May finishing missionaries

The same week we welcomed 22 new missionaries we sent home 2 wonderful elders and 1 sister who finished their missions-- Sister Taylor and Elders Stokes and Nguyen (Tay).  We will miss them-- they each contributed so much to the work here.

Elder L. Whitney Clayton visits Cambodia May 21-22

Elder L. Whitney Clayton, his wife, and Elder Larry Wilson and his wife visited us in Cambodia on May 21 and 22.  It was an wonderful experience to be with them.  They arrived by plane to Siem Reap the morning of the 21st-- we welcomed them at the airport and spent the morning touring the ruins at Angkor Wat-- it was a VERY hot day, so thankfully Elder Clayton let us lose the ties while we were at the ruins.  We went to Ta Phrom (the Tomb Raider temple), Bayon (the "four faces" temple), and Angkor Wat.  We did all of that in 4 hours, so we were moving quickly and in the heat!

After finishing visiting the ruins, we had a quick bite to eat and went to some member homes to visit.  We split into 4 groups, hired members with their tuk-tuks to drive us, and took missionaries with us to translate.  We had some very special visits and loved the time being with the members in their homes.

Then we wen to the chapel in Siem Reap where the missionaries from Battambang, Siem Reap, and Kampong Thom were all waiting for us... we had a wonderful meeting with Elder Clayton who answered questions from the missionary and provided some wonderful instruction and counsel.

In the evening we flew to Phnom Penh together and took them to their hotel.  The next morning we spent some time with them at the Royal Palace and the Killing Fields, and then had a meeting with all the missionaries in Phnom Penh at the South District Center (below).  It was a wonderful meeting.  A highlight was a missionary choir singing "As Sisters in Zion/We'll Bring the World His Truth".  The spirit was so strong as they sang that beautiful song.  Elder Clayton and Elder Wilson and their wives again provided wonderful teaching and counsel, and answered questions from the missionaries.

That evening we had a meeting for all members in Phnom Penh-- still looking for some photos that others took... we had about 500 people attend and enjoyed more wonderful instruction from the visiting authorities.

A young missionary

Pres. Moon with a very young missionary-- Samuel David (complete with white shirt, tie, and nametag).  When Pres. Monson announced the new lower minimum ages for missionaries I don't think he quite had this in mind!  But we were happy to have him help us for a few days!

Dinner out at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants - Ngon, where you can watch them making many of the dishes.  

Camilla was a bit tired due to the time zone change, as you can see!  She slept soundly all through dinner.

We had pho, Vietnamese pancakes, noodle soup, fried rice, spring rolls, and more.

Ellie mastering chopsticks!  She did very good!

Ellie and Grandma buying a coconut to drink on the streets of Phnom Penh

Mackenzie and Ben made some wonderful sushi for us for dinner...

Young Single Adult Conference - Cambodia - May 14-15 2013

We had an absolutely wonderful country-wide Young Single Adult conference on May 14-15 in Phnom Penh, at the South District Center.  We had YSA's from all over the country participate-- we estimate around 700 all total-- over 60 from Battambang, 60 from Kampong Cham, 20 from Kampong Thom, etc.  The theme of the conference was "Believe in Christ, Believe in Yourself", and they all got matching t-shirts that said "Doubt not, but be believing".  Here are some pictures with the YSA's from Tuol Tom Pong branch...

The first afternoon there was lunch, keynote speech by visiting special guest Josh James, son of Elder & Sister James who did such an amazing job planning and helping direct the conference, and who is a very successful entrepeneur in Utah.  Josh gave an outstanding talk to all the ysa's about believing in Christ and believing in yourself, and being your best, and working hard to achieve your dreams.

That was followed by special seminar sessions on dating, marriage, wise use of technology, family history, avoiding temptation, and preparing for missions.  A dinner and dancing capped off the first day.

Above, everyone together for a photo before the Wed morning special activity - "plane crash"... yes, they all died in a plane crash and visited the telestial, terrestial, and celestial kingdoms, learning about what we must do to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ after this life, and to have eternal families.  The spirit was very strong as they participated in this "simulation" and then we had  2 hour testimony meeting following.

It was a wonderful 2 days with lots of opportunity for making new friends and being reunited with old ones.  We were so thankful for the James', the district presidencies, the YSA committee, and all who made the event possible. 

Little Princess breakfast

Two beautiful princesses who, along with their baby brother and parents, joined us in Cambodia on May 10th.  We were so happy to have them come for a visit!  They arrived very late one night.  We had a special breakfast for them the next morning on the patio, a la the "Little Princess" movie-- complete with lots of tropical fruits, princess clothes, flowers, and all kinds of food.   It was fun to plan for and a fun surprise for our little princesses the first morning they were here.

Taking a trip to Wat Phnom together for a stroll around the "mountain" and a climb up to the pagoda on top.

Tidal wave of missionaries!

We sent this wonderful big group of new local missionaries off to the MTC in Manila on May 9th.  3 sisters, 6 elders, and Sis. Keo, their instructor at the MTC.

Then on May 22 and May 23 we welcomed our largest group of new missionaries during our tenure so far-- 22!  It was a busy time, especially since we had just barely finished with the visit of Elder Clayton and Elder Wilson and their wives.  We were with the visiting authorities at a meeting for all members in Phnom Penh when the group of local missionaries returned from Manila-- plus 1 more that had joined them there-- so the Assistants welcomed them at the airport and the Westovers helped drive them to the mission home, where we met up with them.  The next morning we welcomed 12 new missionaries from the Provo MTC.  Altogether this group of 22 new missionaries pushes us just over 150 total missionaries in our mission, counting the senior couples.  We are so excited to have them join the work here.  Altogether 9 new sisters and 13 new elders.  4 are in Vietnamese-speaking program.  They are all wonderful, and include our first group of 18 year old elders and our first 19 year old sisters.

We spent a wonderful day of training and orientation with them, and then sent them off the next day with their trainers.  22 new trainers-- wow!  66 of our missionaries are currently trainers or being trained (due to the 11 new missionaries in April still in training).  The sheer logistics of this big group of new missionaries kept the office elders and mission home very busy-- new bicycles to be purchased, new housing to accomodate them, materials for them, getting them to and from airport, etc.  It was very busy few days, and we are so grateful for the wonderful help of so many that made it possible.