Kind Khmer Week in Kean Svay

So a big ជំរាបសូរ​​ (Cumriabsua, Hello) from Cambodia! I hope everyone is doing well. It was an exciting week for missionary work. Srey Mom and Tiida were baptized! They started learning with the Sisters before, but then Tiida's dad passed away. Sister Chin and I started meeting them again. They started to come back to church and they were super excited to be baptized. Also very terrified. They were so scared of the water. They held my hands super tight but they did it. I'm super excited for them. They try so hard to follow the gospel and the commandments. After the baptism the Branch President had some oreos for them and they told me, "we are fasting.” So sweet. Also coconut oreos are a big thing in Cambodia. So delicious.

Let's see our other investigators... remember Bong Phat? She is still having a hard time. Some days she is great, energized and friendly and some days she looks so gloomy. But I know that she has had the light of the gospel in her. I've seen it. So I really hope that she can overcome this problem. Her mom is convinced that she has a devil inside of her. I don't know what it is but I really hope that she can find light and hope from Jesus Christ. It's been a little tricky situation but I pray and hope that we can help her. 

Bong On and her daughter are doing great. She wants to be baptized so much. She is so excited. It's been hard to meet her recently because she works late and it’s too dark for us to bike home alone. But this week she wants to come home from work early to meet with us so she can be baptized. She's so awesome. She's become one of my best friends. She is so sweet. When we started meeting her she was having a hard time with her husband. He's pretty scary. He told her that she had to choose him or Jesus Christ. She told him, "It's impossible to even put you on the same level as God." So she moved houses, separated from him and now lives with a member. Her one requirement for her new house was it had to be close to the church. So I hope that she can continue on the path and be able to receive baptism. 

What else happened this week? Well we worked on a pig farm and it literally sounded like Jurassic Park. So terrifying and awesome. My job was to blend piles and piles of vegetables into goop. Awesome right? haha. I also went on an exchange with Sister Snooks. She's from Boise and in my MTC group so that was super fun! Two little girls from Idaho biking the roads of Cambodia.

Both of the church buildings in our area are old houses that have been turned into churches and they are both far from our house. We bike so much. It's getting hotter so it is been pretty tiring. We have two sets of elders in our two areas but only one sister companionship so our house is in the middle of the two areas and equally far from everything.

This work is quite something. I'm so thankful that I can be a missionary. I feel blessed to be able to serve my Heavenly Father. And even though I'm not a perfect person or companion or qualified at all, He is still proud of me. And He's proud of you too. And we can't be perfect by ourselves. That's why we have Jesus Christ. So try and be a little better and ask Him for help too. 

Much love to you all! 

Love always, 

Sister Mortell

Sister Snook and Srey Mom and Tiida

Srey Mom and Tiida (also we are starting to do splits on Sundays because we have a lot of investigators in Kean Svay so I was companions with Bong Tiida for like four hours haha).