a good job visiting everyone and getting them on the list.

Here is the way most of the water filters went home

More water filters. The most common comment is I don't have to boil water anymore and my water tastes really good. Have you ever tried boiled water. No flavor at all and it is barely even wet.

Member from branch 2 being taught how to use their new water filter.

More beautiful flowers

Cement road that was just finished by hand and using a yard mixer with an old clunky gas engine.

Looking the other way down the road. I don't think Staker Parsons need to worry about too much competition from here.

Kitchen cooktop range

A view of the kitchen from the deck on the back porch

Another modern kitchen. Note all the nice modern appliances she has.

Grape fruit. About the size of a volley ball and about a million seeds, but flavor is grapefruit

Kings palace in PP

Steps to get up on an elephant. White elephant at that. Not one elephant left in Cambodia in the wild. We have seen one tame one in PP that you can pay $60 to ride but that is the only one. They used to be the main way of transport century's ago. Fish and game laws didn't help the elephants here.

Elephant saddle

More fun in Kampong Cham

2010-08-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

We had primary activity day yesterday and we have been teaching them about the OT prophets. This one was about David and Goliath. Well this is Goliath. Some of the kids screamed and some cried, but most laughed their heads off. The adults really laughed their heads off. Our driver was David and he shot Goliath with his sling shot and ping pong balls. It was really funny, You will have to guess who Goliath is. It is pretty hard to walk with two 15 inch stools tied to your feet, but it did make for a tall Goliath

Sister Pin, Sister Thalman, Neak, Elder T, Sister Askerlund. This is a boy who asked me to baptize him. I really tried to memorize the Bapt prayer, but the pronouncation is so hard. I finally made a card to hold in my hand while I did it and it worked out well. Sister Askerlund was kind enough to romanize it for me so I came close I guess. A really neat experience. This little kid can really dance Khmer style, better than most of the girls. I am trying to let me video it, but he is so shy I will probably have to sneak up on him sometime. Sister Askerlund is from Santiquin and her parents are here now. We are going to spend some time with them next week and then she will be going home. She has been an awesome missionary and we already miss her.

Some of the visitors who come here just can't understand why we have a cross, lite up cross at that, on our church. I say well we just do things a little different here in Kampong Cham. One visitor from the US wanted it taken down immediately. I said that would be impossible and he could not figure out why until I told him that our back door neighbors are the catholic church and the cross is really on the top of their church so we just live with it. I think it is pretty unique.

Sister Askerlund and Pin with some of the youth in 1 and 2 branch after mutual. We usually have a lot more kids than this come to sabie, sabie as they call it. Sabie means fun and that is how they announce mutual in sac meeting. Instead of saying mutual they say come to sabie sabie on Sat night at 5 pm. How do you think that would work at home.

These are some people that got baptized in Br 3 last week. We are having a lot of baptisms and it is really fun to see how much the gospel changed their lives. Ming (aunt) Nie on the Right finds all these people for the elders to teach. She is just awesome. The 2 teenage boys used to sing songs and really give the elders a hard time a few months ago and tell everyone they were crazy to listen to stupid mormons. Well Ming Nie went to them and said you know nothing about the Mormons so you need to learn with the elders and then if you still feel the same you can say anything you want. Well you can see what happened. Pretty cool.

Yes the triantula is alive. She kept trying to get me to buy it. Soon I will try to see if Ilene will let it crawl on her. I did and lived through it .

Priesthood leaders in the district when they just found out the first humanitarian project by the church to be done in KC was approved and will begin at the end of Sept. We are doing water filters, nearly 400 of them, latrines, 20 five inch wells and 20 chicken ranches. This is life saving for these good members and it is all possible because of donations from good members like all of you. The church is also doing a humanitarian project for the city of KC where we will help with clean water and sanitation at some schools. It is for elementary age school kids and will help probably 4000 kids. We will drill 35 five inch wells and build some latrines and give hygiene kits. That is another miracle. I will try to put it in a email soon.

Still trying to stay out of the mud as we go visiting members. Lim said it has not started to rain yet so it will just get worse. We just walk through it and then he washes out the van.

A grapefruit with Ilene's hand. They are huge, full of seeds, and full of flavor

Elders eating noodles with chop sticks in their off hand with wrists tied together. We did this for mutual and the kids really had a good time. They just love to laugh and they really laughed at this one.

Some member were practicing a dance at someones house and they saw us walk by and opened the window and hollered at us.

A sweet member named Sok Hen. She lives and works at a bread store. Her husband left her and took all their kids and moved back in with his mother. They really hate her since she joined the church and won't let her see her kids. It is really sad, but she is so good and faithful. I will try to tell her story in an email soon

Picture of more beautiful flowers just outside of the door of a members house. More flowers come out during the rainy season, but there are already many and it is really getting beautiful.

Bread made out of some sort of tree root. Wheat flour is really expensive over here so they try everything. It is about the consistency of Styrofoam and tastes somewhat like styrofoam too, but with enough syrup and peanut butter is makes pretty good french toast.

Rice starting to grow. The green color is just beautiful and it turns golden just like wheat in Nov. so that will be pretty too.

The mighty muddy Mekong. That is not mud, but that color of water in the Mekong since it started flooding in China. Taken from the bridge looking right down on the river.

View of KC from the bridge over the Mekong

The Monorom Hotel. Here is where we did the first family history in KC and were able to print out the names with bar cods to go to the temple. A lot of people here think the church owns the motel because they think the name of it is Mormon. Pretty close, but not quite

Yes cows in a van. Still one of the greatest sights I have seen in Cambodia

Writing on the board for temple prep meeting in KC. They claim they can read it, but I'm not sure anyone can read this stuff.

We are still having the time of our lives and have so many things happen each day we can hardly keep up with it. All's we can say is the Lord is really mindful and cares about the members here. We just love just going along each day and watching marvelous things happen. We send our love to all.

Random Picts in the day of senior couple in Kampong Cham

2010-07-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

A view down a lane where we walk to visit some members

Trying to stay out of the mud. It is pretty impossible and the rainy season is just starting.

The members at the end of the muddy lane. Her dad is in a wheelchair. The mothers name is Key and the little girl is Nita.

Flowers along the way. I'd say they look pretty and the flowers are just starting to bloom

Closeup of the flowers along the way. Pretty beautiful I'd say.

On the trail to planting rice. We walk along the ridges around the rice patties for about 30 min to get to where we plant rice

What the rice looks like after planting.

Prettiest rice planter in Cambodia. She really did plant alot of rice and never even got one leach on her. How do you like the Khmer sarong around the head? Water 6 inches deep, mud 4 inches deep.

Mother on the left Vie Neak, Daughter on the far R Shrea Peak just got baptized. Father and other daughter. Their bike was completely worn out and they had to walk to church, about 3 miles. Never missed. Some kind person from home gave us some money to help these poor people over here so we bought them this bike. You would have thought it was a Cadillac with all the accessories. It put the biggest smile on their faces. We see them all over town now that they have transportation. We told them the bike just dropped out of the sky from Preah vobeda. (Heavenly Father)

This is a great little member and her neice. She is 16 years old and leads the singing all the time in church. She is just getting ready to cook dinner for all 7 in her family on the fire behind here. She had 2 small fish that they were lucky enough to catch that morning. They dried the fish and chopped them up to mix with rice. They use every single bit of the fish. They have 6 kids in their family. Their father died 2 years ago and they are so faithful, but soo poor.

This is their house. Note the dirt floor. They sleep on the bamboo bed with the cooler and stuff on it. Pretty heart breaking to us, but they are always so happy.

We are still having the adventure of a lifetime. I have started putting more pictures on facebook so if you are interested you can check those out. We are in the process of doing a humanitarian project here. One has never been done here before and we are doing latrines, water filters, chicken farms and hopefully drilling some wells. The members are really excited about it. We just did the first PEF loans in Kampong Cham and they were all approved. 10 kids applied. The most that have ever been done in one day in all of Cambodia. I'll tell you more later. More to come. Thanks for all your prayers for us we really do feel them everyday.

Another Month has flown by

2010-06-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

We have had several baptisms this month. This is the second family that we taught after we first arrived in Cambodia. They are 4 great kids and have been so fun to teach. You will see that the sad thing is that the parents are missing. The parents were doing really good, but the father could not live the WofW and he talked the mother out of being baptized, but he really wants his kids to be active in the church. He knows some kids who are members and knows it is a great way for kids to live. He just does not have the faith to do it. Maybe someday. They still come to church every week. There names are so interesting over here. L to R Elder Boyd, Chamran, Sis Thalman, Bit, Elder Thalman, Retie, Somnang, (Lucky) and Elder Jensen. Bit is 10 and is about the size of Caleb. We ordained the boys to the AP last Sunday. We are having about 90 people come to church in Branch 3. The priesthood is still very weak.

This is Nie. She was baptized a week ago and usually brings about 10 investigators to church with her every week. She is the one who had the dream about being all dressed in white and going under the water and then about the baptisms in the temple with the font on the backs of oxen. She finds people for the elders to teach and then when they talk to their neighbors and decide not to have the missionaries come (they say they are disgracing their parents by turning away from Buddhism)she goes and talks them back into having the elders continue teaching them. She is really awesome and has a great testimony. She is really a character and has been fun to teach.

This is the relief society president in the third branch. This is her garden that she has behind her house. She grows all these things and then sells it in the market. She supports several people with this garden. She is such a good person and really is helping the church here in KC.

This is the RS pres mother. She is 78 years old and wearing my hat. The old grandmas lose all their teeth and then they shave all their hair off. Their care centers are their kids and they really take good care of them and respect them a lot

This is Vane and his wife Key and their little baby girl Nita at Vanes' baptism. Vane is the one who wheeled himself to church for about 3 miles the first 2 times he came to church. We just ordained him an elder. He has read the Book of Mormon 2 times and is now reading the D&C.

These are some of the members at the baptisms. You can see how weak it is in priesthood. There are 4 local Melk priesthood holders there. The dist pres on the far R with elder Jensens arm around him, the 1st and only counc in the branch pres on my R, the branch pres kneeling by the two AP boys in red shirts and our driver Lim kneeling in the front on the R side. They are all such wonderful people and the youth are really great. It takes 3 months gross pay for them to go to the temple and the church will help with the rest. That is usually about $200 and is so hard for them to save. The closest temple is Hong Kong and they have to get airline tickets, passports and visas, etc and the church pays all of the rest of the expenses. The only members who have been to the temple in this group are the dist pres and his wife and the branch pres. The baptismal font is right behind us in the picture. They have this big square fiberglass tank. You can see the lid is open on the top of it in the center on the back. There are usually frogs in the bottom of it before they fill it (Josh). I will have to get some pictures of that too.

This is a new house that some members just built and they are so proud of it. The one they had before just fell apart when the wind blew. Hopefull the wind won't blow again. It is just amazing how they live.

This is how they collect water for drinking and bathing and cooking etc. You can see the rain gutter above the doors that slopes down and the bucket and pot for collecting the water. They are having a really hard time because it has not rained for a long time and it is hotter for longer than anyone can remember. 114 every day. The mother has to ride on her gong (bike) for about 3 km to get water from a well many times a day and she carries it in that 5 gal bucket balanced on the cross beam of her bike.

This is her front room where the chair is and her bedroom in the back. This is much better than the house they had before. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true.

This is the lady who owns the house, her son and her husband. They went and put on their good clothes before I took the picture. The son and mother are members and the father is not. He is 84.

This is the father with a back scratcher that he made and he is really proud of it. Check out the teeth not on the back scratcher but in the mouth. He has many more teeth than most people. They usually lose their teeth in the early 40's and yes that is the true color of his teeth.

Here is sister Thalman visiting with some members out in their front yard. You can tell she is really enjoying her mission. She just loves these people and the girl on her R speaks good english and loves to go visiting with us and helps interpret for us.

These next two kids are kids who had their cleft pallets fixed a year ago and they had us come and help when they took the followup pictures. The parents were so thankful and happy. The said it had completely changed their kids lives and they could not thank us enough. The sad thing is they cannot help everyone who needs the surgery, but for these kids it is an absolute miracle. They just kept saying abutahit, abutahit which means miracle.

This guy lost his arm fighting the Khmer Rouge when Pol Pot was killing all the Cambodians. He got a prosthesis and makes his living as a moto taxi driver. It is pretty crude, but it works for him and he can support his family.

Here it is and it works for him. We have gotten to know him quite well and he is really a nice friendly guy.

He could not believe that I would want to take his picture. They never get pictures of themselves so I try to take some and then print them out for them. They think it is so awesome to have a picture of themselves or their family. The people are so friendly and love to help us wherever we go even though we cannot talk to them it's amazing how far you can get with sign language.

Here is the hand in action. He put some rubber tape around the throttle grip and he can drive his moto. There are so many horror stories about the Khmer Rouge that happened in the 90's. I have yet to ask a person who has not lost family members during that time.

These next pictures may freak you out. I have never seen anything close to this in my life.

I need some advice for the pictures above from the orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists. What do you think? About 25 years too late to do anything, right? This guy is 35. He fell off of a house when he was 12 years old and Fxed both arms and legs. He just laid in bed until he was 18 and an NGO got him a wheel chair. He had no treatment on the fractures. The only healed fx is the R arm and it is severely angulated. The other arm and legs have false joints where the fxs were and the L elbow is still dislocated. He is able to get around well in his antique wheel chair and rides it several miles per day just to keep his arms in shape. It is incredible that he has not had any nerve damage and all the mm still work, weak of course, but still all intact. He says he has learned a lot from the elders, but lives at the pagoda and that is all the religion he needs. This is one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. He is able to transfer independently and is amazingly mobile. Here is a picture of his face and he is so happy.

I am going to try to never complain about anything again.

I hopefully can keep the connection on to finish some blogging

2010-05-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

We have had some amazing experiences this past month. Many more investigators coming to church. We had 23 in third branch last Sunday. The elders and sisters were really excited. We now have 9 missionaries in our area. 3 are new. One Khmer Elder and One Elder named Elder from SLC (the members say what is your name and he says Elder Elder and they say we know you are an elder, but what is you name Elder? We have had alot of fun with that.) and One Sister named Hildenbrand. The other sister is from Sanaquin and her name is Askerlund. You ought to hear them try to say those names. The just go by Sister Lund and Sister Brand. It is so fun to serve with them. On transfers we lost 3 elders and got 6 more missionaries for a total of 12 now. It is quite fun because when we ride around doing our visiting we see them all over. They ride what I call Khmer cadilacs which is a bike that is recycled after being worn out in Viet Nam. They ride about 25 to 30 miles per day, even the sisters. The temp the las few weeks has been around 110 to 115 with 75% humidity. Needless to say the sweat is always dripping off of them. We feel kind of guilty riding around in an airconditioned van.

Here they are and they get them around quite well.

This is our front door on Preparation day. This is before we had any sisters shoes to mix with them. I tell them they can leave them on when they come in our house, but they never do.

This is what they call a moto tuk tuk. This same guy hauls all these people to market to sell their stuff every morning. When he goes to start up needless to say the front wheel comes off the ground until he builds up a little momentum

This is a game we played at mutual where we had a peice of candy that had a hole in the center and we did a relay to pass the candy along the line. It was really fun and the kids had a blast. We have mutual every Sat night at 5:00pm. That's right Saturday night. It is the only time they have because of school and work. We get a pretty good turnout each week and the kids really enjoy it. We come with a game or two every week and we are about out of games so if any one has any good ones please let us know.

This is a family that we taught FHE too. Yes that is their nice home teaching room and for that matter only room. Can you tell who the Mormons are by their faces? The girl in the pink pants served a mission in Las Vegas, The girl in the yellow is her sister and is a NM. The mom in the back has held many church callings. The husband is also a NM. The other 4 are still members also.

This is a water tank for a village to use for their water needs. It just goes up into this cement tank and then goes out to the village. The only purification it gets is what settles to the bottom of the cement tank.

This is the water in the blue pipes going out to the village

This is the pump pumping the water into the cement tank

This is where the water comes from to go into the cement water tank. This is the MeKong River. They dump garbage and sewage and anything else they don't want into here and then these people in the village drink and can't figure out why they get sick and so many of their kids die. We are going to do a humanitarian project to see if we can get this cleaned up for them.

This is the hospital in KC. Everyone gets the same treatment. A NS IV and their family have to come and take care of them and bring all their food and do any nursing care. People ride around on motos with somehold up a bamboo stick with an IV hooked to it and the person getting the IV is riding on the moto.

These muslem women are sitting on a patient bed. It is just bamboo boards with no mattress. One of our branch presidents had a gall bladder attack and laid on this very bed for 5 days last week. I guess they know what they are doing because he got better and is now back at church

This is the front of the hospital. I am standing out in the middle of the street. The bed by the black moto is where the branch pres was for the whole time. I wonder what JACH would think of this.

These are some little kids cooking some mud pies. They have the cutest grins and really love it when anyone notices them

This is an old grizzled tom turkey we found at some members house. They just got baptized last week. This is the first turkey I have seen over here and Lim our driver says first for him too.

This is a lady on her way to the market to sell what ever is in the basket. We see this all the time. When they stop they have to hold onto the basket, when the walk both hands are at their sides. I tried to get sister Thalman to carry our groceries this way, but she won't.

I have rattled on long enough. We are sure loving it here and really love these wonderful people. The members are so committed to the gospel. When they asked you to give them a blessing and they are not immediately better they are so surprised. We have finally got them having mutual every week. We are doing scheduling for a medical and dental clinic that is coming next month right here to Kampong Cham. (never had one here before) You would not believe how many rotten teeth and infections that are here and also serious medical problems. The clinic is coming to the sea coast Schinooksville, about 6 hours from here. They come to Kampong Cham and do a clinic and if anyone needs surgery which their are plenty they will fly them by helicopter to the ship and do surgery and then fly them back. There is so much need and so little resources. The church has donated $600,000 worth equipment to the clinic so we want to get as many members into the clinic as we can. When we started asking questions it is unbelievable the things people have to live with. This is where Obama Care needs to come if they is really interested in helping people.

An Awsome Week

2010-04-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

One of the prettiest houses I have ever seen over here. I just love it. The mirrors for the front window and the beautiful front door of carved wood. The house is made out of stained cement tiles. I talked to the owner and his wife. They are really nice, but are not interested in the church because they have money. These are the people we need to get baptized so they can have some tithing money and hopefully build a small temple here. The church helps them go to Hong Kong temple one time, but they have to save about $350 per family before they can go to the temple. They will get to go only one time in their life. The $350 is nearly an impossibility for most of them. It would be so easy for people in our country to help them go, but the leadership says if they are not committed to save the money themselves they usually don't stay active. Most people who have homes like these are some way related to a government official. I'm not sure what this guy does. Lim said maybe he is a gangster. I think he was too nice, but you never know.

This house and a bunch like it are right acrossed the street and to the side of the neat house above. There goes the theory of it the neighborhood, neighborhood, neighborhood.

Here is a picture for Bill again to check with Utah Power. This is right outside of a members home looking off of their patio. You can easily reach down and touch the wires. Pretty scary I'd say.

This little girl and her family live in the place where you can look out and see the power pole above. She is 8 years old and we are trying to help the Branch President understand that she does not have to be completely through her 8th year before she can be baptized. Her parents really want her to get baptized so hopefully we can get this done in the next little while. Her mom comes to church and stays for sacrament meeting and goes home, but she always stays for the full 3 hours and love church very much. She even knows a little English and you can really feel her spirit when you are near here. She said to be sure and tell Elder and Sister Richards hello and she misses them. Her name is Liak Niae I think. The names are really hard, but we are getting a few of them down.

This is the District Council. L to R High counselor. Rides Moto from Chup 25 km from here. He teaches school and is a barber after school. Dymong 19y/o district clerk--Speaks very good English and helps translate while I teach the AP boys in his branch (1) Pres Say Dist Pres. A really great man with the cutest kids you will ever see. High Counselor Wants to have us teach the teacher develpment class and wants it to go 3 hours everytime for every day until we are through all the lessons. He says every paragraph in the manuel is very important and should be memorized by all the teachers. He's right, but I'm not sure about the 3 hour classes every day. Dist Sunday School Pres Raises flowers to sell in the market for a living. First time we went to his house he was out with hose watering his flowers and when we walked up he tried to squirt us with the hose. He thought it was funny and laughed a lot about doing that and reminds me every time I see him. Jantol Dist Primay Pres. Teaches with us and the missionaries alot and has a very sweet testimony. She goes with us anytime of the day or night and always shares her testimony of how much the gospel has helped her. An old guy. Kim Ly Dist RS pres. Just had a really good RS birthday party for all the dist. She cleans our house and she also comes to church 6 hours (2 Branches) every Sunday because she just loves to go to church Her husband was the branch Pres a few years ago, but he died. She is Dymongs mother. She has a daughter who is a teenager also and one daughter who is working in Phnom Phen who sends her money and when Dymong has his $540 saved which he is doing he is going on a mission. Hopefully that will work because he will be a great missionary. Lena (Pres Lims Daughter) She is the YW Pres and helps us will all the mutuals. We have finally got them tuned in to have mutual every week. Saturday at 5:00pm. How would that work at home. The neat thing is the church is their whole life except when they work or go to school so Saturday was the best time to have mutual.

This is Lim our driver with the nose mustach on

He wants me to print it out to see if his daughter who lives in PP will recognize him. We really love him. We could never do this without him. He goes everywhere with us and translates for us. He has been a branch president in PP called when he had only been a member for 8 months. Counselor in dist pres. His wife was killed in a moto accident so his daughter Starley lives in PP with his 84 year old mother. He speaks 6 languages and was self taught for most of them. His father was killed by Pol Pot when Lim was 11 years old. He gets very tender when he talks about it. He said when he learned English he did it at night by a tiny Kerosene lantern and if he would have been caught he would have been put in prison or maybe worse, but he knew it was his only way to a better life so he took the risk and it has been a great blessing to him. We are going to PP next week for the Khmer New Year and spend a few days so he can see his daughter and Mom. He is really excited about that.

This is Lim with Kosal who is the boy who is a quad in the wheel chair. He got shot in the neck 2 years ago when someone tried to rob him. Fortunately he has very good upper body strength and is able to transfer by himself. He always has this big smile on his face. He has a cute little boy who is 8 months old. He lives with his mother thanks to Elder and Sister Richards. I could not believe it when I saw where he lived before. Up about 3 flights of stairs and Lim would carry him down and back up when he would go to church. The Richards worked it out so he is now living with his mom and that is so much better for him. We go teach him every week and he always reads the scriptures and asked very good questions. He speaks very good English also. His wife signed a contract to work in a sewing factory in Malaysia and will be gone for 2 years. She calls him often, but I don't think she sends him any money. I don't now how she went off and left that cute little boy. I will try to get a decent picture of him. He is really scared of me and every time I bring out the camera he really starts screaming. I looked in the mirror recently and don't blame him for screaming.

I downloaded the special on Cambodia by Carol Makita. It only took about 5 hours, but we showed it to the missionaries today and it was really great because they know all of the missionaries and most of the members. The Cambodian elders who are here knew nearly everyone and even showed some of their branch pres and other branch members. I think it made them kind of homesick. When they are called from Cambodia they send them away from their homeland so they will not have any of those associations. It was really good and it pretty much told it like it is. We know alot of the people in the video and they were filming it the day we arrived in Cambodia and were in the mission home when they came. They only had 2 guys and they asked all the questions and Carol Miketa never came. They just dubbed here in like she was here. Pretty cool anyway. Don & Marylene Naser met a sister missionary from Cambodia who is serving in Logan. Her father is a guard at the mission home and her brother is a missionary here in Cambodia. We know both of them quite well. It really is a small world. Those feelings the people in the video describe are really true. We already feel so close to these people especially the youth and little kids. I have taught so many of them to say see you later alligator. They really have a hard time with the r in later and alligator. It is really funny and they sure laugh. Then they try to teach me all these funny Khmer words. We can't put into words how wonderful this experience is. Our mission president talked to us on the phone before we left for our mission and said Cambodia was the best kept secret in the church for couples to serve a mission in. We feel this is very true. When we first got here the culture shock was tough. All we saw was the trash and dirt and smell and the heat. It is amazing how we have to live with hardly any creature comforts, ie not ac in the 100 temps during the day (we do turn it to 80 at night in the bedroom), you just get used to sweating all the time and we have adjusted quite well. The members treat us like we are royalty and have so much respect for us. They give us stuff all the time, stuff the don't have to give, but feel totally offended if we do not take it. Whatever we say is the gospel truth so we really have to be careful of what we say and how we say it, because they tell everyone and in their mind if say it that is the way it is. I have a whole other story about Vane. The boy who wheeled himself to church in the wheelchair more than 3 miles twice. I'll try to do that another day. Thanks for you prayers and concern. We feel them every day. More later
Hey! the blog is lined up a lot better and Leslie did not have to fix it. Another little miracle.

A walk through the Market and A beehive and fruit

2010-03-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a stroll through the market. We go there every P day to buy fruit and veggies, but we don't dare buy much else. It is really a site. The place is just packed and they have really good produce, but the fish and meat are scary because of the sanitation and they have no clue any thing is wrong.

These are mangos and they are alot like peaches. I like them green because they taste like green apples. Ilene loves them when they are ripe. They grow all over the place and are bigger than my big hand.

These are called jack fruit. They are huge and have big spines on them. Ilene really likes it. I can't stand it. Some people can smell it and others can't Guess who can smell it and who can't. It smells like wet stinky feet to me and tastes like that too.

Here is what it looks like after being picked. The big ones are about the size of 2 basketballs held together

This is what it looks like on the inside and if can't smell it you eat the lining around the holes. It just comes right out. You don't have to worry about me eating anymore.

This is a beehive that just showed up on a members jack fruit tree. It is a solid mass of bees on both side. They have been there about 3 years. In about 3 weeks he will build a fire underneath them and smoke them and then peel the bees off. He says he gets about 5 liters of honey 2 times per year. I hope I get to try some.

We are doing really well, but I still don't have much of a clue about blogging. I can't get anything lined up, but am too lazy to try to learn how. Thanks to everyone.

More Stuff from the last few weeks

2010-03-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can read this or not, but it is in downtown Phnom Penh and the name of the place is Steve's Steak House. Pretty odd. We had a dinner with all the mission couples there this week. It kind of made me home sick until I tried the steak. It was just one of those old tough, boney, brahamas.

Here is how cashew nuts grow. Dr. Henrie told me they grew on a flower and I said yeh right. Well it turns out that he was right. There is fruit that grows inside the flower and the nut is on the end. Both nut and fruit are really good.

Well here they are on the hoof. There was a whole box of them and they would cook them up fresh if you liked. It just cost a little bit more money, 7 cents alive and 12 cents deep fried. I don't think I can work up the courage. I bought one for Ilene and all she did was look at it and scream. That is real gratitude

Here they are after going through the deep fryer. They love the juice poured over them. It is really creepy to think about. It is against the mission rules to eat them. They had an elder eat one about 7 months ago and he got sick and had to be in the mission home for almost 3 months. Not really why we are here, plus they look alot worse looking down on them trying to put them in your mouth.

This is a counselor in the district presidency and his wife and daughter. The daughter is a returned missionary. Ilene is by Malika. You won't believe it but she is 22 years old. She loves to go teaching with us and speaks good english so we enjoy talking to her. I can tell I need to get a longer and fatter tie to hide the belly hanging over my belt. The meals Ilene cooks are too good

Me and a nice Khmer guy who was next to a members house planting pineapple. He had that hoe contraption thing and was really digging in the dirt. He is in the army and had a physical and the Dr. told him he was too fat and had too much fat in his blood and needed to exercise more so he was out digging and sweating a lot. He said it was really bad during the Pol Pot years, but thanks to Ronald Reagan the US got NATO there and helped get rid of him. He was in the army with Pol Pot in charge and then changed to fight against him. One of the lucky few who survived the whole thing. They call it the Civil War over here.
This is the pineapples and papya trees he was planting. He was really proud of his work

We went to a Khmer funeral today for a 92 year old father in law of a member. They just took him out in a field and dug a hole and buried his casket. They built the headstone while we were there and then cover the grave before we left. I helped cover the grave. They dug the grave with a shovel and covered it up with a shovel It was pretty hot, close to 100 while we were shoveling. Once the grave was covered they put cement all over the headstone made out of bricks and wrote his name, birth and death date with their finger in the wet cement. They chanted a lot before they left to go to where he was buried. It was a Chinese funeral and their was not one thing said about him or his family. Buddists believe that the spirits go to a nice place where they don't have much to do, and the family will never see them again. If the family does not remember them they will come back to haunt them. They do all this chanting while they burn incense and leave food for the spirit, then the buddist monk shows up and blesses the house so the spirits will not harm them and takes the food and they have to pay him money. They just chanted and burned incense and carried the casket around the grave about 6 times before they lowered it in. They don't embalm and with this heat you can imagine what is going on. ( Gary and Alma would have plenty of work over here, but I don't think they would get paid for it) He died last night at 10 pm and was in the ground by 2pm the next day.

Well all for now. We sure enjoy the emails and prayers and all of you for staying in touch and supporting us in this incredible adventure. We are really enjoying this blessing in our lives and love and appreciate all who have made it possible. Thanks again to all of you, Love Elder and Sister Thalman

Finally had some time to post a little

2010-03-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

This a big buck that we walk by nearly every day. There is one that has a lot more horn growth, but he will never come close. There are a whole herd of deer in this place where I think is some military thing. I'm not sure what the purpose of the deer are, but they are always there trying to find something to eat.

You can count the ribs on these two cows and all of the cows are that way. I have never seen a fat animal over here. They just wander all over town and try to find someting to eat and then go home at night. No one herds them very often and no one bothers them either.

This is a cow bridle. They punch a hole through the inside of the cows nose when it is just born and put a rope through it and just increase the size of the rope as the calf grows and it is never taken off. They are all brahma cattle, but they are really gentle and docile. You can see when they pull on the rope it tightens up in their nose and they come right too you. They are not afraid of humans at all. They are also the skinniest things I have ever seen. They do not have any milk cows at all they raise them for beef and it is pretty tough. The milk we get is from Australia and is heat treated and does not have to be refrigerated until you open it. They sell by the case and it just sets on the store shelves and it is surprisingly good.

This is medicine that they use for everything. The cut up small tree limbs and put this in water and boil it and then drink the water and is cures everything that is wrong. That is about the best they have

More food under the table. Every place we teach on the ground, and I mean on the ground there are chickens and ducks running all over. It is just a matter of time until they end up on the dinner plate. I don't think they feed them at all, they just have to scrounge for themselves

This is the meal they fixed for us. They killed a duck so we would have some meat. I really wanted to try it, but didn't dare.
A little boy dressed up and ready to go to school. He is the number one student in his class and is so friendly and fun to be around, His family cooked us a big meal while we were there. We didn't dare eat any of it even though it looks pretty good
A really great family that lives out in a place called Chup. They joined the church about 8 months ago and have not missed church one time since the very first time they came. He is now a couselor in the branch presidency. They ride about 25 kilometers on a one moto. He speaks pretty good english and you can just see the light of the gospel in their eyes and they are so happy. He works out in the rubber plantation and it is really nice and somewhat clean out there.

Sister Thalman and Thida. She has been a member for a few months and has a lot of struggles in her life. She is taking care of her 95 year old father-in-law and that is a challenge for her as you can imagine. She has a very successful business and sells ice cream and water and other things. She is a sweet person and comes to church every Sunday and is so fun to visit with. We visit her often and she is so fun. She has a great personality.

More Pictures of this Wonderfully Different World

2010-03-03T05:47:00.000-08:00

A cute Khmer member who cannot come to church now because she is going to school and has to take exams on the weekend. Her goal is to go to Los Angeles where her sister lives. She is trying to pass and exam that shows she has a skill in sewing so she can have a skill when she gets to the USA.

The members house where we did the service project. They are the sweetest kindest people, but they don't have a dang thing. Shopping at DI for them would be like shopping at Sax 5th avenue for us.

We did a service project for a member and moved Mt. Nebo from one side of her yard to the other. The crazy basket looking thing is how we moved the dirt. We would rake it into the basket and then carry the basket and dump in to where she needed it. It would have been great to have Tom's bobcat for about 20 minutes, but then there would go all the service hours.

This is the scaffolding they use. It is just tied together with ropes, string, wire or whatever they have. They just have a huge pile of bamboo sticks lying around the construction sites and they just throw it together and climb on it and go to work. I have never seen a backhoe or forklift of any kind. They just have a pulley and rope to lift everything up to the guys working on the house. It takes about 6 guys to lift a bag of bricks up to them or a bucket of cement.

This is the house and it is all cement structure with very little rebar in the cement and what they do use is about 1/4 inch. If there were ever an earth quake here the whole country would be flat, but the interesting thing is you can really feel the Lord's spirit here. They have never had a major natural disaster in Cambodia, only war after war.

This is the bricks that they make and they are all over the place. They just stack them randomly in the wall and don't use any rebar or a level of any kind and do not strike the joints either.

Pictures around KC

2010-02-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from around where we live. We see these crazy sites all the time, but I never seem to have my camera with me. I'll try to do better in the future. I have got some great video, but the internet is so slow it will not upload any of the video to email or the blog. Maybe it will work better before we get home.

Here is the traffic in front of our house. You can see that it is dominated by motos. Everyone has one. They say they have traffic rules but I don't know what they are and no one obeys them. The only I know if you are the biggest you can go where ever you want.

We see this all the time, but this one is really small. They have these hugh trailers bolted or wired or tied to the back of their 125 cc scooter and call them taxis. They sometimes have 40 people in them. I can't imagine how they get going and how they stop.

These things grow all over the place over here. They are really good, but they have to be picked and eaten when they are still really green. They are only about 4 inches long, but they have a much firmer texture than the ones at home and have really great flavor.
I met these cute little girls who were on their way home from school (saalaarian). Everyone here loves to have their picture taken and when they see a camera they can't wait for you to take their picture and then look at it when they are done. I tried to teach them how to say "see you later alligator" and they did good until they got to alligator and they could not even come close, but they sure laughed when they were trying to say it. I'm not sure what the peace sign means. Peace I guess.
No kidding!! a family really does live in here and they have the cutest little girls that always say HELLO to us every time we walk by. We have taught people who have been in much worse places than this. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. It is really sad to see how some of them have to live, but they are the happiest people you will ever be around. This hut would have a bamboo floor and the big pots on the right side are for water. They have a well in the back that they get water out of 1 bucket full at a time.
People over here who have anything put big iron rods on the top of their fences and then put this prison kind of razor wire all through it so no one can climb over the fence without something lethal happening. Some people can't afford the rods and wire so they just use broken glass in cement on top of their fences. We see this stuff all over the place.
A view above KC. As you can see there is plenty of smog. They burn trash everywhere almost all day long. The good thing is that during the rainey season the rain puts the fires out, but that doesn't come until April or May. The elders say it never rains at all before April and when it starts it really makes up for no rain the rest of the year.

Wat above Kampong Cham

2010-02-17T03:40:00.000-08:00

The elders from our district. They are so great and so fun to be around. We have taught many lessons with them already. (to say we teach is a stretch--we have been there and without them translating we would have not clue what is going on)

This is inside one of the many wats where they go to pray and mostly burn inscense. They have really pretty paintings on the walls and ceiling, but they are all about budda.

The elders in KC. We went to a buddist Wat today and this is a picture of them in front of Budda after he died. It reminds me of being back in the priests quorum only a miracle has happened and the priests have all grown up and have very strong testimonies. Each American has a Cambodian for a companion. They all the most humble and sincere kids to be around. They are all excellent teachers and it amazes me how well they know the language and the gospel. Their parents I know are very pleased with them. They ride these old single speed Viet Nam era bikes about 20 to 30 miles per day in the heat and don't complain at all. Sister Thalman baked 2 plates of cookies for after our trip and just like the priests they ate them all in about 2 minutes. They sure seemed happy to have some motherly attention.
A neat family we are teaching with the elders from branch 3 The father was not too interested at first, but the last 2 lessons he has listened and asked a lot of good questions. The 2 boys on the left Lucky and Retri have came to church the last 2 weeks and are really interested. I thought it would be really tough getting them to believe in Christ because they are all buddists, but they understand there is not much to buddism and all have a great reverence for Christ. The Elders feel very confident that they will be baptized. The two little kids and daughter are so cute and have such funny personalities. We sit on the floor of a bamboo hut that is on stilts when we teach them.
We hiked to the top of a hill above KC with the elders in our district. There were more than 300 steps to the top and nearly 100 degrees. It was a pretty good hike for two old duffers but we made it. We just love being around the missionaries. They have the greatest spirit about them.

Home in KC

2010-02-13T02:49:00.000-08:00

This is the wiring coming into our house. I wonder how UP&L would feel about this. The power is all 220 also

Front Room both north and south

Front of house. A lot nicer than we thought

2010-02-12T17:38:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy since we got here we haven't had time to emial or blog. We will try to get the blog updated this weekend. We taught a great family of 8 last night and the spirit was so strong. They are the cutest kindest people. They are so respectful and treat us very special. We will write more later Love to all

It's a long way from Vermillion

2010-02-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Here we are pointing to Cambodia. You can see that it is nearly half way around the world. We have had some great experiences here and have made some wonderful friends. We bore our testimonies in Khmer tonight with all the other foreign speaking missionaries. It is a real miracle. Couples are really going to the 4 corners of the earth. It was amazing how well some of those couples could speak. Our tutor said it is because they have such cake languages and ours is not cake. He has been a lot of help to us, but it has been pretty tough. We have learned a lot and it has been so spiritual to be around all the young missionaries and the young teachers. They really have a great spirit about them.

We made it

2010-02-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

We got here to the MTC at 11:30 and thankfully we didn't have to stay at the super 8 motel. We are just outside of the classroom where most of our meetings will be. The first people we met were Elder and Sister Excell and then we ran into Trent Nielson. Our backdoor neighbor. He was in a massive line trying to get some dinner. He looks great and is really excited to be going. We are going to dinner tonight with the Richards. The couple from SLC who lived right were we will be living in Kampong Cham. We will try to get some pictures to post soon. It looks like we will be very busy. Thanks to all of you for making this possible and Trent for the great ride up here. Love to all Elder and Sister Thalman

I was looking at some Cambodian websites and look what dropped out of the sky

2010-01-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

We are almost on our way and it looks like dinner just showed up so we can practice eating spiders.