Wednesday, June 22, 2011
FIRST LETTER FROM CAMBODIA!
First things first!! This keyboard sucks, so if there are any typos it’s not my fault. To start, my group almost got stuck in the LA airport for a bunch of reasons! Long story short, we got everything figured out and had the lady who gives the green light for the airplane to leave. She escorted us through security and all the way to our gate. They held the plane for us! People know missionaries everywhere! The guy at security was singing... I hope they call me on a mission, so I can get stuck in the airport... it was funny. We made it to Cambodia safe!!! Got to the mission home! My buddy Elder Elder is an AP so he got us from the airport! So sweet to see him again! My Trainer is another one of my friends Elder Conway! He is the man and helps me a lot with everything! In the Mission home we had a meeting and it was mentioned that this is a baptizing mission. Not a plant the seed mission. The mission goal for this year is 900 baptisms and they are almost half way to that goal right now. I love my mission! It’s so cool and unique! All the missionaries serving here are brothers! And there is a bunch of terms everyone uses. Like the trainers are called fathers and the greenies are called children, your first area is where you are born and when you go home from your mission they call it death. It’s so fun! So anyway I’ve been assigned to be born in Tak Khmau! It’s like an hour south of Phnom Penh and its crazy! It’s half city and have outskirts which they call the kytes. Twice a week we have to ride 2 and a half hours on our bikes to visit some members in the kytes my bike breaks everytime. I have gotten it fixed three times already! Good thing it’s dirt cheap! I got new pedals new chain new crank arms new sprockets new basket and a new bell. For a grand total of like 7 bucks!!! That’s like 100 bucks in America for all that stuff!! Getting your clothes customized is a huge thing for the missionaries here! A fully custom suit... 30 bucks. Jared... Nike's are like 8 bucks- tons of em... Anyway the typical house here is dirt floor wood and metal walls and the room is so small I can’t stand up straight in them and they have a table thing... it serves as the table, the bed and the chair all at once. These people have nothing and its crazy! My first few days I was in total culture shock! And at the end of the day when I would say my prayers I would just be like... what have I gotten myself into... Our house is pretty nice but still is NOTHING like home. I have to summarize my stories because I have to go to the market and get stuff and get back to the house. But in a nut shell, already I’ve seen tons of naked children, breastfeeding mothers, super drunken Cambodians, Rats, snakes, sick dogs. People cooking dogs! In fact the house across the street from us is a street vender for dogs. The other night in the middle of the night we were all woken up by someone pounding on the door of our house! My companion started talking to them and they yelled something back! My companion yells. They said our roof is on fire!!!! So we all jump up, grab water and get to the roof only to see it’s not our house, but it’s the dog meat house and the entire block. It was going up in flames! So we said a prayer then grabbed a chair and watched a bunch of Cambodians freak out and had a nice campout that night. They next day there were tons of people going through the rubble and at the end of the day when we came back... everything was gone! They had picked apart the entire block by hand in one day!!! People are so innovative here and use everything! Even a burnt down city block! There are still so many more stories! But that’s just one. This mission is so cool because we use the members a ton! The whole focus is to get a member with us to every lesson! That way the member is strengthened and they can help fellowship the new investigators! I am trying to get to know the members as fast as I can! In the lessons I do a lot of listening just trying to understand these people! Young people speak fast and old people speak lazy! Right now it’s near impossible! Elder Conway helps to involve me by telling them, my comp. will now bare his testimony about this. So I know right what to do... I’m learning! I’ve already come so far so I don’t feel down very much. Parents! I remember in our travels to other countries that when you use a debt or credit card they freeze it. Am I good to go to use my card here in Cambodia? Will you check on that this week and let me know! Thank you! I was going to attach some photos but I don’t have time... I’ll do it next week! I hope all of you are doing well. Family I love you and am sad I can’t be at home with you for all the fun! Talk to you next week!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
RYANS IN CAMBODIA!
Ryan has finally left the MTC in Provo! He got to call us at the airport before they left for L.A and it sounded like he was doing great! They had about 24 hours in the air to look forward to so my dad has been tracking his flight online, they finally made it to Cambodia last night around 8 p.m (utah time)! Ryan says he'll be able to send us photos in his next email so that should be something to be excited about for those who are followers of this blog!
Ryans addresss is no longer at the MTC so as soon as I get his Cambodian one i'll update the blog with that.
Friends and extended family can only write to Ryan via ground mail :( however, if you just have a little something you want to send to Elder Anderson just email it to me (megvalantine24@gmail.com) and i'll attach it to one of my letters. No problem.
here is Ry's most recent letter...
Last Email and last day in the MTC!
Two experiences I want to share from my last week at the MTC and the first is the last time we were able to teach our progressing investigator (remember it’s our teacher pretending) But we told him we had to go and that we were going somewhere else and that we would have other missionaries come. We left him with an awesome message about the plan of salvation and we could see how happy he was knowing all this and was excited to learn more. Later in class our teacher pulled out a picture of a Cambodian and his family and said "this is who you have been teaching". He told us he had been impersonating someone he taught as a missionary and converted. After he gave a very inspiring pep talk about how we need to switch from MTC to real life now. And that we really will have actually people with actual problems and there will be real miracles.
Our other teacher gave his last advice which I loved a lot! He said, “every night, after your prayer, and your head goes down on that pillow, make sure you will be able to know that your heavenly father was pleased with your efforts that day." He said you’ll be able to tell every night when you didn’t do all you could have that day. He also said, " You’re choosing your own destiny, you can’t blame God if you blow it." It was so sad to see them go yesterday after their last time teaching us. What else is sad is that I went to the temple this morning for the last time, for a long time. I didn’t want to leave, none of us did, and I think god knew that because we had the session before us run late. The session we were in was completely full! They had to bring in a few chairs. Just about everything happened that could have happened to keep us in the temple as long as possible this morning. Funny thing is, the past 11 weeks, there was hardly anyone at the temple when we go at 7 AM! So, I really do believe that God was giving us all one last tender mercy before we left to Cambodia and wouldn’t be able to return for a few years.
Well family.. One adventure closes and another begins! Let’s hope I don’t die! Talking to the teachers and some of the Cambodian Natives from Cambodia that are in the MTC I can immediately expect Flooding, Heat, No toilet paper, and to struggle with the language for a good 6 months. I’m kind of freaking out, but hey, I think everyone else is too. We are all in this together! I’m sorry it’s kind of short but I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about next week!
Thanks again for all your prayers and support! I feel very proud to be serving my friends, Family, and my Father in heaven.
Family ill talk to you hopefully between 6-8 tonight!
PS. I feel so freaked out going out in the world without my cell phone!
Love, Elder Anderson
Ryans addresss is no longer at the MTC so as soon as I get his Cambodian one i'll update the blog with that.
Friends and extended family can only write to Ryan via ground mail :( however, if you just have a little something you want to send to Elder Anderson just email it to me (megvalantine24@gmail.com) and i'll attach it to one of my letters. No problem.
here is Ry's most recent letter...
Last Email and last day in the MTC!
Two experiences I want to share from my last week at the MTC and the first is the last time we were able to teach our progressing investigator (remember it’s our teacher pretending) But we told him we had to go and that we were going somewhere else and that we would have other missionaries come. We left him with an awesome message about the plan of salvation and we could see how happy he was knowing all this and was excited to learn more. Later in class our teacher pulled out a picture of a Cambodian and his family and said "this is who you have been teaching". He told us he had been impersonating someone he taught as a missionary and converted. After he gave a very inspiring pep talk about how we need to switch from MTC to real life now. And that we really will have actually people with actual problems and there will be real miracles.
Our other teacher gave his last advice which I loved a lot! He said, “every night, after your prayer, and your head goes down on that pillow, make sure you will be able to know that your heavenly father was pleased with your efforts that day." He said you’ll be able to tell every night when you didn’t do all you could have that day. He also said, " You’re choosing your own destiny, you can’t blame God if you blow it." It was so sad to see them go yesterday after their last time teaching us. What else is sad is that I went to the temple this morning for the last time, for a long time. I didn’t want to leave, none of us did, and I think god knew that because we had the session before us run late. The session we were in was completely full! They had to bring in a few chairs. Just about everything happened that could have happened to keep us in the temple as long as possible this morning. Funny thing is, the past 11 weeks, there was hardly anyone at the temple when we go at 7 AM! So, I really do believe that God was giving us all one last tender mercy before we left to Cambodia and wouldn’t be able to return for a few years.
Well family.. One adventure closes and another begins! Let’s hope I don’t die! Talking to the teachers and some of the Cambodian Natives from Cambodia that are in the MTC I can immediately expect Flooding, Heat, No toilet paper, and to struggle with the language for a good 6 months. I’m kind of freaking out, but hey, I think everyone else is too. We are all in this together! I’m sorry it’s kind of short but I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about next week!
Thanks again for all your prayers and support! I feel very proud to be serving my friends, Family, and my Father in heaven.
Family ill talk to you hopefully between 6-8 tonight!
PS. I feel so freaked out going out in the world without my cell phone!
Love, Elder Anderson
Friday, June 3, 2011
Weeks 9 & 10!
Family!
May 31, 2011
Mom I loved those photos of my buds it was way fun to see what’s in store for me in the mission field. Dan Miner and I are emailing each other through our ldsmail so maybe if you could get my friends ldsmail accounts that would be sweet! Um, I have to wrap this up and get to dinner. speaking of which I haven’t really gained or lost any weight in the MTC. An Elder Named Elder Clark and I use our gym time to play Volleyball and pump some serious iron so I think I’m ok! Don’t worry. Oh, and my teachers, all 4 of them each lost an average of 40 pounds in Cambodia so I don’t even think that’s a question anymore. I’m going to be losing weight. Some missionaries lose even more! Last thing! It’s always been a challenge of mine to open up and not be so shy and reserved. And I’ve definitely gotten better over the past few months but still nowhere near where I need to be. So it the TRC this last weekend it was game time. We were about to knock on the door and my teacher stops me and says, “Anderson! I know you have something in that head of yours that this investigator needs to hear! I know you really want to help this person and if you don’t open your mouth you can’t do that! So open your mouth and don’t be content with letting your Companion say everything.” He then told my companion to not say so much and give me chances to speak. And in a 40 minute lesson, I taught 80% of it. And it felt good. My time is up! I must say goodbye until next week. I will have lots of exciting news about going to Cambodia.
This week I think we can say is another routine week. I look through my journal to get the highlights of the week so share home with you and there was only a few exciting things. Number one was we got to be host missionaries last Wed. for the new missionaries. I got to see my first day all over again but from the perspective of a 8 week veteran of the MTC. It was helpful for the English speakers when we told them we have been here for 8 weeks and you will still leave before we do. It was pouring rain the whole day which made it fun! Another thing is outside gym! finally the weather is good so we get to go out in the sun and play! Sand Volleyball is the best! Shoes off in the sand, in the sun, for 45 minutes. It’s like heaven to get out of the classroom. In the classroom however since we have three teachers now we have another progressing investigator we practice with. So we will teach him three times a week and try to get him to progress. Even though it’s one of our teachers it still feels way real! To the point where we even pray for him without thinking. I can’t believe we only have about ten more days of class before we are off to Cambodia. I can say ten because we don’t have class Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday. OH! I almost forgot. My buddy Elder Elder wrote me from Cambodia this week! HE told me that he didn’t get any of my mail. And that any time he would see anyone from my old District they would all ask about me. Has anyone heard from Anderson yet? ha THEY REMEMBER ME! he said they post the pictures of the new missionaries coming in the mission home and he saw mine! So he wrote me and told me how excited he was to be able to see me in June and that there were lots of others waiting with open arms to greet me! It was a major morale booster! My language is steady. I can pretty much carry on a decent conversation with anyone now. I have to talk my way around words still which is ok because Cambodian is all verbs and hardly any Nouns! for example. if you wanted to say Furniture, you would say desk shelf chair. Desk shelf chair really is how you would say furniture! It’s crazy! we are practicing teaching commandments, first lesson second lesson helping to resolve concerns! It’s crazy what we can do and we don’t even know it! I’m not sure what else
I can tell you and I can’t sit here and think because there is a big red timer on the screen that counts down and when it hits zero if your message isn’t sent, oh well, ya have to wait till next week! I don’t have a spiritual though prepared to share with you this week but next week I definitely will I love you all and love to hear about home. Tell me what’s going on!
Elder Ryan Anderson
Family and friends!
only 14 more days until I’m done with the MTC can you believe it’s been two months already! We are estimated to get our flight plans and exact departure info this Thursday! So next email I will give you more details because I’ll know more! I want to know about Aarons mission call ASAP! I’m way excited for the Boy! The weeks get less and less busy as we get closer to leaving. For example, our district has been invited to Host for the new missionaries for the Third week in a row. Which means we have to miss a class shift again. The teachers are totally confident in our language though, the other day one of our teachers was just talking giving us instruction and we were all following along giving comments back, when he stopped and said Elders, do you realize its week ten of your missions and I haven’t spoken a word of English all day and you’re understanding everything I say? Your all speaking Khmer right now and you weren’t even thinking about it. It was a huge wakeup call! Like holy cow! we really are just having a class in Cambodian as if it were totally normal. We all couldn’t help but smile and be happy for ourselves. We all got down and prayed as a District right then because we know we had help. As far as reading Cambodian, for all of those who have seen what it looks like, I think we are all on a 2nd grade reading level. I think I finally have the alphabet of 100 plus characters memorized to the point where I can read slowly. I don’t know all the words I read, specially not in the book of Mormon because they have some hard words in there! So slowly 15 minutes everyday I’m getting better. We had our Malaria instruction this last week. A doctor talked to us about listening to our mission Pres. and doing what he tells us to stay risk free. He told us to never think you can just "go native" and not take any precautions. He said pretty much all day everyday we are going to be applying and re-applying bug spray and sun screen! There was lots more said but I won’t mention it all. Don’t worry I don’t plan on "going native"!
Last Tues. we had Russell M. Nelson visit us and on Sunday we had Stephen B. Allen. It’s always way sweet to have an Apostle come and speak! Elder Nelson talked about a wide variety of things pertaining to missionary work. From how to make a good first impression to making sure you keep track of your contacts even after your mission. "You want them to remain so they can obtain!" Missionary work isn’t about baptisms. It’s about building the Kingdom of God. Not only is it good for missionaries to baptize, but to help your new members stay true and stay on the path to much higher ordinances. Like things in the temple. I can’t give an apostles words justice but that’s what he said to an effect. Of course he also talked on obedience, in fact, Sister Nelson gave an excellent quote, " Obedience brings blessing, Exact Obedience brings Miracles." Such a good way to look at it. But in Elder Nelson’s remarks he was talking about missionaries and the daily little things that might not be as big of a deal to be obedient about as some others, like how you present yourself. He said, "having character is better than being one." I thought this was so true!
Mom I loved those photos of my buds it was way fun to see what’s in store for me in the mission field. Dan Miner and I are emailing each other through our ldsmail so maybe if you could get my friends ldsmail accounts that would be sweet! Um, I have to wrap this up and get to dinner. speaking of which I haven’t really gained or lost any weight in the MTC. An Elder Named Elder Clark and I use our gym time to play Volleyball and pump some serious iron so I think I’m ok! Don’t worry. Oh, and my teachers, all 4 of them each lost an average of 40 pounds in Cambodia so I don’t even think that’s a question anymore. I’m going to be losing weight. Some missionaries lose even more! Last thing! It’s always been a challenge of mine to open up and not be so shy and reserved. And I’ve definitely gotten better over the past few months but still nowhere near where I need to be. So it the TRC this last weekend it was game time. We were about to knock on the door and my teacher stops me and says, “Anderson! I know you have something in that head of yours that this investigator needs to hear! I know you really want to help this person and if you don’t open your mouth you can’t do that! So open your mouth and don’t be content with letting your Companion say everything.” He then told my companion to not say so much and give me chances to speak. And in a 40 minute lesson, I taught 80% of it. And it felt good. My time is up! I must say goodbye until next week. I will have lots of exciting news about going to Cambodia.
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