Pictures around KC

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

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

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

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

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

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