Madeline in Cambodia: Wet and Wonderful Week in Battambang

Hello everyone!

Well I have six months left which is super weird to think about! It's going so fast! Some days literally seem to drag on and some minutes are eternities but some weeks are a minute and some months a second.

Well this week we had some very sweet moments with some very sweet people. We have an investigator Ming Kon. She is so great. She wants to continue to learn so badly. She said she wants to go to church every day. But her children and family don't want her to learn anymore. A lot of people here in Cambodia don't like "Jesus people." And she has been getting a lot of heat about that. So I don't know if we can come back to teach her. While we were with her I felt so much love for her and I know that God will provide her a way to receive the gospel. Now or later, but He will. Also funny moment with her neighbors: when we bike to her house we've become friends with this Om (grandma). She calls us to stop and we talk to her for a bit. She's claimed us her children and she gave us Khmer names. I suggested Srey Line :) So that's my Khmer name. She's super sweet and crazy.

Another very tender moment happened this past Friday. During our companionship study Sister Lunsford told me this quote that says something like, "The most fervent prayer of a missionary could be, 'please send us to those who have ancestors waiting to receive their saving ordinances.'" So as we left the house, I prayed to my Heavenly Father to please help us find those that have ancestors who are waiting and waiting and cheering us on to find their family members. And so as we were biking to find a less active member's house I stopped at this little shop house thing and asked, "Do you know this girl?" They said no, but then my nose randomly started to bleed (my nose has started to bleed a lot now I think because it’s hot and then rainy anyways...it's fine). So we sat down for a while waiting for my nose to stop bleeding but we ended up just talking, me in very nasally Khmer. So we were talking to this sweet little neakming/om. She started telling us all about the Khmer Rouge. She was 20 years old. She told us all about the conditions, the hardship, the terror and the sorrow. She said she had to cut her hair, work all day, couldn't talk at all and had little to no food. She said her brothers were taken to be soldiers and her parents and sisters were killed. She said she was separated from her brothers in the camp and occasionally would see them from a distance but she couldn't even whisper anything to them. Usually I feel like people here usually brush over the emotional part because it was so traumatic. But she really opened up to us. I asked her, "Om do you miss your family?” She cried. We ended up crying and laughing and crying again together. It was a sacred blessing to testify of our Savior to someone who has seen so much terror and felt so much heart ache. And who knows? Maybe she was the one whose ancestors are waiting for. I don't care if she wants to learn or not, I am going back to her house.

It was a really good week. Kind of slow and lots of plans fell through but some very sweet tender moments. And I know that every day if we even try, God is so proud of us. As for Battambang things are going good. Sister Lunsford is a sweetheart and I really love her. I'm trying hard to just be happy and to trust. I read a part of a talk by Elder Holland and he talks about faith-based optimism. No we don't need to be happy all the time. If we were we would be crazy. But I know there is true happiness, joy, hope, and love because of God and His Son and His plan. And I know as we have faith and stay close to our Savior and experience His healing and strengthening and changing power we can become happy saints of our Father in Heaven.

Much love to all of you. I am so happy to be a missionary. This mission has changed my life and it will forever.

Love always,

Sister Mortell

ស៊ីស្ទើរ ម៉ូរធែល