December 9th, 2018: The End

Well, this is the end. My last email before I end my full-time missionary service. I don't have a lot to say, but I would like to share my testimony of the experiences I have had and the change that I have seen in myself and others. None of this could have come to pass without my Savior. He is everything to me and I love Him. I have had many high points and many low points on my mission, but He has carried me through all of it. I have seen how His Atonement has changed me, has allowed me to repent, has picked up the pieces of my broken heart, and has helped me endure to the end of my mission with joy. I have seen how His Atonement has helped the Khmer people find happiness in their sad, poor, lonely lives. He has changed them. He will continue to change them. He is establishing His kingdom here in this land. He has prepared this since the foundation of the world. Our Heavenly Father knew that the saints in this land would become strong enough to have the gospel preached to them and to have a temple. He has been preparing their hearts to receive the good message for decades. These people have been through so much heartache and sorrow, but God never leaves His people alone. His arm is outstretched still. I know that my Father in Heaven has been mindful of me and the people I have come in contact with every single day. He numbereth every one of His children, and wants all of them to return to live with Him again. Our Savior pleads for us to follow Him because He knows He is the only way we can receive eternal salvation and joy in heaven with our Father, and our families. The best scripture that truly represents how I feel about all of this is Alma 26: 35-37:

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

I have loved this scripture so much my entire mission. Whenever I felt saddened or inadequate about my missionary work, I have come back to this scripture to remind me of my purpose and reason for serving a mission.
I know that the restoration of the gospel took place through direction from our Savior given to Joseph Smith. I know he was called as a prophet of God, and that he translated the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is a holy record of God's people in the Americas, and that His prophets wrote it for our day. I know that Russell M. Nelson is God's prophet on the earth today, and that He receives revelation directly from God to direct Christ's church on the earth. I know these things to be true because I have prayed, studied, pondered, and experienced each part of my testimony in many different ways. My testimony is mine, and mine alone. I cannot give it to anyone else, but I can share it to help strengthen others. Each one of us can gain a testimony of these things through honest searching as well. I have seen this happen with so many people, and I can truly say that they were converted.
I am so grateful that God gave me the opportunity to serve my mission in Cambodia. I am so grateful that He esteemed me worthy to be an instrument in His hands, no matter how useless of an instrument I may feel that I am. He has found a way and will continue to find a way to use me to build His kingdom in small and simple ways. My full-time missionary service is over, but I will continue to be a missionary all my life. I love this gospel, and I want the whole world to know about it, and receive the same joy I have received. I love my Heavenly Father, I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that all those who will come unto Him will receive eternal salvation. I do and say all these things in the Name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sister Bashford


From Mom:
 Mai Mai:
I can’t believe this is the last email I’m sending you. The day is upon us. I’m sure you have crazy mixed emotions. I LOVE that you have mixed emotions, that means you have LOVED your mission. I could not be more proud of you. I am so ready to get my baby girl back. I can’t wait to hear all your stories and see your pictures!

We have your travel itinerary, so we will watch and track if any of your flights are delayed.

I forgot to ask you...did you like the t-shirt I sent for Kanika. I know it will drown her. She can wear it as a pajama top. :)

What size garments did I send you? Do they fit? I want to have a few new sets for you when you get home. I think I bought you XS in the new style of garments. We will go clothes shopping when we get home from CA.

I’ll stop now so you can spend time on your final group email. I cannot wait to hug you and just hold your hand. Love, love, love you!!!


Mom:

sorry my email cut short. It has been so hard saying goodbye to everyone. i went this morning to say goodbye to my amazing investigator who is getting baptized in a few weeks and we both just cried and it was horrible but a good feeling. i spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and it went super well, and all the branch members were really sad to see me go. i am so excited to tell youall about them mom. these people are seriously the best and i have loved them so much and i have so many stories to tell and its going to be so great. AHHHHHHH MOM I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO THE TEMPLE i have been personal studying about it every morning the last week because i want tobe fully prepared to go back. it is by far the thing  am trunkiest for besides the family. AHHH MOM I love youso much and i cant wait to see you in 4 DAYS!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH 

December 2nd, 2018: No group email

Email from Derek:

Hi Maile! Sorry I have not emailed you in a long time, I have just been totally busy. I am so excited for you to come home only 11 days left, and yes I made a ring count down too. I have so many Christmas presents in mind for you. I can't wait for u to come home because then we can watch all of he non-church related movies we want, and also, we need to have a lot of Maile-Derek-Dates. Just so you know, I really think that Sister Fa'atamali'i's name is really not funny (not). Also, there is this really cool typing game on the computer called Nitro Type, it is so cool and my highest words per minute is 75. Also just out of curiosity, what is your favorite candy (American Candy)? I can't wait until you meet Tommy (Your new dog), he is sssssssssssssssssssssooooooooooooooooooo cute. Sorry about the subject changing every second/sentence I just really don't enjoy school. Well that is all I have to say .

                             

                                                                Love/your one and only Buggy Wuggy

 

 

November 26th, 2018 Email from Mom and Pictures from tourists

Maile:
What a great surprise I received today from the lady you translated for. She told me you gave directions to their tuktuk driver and translated for them. She said your language skills were amazing. I know I say this al the time, but I cannot believe you can speak and read Khmer. I still remember laying in my bed with you watching YouTube videos of a guy teaching the basic structure of Khmer and all of us being very overwhelmed with it all. :)

How was seeing Alli? I bet it was awesome! I hope you got the letter and card/t-shirt for Kanika.

I hope you had a great time today at Ankor Wat? I’m not sure how to spell it. Well, I love you and can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!!! 18 days. 18 more days to authentic Mexican food. Lol

Love,
Mom

 Ya translating for her was so awesome. we have white people here every week but it was so nice that she talked to you. also the melchers were here and sister snooks and it was just a party week. Speaking khmer is actually one of the things i am going to miss so much. i love khmer and want to speak it every day the rest of my life.

Seeing sister snooks was so fun. We werent able to talk for too long because she was so busy but it was so much fun.

Now i only have 13 days left of proseylting........ it makes me want to vomit thinking about the fact that i will never be able to sit in another investigators dirt shack and teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and see miracles happen like this ever again. so im trying to soak it in while i can. but im also just way sad about it. But seeing all of you is making up for that grief. I love you and i hope you guys had the best thanksgiving Love, Sister Bashford

Pictures taken from above members from their tour bus. :)

November 18th, 2018: No Group Email

From MOM
Mai Mai:
25 days! ...not that I’m counting. :) Sister Lewis sent me these pictures yesterday, what a fun surprise. The Lewis’ nephew lives in our home ward and we talked about them today.
I’m so excited for you to see Alli this week, she will be the perfect Thanksgiving gift.
We are having dinner at our house with grandma, grandpa, uncle Benson’s family, and Justin.
I’m sure you heard, Hannah started her mission papers today. I’m so happy for her, you two will have the best 6 months before she leaves.
I talked with President Hansen today. He said for us to text him on our way home from the airport. We’ll meet him at his office to be released. He is excited to see you. Three of you will be released the same day. You, Quinn, and a new girl who moved into our stake.
I am very thankful for you. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Thinking about all that we have and are blessed with is a great thing. I love our family and so grateful for each person. I’m also so grateful for the gospel. :)

I love you! I hope you have a great week. I hope you’re finding your way with your companion.

Love, love, love you!

Mom

Hi Mom :) Its ok, im counting too :) or other missionaries like to remind me every day of how much longer i have so i dont really need to ever keep count.

Haha Sister Lewis is my favorite. she always tells me, now i dont really see your mom a whole lot on facebook, literally every single time i see her and i always say ya well i dont really know either haha. She was way excited to send you pictures though. this was from my very last zone conference. i bore my dying testimony and cried the entire time. im surprised i actually look decent in the picture of all of us together because that was taken right after testimonies. and the dessert was the most delicious pumpkin cake stuff i have ever eaten and sister Bao-Yen (vietnamese) and i are kneeling to sister lewis and her amazing dessert and asking for the recipe haha. 

I am super excited to see Alli this week. Its going to be so much fun and im excited for the letter. I also cant believe hannah is already starting her papers. SO CRAZY. also kyle vance emails me and told me his brother spencer is expecting a baby... what in the world that kid just got off his mission. 

You guys are already talking about my release?? oh gosh its still so far away. im having major denial over here. there are two other elders in my district that are going home with me and we are all in huge denial and also getting sick. everyone says its because our bodies are starting to decay from how old we are on the missions haha.

Im thankful for you too :) Im really sad im missing thanksgiving again but it makes me that much more grateful that i get to be home for christmas :) It will be so good. im so excited. 

 

Do we have a lock for the bike i am going to take to school? because people are wanting to buy my bike lock from me and i dont want to sell it if i dont have a lock at home. if i do then i will sell it.

I love you mom! I am so grateful for you and everything that you do for me. I love you more than anything and i cant wait to be with you guys in a little over three weeks :)

Sister Bashford

 

From Dad:

 Hi Maile,

Yep, we had a boys trip to San Diego and we had so much fun. You will get to ride in the surf van the day after you get home if you decide to go to Carson’s vball tournament in Anaheim. Mom told me about your comp and the language issue. That’s hard, I’m sorry. Only one more month to go though and those struggles will be over. Take advantage of these last few weeks. Try your hardest to enjoy the atmosphere in Cambodia and the life of a missionary. Both represent simple living to me. Life in the US is very complicated. It is getting harder and harder to slow down, grow personal relationships and enjoy our surroundings. I know, that sounds sappy, but the older I get the less value money and stuff has to me. Personal relationships, health, and happiness are becoming more important. I love you so much and can’t wait to see you. 

Hi Dad :)

I am definitely going to his tournament. ive been so trunky to watch him play. and mom says she wants some mommy-maile time before i am taken away to college and live with hannah lol. would it just be me, mom, and carson? i dont really know what she is planning.

Things are still hard with the companion. We had a nice long comp inventory about it and she was crying the whole time and i felt really bad because i dont know what else to do to help her anymore but we are pushing through it and i hope that i  can keep a smile on my face these next few weeks :)

Also that place you are eating breakfast at, i remember eating there with all my high school friends when we went to cali after we graduated. is it called Jack's or something? way good food. i cant wait to not eat rice every meal when i am home and have a variety of foods to choose from :) hopefully i will be able to lose my rice cheeks and hips :)

im actually having major anxiety about going home and having to worry about life and a job and school and dating and bills and i wish i could be a missionary forever because all that stuff sounds horrible. 

I love you and cant wait to see you in less than three weeks!

Sister Bashford

 

Sister Lewis sent Mom these pictures on facebook :) 

 

 

November 11th, 2018: One Month!

 AHHH I only have one month left from today!! I have no idea where the time is going and its scaring me!!

This week started with a very long bus ride to the city for MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) on P-day, our MLC meeting Tuesday morning, and a long bus ride back Tuesday night. It was pretty exhausting and lets just say that riding a bike every day your entire mission makes your stomach a little unsettled when riding a hot smelly bus. 

On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we biked past Angkor Wot to meet some members and investigators. The bike ride out there is about 40 minutes depending on how fast you go, and my skin may or may not have gotten a little cooked. its ok though because now its a tan :) 

On Thursday night, we were companion studying outside at the main park in Siem Reap, when all of a sudden a hundred bats start filling the sky and one pooped on Sister Fa'atamali'i's arm. I was laughing then I felt poop land right on my head and drip down behind my ear. Its probably one of the grossest things that I have ever experienced.

 On Saturday night, I was unpleasantly surprised to see a wedding tent being set up at our next door neighbors house, and the last two nights we have tried to fall asleep to awful Khmer karaoke, and be woken up at 4 am to terrible shrilling Buddhist "singing"/chanting/screaming. I still don't understand wedding culture here :) 

We were able to teach a lot of investigators and get three confirmations on Sunday! They are all investigators of the Sisters before I got here, but I was still so happy to see them choose to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and become members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I love seeing how much the church is growing and is continuing to grow! I love being a missionary! I love you all and will talk to you next week!!

Sister Bashford

ជំរាបសួរពីម៉ាក់
That’s supposed to say hello from mom. :) I still can’t believe you can read that. 

I sent my letter for you and t-shirt for Kanika to Sister Snooks, I’m excited for you to see Alli, she’s super excited to see you too. 

We were all going to go to CA this past weekend for Veteran’s Day, but only dad, Carson, Carson’s friend Christian, and Derek went. Hannah came home Saturday morning and we’ve been hanging out watching Hallmark Christmas movies. Me and Taryn like the movies and Hannah cracks very witty  jokes about them the whole time, she says we get less and less intelligent every hallmark movie we watch. Lol 

Nothing too exciting going on this this week. I hope you are doing great in Siem Reap and are able to communicate better with your companion. Soak it up! 

Love mom <3

Hi mom :)

Yes I can read that hahaha i actually read it before i saw what you said in english and i was impressed with the google translation :) 

Yesterday i said the closing prayer in our gospel doctirne class and afterwards all the members were like WOAH sister you know so much khmer youre khmer is so clear and sounds beautiful and its so nice to listen to. hahaha i think they may just be comparing me from a year ago when i didnt know any khmer to now lol. its just the faster you speak and the more nasally you sound, the clearer it is for them to hear and they think you are amazing at the language.

I am way excited to see Alli. All the members are way excited too. im kinda intimidated by her husband, hes way hot haha. But im excited to get your letter. let me know when/if you guys get my letter i sent. 

MOM i literally have only one month from today until i finish proselyting. Its the 12th over here. technically the 11th is my last day because we will be on a bus that whole day driving to the city. Im getting way freaked out about ending my mission again. my coimpanion and i dont talk about home or boys or music because she doesnt even know who justin bieber is so shes way out of the loop of anything outside of our mission so we just talk about that stuff if we ever talk at all. this week has been so rough mom. i have never had a harder time getting along with a companion in my entire mission. i would ask for sister Um back in a heartbeat. but im also just trying to be super patient because i only have a month left and i dont want it to be ruined by a difficult companion. 

kanika came up to siem reap this week and we went to lunch with her, sister luke, and ed. it was fun and its way weird being at church with her and ed too. shes literally a member in my branch and i feel like it was yesterday that she was my companion lol.

Aw im excited to watch hallmark movies with you guys. those were always my favorite. also hannah seemed to have a pretty awesome week with work and her patriarchal blessing. im so excited for her. shes pretty much the coolest person i know and i talk about her all the time to other missionaries here. a lot of the elders want to email her hahaha. 

Thursday we take a bus to Battambang for my last Zone conference ever. i have a lot of things i have to present and i am giving my dying testimony. its so weird. ive watched dying missionaries give their final testimony my whole mission and never thought the day would come when i would give mine. im way scared that its actually happeneing lol. you are really going to have to help me adjust to not being a missionary any more. im not afraid of going home but im just sad that my mission is ending. but ill talk to you about it more when i get home i guess :)

Love you so much mom!!

Sister Bashford

Darn it, I’m sorry to hear about your difficult companion. Try not to let her get under your skin. Nothing that happens will taint your mission, you’ll end on a great note no matter what! It’s great to hear your Khmer is do amazing. I still want a video clip of you talking!

Yes, Hannah’s blessing was a very spiritual experience, I’m sure she told you all about it. It was crazy how specific it was. Hannah is amazing, just like her big sister. It makes my mom heart so happy that you guys get along and love each other so much. You’re going to die when you see Taryn. She was a little girl when you left, you’re going to come home to a beautiful young woman. 

Mom

Ya its crazy she said it was so specific about certain things. its kinda funny because mine is the exact opposite. so vague. sometimes i wish mine was more specific because i have no idea what to do with my life. I also cant sen you one because my SD card is jacked and i am not about to buy my 9th SD card right before i go home. i can still take photos and videos but they dont show up on my computer, so i have to wait until i get home to show them to you and upload them to my laptop. do i still have a laptop? or is someone else using it? also i just logged onto myasu and school looks hard haha. I literally get freaked out every time i see a picture of taryn now. the only pic ive been looking at the last year and a half is the one of us before i left at the temple. she still was a good 4 inches shorter than me and had braces. im scared to come home to completely different people lol.

Kanika visited Maile in Siem Reap:

 

November 4th, 2018: I feel at home!!

Hey everyone!! This week was seriously the best. Saying goodbye to some of my favorite people in CKM was super hard but being able to see all of the people I love in Siem Reap again made up for it! I am so happy to be back in Siem Reap! I feel like Im back at home! I dont even need to go back to Arizona when I can stay in Siem Reap forever! Jk, but I really do love it here.

We had transfers at the mission home on Wednesday, and after our leadership training meetings, we had our Sisters Conference! It was Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. We talked about things such as dating, marriage, cleaning, healthy eating, exercising, communication, effective gospel teaching, and so much more. We watched the new Emma Smith movie which was so good, and we ate delicious food. Super fun way to start off my last transfer! The bus ride here was awful and one of the Elders may or may not have mixed my bag up with his and took all of my newly bought books and bus tickets to Battambang so i had to buy new tickets last minute and it was a little stressful. Since being in Siem Reap, I have been able to go see all of my recent converts and help one of them come back to church! We reminded her of how amazing her baptism was a year ago and how God wants her back on His side. She promised to come back to church, and I am so happy for her! We had our District Conference (i was here for it last year too) and President Lewis had me stand up in front of everyone and he announced that i was the lucky sister who got to come back and end my mission in Siem Reap. The members from branch 1 were so happy to see me, and it made me feel like i never want to go home! We are so busy with covering two branches, and with all of our investigators! This should be a wonderful last transfer for sure!! Love you all and I will talk to you next week!

Sister Bashford

Sorry I probably will not be able to send any photos until I end my mission because my SD card is broken and i am too lazy to buy a new one :) 

October 28th, 2018: IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

I've been waiting to say that my whole mission!!!

Haha well as you can see, my mission is starting to wind down a bit, LAST TRANSFER! And my transfer call is.... IM GOING BACK TO SIEM REAP!!!!! The SSTLs called me last night and told me and I thought it was a joke. Nope, I'm going back to one of my all-time favorite areas for my very last transfer! I will be an STL (Sister Training Leader) covering both Siem Reap 1 and 2 Branches, and my new companion will be Sister Fa'atamali'i! She is from Samoa and I am so excited for her to be my last companion! I have loved serving in Comkamon but I am more than pumped to go back to Siem Reap. If any of you remember (you probably dont) I served in Siem Reap my third transfer right out of my training. my companion was Sister Snooks and it was her last transfer. Since she was ending, I thought I would stay in SR and lead out the area, but instead I got transferred and our area was white-washed (two new missionaries who dont know the area start off fresh in that area). I was so sad to leave and felt I had unfinished business there. BUT NOW IM GOING BACK WOOHOO.

So I'm sorry I havent been a good missionary and sent mass emails int he last few weeks, but let me repent and recap on my last three weeks.

1. General Conference was amazing. If you have not watched it or rewatched/read the talks, please do it. I received so much personal revelation from this conference and I know each one of us can if we earnestly seek to follow God's will for us and follow His Prophet.

2. The temple being built in Cambodia has been the rage for the last few weeks and members are so excited, they can hardly believe it. It makes my heart so happy.

3. Phallin was baptized on the 20th!! She is so amazing and comes to church every week and soaks up all the information. I am so lucky I was able to be the Sister to finish teaching her and see her baptized!

4. The 20th was also Sister Chan-tung's golden birthday! It was such a fun day including a party popper exploding in Sister Ban's face, and cake being smashed in Sister CT's face. We also had a Zone activity and bowling on P-day to celebrate with her :)

5. I went on an exchange to Stungmiancey this week and it was so much fun! Sister Reyes is from the Philippines and is the cutest thing ever! I also got to see Trash Mountain for the first time in my mission, and it really is just piles of trash everywhere! Most of the Sisters' investigators live and work there so it was cool to see the way that those people live and embrace the gospel because of how humble they are. 

6. Tad R. Callister (Sunday School General President) and Elder Meurs (first councilor of the Asia Area Presidency) came and spoke to all the missionaries this last Saturday, and it was so cool to see how much knowledge President Callister has. He taught us on different ways to teach the Plan of Salvation and the importance of prayer in lessons with our investigators. It was very inspiring and I hope I can apply it these last few weeks!

Sorry that was so much information haha. But I am so grateful for the experinces I have had here in CKM and will continue to have in SR. Love you all and talk to you next week!!

Sister Bashford

For some reason my SD card is not able to find my photos on the computer, so sorry! Maybe photos will come next week!