I
made it to Cambodia!!
I'm sitting in this sketchy internet cafe right now outside of the psaa (the market) and it smells like sewage and weird meat and its awesome. I dont think I have ever been so exhausted in my life. We bike so much every single day and its crazy!! One day I swear we biked like 30 miles and I wanted to pass out. We are covering the entire North Stake which consists of 5 wards and the North Stake is the top half of Phnom Penh. So I am right in the heart of the city! My companion is awesome! She is Sister Luke and has been such an awesome trainer and I absolutely love her. It is so hot here and I sweat so much. I have worn a cardigan every day which I thought I wouldn't ever do but it helps so much to trap in all your sweat and you dont get sunburned. I have also never worn so many layers in my life. Underclothes, leggings, slips, skirt and shirt, cardigan, and sometimes a scarf. CRAZY. My apartment is SO NICE. Like nicer than the MTC dorms and bathrooms. We have a super nice walk in shower, fake hard wood floors that are tile, a washing machine in our kitchen and everything is just dang nice. We live with two other sisters speaking vietnamese and we have so much fun every night. One of the sisters walked in this morning and her skirt was completely ripped in half from getting off her bike and it was hilarious. The members here are awesome!! I have already been in so many lessons and we have 14 INVESTIGATORS!!! People walk into the building all the time and say "hello I want to be baptized"and we are freaking out because we barely have time to eat and we have our schedules popping at the seam. We also went to four baptisms this week and they are the best people. So first five days in the field I have 4 baptisms and 14 investigators, pretty dang awesome. I also spoke in two sacrament meetings on sunday, bore my testimony and introduced myself in the first and gave a 5 minute talk in the second. In the second one I read two verses of the scriptures in Khmer and talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. The elders in both wards are so awesome and so much fun. We also teach an english class ever wednesday and saturday and that is where we get most of our investigators because we share a spiritual thought at the end and they all are so interested. In each lesson we give, I share a brief testimony of whatever we are talking about and I usually read a few verses in Khmer from the scriptures. The language is coming along very slowly but I am not as worried about it as I was before I left. I can understand about 80% of what is going on in church and about 10% outside of church or lessons but I know I will understand eventually. I can barely speak any Khmer but as long as I keep trying super hard everything will work out! A lot of people know english here too so that is a huge blessing. Some crazy culture things are 1.) men who have moles let the few strands of hair that grow out of them get super long an they believe its good luck. It's disgusting but also hilarious at the same time. 2.) the traffic here is CRAZY. We literally ride our bikes in the street with all the motos and cars and its a miracle I havent been hit by a moto yet. Its basically like that one scene on the Bee Movie where all the cars move perfectly around each other but there is total chaos. 3.) The food is definitely different. For every meal we eat some form of rice, meat, and eggs. I have had duck eggs for breakfast every day and a ton of super weird fruit. But it all tastes super good. My stomach does not appreciate the food sometimes... 4.) The Mings (women around age 30-50) really like to grab my butt and tell me how pretty I am. Anywhere I go I here "Barrang, sa?at naa" or something like that. Barrang means a white or french person and sa?at means beautiful/pretty. They always comment on my nose and white skin and tell me to make sure I always cover my skin so it wont be dark like Khmer skin. They are so cute and hilarious.
I'm sitting in this sketchy internet cafe right now outside of the psaa (the market) and it smells like sewage and weird meat and its awesome. I dont think I have ever been so exhausted in my life. We bike so much every single day and its crazy!! One day I swear we biked like 30 miles and I wanted to pass out. We are covering the entire North Stake which consists of 5 wards and the North Stake is the top half of Phnom Penh. So I am right in the heart of the city! My companion is awesome! She is Sister Luke and has been such an awesome trainer and I absolutely love her. It is so hot here and I sweat so much. I have worn a cardigan every day which I thought I wouldn't ever do but it helps so much to trap in all your sweat and you dont get sunburned. I have also never worn so many layers in my life. Underclothes, leggings, slips, skirt and shirt, cardigan, and sometimes a scarf. CRAZY. My apartment is SO NICE. Like nicer than the MTC dorms and bathrooms. We have a super nice walk in shower, fake hard wood floors that are tile, a washing machine in our kitchen and everything is just dang nice. We live with two other sisters speaking vietnamese and we have so much fun every night. One of the sisters walked in this morning and her skirt was completely ripped in half from getting off her bike and it was hilarious. The members here are awesome!! I have already been in so many lessons and we have 14 INVESTIGATORS!!! People walk into the building all the time and say "hello I want to be baptized"and we are freaking out because we barely have time to eat and we have our schedules popping at the seam. We also went to four baptisms this week and they are the best people. So first five days in the field I have 4 baptisms and 14 investigators, pretty dang awesome. I also spoke in two sacrament meetings on sunday, bore my testimony and introduced myself in the first and gave a 5 minute talk in the second. In the second one I read two verses of the scriptures in Khmer and talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. The elders in both wards are so awesome and so much fun. We also teach an english class ever wednesday and saturday and that is where we get most of our investigators because we share a spiritual thought at the end and they all are so interested. In each lesson we give, I share a brief testimony of whatever we are talking about and I usually read a few verses in Khmer from the scriptures. The language is coming along very slowly but I am not as worried about it as I was before I left. I can understand about 80% of what is going on in church and about 10% outside of church or lessons but I know I will understand eventually. I can barely speak any Khmer but as long as I keep trying super hard everything will work out! A lot of people know english here too so that is a huge blessing. Some crazy culture things are 1.) men who have moles let the few strands of hair that grow out of them get super long an they believe its good luck. It's disgusting but also hilarious at the same time. 2.) the traffic here is CRAZY. We literally ride our bikes in the street with all the motos and cars and its a miracle I havent been hit by a moto yet. Its basically like that one scene on the Bee Movie where all the cars move perfectly around each other but there is total chaos. 3.) The food is definitely different. For every meal we eat some form of rice, meat, and eggs. I have had duck eggs for breakfast every day and a ton of super weird fruit. But it all tastes super good. My stomach does not appreciate the food sometimes... 4.) The Mings (women around age 30-50) really like to grab my butt and tell me how pretty I am. Anywhere I go I here "Barrang, sa?at naa" or something like that. Barrang means a white or french person and sa?at means beautiful/pretty. They always comment on my nose and white skin and tell me to make sure I always cover my skin so it wont be dark like Khmer skin. They are so cute and hilarious.
Anyways, the first few days of the field have been so crazy
and jet lag is so real but it has been so much fun!! I seriously love Cambodia
so far and I would not want to be anywhere else! I know that the church is true
and I can see the blessings it brings into the lives of the people here in
Cambodia. They are so ready and eager to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and their faith is so inspiring. I can't wait to see what the next several
months have in store for me!!
Sister Bashford
Pictures:
1.
Rochena's baptism! (believe it or not, she is 16 even though she looks like she
is 10. She is the sweetest thing on earth)
2.
Duck eggs, rice, and thai chili sauce
3.
Samau(?), this crazy fruit with hair and when you open it it is white and
jellyish inside. Seriously so good.
4.
View from our apartment!
p.s.
We are only allowed to take photos on P-days and baptisms so I will try to get
some cool photos for next week!
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