Two Stakes Organized in Phenom Penh & Pictorial Preparation Day

President Moon sent a letter to all the missionaries in Cambodia announcing that two stakes were officially organized in Phnom Penh on Sunday, the Phnom Penh Cambodia North Stake and Phnom Penh Cambodia South Stake. It's a great milestone for the members in Cambodia! 

President Moon also announced that last week Church leaders were notified by the government officials in Vietnam that they have approved the application for official recognition for the church's Interim Representative Committee--a step in eventually receiving full recognition for our church in Vietnam. 

Some photos of a Preparation Day in the life of Edward:

Edward's district on the way to helping a member harvest peanuts.

Best Week Ever!

Well this has been another great week. I was worried that last week was just a lucky week,  but this week has been even better. We are doing really well. Church was great. So much depends on church. The whole week you are just telling members, less actives, and investigators the importance of church and that you want them today and the climax of the week is church! But yesterday was great. Few highlights: Overall attendance was high, which is always great. An really old awesome member came back, and he was in a super good mood and attitude. We had a recent convert, who has not been to church since 2013 come! Yay! I have been working on her ever since I came to Battambang.  

On the Bamboo Railroad.

Edward's companion, Elder Brewer, in a rain storm.

Skypeing on Mothers Day

I hope you like the pics. It was great talking with you! Love ya!

At an alligator farm on preparation day.

Waiting for an investigator during a rain storm. These pop and ice coolers are common.

May The Fourth Be With You!

This week we received 13 new investigators, and 2 new families.  We have been working really hard to contact people. And it's been awesome! We have this card with a picture of baptism and on the back it has a date, time and number. When we contact people we show them the card and explain a little about baptism, and ask if we can come back and explain a little more.  If they say yes we get an exact date and time write it down and show up later, and it is working really well. Cambodians are very nice which also helps. 

Creepy hitchhiker.

Storm Damage and Working With Less Active Members

So first off, Cambodia has been approved for two stakes!! North District and South District in Phnom Penh are becoming stakes! First stakes in the country. The end of May will be the official creation of the stakes. So that is very exciting!

The new comp is great. And he is a hard worker and follows the rules, so that is nice. He is a pretty cool guy.

A week before transfer calls my previous companion and another elder in the house said that I could not memorize "The Family, A Proclamation to the World" in Khmer in a week. So I had extra time to study, and I finished it a day early.
So yesterday we had a new branch president called. He is a new member and has been a member for about 14 months. Before he was the first councilor in the elders quorum pres. And for councilors in the bishopric he called the old elders quorum president and the 2nd councilor.  The new branch president is really cool, and I think he will do a great job.

So this week was awesome. We were teaching this one lady who had not been to church for over a year, and this was on Friday when I was proselyting with Elder Taylor for a day before Elder Brewer came. But we were teaching her with the district president, and while we were teaching her the whole Elders quorum presidency came in (now the branch presidency) and she was super happy, and on Sunday came to church!!!!! Yay! Also another inactive family that we have been working with that has not come to church for over at least a year or so, came to church yesterday! And this recent convert less active family that hasn't come for over six months came to church. So for less actives yesterday was AWESOME! I think that is my calling in Battambong, cause I have had more success with less actives in Battambang than any other area. 

Damage after a violent storm.

With Elder Taylor

With Edward's new companion, Elder Brewer

Cambodian New Year and Happy Easter!

Cumriapsua! Krom Kruasa! Well happy Easter everyone! I hope you all had a great day! Yesterday I forgot it was Easter until the branch president told me. But for you it is still Easter so happy Easter! We didn't do anything for Easter, which is fine, sometimes special activities are too distracting and do more harm than good. 

Well, last night was transfer calls. My companion is leaving and is going to my first area, Kampong Cham 2. And I am getting a new comp! His name is Elder Brewer.  He has just finished training, and he is American. So this will be his 3rd transfer in the country. I hear he is really a really hard worker.

This last week Cambodians celebrated their New Year. It is a three day holiday so we could not do missionary work. It is not so fun doing paper work and hanging around in the apartment. But I'm looking forward to working really hard this week!

Last week we got 3 new investigators. We inherited them from other missionaries when they found out that they lived in our area. Two of the investigators will be baptized either a week from Saturday or in two weeks. They are awesome. Two older men who are retired who want to join the church. They have already been to church 4 weeks in a row. They even came to general conference. So that is sweet.

Harvesting peanuts for a service activity. A mango tree in the background. I love mangoes.

This was supposed to be a 7 km ride, but it turned out to be 21 km!

Good Investigators and Helping at a Funeral.

This week was good, but a really sad thing happened. Monday a member of the branch died, so most of Monday and Tuesday we were at the funeral. And afterwards, we helped transport the casket in the back of a truck. I'm sure people were wondering what that American dude was doing keeping a casket from falling out of a truck.

We also did a lot of service this week, so we didn't have as many lessons as I would like but that is okay. We have some good investigators. I believe they can progress towards baptism. Two great investigators came to church yesterday. One of the investigators is so sincere and is doing great. Should be baptized soon.

We had splits with the zone leaders last week and we found a new investigator and taught her the first discussion. Elder Jensen's bike broke down just as it began to pour. It took us an hour to walk home in the pouring rain. Fun!

On the way to a couple of investigators' homes. Oodombong.

New bike with a higher seat and longer handles. Much better for my long legs. New $10 slacks!