Christmas in Campuchia

Dear Family,
   It was so wonderful talking to all of you for Christmas!! I wish good luck to Jennifer in trying to figure out what emails I sent last week to post and which ones to circulate, if you have questions let me know, I'm only an email and a world away ;-)
   Christmas here was so special.  As I already mentioned I've spent way to much of the month of December not actively involved in the work and these last two weeks have been hard.  But last Sunday following the advice of my district leader I got down on my knees and I had a long conversation with my Heavenly Father about why I wanted to be healthy for Christmas.  I told him that Christmas is a time of so much joy for me, but I didn't know how many native missionaries would be feeling merry and I wanted the strength to share the joy of Christmas with them.  I shared that for the first time in my life I was given the opportunity to share my testimony of the savior through song and I wanted to sing and share with all of my heart.  As I ended that prayer I didn't know what would happen the next day, but I knew the Lord's will would be done and more importantly that I was okay with whatever would happen.  I was so grateful the next day when I woke up with what I needed to do the work.
  For Christmas Eve my mission president led us in painting a school in the morning and Christmas festivities at night.  I loved painting the school, but I think my favorite part came when Pres Moon came up to me and said "now you've been sick deary, remember to rest" oh I love him and his wife.  Anyhow thank you to all I love who made this Christmas away from home very special.  I received a lovely fat envelope full of pictures from Jennifer, way too many packages from the nucleus fam (the advent candy still tastes delicious) and the spaghettios from Mom and Grandma were delicious for Christmas morning.
  But my favorite part came in singing.  I was so nervous, I mean really nervous, but as I walked up to the front I remembered my prayer with Heavenly Father and knew he had given me strength for this purpose, I had better not waste it.  I thought of my savior who died for me, who knows my pains and my joys and I thought of a little baby coming to earth, God's gift to all of us.  With that in mind I poured my heart into song and I wasn't scared anymore.  I am so thankful for Heavenly Father reminding me that He loves me and that he delights to bless his children with the desires of His hearts.
  One last tender mercy.  So my comp and I haven't been out of the house very much the last week which meant we were running out of food.  In fact after lunch yesterday we didn't have anything that hadn't come from a package from the states left in the house.  But yesterday I didn't know this, all I knew was that after resting for the mid afternoon I needed to be about the work I was called to do.  So I prepared and we headed out the door so we could help an investigator.  We never made it instead we were called to a Family Home Evening.  I enjoyed the time with the members and recent converts and building relationships with them.  And then the blessing came, she served us dinner...  I know when we are about the work of our Father and when we do our best to overcome our limitations the Lord with always bless us, in ways we can't imagine. 
All my love Chi Dao,
 P.S. I hope to have a more investigator heavy email next week :-)

Christmas packages

Merry Christmas!

Dear Family,
   I have so little time and I really should skype with my family, but for all of those not able to skype I still wanted to wish a very Merry Christmas.  I am so thankful for your love and prayers, for your kindness and support for your examples and helping me feel the joy of Christmas year round.
  Christmas has been amazing here, with packages from Grandma Shirley and Mom, letters that finally caught up with me after a month or two and a dear elder that made my night.  Thank you all so much.  I am thankful that Heavenly Father shared the joy of Christmas by reminding me of his love for all His Children.  I spent the last week end flat in bed, but with a priesthood blessing and much prayer for about my motives I was given the ability to share my testimony through song.  I am thankful that Heavenly Father sends us Christmas miracles and that he shows us in many ways the love of he has for us.  Please remember the Christ child this Christmas and know God loves you!  Love Chi Dao
P.S I had Vietnamese carolers last night, oh how I love the youth here :-)
P.S.  I found out what my name means to Vietnamese people here.  When my teachers gave me my name they told that my name meant to mold or create and that is the name I claim for my own.  But the name also means something special to everyone else.  For a Chinese holiday, called Ten which is essentially a huge new year festival everyone cleans their house from top to bottom and in order to be prepared for this holiday every family must have a branch of peach blossom called Dao.  This blossom is pink and white and is considered one of the most beautiful blossoms in Vietnam.  A house must have this blossom if they are to have beauty and peace in the coming year.  I hope I can live up to the meaning of that name.  I love you all so much!

The first video is her telling us about her day in Vietnamese. The second on is her telling us how to say "hello" in "her language". The last one is her testimony in Vietnamese.
We were having a few technical difficulties while skyping. We didn't always have picture, but we heard her the whole time. I recorded a few videos for your viewing and listening enjoyment.  She asked me to save it so she can listen when she gets home and laugh at her pronunciation.

Small Country Big Stories

Dear Family,
   The phrase in the subject line comes from a thought I had as we met with Chi Hoa and Chi Huong when they were explaining branch three to us.  As we talk about the people in the branches, about their multiple wives, those with illnesses, taking care of children who aren't their children, people moving in with boy friends, people being sold as prostitutes, people overcoming so much, that truly is what I think of.  How can such a small area have people whose lives are so complex?  I don't know, only the Lord understands that.
   The three important things of this last week come in the form of a tiny bathroom (Jennifer please ask mom and dad to send you those pictures) making ginger bread houses (and sugar cookies) and a Christmas concert.
   The pictures show my first apartment where I have been living for the first four and a half months of my life here, it was a westerners dream, but now that I have moved to Branch 3 I have begun what Chi Ly calls "real missionary life". I have to say I agree with her. I went from a place where I had a mattress, room for a shower curtain and a full kitchen to a place with really steep stairs, a foam mat on a bedstead, freezing cold A/C to keep the mosquitoes away and a tiny bathroom.  But none of that matters, because I have the opportunity to work with some very special people in Branch 3.  On Friday we had our first lesson with Chu Hai, a 3 yr investigator.  Even though I didn't know quite what he was saying, the Spirit still told me what to say.  I am always amazed that if I try really hard to listen and to discern even if I don't know exactly what is going on the Spirit will always help me say something that that person needs to hear.  I am so thankful for the Spirit in missionary work.
  Next, Cambodia gives us the opportunity to work on our creative problem serving problem skills. Want to make sugar cookies, go to the Westovers, who if they don't have it, will get it.  Want to make ginger bread houses, but don't have graham crackers, talk to the Elders and you'll use wafer cookies and M&Ms which actually turned out fabulously.  I think when I get home I'm going to use wafer cookies, they taste delicious and they work quite well to build with (also talk to mom :-) ).  I am grateful for Senior Couples in the mission that do their best to bring some Christmas spirit to the holidays, even in a place where there isn't any snow. 
  Last the Christmas concert! Oh what a joy it was to have a reason to dress up, sometimes as a missionary you forget how, but I pulled out the stops for this one, I even kept my hair down, which is getting a bit long I might add and I really like it.  I'm grateful Heavenly Father sent me to a place where I wouldn't trust anyone with scissors :-).  Anyway, I think the Christmas concert more than anything else helped me feel the Christmas spirit.  It was such a joy to sing hymns of Christmas to the people I have grown to love.  I saw a now active Viet family that I worked with in Branch 6, I was grateful I could sing Silent Night for them in Vietnamese, with the choir of course, keep in mind everyone else was singing in English.  But lets face it, they all heard me, as you know my voice carries and Sis James wanted me to add some support to the higher voices of Kmer and Viet.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to sing, there is a special spirit which comes when we sing of the news of our Savior's birth.  I am so very blessed to share that message everyday.  As I did the math at the end of this last transfers I realized that in the last six weeks I contacted 61 people and shared a message of the Gospel with them, what a special blessing that is, it puts my last six weeks no matter how short they may have seemed in proper perspective.
   I am so thankful for Christmas, for the love that comes into people's hearts and for the opportunity we all have to share that joy with everyone, whether it be through speech, or singing Joy to the World in full voice in a Cambodian main street. 
All my love Chi Dao

First apartment: 

Second apartment:

Transfer roi...when did that happen

Dear Family,
   I would like to start off with a thought I have been pondering on for the last few weeks, I'm not sure how it applies back home, but I feel like I should share it, and I'm learning to follow these kinds of feelings.
   I was given a commitment in district meeting to think about how virtue could help my area, help me be a better missionary and how virtue ties into faith.  As I have pondered and studied I have come to two conclusions which I hope I can apply in my missionary work.  If a person's virtue is based upon what they choose to do when no one is watching, then a missionary's virtue is based upon what they chose to think about where ever they may be.  Also as I am coming to learn if a missionary is focused on the work and helping God's children come unto Christ then they have virtue, with that virtue they have power.  Faith is a principle of power.  I hope to always have and utilize that power as God intends me to do.  As I utilize this power the Spirit is brought into the lives of those I work with everyday, with that Spirit comes love and improvement and thus a place or area is changed.
   I can't believe six weeks have already gone by, oh how quickly time has flown, I feel like just last week I was sharing how uncomfortable I felt about white washing again, now here I sit not white washing per say, but I am staying with Chi Ly we are just heading to a new branch, branch 3 the only Viet branch here where the members love the missionaries, there are investigators to teach and the branch isn't freaky dysfunctional...this could be fun.  I am afraid I will be spoiled to go back to the standard branches when I get transferred again.  It is weird to think that I haven't even been in Cambodia for six months and already I will have been to all the branches, considering I only have three places to go I am wondering how I shall fill the year left I have on my mission.  But I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and he has a plan for the people here, oh how excited I am to see the work unfold here in Cambodia.
  I apologize for not sending emails home full of investigators and adventures, I guess it is because my mind has been full of other things.  It is hard to be a missionary, to work so hard to help people and invite them to come unto Christ and have nothing tangible to show for your success.  It is hard to spend sleepless nights pondering what the Lord would have you do, but feel as if there is a pavilion hiding you from the Lord. It is hard to not reach certain expectations.  I have been facing these things for some weeks now and now as I contemplate being transferred I almost wonder what my purpose truly was in coming.  But God's measuring stick is different than ours, his purposes are not our purposes and the works he needs accomplished are of an eternal nature.  If we ever face uncertainty or feel that we are not reaching what others expect of us, please remember God has a plan.  My biggest concern has been how must I change to do the Lord's work better here, what must I become to do the work.  Finally one night as I laid side ways on my bed pondering I realized Heavenly Father sent me here for many reasons, but one of them was to ultimately be me.  Not the natural man me full of bad habits or selfishness (part of life is learning how to change and overcome that), but the me that is in touch with my Spirit and remembers who Heavenly Father created me to be.  Sure I'm not a serious, number oriented missionary, but I love to bring joy to others and I love testifying of my Savior and perhaps, all along, that is my purpose for being here.  Please if you feel that you have missed the boat, or aren't what others here on earth expect you to be, ponder on who you were before you came here and what you should do to become like that again. 
   I am so very thankful for the still, small, sweet voice in my life that brings true peace to our hearts, that brings rest to sleepless nights and purpose even when things don't make sense.  I am thankful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, that I lived with my Heavenly Father before I came to this earth and that as we all prove worthy we can live with him again.  In this Christmas season please remember, Heavenly Father gave us His Beloved Son, because He knew we are all worth coming home to him again. 
All my love and merry Christmas,
Chi Dao
 

When you can't sleep don't count sheep talk to the shepherd

Dear Family,
   What to share?  Every week tons of things happen, but it seems like as soon as I sit down at a computer my mind goes blank.  For any of you interested in my adventures or about anything specific send word now so I make sure I have journaled all about it then we can talk when I get home. 
   First off, I did receive mom's package, I'm glad for the shirt and the hand sanitizer, but that is really all I know about...there's a fun story with that, but I sent that in a letter so you'll have to wait :-)
   Second, we had an interesting thing this last week in the Cambodia Phnom Penh mission.  So here in the capital they have the water festival, which in most years means the streets are a mess and missionaries aren't safe to go outside so we have a CBR day instead, this year because of the kings death they didn't really have much to worry about, but because of the sad state of CBRs Pres Moon told us to stay inside and get the paper work of who people are, where they live, how long they have been members, and what they do finished.  Well lets just say after day one of three we didn't have much paperwork left.  So what do two sister missionaries do to fill the time?  Well folks they greatly enjoy a mission game day by playing volleyball and jump rope and then talking with members of the Viet zone for five hours and sewing like mad.  As part of Anh Ca Hoa Minh's (district leader) suggestion to fight back my stress he told me to find a sewing project to work on.  My sewing project of choice was handkerchiefs for the elders and sisters in my zone.  It was so much fun last pday to find the material and have Chi Hoa (Sis Hayes) help me haggle the woman down).  I have now spent those CBR days and the few spare moments I have had since cutting material and hemming them.  It has helped me have a bit more excitement for Christmas because as we all know the true joy of Christmas comes in the giving and I am excited to give handkerchiefs in the hope of one day having the opportunity to use them at the temple dedication here.
   Third, have any of us ever pondered on the choice to laugh or cry?  I have taken multiple opportunities to ponder that very thing the last few days.  We truly have a choice, but sometimes it is a matter of catching it early enough in the decision making process to make the right choice. I know that no matter the stress that might come to us in this life, we are meant to have joy, I know that Heavenly Father loves us and he has prepared a way for us to have joy.  This joy and peace truly comes through living according to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It comes as we invite others to come unto Christ.  I have experienced that joy in my life as I have invited his sons and daughters to return to him.  When I was told this mission was unlike any place in the world, they told the truth.  Sometimes I wish I could baptize many and find many families to teach, but if that is not the work the Lord has for me to do, who I am to argue.  I have known since arriving in Cambodia Heavenly Father had many families for me to help re-activate and what a joy it is to work with them.  I am thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord.  For a brother standing and sharing his testimony and gratitude of coming back to the church.  This same brother was one Chi Pham and I prayed for, served for, fasted for and loved, how worth all that effort was.  I apologize for rambling, but there are so many things in my heart.  I am thankful that a mother who at one time wanted to sell her daughter as a prostitute is now encouraging everyone in her home to read the Book of Mormon everyday and that the daughter who has only ever been depressed now has a smile on her face and can't keep from laughing because she feels the weight of sin removed from her shoulders. 
  I am thankful that God's ways are not my ways and that he sees the worth of every soul.  I am thankful for the time He is taking to teach me of that worth.  At this Christmas season please remember God loves you.  He sent a little baby who grew into a man and is our perfect exemplar.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer he knows and loves us, He is our mediator with the Father and with His stripes we are healed. 
        Merry Christmas!
        All my love-
        Chi Dao