Hey everyone!
I am half way done with training and have two more days left
of my first transfer! I am super pumped that I have survived to this point!
This week we went on exchanges in the KC! It is the closest
kite (or province) to us and it was so much fun! I have only ever been in the
heart of Phnom Penh for the last 6 weeks so it was so exciteing to be able to
go to the countryside. We rode a bus for three hours to get there and stayed
with our STL's and two Khmer Sisters. I was on the exchange with Sister Mortell
and she was so awesome. On Friday morning we went to this Om's house and
everyone calls her Betsy there. Apparently she is super famous across the whole
mission because 1) she is an amazing member and 2) she smells like death. We
went to her house to do service and clean her house for her and I don't think I
realized how bad it was going to be. I could smell her house before I turned
the corner and it got so much worse once we were inside. I wore two face masks and
a grahmaa around my face and it still didn't mask the smell. She had rotting
food and trash in mounds everywhere and clothes piled in huge heaps. The
majority of the missionaries went inside the house to clean out all her stuff
but I stayed in a little front room area with one of the Khmer sisters and we
conquered the sludge pile. It was just rotten food and trash that had collected
for so long that it just turned to black sludge. We used a dust pan to scoop it
up and every time we would scoop up the muck, huge cockroaches would crawl out
hundreds at a time. It was like a horror movie and your worst nightmare all in
one. There were maggots crawling all over the floor and bugs would crawl out
and crawl all over my feet. Thank goodness I have been building up a strong
stomach the last few weeks. It took us 12 trashbags and 3 hours to clean up all
the sludge and so many more trashbags for the crap from her house. After we
were finished we had all the trashbags in the front and this Ming (her next
door neighbor) comes running out and screaming all kinds of Khmer profanity at
Betsy and they are screaming at each other for like 15 minutes straight. The
ming went to pick up a broom to swing at her but I grabbed it and she hit me
instead so that was cool. It didn't hurt at all but it was still scary. Then
after I pulled the broom away she grabbed a wooden club that you usually use to
smash garlic and she started swinging it and running towards Betsy. Sister
Jennings shielded Betsy while Sister Luke and I ran after the ming. I stepped
in front of her and yelled at her to stop and the Sister Luke comes is with her
super awesome Khmer and commands her to shut up and put the club down (which is
super crazy in the Khmer language) and the other Khmer Sisters come in and we are
all trying to calm her down. While all this was going down the Elders had left
to go get ice cream and more face masks so we didn't have any men to back us up
but when they showed up we had gotten the situation under control and they had
no clue what was going on. It was pretty funny. But we were all so grateful we
had angels on our side as we put our safety on the line to stop the crazy ming.
The rest of the exchange went super well and I learned so much from the other
Sisters.
Last night we were fed by a member and her family, and they
fed us crawdads and squid so I can officially say that is the weirdest thing I
have eaten yet. We also got transfer calls and my household is staying the same
and the Vietnamese Sisters are our STL's! A lot of the Elders are switching
around which is sad but everything else is going great! The only change for us
is another companionship of Sisters is taking Tuek Laárk ward from us so we
aren't so overwhelmed with investigators. Other than that, everything is going
super great and I am safe and healthy!
Something I decided to do this
week is start a gratitude journal. I want to focus on all the wonderful
blessings that my Heavenly Father has given me rather than think about how hard
the language is or how my stomach hurts all the time after I eat weird foods.
God has blessed me so much with an awesome area, companion, mission, family,
friends, and so much more. I have been protected so much on the streets and
eating not fully cooked food and all the other crazy things that happen to me
daily. I encourage everyone to have an "attitude of gratitude" and
look for the blessings in your life! I love all of you and miss you so much!
Thank you for checking in with me and keeping in touch!
Sister Bashford
Pictures:
1. At the bus station on our way to KC
2. View from the balcony in KC
3. Squatty potty at the bus station... I decided holding my
pee was a better option
4. Sunset from the church building! Reminds me of AZ
5. Selfie from the balcony of my apartment this morning
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