Right after email last week we had some awesome experiences! The first actually came before we emailed that I forgot to email about; for Zone activities on P-day (which we only get to have every 3 weeks) there's a baseball field by one of the ward buildings where we played Wiffel ball, Ultimate Frizbee, and Soccer. I took role of photographer for soccer, but it was fun to be with the whole zone and brave the cool January air. It's amazing how warm it really is - most times I go outside with just a cardigan, or maybe a raincoat, but nothing warmer than that.
Ok, so remember that sketchy investigator (Mr. S) who randomly showed up at church on Sunday and I said not to worry about him because he's most likely not going to want to take the lessons? Well, it goes to show you shouldn't judge too soon.
We dropped by one of our less active's, Sister P's, house (S also lives here because the Sister P takes in "bad people and make them good".), but she was busy doing work in her garage, so she put us in the kitchen to start stirring a pot of coconut milk. We were thoroughly confused as to what we were suppose to be doing, so we asked if there was anything else we could do for her since the kitchen was beginning to fill up with other hungry Cambodians. So she sent us with some money to buy some napkins, and after returning with the requested large package, she set us down to a tarp she'd set up in the living room. This is where I experience making and eating Cambodian food for the first time. She set a stack of banana leaves in front of us and had us wipe them down with the napkins to clean them a little before she sectioned them into squares. While we were gone she'd finished adding several heaping spoonfuls of sugar and salt to the boiling coconut mixture until it was sticky before she poured it over the steamed rice. She then peeled mini bananas, placed them on the banana leaf, and covered it with the rice mixture, folded the ends, and put plastic wrap around it before steaming them one more time. We waited until we got home and they had cooled a little before trying them, and if I hadn't made them myself I would be totally grossed out because the banana was slightly pink and looked like uncooked meat, but it turned out to be pretty good!
In the midst of making these makeshift Cambodian tomales, Mr. S pops in the room with a notebook and a pen ready to learn! So as we're scrubbing these banana leaves, Sister McQuivey takes it and starts writing some rules down for him to follow in order for us to teach him. Number one is he can't be drunk. He really had some to drink that day, but later Sister P. took us upstairs to tell us he is mentally damaged from drinking too much alchohol when he was younger, so he'll go from one subject to another in one sentence without even realizing it, which makes it super hard to follow his train of thought and to even understand him. But he's super smart and understands anything that we say to him, so as long as he's not drunk the day we teach him, we're going to do our best to understand his questions and teach to his needs.
We also have another investigator about 30 minutes away and outside the three zones we have free range of, but with President's permission we got him to commit to go to church and went with him! It was all honestly too easy. The first time we met him we gave him a Book of Mormon, and over the phone he accepted our invitation to go to church, then when we saw him he was perfectly dressed in a button-up shirt and tie, and once in the meeting he didn't have very many questions. He stayed for Gospel Principles, but wanted to leave after that, and on his way out said something about how the Book of Mormon brings back something he'd almost forgotten. We thought maybe he was talking about his ability to read, since Cambodian literature isn't exactly readily available around here, but after we got home and really thought about how easy it all was, we decided he's probably already a member. Most everyone here got baptized in '83-84, and if they didn't, some went to church in Cambodia before they got here. We won't know for sure though until we find his records, so until then he's still an investigator.
But here's another funny story. At church Sunday, Mr. S showed up again and in Gospel Principles while the teacher was introducing everyone, she said "And Mr. S is a member but is coming back to visit" to which all three of us turn to him and start questioning him at the same time. He was actually baptized twice already, once when he was nine, and again when he was thirteen - both in this church! For some reason he forgot to tell us that, but until we find his records, he too is still an investigator. It would be sad though if we ended up baptizing him for the third time.
Second great thing, the older less active man, Son (not his full name) won't go to church because he's diabetic and suffers from gout, but this week he finally accepted the invitation to bring the sacrament to him!! And one of these days we'll bring a wheelchair so he doesn't have to walk around in order to go to church! So Son took the sacrament this past Sunday which totally made our day!
That's about what's been going on over here, but congratulations to Jeff and Sarah for the new baby! And congrats Emily and Zack for tying the knot on Thursday! Love you!
- Sister Dunster
This is us at Son's place for his 80th birthday yesterday! Sorry I don't have more, but this week Sister McQuivey doesn't have her camera and that's where most of our pictures are, so next week will be picture week!
