Heart and Soul

Wow guys either I'm a bad missionary or I'm getting lost in the the work because I'm having a hard time remembering what happens from week to week. I think I should prioritize journaling more because I haven't done that for the whole time I've been in Sihanoukville! Oops. It's just lower on the totem pole than like eating and recording the day on preach my gospel, haha. And having a second to think to myself oh and texting my teaching friends and calling my referrals as well. Lots of moving parts haha.

The last couple weeks have flown by, I think I've entered the third week of my third transfer here in Sihanoukville. Which is a little more than 3.5 months in this area which I'm absolutely loving. It is so beautiful and I'm absolutely slammed packed with things to do. I've learned even in not developed areas you can make yourself incredibly busy. It's kinda like you choose, lots of missionaries will say it depends on the area but I think if you work hard you'll find ways to find new people and become busy. Even if it's just contacts house to house some hours of the day.

Anyway I think my mission is a ton different than American missions😆like for example it's illegal to knock door to door here because that's what the Khmer Rouge did when kicking everyone out of their homes and killing a lot of them. So it's a no go here, but luckily most Khmer don't really have a door and if they do it's open 24/7 so when we contact we just walk around neighborhoods and everyone's out doing stuff, life is a lot less private here. Neighbors just come and sit and lay in the neighbors' houses, like whenever. For the most part they are like way super friendly and I think I'm going to really miss that when I go back to America.

Anyways we were up in this super secluded neighborhood and one of our teaching friends' friends was going to the beach so we wanted to go too and teach him a lesson about the Plan of Salvation. (OH by the way this is when I'm on exchanges with the ZL's because they have to do one with the DL every transfer. . . .so ofc they wanted to come to my area cause it's almost 4 hours away from them and by the ocean) anyways so I was with a Khmer Elder named Elder Ngoun and we wanted to take a short cut that Google maps said was through the forest. And you can check my Google photos and I think you'll see we actually took a long cut through the jungle that ate up too much time😬anyways so that's a bit of a bummer. We had to sacrifice our exchange review meeting with each other AND language study because of it. But I think we bonded so now the mission moral as a whole is up at least a couple percentages😆

Anyway we survived and haha Elder Ngoun hit me a couple times cause I forgot to tell him that there are tigers that have been spotted in the last months apparently. But idk for sure if that's actually true or not because I asked another guy and he said there aren't any tigers in that jungle. So it is unknown. . . anyways it was pretty fun and incredibly sweaty trekking through the jungle that day. The most dangerous thing we saw was the classic 1 inch wide 9 inch long red/orange centipede. Apparently if it bites you, you go to the hospital so like maybe a 4 on the dangerous scale ⚖😆Also fun fact, that morning I was riding up a hill and my bike chain again got snapped in half. . . I really am gaining too much weight. I'm getting fat I believe which is the opposite of what I thought was gonna happen🤔

Okay now for more of the spiritual stuff. . . I think one of the reasons I'm loving this area more than my last two is because I'm really just pouring my heart and soul into the people here. . . Or at least I'm trying to do so in the best way I know possible. All my life I usually look back and think wow I could've done a WHOLE LOT BETTER and even though right now I review my day and think the same thing I feel like I am getting closer to truly doing my best. That's something that's so hard for me, I always feel like I could do my day way better. Anyways, moral of the story is I feel like I"m really putting my heart and soul into this area and these people.

For example, I withstand getting beat up by grandma's because I'm washing their dishes😆they hate it when you serve them like that😆but I force my way in there and it's quite funny and only sometimes scary when they start yelling at you. And they try all different types of angles. They tell you your a bad missionary if you keep cleaning, they tell you you don't know how to clean or that the dishes are still dirty and you stink at cleaning or they're way faster and your just slow or their last resort is to grab the broom or a near by object to hit you with. I've learned though they're not really wanting to hurt you so as long as you endure the first couple slaps, they fold and just grumble the rest of the time you are cleaning. And now they don't even hit me cause they know it's not worth it lol. I hope those who've made it this far get a laugh out of that. I'll tell you what, it's a 100% true story though.

Our sacrament meeting has been down in numbers lately because it's been raining and they hate the rain so only 17 came this Sunday, including us 4 Elders. Sad, but we did have like 14 come to 2nd hour, which was amazing. And even the crazy kid named Jaysda just was super calm and awesome. And then during second hour he was a little loud but made this super lit fort out of the chairs😆usually I would just try to keep him quiet but I think he lacks love in his life so I decided to show some more this Sunday. Such a cute kid with a hard life; both parents aren't there.

Anyway I love every single one of you guys. Seriously, everyone of y'all, you're in my prayers and I hope you know that Jesus Christ is right there with you. . .if you can't feel Him there, look at your life and change something so you can turn towards Him, He's right there waiting to receive you! He always is.

I can truly testify that Jesus is the living Christ and He suffered and died for each one of us individually. He knows us personally, He knows what's best for us so listen and follow Him. Also, I can telly out hat He has a Prophet and Apostles here on the earth living today that give us direction. They connect us with God and Jesus Christ so give their words a listen and ACT!!!!

Love your Elder Acton😀😊😇