OBEDIENT - TIGHT LIKE UNTO A DISH

Well another good week out here in Cambodia. We had a brunch at the mission home with Sister Lewis - she is great cook! We went out to the killing fields for pday last week and it was one of the saddest places ever. These people have such a hard past and they are some of the strongest people I know. 

As far as investigators go - Can Ly. I don't even know what to do about her. She is literally the most progressing investigator I have ever had. She reads the Book of Mormon everyday she has read through Jacob already, she prays every single day. She meets with us and is on time every single time. She has school all day sunday but she takes an hour out to come to sacrament. She asks so many good questions BUT she won't accept a baptismal date. She wants to keep learning and she knows its true and knows she should get baptized but is hestitant. We are trying to help her resolve her concerns - hopefully she will just accept in these next few weeks. She is so good in so many ways. 

Gunthea is still doing way good and progressing towards her baptismal date. She is so smart and keeps all the committments. We were teaching about the 10 commandments this week and explaining why we keep the sabbath day holy and reading with her in mosiah 13 18 But the seventh day, the sabbath of the Lord thy God, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; She read the verse and says (with the most innocent voice so excited that she knows exactly what it means) "Oh Sister I get it! We need to bring our animals to worship with us." I was dying of laughter. 

We had zone conference this week too which was fun! Also we did our first exchange of the transfer which was good times. We had this potential who has read the bible 4 times (literally nobody here has read the bible or like hardly anyone has even heard of it) Anyways she seemed way interested when we met her last week. So we went back and she just was not having it. She just keep bashing us and told us to never come back on that street again. She literally wouldn't let us say anything. It was kinda funny but I think it kind of scared the sister I was on an exchange with. 

Miracles never cease! We literally have had someone walk into sacrament every single sunday since I have been here that has wanted to learn. They have all been in other areas but this week someone from our area came :) Her name is mey and we are hoping to meet with her this week. Also we got another investigator KA who seems way cool - she is a professional hip hop dancer. All other investigators are fairly new so we will see how they progress.

I have been studying in Ether all week and this scripture really stuck out to me in chapter 2:17

"And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish. "

I think it is so important every day of our lives that we are obedient to all the small and simple things thus becoming tight like unto a dish. It is the small and simple things that matter the most. Once the Lord knows He can trust us in the small things, then He begins to trust us with the larger things. As we are exactly obedient making ourselves tight like unto a dish then we see miracles happen in our lives. It is the same with disobedience, it is the small things that gradually lead us astray. 

So let us all become tight like unto a dish!!!

Love Sister Stratford

1 YEAR + LICEEE

Well as you can tell from the subject of today's email it has been quite a crazy week out here in Cambodia, the adventures never cease. 1 YEAR MARK THIS WEEK!! This has been the happiest year of my life and I love Cambodia with all of my heart :) 

Maybe I will start with the work. We have so many investigators right now it is hard to find time for everything - we are working on sifting through and finding the elect and making sure to focus on them. Bong Kunthea accepted a baptismal date this week and she has been coming to church for a month now - she is really good and we are excited for her. Can Ly is reading the book of mormon so fast, she started just 3 weeks ago and she is already finished with 2 Nephi. She really keeps us on our toes because she asks a lot of hard questions about the book of mormon and most of them were from the isaiah chapters this week. A little hard to explain in Khmer but the gift of tongues is real. She comes to church every week and is amazing! Bong Niang is really progressing and we have a great member help with her. One of our other investigators Lina has this giant glass masterpiece as a centerpiece in her house and it is a giant lettuce!!! ITS SO FUNNY. She is the only rich person I have ever taught and they just have the funniest decorations - gotta love Cambodia. Also Bong Ny has been praying for a way to soften her husbands heart so she can come to church and he finally accepted and so she can learn again!

STORY TIME:

So my head has been really itchy for 3 weeks now, and I had sister Nguyen check me several times out in Battambang but she didn't see anything and so we just figured my scalp was dry and moved on. Well this week it was way itchy and we have an asian in our house and so I asked her to check me and all the sudden we started filling up a bowl with hot water and picking all these little lice out of my hair. Shout out to Sister Bao Yen for combing through my hair everyday and trying to get all the lice out she is a real champ. My hair is too long and so it has been kind of a pain. But hopefully we can rid of it soon!!!! So we have been cleaning everything like crazy in our house so nobody else gets it. 

Story #2 Sister Clark and I stopped on the side of the road for some roti - kind of like a crepe - they were all sold out so we were only there for like 15 seconds and this old guy walked up to sister clark when her back was turned took the water bottle out of her bag and just was sitting there playing with it, he was coming back up to take her bag and I was ready to fight the guy but then I remembered we are missionaries and so we just let him have it and left. 

Story #3 somebody told Sister Clark that her faced looked like a Cambodian this week... not sure where they got that. Also we have this crazy neighbor, we rode up with him in the elevator and the entire way up he was staring at us like he has never seen a human being before, kinda weird.

#4 we made homemade cinnamon rolls and pizza this week super tasty

Long story short this week was an adventure. We also had Elder Homer of the seventy come and talk to all the missionaries in the city a little bit about working with members and the doctrine of Christ. 

Doctrine and Covenants 88:73 " Behold, I will hasten my work in its time."  The Lord is hastening His work NOW, there have been so many people just walking in the church asking to learn and I truly know that the Lord is hastening His work now and I am so happy that I get to be a part of the hastening.

 "For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—" We just all need to be really sensitive and aware of the needs that are surrounding us and do all we can to help Him in this great work and the bring salvation to many souls. I love being a missionary and working with the Lord :)

Love Sister Lice Stratford