Merry Christmas Gage
Cambodia Phnom Pehn Mission
Hey! Today I have no time at all. We were on our way over to the internet place and we only had an hour before we have to be across town for the Christmas party/conference thing... and Elder Sok got hit by a moto! haha He’s ok, no problems, but his bike wasn’t in to good of shape! He couldn’t ride it so we had to get it fixed first now I only have like 15 minuets! But tomorrow I’ll have more time, and then the day after tomorrow I'll be able to call you! so I'll tell you more about things then...
....Oh and I fowarded some pictures that Sister Stagg sent me! It's basicly all my investigators in Battambong that have been baptised since I left!
(Battombong's baptimal font)
Gage Gets Transfered...
I got transferred... I went from Battambong which the missionaries call "heaven" to Sen-Sok which the missionaries call "...." yeah I'll leave you to figure that on out on your own.. Let's just say leaving Battambong, the members and the investigators was the hardest thing that I have ever done... But, here in Sen-Sok I'm definitely learning alot... This is the poorest area in the mission.. And the people are just... I dunno they just don't have any hope for anything... It is really the saddest thing that I have ever seen... and the work is very slow.. but I can see myself changing. I always thought I was a reasonably humble guy... Now I know that I was wrong. This place, along with our Lord, is changing me into a completely different person! So yeah things are getting better haha. This work is too incredible. Everyday is so beautiful! Even if its 100 degrees and you're walking in open sewage... (Don't worry in the really bad places they make little bridges.. . sometimes)
...I had actually a good thanksgiving! Thanksgiving day we proselyted like normal, then we had a lesson with 2 new converts, Joy and Tida (I think that picture that you got form Sister Stagg with me in white was their baptism) anyway we had their mom cook us some food and we payed her, she is the best cook in Cambodia so far! She made this incredible chicken curry stuff that you eat with bread, man that was good... Anyway so that was thanksgiving day, then last Sunday night Elder and Sister Stagg had us over for a real thanksgiving meal, and well ha we had a real thanksgiving meal! They had turkey and mashed potatoes and made a salad, and Elder Christensen got stuffing, and yams and some other random stuff in a package so he gave that to them to cook up and well we had a great thanksgiving dinner! And then we talked about what we are all thankful for. And the Staggs took more pictures so I’m sure that you will get those soon!
Anyway things are going great here. We have some incredible investigators! And they are all about to get baptised really soon! We have one that I’ve been working with for a while named Daang. He’s amazing and has tons of friends too! And we have another girl named Jarriya, she is incredible too! ha She just has a really beautiful testimony, and she’s already one of the popular ones in the youth (the youth are great, the church is the hang out spot for them so at any given time there will be atleast 10+ at the church just having a good time). Anyway she’s actually been an incredible influence on the rest of the girls and has help some of them out quite a bit! Then we have Thee, he is the perfect investigator... in every way.. I really don’t know what to tell you about him cause he’s just... well ha perfect! He’s got the strongest testimony I have ever seen in an investigator and it’s stronger then most members! And he prays better then I do!
Hey, we had two more baptisms! Joy and Tida! They are the two most amazing kids ever, boy and girl, 10 and 12! Their mom was an inactive member but ever since we started teaching her two kids she's been amazing! So we killed 2 birds with one stone (I think that is the strangest saying... when has any one ever literally killed 2 birds with one stone... heck I've never killed one bird with any number of stones!) Anyway they are incredible and they both asked me to baptize them. Tthey were a little easier then rutta, mostly cause they weren't afraid of water and also cause the water was already up to their necks haha. And they gave beautiful testimonies! But here is the cool part. Joy was way sick two days before his baptism. And the Sunday he was supposed to get baptized he couldn't even sit up. So obviously he couldn't come to church, so his mom tried to call us but we forgot our phone, so they didn't know what to do.. So they prayed and to make a long story short the Lord blessed Joy with like a 4 hour break from his sickness! After the prayer, they said that Joy got up, went to the bathroom and came out with his Sunday clothes on and felt totally fine! So them jump on their moto and walk in to church 15 minuets late (what a relief to us) and went to all the normal classes and then the baptism ceremony.. got home and fell asleep and well went back to being sick... This was all unknown to us. So we go to their house that Monday and he's laying there sick to his stomach, so we gave him a blessing and he said he felt alot better. We will find out tomorrow how he's doing...
...well I’ve been hearing about all the financial problems in America... but it has made me realize something, another blessing that I received from coming here on my mission. I now know how much the material things are really worth. Khmers are the most content people I know, and some of the poorest people I know too. A person can be just as happy with a little as they would be if they had alot. It just depends entirely on the person's attitude.
Gage of the Jungle.
Funny Story... "So we have these two investigators, Mome and Muen, anyway they are good.. They are dirt poor and are a young couple with a 2 year old kid... Oh and Muen used to be a monk haha. Anyway they were doing great until Muen got sick... Just a little stomach flu... Anyway their neighbors call a doctor to come over and look at him. Now what you have to understand about this doctor is that he is not your everyday doctor... No he is a Kruu Khmer or in other words, a Cambodian witch doctor! haha These guys are crazy! They have all these random things and necklaces and bracelets and what ever all over them and they go wandering around in the forests worshiping weird things... They make a living off of going to the houses of really, really superstitious people and telling them that some evil spirit from some random dead relative is pissed off so the spirit is some how getting you back... Anyway, if you’re having business trouble, or not doing good in school, you lost your job, or even if your girlfriend dumped you... this crazy doctor makes up some ridiculous story about some spirit haunting you... Anyway back to Muen, so the witch doctor shows up and he talks to the neighbors before he talks to Muen and the neighbors told him that Muen is learning about Christ so this is the story. Muen has a tummy ache because his wife’s great-grandma’s spirit is pissed off that Muen is learning with us, so this great grandma’s spirit-in-law got a hold of some random evil spirit that she met on one of her journeys in the other worlds or something and that spirit is currently "eating his intestines" because he is learning with American Christians...so the crazy witch doctor tells them to stop learning with us and asks for 20 bucks (which is probably more money then Muen makes in a month) then this doctor takes the money, and gets a call on his cellphone from another moron that twisted her ankle or something then he gets in his car and goes and cheats the next poor brainless sucker...Anyway they told us never to come back... Well, Mome did, Muen was asleep... So what do we do? Oh course we go back the next day! And well, haha, Muen was mad that we didn’t wake him up the last time cause he read some of the ‘For Strength for Youth’ pamphlet and he wanted to share what he learned haha. So Mome still doesn’t want us to come back because she’s scared her great great-grandpa’s dog’s cousin’s spirit might eat her brains (the little that she has) and give her a head ache... only in Cambodia. We’re going back tomorrow night. Well there you go! That’s me latest story haha."
Gage visits Cambodia's famous Angkor Watt Temple site... the next day we went to Angkor Watt, ha wow! You have got to see it! That's all I got to say, it is just mind blowing! The fact that it was built in the twelveth century and the amount of detail.. Man and Ii only saw the main palace! There were eight other places that they say are just as cool!
Gage poses in front of the carvings on the walls at Angkor Watt.
Gage and more examples of the incredible details that were carved in stone at the ancient temples of Angkor Watt.
Silly Elder Miller
... we figured out how to make tortillas! Yeah they are a work in progress but we pulled off some pretty amazing fajitas the other day! And I bummed some taco seasoning off of the Sr. couple so we will be having some more fajitas really soon! After a year of rice that mexican food sure blew me away!
Gage serves and lifts the people of Cambodia,
literally!
It's been a good week and it seems like they are just flying by! 13 months already... Oh a really cool thing that I’ve been doing is every night after I write in my journal I read my entry from last year... Man the MTC was yesterday I swear! Oh well, I’ll just keep on plugging along.
... I'm doing great! I'm having fun and the work is really getting done here! Man this place is so great! The other day we went to an old Buddhist temple on P-day and I got playing around with some kids and we were singing some crazy Cambodian songs haha ( I memorized like 3 songs and parts of others). Anyway before I knew what happened I had like 50little kids following me around! That was so much fun! I love playing with the little guys... And the other day we gave some little member kids some more pop rocks and they were running around holding their little head screaming that there head was going to explode! Man, good times...
Same Budist temple grounds. I think Gage is confused, that is not a horse he is on.
Things are going great! My investigators are incredible and there are a couple little kids I'm trying to figure out how to ship home... I don't know the best way... I don't think UPS will ship adorable little Khmer kids... But I'll just have to ask to make sure!One thing that I have learned is that every one is worth getting to know!
"For behold the field is white and ready to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul..." 
Yesterday I taught our English class and then a puppet show thing, that the church does came here. It was kinda funny cause I thought that this puppet show was supposed to be funny and for all ages. Nope, it was definitely for little kids... Yeah, I talked my whole English class into staying haha... I think they are mad at me... But at least now they know a new way to brush their teeth!
Well I'm out of little ol' Sen Sok and I have officially entered the City of Phnom Pehn. I was a country boy for the first 16 months in the field. Eating nothing but rice and what ever small animals we are able to catch during the day…haha. Now I'm eating like an American and needless to say I'm getting fat haha. But I'm enjoing it so much that I am lacking the self discipline to do anything about it.
What a week... First thing I am going to say is that I miss Sen Sok. That place changed my life! The people, the work, the trials, and the life long friends that I made there! Nothing can take Sen Sok’s place in my heart! Leaving there was even harder than leaving Battambong! I think it was just cause of the lessons learned. I cried the whole way to the mission home... but I love this work! There are so many incredible people in the world and we are so blessed to be led by, in my opinion, the best of them all! I love my time out here and the work is still work! but it is worth every second!
