hi hi hi

this week was so good! my comp is awesome and teaching me so much khmae! this last week, in the middle of the night, i woke up and started talking to her in khmae. thats pretty happy. 

our area is great. it has a ton of wats (pagotas where buddhists go to worship their ancestors) like literally all over. and cows are everywhere. im actually facing a lot of my physical fears-like being so close to cows, and dogs and bugs are almost like friends now. this week i saw a huge pig just running on the side of the road and i turned to my comp and i guess thats just normal. 

also we saw a TON of miracles. out in the provinces, it can be hard to teach lessons, because there're so many distractions. chickens and babies and bugs and cows everywhere, and we were trying to teach this girl, Bong Liup, but her kids were screaming and playing and it was CRAZY, but my comp and i were praying so hard we could just share with her the restoration. and out of nowhere, they calmed down, looked at my book of pictures, and we were able to get through the entire lesson. so amazing. also, sunday afternoon, right after church, the senior couple wanted to know how to get to our house, so they were driving there, and we were biking there. and sis soks tire popped! and miraculously, because the senior couple was there, they were able to drive us home so we could fix her tire. if they hadnt been there, we wouldve had to walk another half hour. so so blessed.

i think one of my favorite parts about this area is that there is always so much unplanned service to do. we helped move bricks and cement so a lookpuu could build a wall and helped peel bark from some sticks. its way good for contacting, cause everyone wonders what in the world is a 20 year old white girl doing in the middle of cambodia moving cement in a skirt with a badge? its way cool to see how the lord prepares the way so all his children can learn about the gospel. 

i think this week im learning about gods plan for all of his children, individually. he cares so much, and his plan in so intricate. in 1 ne 2:20 it talks about how god leads us to our promised land. our promised land-happiness and peace and family and love. all we have to do is follow his commandment. so this week, i want to invite all of you to re-evaluate your life. get rid of anything that is not in harmony with Christ, and as you do so, He will take your hand and lead you through the darkness into light, into your promised land. 

thats it for today! sorry, no pics again. forgot at home;)

sis smith

WELCOME TO KEANSVAY AND CHBAAMBO

it was an incredible week, and i have too much to share, and not enough time

ill send a pic of my new comp-sis Sok-next week. this email shop doesnt have a way i can upload pics lolz. Shes INCREDIBLE. and i love her so much. 

our area is SO COOL. like it feels like were in cambodia. were technically closer to the city than the province, but it feels like a province. our area is actually 2 areas put together, and we live right in the middle of them both. its basically a HUGE stretch of one road going forever both ways, so we bike ride at least a half hour to get to any inv, which is exhausting, but also so beautiful. the road is lined with small fruit stands and houses and a couple gas stations, and behind that is just jungle and fields. 

this week we had the opportunity to do service for a family in the ward. they live in this HUGE field/jungle, so we went and worked with them. our job was to cut down all the jungle around a tree. i never understood in all the movies when they had to cut their way through a jungle, but now i understand theres other way to get through it. so i got to use a machete which made all the khmaes laugh. apparently, i was using the dull side of the machete to try to cut down the jungle, but idk, it all looked the same haha. also we cut their grass-i will never take for granted a lawn mower again-and this is where it gets good. they started to burn the grass that we had just cut, and idk what they were expecting, like if the fire would just go our by itself or what, because while it was burning, they were just sitting eating fruit-mangos and coconuts and jackfruit and bananas they had just cut from the trees-and acting like it was no big deal. and then all at once, it started to spread toward the trees and they all got up and were yelling the smoke was so thick, i couldnt see 5 feet in front of me, and the kids were crying, everyone was running and we were all grabbed huge branches to try to pat out the flames. it was kind of intense. but after a while, we got it down, and it eventually went out. but yah that was crazy

also while we were there, we all started eating this root that was supposed to be way good, but when the member saw us eating it, told us it was actually a sedative. so stopped eating that real fast lolz

also i now hate roosters, because idk if i just had a misunderstanding, or someone actually taught me wrong, but roosters dont just hoot one time when the sun comes up. they start hooting every morning at 4 and dont stop til the sun goes down. 

but im really loving our area, and im loving these people even more. cambodia is the best. ill probs have more crazy stories next week. until then, keep reading your scriptures and trusting in the lord

love you all, sis smith

SO MANY GREAT THINGS HAPPENED THIS WEEK. 

CAMBODIA IS THE BEST

but have no time:) so quick recap and some pics!! 

we have 3 scheduled baptismal dates and im SO HAPPY for them cause they love the gospel and i love them so its perfect. sadly, i wont be here for any of them because TRANSFERS!! i am leaving this area (which is way weird cause i have been here in august!!) and im headed to Keansvy and Chibambo!! And i have this feeling that great things are coming so im way excited!! also this week we found out who the new mission presidents will be and ate new years dinner with a member (way delicious), made an english class video (if you want to see more, check out FB Rean English Class), got chocolate french toast, krispy kremes, dominos pizza, and played games with our inv for pday. 

as for the biggest struggle with investigators, it's probably that their parents/grandparents wont let them learn because of family/religious traditions that they have followed forever. its really sad and hard, actually. we have a couple of girls that have had wonderful experiences, and would really like to continue to learn, and get baptized, but their parents wont let them. but i know god has a plan for them. so no worries:) another big challenge is coming to church. unlike the culture in america, in cambodia there is no such thing as a weekend. they dont have days off. school is every day. work is every day. and on top of that, going to church, going to a worship service is almost unheard of. so we focus a lot of church. and often, that is the defining factor between those who are ready to follow christ, and those who are not. but god is real, and this gospel is true, so all these challenges are small compared to the blessings they receive!! so cool. 

basically cambodia is the best. and God is the best.

let god into your life. he will make a wonder out of what you have. 

love sis smith

some pics:​​​​

1 and 2: me and my inv sievmey

3-5 idk what order but this is roti (the crepe thing we always buy on the side of the road that im obsessed with. its just dough and milo and sweetend condensed milk), and this is me and my pizza and the last one is of another one of my inv kanita

Pictures Below:
 1 with my inv!! sievmey and kanita

2 wearing this members glasses lolz

3 this is a fertilized duck egg. so after its hatched, they wait a couple days then steam it and its partially grown!! super fun lolz it doesnt taste that bad:)

4 this is my koon trying the fertilized duck egg for the first time

Below:   1 more of me and my inv LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM

2-4 theres this cute SUPER old lady in our ward who is the kindest and she cant read so we have visited her once a week since august and read the bom to her. she definitely holds my heart. 

Below:   3 and 4 me and my inv mae! we found her at english class

1 and 2 our investigator bong phana. she has been learning with us since sept and i love her with all of my heart. she is an angel. 

Below:

1 this is a typical khmae wedding -in the middle of the street so everything is shut down. but its huge white tents and beautiful and tons of flowers and last for about a week

2 us at a way yummy place we just found with shaved ice and french toast

3 and 4 funny story-we were sitting in the chair at the same time and it fell over and broke....

Below:

so we went and did this thing called srey sa?at, which translates to pretty girl haha but basically this when we get dressed up as a traditional khmae girl for a special occasion, like a wedding or a really important party. well get more pics back next week!

HELLO 2018

HELLO 2018

so happy new year:) and happy christmas too! this week was so happy and so full of laughter! we had an exchange in stengmianjay, went to interviews with pres, ordered pizza (couple times) made super chngain cinnamon muffins, celebrated christmas (woohoo!!), got myself some way cute ming pj (these are the clothes that all the moms wear here literally all the time-so call me koon khmae), went to bed way early on new years eve and wasnt even sad about it, changed from the ancient system of CBRs (records on paper in a binder) to the MLS system, ate real cheese with a real christmas dinner at a member from the international branch's house, found more roti (!!!), and my finger got covered in fresh chicken blood (gross). so a pretty great week!!

heres some pics of my ming pjs, and krama's from a member.

ps. krama's are little sweat scarves that the khmaes literally use for EVERYTHING. also theyre cool cause it is one of the few things that is purely khmae.

have a great week!! also if you havent yet, watch the face to face with elder oaks and ballard! so good!