I'm Thankful For Spiritual Experiences!!!

Alright no hesitation lets start

Tuesday

Pretty casual day since we always have district council, so not a bunch but we rode our bikes pretty far to teach a ming and her daughter! It was quite a big lesson we taught! But they are really progressing so it was definitely worth the long bike ride out there. And then as soon as I got home I packed and went to Thma Koul which is like a 40 minute drive away.

Wednesday

Today I was in Thma Koul with Elder Klingler, who came out at the same time as me so that's a bit scary cause we're still kids out here hahaha but we did it! After our second lesson we met up with Elder Rabe (my first trainer) and Elder Eav (also in my MTC group) so it was a blast hahaha. We went to this one gals house hwo is a young mother and we started teaching her just that we have a God. Anyway, she had a young kid right, but old enough to go up and lift her shirt up and start breast feeding in the middle of the lesson. . .I was like okay well that's awkward but ofc kept a professional face like nothing happened cause that's super normal there. But Elder Rabe was caught off guard and like winced/made a very baffled face that was so funny to see so then I was laughing at his reaction. Luckily, it was a quiet laugh and she didn't notice. Little bit after though we look over and the kid is like peeing almost on Elder Eav hahaha which was also crazy cause we're sitting on a little table thingy where they also eat food😬 anyway then later our tuk tuk driver, pu song, goes and plays with the kids. We look over and he put the baby in a chicken cage haha so funny but also like what the😆 and thennnn Elder Eav is telling the young mom to continue in faith and reading her scriptures and praying. She must have not understood all the way cause .5 seconds after Elder Eav said to continue praying daily she just starts praying right there🤣 and Elder Eav has the funniest reaction, he like acts like he's super startled and almost jumps out of his seat with the funniest face and we were all laughing so hard. After she finished praying she asked why we were all laughing and when we explained she got only slightly embarrassed and started slapping Elder Eav on the lag hahaha.

Okay completely switching gears now very spiritual coming up😃😊

Okay so after that we went to a house with a bunch of middle aged women, it's pretty usual that we teach a lot of women cause there's just not a lot of men here that want to learn, if the women even have men in their lives. Anyway we were teaching about the law of chastity and at the end I was sharing why it's so important. When I said that our main goal is to have families so we can live with them forever in Heaven she asked "well waht if I've got no family?" I was so happy and sad when she asked this question because OUR CHURCH HAS THE ANSWER and through broken Khmer and an abundance of the spirit I told her that we will have the chance after this life to have families if we didn't get an opportunity during this life. She was crying, I was very teary and I just could feel the immense love that Heavnely Father has for her! It was the most spiritual experience I"ve had since I've been here in Cambodia! So amazing!! I love sharing the Gospel of joy to all the Cambodians.

Okay then the rest of the day was awesome we had another group lesson and then got fed which was super awesome. I actually love Khmer food so much.

Thursday

I was still in Thma Koul today and we taught a couple people and then went back to Battambong to do service, which was so fun. I love serving! Afterwards we ate so much 🍖that was so yummy😋mmmm super good Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday

I was on exchanges again but this time in my area where we ran some super quick errands and then had another super spiritual experience! We invited our crippled pu to be baptized which is kinda huge. At first he was saying no but as we inquired why, he said because he didn't want to be a burden to the missionaries because he can loose consciousness really easily, if he's too hot or too cold, things like that. And he's scared what others will think of him but he wants to with his whole heart. So this is where I get teary again and thank Heavenly Father for every experience I've had in my life. I tell him please don't feel that way for three reasons;

1)My uncle Ben who needs a lot of daily care to keep him in a condition that's functioning. I've been privileged to serve him by helping my Grandma take care of him occasionally so I'm used to it.

2) Also, my girlfriend I had before my mission also lost consciousness from time to time where I then had the great opportunity to serve her as well, whether that was just a shoulder to lean on or carrying her to a safer spot until she regained consciousness.

3)When we serve as missionaries, or regular people, the Lord blesses us

After I shared these things with him he said that he wants to go now and he will let us serve him by helping him get baptized. You guys have no idea how amazing an experience like that makes you feel. I was on such a gospel high!

So to conclude this day I just want to thank each and every person who has allowed me to serve them because I know it can be hard feeling like a service project, that's why he didn't want to be a burden and get baptized. But the key point is that when you allow people to serve you, you are the one who's giving them blessings.

Okay after other lessons we had and some more service chopping trees for fire wood we went back home and I, like a super kitchen man, cooked three chickens and then made gravy and then mixed and cooked 3 dozen pumpkin cookies. hahaha the kitchen was a disaster and it took me 3 1/2 hours when I only had 3 to cook but luckily the other missionaries waited for me to start the Thanksgiving feast! We had an amazing time and the food was sooooo gooood. Made me very happy and I'm so thankful for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and their plan for me. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. This mission has been an amazing blessing and it's barely begun🙌

Saturday

Lots of cleaning hahaha in the morning cause it was a disaster like I said and I was so tired that night. Then it was just a normal day. Had English class as well which is always fun.

Sunday

We visited ming mich and ming palla before church and had a fun time chatting with each other. Today at church a lot of people came so that was so happy. We're also seeing the majority of our investigators coming too which is super awesome as well.

Monday

Played volley and ate some amazing chicken and duck that pu ra prepared for all of us missionaries, so amazing!

Elder Acton