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
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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.
