Clint mission #36
9/21/98
Dear Family,
Clint starts the letter with a small paragraph in Khmae-but since I don’t have Khmae script I can’t pass that on.
The highlight of the week was another great zone conference. The theme was Alma 29:9-10 Remember what the Lord has done. Our house, ( Elders McCormick, Heywood, Hoare, and I ) presented the spiritual thought. We gave a brief overview of some of the major events from the start of the work in this country and then showed the testimony of a member from the Vietnamese branch and one from a Khmae branch that we taped on video the P-day before. It was a hit.
Sister White gave a great talk about the importance of giving thanks to the Lord. It went right with the theme, and she told a neat story about a dream Joseph Smith had after sending out some Elders to serve. He saw them huddled around a campfire cold, tired, and miserable. He saw Christ standing above them to help. They wouldn’t look up or pray or give thanks for what they had. Joseph cried. Christ cried. The next morning Joseph sent a letter for them to give thanks.
Elder McCormick and I put this to work that very evening as we were out visiting an inactive in Steng Mean Chey, a ways out. Close to six and we were cruzing down the road and Elder McCormick blew a tire. There was no cyclos around and so we just had to start walking pushing the bike. “ Im so grateful for that good inactive visit we just had, “ We both remembered Sister White’s lesson and tried to stay positive. We soon found a cyclo, got home, and fixed the tire the next morning.
Also we wrote down on paper a compliment about each Elder and turned it into President. We received a typed sheet of compliments that others had said about us but we didn’t know who wrote them. It was really nice and went with how important it was to thank others and help them feel good. I stuck my sheet in my journal.
New Elders will be here Thursday and I will be with Elder Brooking starting Thursday the 24th. Also President announced that he had sent a letter to the Area Presidency requesting the number of missionaries in our mission to be increased to 50. It was approved. We will be increasing our numbers and efforts here. It is exciting but also selfishly I like the smallness of the mission. The work is going forth in Cambodia.
Another special moment was the departing testimonies of Elders Fernandez, Fortin, and Ruden. It is quite a thing to see them stand up and bare their final testimony at their last zone conference. I sit there and see my heroes, see what I hope to become, as I see their strength, confidence, and success. The spirit was strong as we met together in Zone Conference. We had good lessons on obedience and on use of District Missionaries. I watched Elder Fernandez accomplish a goal. He accompanied on the piano four elders while they sang a musical number. He worked hard to get his song ready. We also had a great lunch afterwards.
Here in the Kampuchea Krom area we are working hard. Sontee is the weekend guard for President White and lives in our area. He has been studying with us and will be baptized on the 27th. We have been struggling to find people to teach. We have found two neat families that came from a member referral. Raat and his wife Koontia have 2 young kids ages nine and 5 both girls, also Koontia’s mom and Raat’s older sister live together. They all live together in a one room house. It is slow as they are not educated, Raat reads, the rest listen. Koontia wants to try and read the picture B of M reader. It takes patience and faith to help nudge this family along. However they showed us they are for real as Raat and Koontia came for sacrament meeting yesterday. It was a surprise for Elder McCormick and I and we were happy to see them there.
Only 30 people at church yesterday and that includes 6 missionaries. It was a holiday like our memorial day. It is a day for meeting family which is great, gut also it is a day to go to the Buddhist temples and worship and bring food and gifts to their deceased ancestors.
Late Sunday evening, we met with another family that has been referred to us. (Member referrals is where its at.) The man is a writer for a French newspaper here in Cambodia, his name is Saarun. We taught him and his wife, his daughter, and his sister the first discussion about Joseph Smith and how to pray. Saarun said the closing prayer and we had a great discussion we meet again next Sunday to introduce the B of M. I am exciting for this family.
Update Elder Hoare was sick of getting his mountain bike fixed and gained a testimony of the beauty of the Japanese Red Rider. He sold his bike and bought a Japanese Red Rider today. That brings a total of 4 Red Riders in the mission fleet. I’m thinking of a team picture next Zone Conference.
President gave us a copy of the transcript from the Larry King Live Show with President Hinckley. WOW!! King Benjamin had to build a tower…..President Hinckley goes on Larry King Live. President Hinckley is a Prophet of God. I especially liked how he quoted scriptures in his answers. There is great power in quoting from the scriptures. I remember when I went out on a split for a day with Elder Daniels, a great elder a month going home, how often the things he would say would come right from the discussions and his memorization.
I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be over here having so many experiences and working to spread the gospel amongst these brothers and sisters of ours. I am so grateful for you and my good parents and family. I love you all very much. Good Luck in school, work, and other projects.
Love your Son, Brother, & Missionary,
Elder Rogers
Jon,
Thanks for the letter bud. The new pool sounds fun and nice. It will be neat to see how things have changed and what new stuff is in St. George, when I come back. How is recess at East Elementary? Man we played some serious ball there on the hoopes by the bike rack. Has flag-football started yet? I remember watching you and A.J. as I was getting ready to leave last year. Does that seem like a year ago? What kinds of things are you learning in school? I bought some cheese this past week and has some cheese-on-bread sandwiches. Good Stuff! Have a good week. Love your best bud!
Clint
Word to the DMS Eagles of the family. How is Mrs. Loe’s P.E. class? Watch out, those tests are hard. Hope things are going well and you are liking Junior High.
Mom & Dad,
I sure love you, thanks for your good letters and notes from Education Week. I felt a bit of a sore throat coming on, put myself on antibiotic for 10 days, and as good to go. Thanks for helping me be prepared. I have everything I need and can concentrate on the work. Keep up the good work. Have a good week!!