Transfers (one down)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was one full of not a whole lot. The holiday kind of threw us for a loop. Is that even a saying? If not, you know what I mean. (: Everyone was gone, back to their home town, so we didn't really have very many people we could teach and some of our investigators were gone, so we didn't get to teach them... But when they get back we will just pick up from where we left off and get them progressing toward baptism once more! 

Monday we went to the mission home in hopes of going out to eat at a really good restaurant with some other sisters, but no joke all of the restaurants were closed, so we ended up sitting at the mission home. Sister Christensen (mission mom) made us brownies though and they were quite delicious!! As we were sitting there some elders told us that Domino's and Burger King were the only two restaurants open, so we quickly decided, as we were nearly dying from starvation, that we would go to Domino's. We got there and guess what? They were having a deal -buy one pizza get one free. Holla. So we got two pizzas for the price of one and they were delicious. Funny thing... They give you little ketchup packets with your pizza. Interesting... I have yet to try it, not much of a ketchup girl, but that is a thing here in Cambodia. After that we went to Dairy Queen. Yes, they have that here. So weird that that has made it's way over here and McDonald's has not. They don't have food like they do in American, just the ice cream, but it is so so good. After our day full of socializing, we went home and started on the project of cleaning our apartment. That's what President decided we needed to do over the holiday. Me and sister Fields decided that we needed to dejunk and get rid of all the junk that old missionaries had left in the apartment before we could start cleaning, so that is what our Monday night consisted of. We found lots of odd things... lots of Vietnamese materials and lots of old shoes... There is no such thing as a DI here, so you literally just toss things to the curb and people come and take what they want. So interesting. 

Tuesday was full of deep deep cleaning. We thought that because our apartment was small and one of the newer ones that it wouldn't take us very long, but just our kitchen took us almost two hours. I didn't realize how nasty it was. There was just a layer of filth on everything. The term elbow grease took on a whole new meaning for me as i cleaned the microwave that had who knows what kind of food caked on the inside of it from who knows how long ago and the rice cooker that hadn't seen a rag in ages. We labored good and hard and after 5 1/2 hours of cleaning, our house was finally clean. It was literally sparkling. Man, did that feel good or what? So accomplished. Let me just say, if you want your house cleaned, I am your girl. You guys can start signing me up to clean your houses when I get home. (; JOKES!!! Never do i want to do that again hahaha. After cleaning like crazy, we got to go to the South Stake Center for a little Pchum Ben celebration of our own. We watched to Joseph Smith movie, prophet of the Restoration. My testimony of him and this restoration was just strengthened. If you haven't seen that movie before, or it's been awhile, find it and watch it ASAP. It is so so good. You can definitely feel the Spirit so strong. I love it so much. I'm grateful I have the opportunity to share the message of the restoration with the people of Cambodia. It has such a power about it that really can and does change lives. After we got home made cookies and rice krispie treats and ice cream (not home made). All in all it was a good day. 

Wednesday was supposed to be a normal day, the effects of the holiday were supposed to be gone. We had a district meeting where we decided that we needed to work on strengthening the members in our ward first before we add more to them. A lot of good points that are really hard to understand if you don't really know the situation of the church here in Cambodia, also over email they will be difficult to explain because you've gotta use your hands a lot and that's not an option over email... were made and we decided the best way to help them is to get them in the Book of Mormon. To really help them gain a testimony of its truthfulness. I'm so excited to do this because i LOVE the book of Mormon. Hopefully it's beneficial. (: After we went to English and NOT ONE STUDENT SHOWED UP.... not a single one. That's what Pchum Ben does to this city. so crazy, needless to say, we did not have English class... 

Thursday we taught Srey Neng, Srey Pov, and Kit (our investigators who have a baptismal date for October 31st) a lesson about baptismal covenants and it was amazing. This lesson was on the request of Ming Sovanay, their mom, who is a recent convert who just gets the gospel. She's only been a member for a few months and i'm pretty sure she understands more than me. Anyway she is concerned that her daughters aren't taking things seriously... they aren't reading their scriptures or praying as much as they should be, so we were just trying to help them understand the seriousness of the covenants they are about to make and it went really really well. The spirit was so strong. we asked them each why they wanted to get baptized and they all gave great answers- to be cleansed from sin, to keep the commandments of god, and my favorite from my favorite Srey Pov, so she can prepare to have the opportunity to be a sister and serve a mission!!!! What??? So exciting!!! She wants to come to Utah. (: I would LOVE THAT SO MUCH!!!!!!!! We went to the church to switch for my first exchange and this guy was there and he told me a look like Taylor Swift... I don't look like her at all, but she's my home-girl, so i was pleased with that compliment and then he told me that i also looked like a girl from a horror movie about ghosts... so not sure what that was supposed to mean, but i just slowly walked away.. haha. Leaving sister Fields was SO hard. She's my mom... I didn't want to leave at all. I had a lot of fears about the exchange, but i went anyway. It started off a little interesting. Me and the sister i was with, sister Matthews, are very different, but as we kept talking and getting to know each other, it became quite fun. We got to their house and their light bulb in their bathroom was broken and they hadn't gotten a new one, so i every time i went to the bathroom it was in the dark and to make matters worse, but better for the sake of this story, they were out of toilet paper as well... They have these hoses here called bdei's that you use to clean yourself so i had my first experience with one of those... I don't like it at all... haha. 

Friday we woke up and went out proselyting. Interesting cause it wasn't my area and i didn't know anyone, but still so much fun. We went to this Om's house and we planned on sharing 3 Nephi 11, when Christ comes to America, but as we started reading she proceeded to tell us that there were evil spirits in her house, so we only read 10 verses and then we left really fast... Sister Matthews was quite scared and nervous. I of course couldn't understand what was going on, so i didn't know that I was supposed to be scared til after everything was said and done. haha. but don't worry i'm safe and nothing happened. (: We went and taught one of their investigators and her friend was over, so we taught her as well and she ended up becoming a new investigators, so that was way cool!!! After that we planned to go meet a recent convert, but sister Matthews is newer to the area and got lost... we ended up contacting, which is not as scary as everyone makes it seems, or as scary as i thought it would be. It really is just a matter of opening your mouth. This past week i've really been trying to focus on following the promptings of the spirit and this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. We were contacting this lady who had just had a baby, straight up new born of about 6 days... and i said that the gospel of Jesus Christ can help you have happiness and peace within your family. Not really knowing why i added on the peace part, but come to find out she had just got a divorce and really needed to hear the peace part. That is just one story of the Lord's hand that is present in the work over here in Cambodia. It is the coolest thing to be apart of. I love it so much! After that we went back to the church and exchanged back!! Man, i missed sister fields so much. "Reunited and it feels so good". You best believe we sang that as we biked back to our apartment. (: 

Saturday we taught English class and then we planned to teach srey leap after, but she had to run home and get something to eat, so we were just waiting in the lobby of the church and sister field dropped her water bottle. as she bent down to pick is up i kicked it away from her and then proceeded to play soccer with it. That's how much i miss soccer... going a little crazy. But I'll be okay haha. Our lesson with Srey leap went really well. She was one of our investigators that went back to her home town for the holiday, but she read the scriptures (reread 1 nephi 1 because she didn't understand it the first time) and prayed. YES!!! We taught her a good lesson 2 and then committed her to baptism, she declined, but only because she wants to learn and understand more. I know that as she continues to read and pray she will learn and have to desire to be baptized. I can't wait!!! We went visiting with Tuol Kork and it was really effective. We went and visited this less active family and they all ended up being sick with the flu or something like that... but the bishop's wife didn't care and walked right in, so during the middle of the lesson the neak ming excused herself and goes and throws up and then just comes right back like nothing had happened... and then one of the little boys was crawling all over me ended up being sick too... If any of you know me, i have a huge phobia of getting the flu and throwing up, so that was basically my worst nightmare. I was kind of freaking out... okay not kind of, i was, but not much I could do... As we were riding home this cat came out of no where, shot like a rocket, and i may or may not have ran it over... whoops. 

Sunday was a good day. We had a very fun Sunday school lesson about the spirit world. There were about 20 of us stuffed in this tiny room, but it was so fun. Everyone was involved and helping each other learn. There was an American couple in sacrament meeting. Apparently she had served in that ward 7 years ago, so that was fun to talk to her a little. For our second ward we were talking to a recent convert and she just looks and me and told me that i had lost so much weight... that i was now "slim". I told her that i was the same as when i got her and she proceeded to tell me "no sister, when you got here you were big." So there's that for you. haha. Then in the middle of the sacrament this lady no one really knows who she is, but she walks in during the sacrament and justs starts talking too loud... then she walked into relief society and just gave sister fields the biggest hug and then during the prayer she started playing with Sister Field's hair... I was dying. It was the funniest thing. Sister Fields face was classic. I'm pretty sure i would've freaked if she had touched my hair, but sister fields handled it well. We went and visited a lady, Om Cabrie, and that was definitely inspired. She is sick and struggling with the fact her son is less active. We were able to share with her and just let her know how much we love her and how much Heavenly Father loves her. She is such a sweet lady. So FHE has become a weekly thing and i love it. We went to Ming Sovanay's house and just shared some scriptures. Go read 2 Nephi 9:41. I've been "ponderizing" that scripture this past week (idea from conference. I suggest everyone do it. It's fun and super beneficial (: ) The way is narrow, but when we follow the scriptures, live the gospel, and keep all the commandments, the way really is right in front of us and how comforting is it to know that Jesus Christ, our Savior and redeemer, the one who knows exactly how we feel, will be the one to judge us at the final judgment. Such a beautiful knowledge. We then had some really delicious food. I don't know what it was, but it was good. (: then TRANSFER CALLS. I didn't realize how big of a thing these were, but everyone makes transfer calls brackets, like march madness or something. It's quite exciting and GUESS WHAT??? Me and sister fields are staying together and staying where we are. (: Yay!!! That's all that happened this week! 

Love you all! Hope everything is going well!

Love, 

Sister Zoe Loftus

Double D

All the 100's we found while cleaning.  Only worth about $4

Shoutout to THE Saucy Pants-my best friend! 

 A yummy dessert-rice in jack fruit covered in sweetened condensed milk-holy so good!

First exchange-Sister Loftus with Sister Matthews

#LDSconf

Sister Loftus mentions a holiday in Cambodia called Pchum Ben (Khmer: បុណ្យភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ; "Ancestors' Day") .  October is the month when Cambodian people celebrate the festival of Pchum Ben. Together, with Khmer New Year in April, Pchum Ben is the most important festival in the Khmer religious calendar.  Pchum Ben is a religious holiday and a time when many Cambodians pay their respects to deceased relatives. You can read more about this holiday online; it is very interesting.

Dear Family and Friends, 

Goodness. I have lots to say, but unfortunately the keyboard I am currently using has a bum space bar, so it's kind of difficult to type a lot. We'll see what I get out before I get too annoyed with it. 

Monday- this was an interesting P-day. We went to a restaurant called Mama's and i got myself a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. Whoever said you couldn't find American food (maybe no one said that, maybe i just made it up) in Cambodia was wrong. You just got to know where to look for it and trust me us American missionaries know where to find it.(: after lunch we went to a Khmer Rouge museum and it was the most depressing thing ever. It is at this old high school that they ended up turning into a concentration camp type place when everything took place... it was very dark and dreary. They had pictures of all the prisoners and had some of the devices used to torture them. I did not like it. It was sad and didn't have that much information about the actual Khmer Rouge, so it just left me wanting to know more with no where to get the information... It's so crazy to think how recently it happened and no one did anything about it. It just broke my heart. One of our less actives told us her story and when she was forced out of the city she was the only one from her family of 11 kids to survive. She was forced to go work in rice fields and then when they were allowed to come back to the city she walked for 14 days without shoes back to the city. It just broke my heart to hear that and to think that everyone we come in contact with on a daily basis was affected by it. Absolutely heart breaking. But on a happier note. I bought a cross-stitch. Yes, i am officially an old Khmer om (grandma). I gave in. and i am addicted. haha. Monday night we somehow managed to make delicious no bake cookies with limited ingredients and cooking utensils; they were DELICIOUS!!!! 

Tuesday- the language got me down today... like way down... we finished eating lunch and i just lost it... it was bad, but sister fields managed to pick up all my broken pieces and put me back together again. She's amazing. I don't even think she knew what she was saying, but it was exactly what i needed to hear. "This work isn't easy because salvation isn't a cheap experience." She was having an interview with President and he said "The only thing that matters to you is Sister Loftus". so i mean that is pretty comforting, right? I am the only thing that matters. (; NOT!!! I mean to some extent, but our investigators are so much more important and that's exactly what i learned. After wiping the tears off my cheeks we went and taught Srey Neng, Kit, and Srey Pov about missionary work. Once i lost myself in the work and really focused all my time, talent, and abilities on teaching them, I realized just how joyful and fun missionary work can and should be. We shared Alma 29:9, a classic missionary scripture, with them and as they read it I just started crying, completely overcome with the spirit. I was then able to testify of the happiness that comes through missionary work, serving our brothers and sisters, and serving our God. Even thought my Khmer is still very broken, the Holy Ghost was able to expound what i said and testify to them as well. They were able to feel of His love for them. Ah, this work is so amazing!!! I love it. (: We went and taught another lesson on Joseph Smith (I am currently on a Joseph Smith high, I love learning about him. He has done so much for all of us and i can't wait for the day when i can meet him, shake his hand, and thank him!) it was very powerful, but she said she is "too lazy “to come back to church...AH, so frustrating. How do you force someone to have the desire to start living the gospel and receive countless blessings? You can't... you have to remember that they have their agency and just keep showing your love and Heavenly Father's love for them. Patience is definitely a virtue that i currently am learning the hard way. As we were riding home from that appointment we were followed not once, but TWICE. Are you kidding me? I was freaking out already and then sister fields started freaking out. You know the situation is bad when your trainer can no longer play it cool and starts freaking out.. I didn't know what we were going to do when all of a sudden sister field takes a quick left turn, so quick i almost lost her, but low and behold OUR ELDERS!!!! Such a tender mercy. We are serving in the same two areas as these elders, but we NEVER see them while we are proselyting, so i KNOW that Heavenly Father placed them there to save us. We went home and to comfort ourselves we made french toast and watched Mountain of the Lord, another classic movie everyone should watch at least once. (:

Wednesday- nothing happened today...sorry!

Thursday- We made a weird chaa... we had tomatoes that we didn't know what to do with, so sister fields decided to put them in a chaa with eggs and pork. Let's just say it looked like barf and didn't taste too much better.. haha. Now we know tomatoes are a no go for chaas. haha after that fun experience we went and taught srey neng, kit, and srey pov about temples!!! MY favorites. They were all so interested. I loved it! Srey Neng said that she wants to get married in the Salt Lake temple and i told her that i'll be there when she does. Oh, how i hope she gets married in the temple and raises her own little righteous family! They can't say Loftus, so they've just started calling me Sister Loft, which i absolutely LOVE!!!! Sometimes it sounds like they say sister Love and then they say sister feel for sister fields, so feel love, yeah? I'm feeling it. (: After that lesson we were getting ready to leave and the bishop's wife, Srey Paw appeared and bought us food... let me just tell you that it was barely edible. it was a soup with noodles, snake, with the skin and scales still on it, and coagulated pig blood.... ah, i did not know how to eat that. I physically couldn't get myself to. I ate the noodles and tried my best to avoid the other things. Wow! so crazy what they eat... After we taught a lesson/just read the book of Mormon with one of our new investigators Srey Leap. She is a sweetheart. She asked me if i knew how to play basketball and i didn't really understand her question, so i said yes, so now she is expecting me to teach her how to play. If any of you have seen me play basketball....let's just say it's going to be very interesting. The spirit was very strong and she said that she felt really happy when she read! YES!!!! and then she thanked me for my effort in trying to learn the language. She said that i was really good and she then proceeded to say the most heart felt prayer where she asked heavenly father to soften her parents heart and give her permission to continue learning with us. She’s 17, so we have to get permission in order to baptize her. When She gets back from the holiday we'll see what they say. Fingers crossed because she's golden! While we were teaching that lesson it started to rain and then just kept raining until the streets were flooded. We traveled home in knee-deep water. It was no joke like biking through an ocean. The cars would pass us and would send huge waves, almost knocking our bikes over, and then occasionally you would get something wrapped around your foot or leg, just like seaweed. It was quite the experience and by the time i was home, I was drenched from head to toe. 

Friday- We had zone training where we focused on obedience, language study, contacting, and diligence. It was really good, but i won't bore you with the details. (: We got lunch from Mike's Burgers and it was so good. I'm a sucker for a good burger, even here in Cambodia. (: That's about it that happened on Friday. 

Saturday and Sunday- CONFERENCE!!!!!! and it was even in English. BLESSED!!!!! I love conference so much. You guys already watched it, so i'm not gonna say very much about it because that would be repetitive, but there were so really really good talks. I loved Elder Holland's about mothers. Made me think about my own mom. All of you know her and know how amazing she is. She is Christ like and loves with her whole heart. I am forever indebted to her for everything she has done and will continue doing for me. Shout out for her because she deserves it and because she just had a birthday. I love you mom! (: How blessed we are to be apart of a church lead by a living prophet that communicates directly with Heavenly Father. What a privilege it was to see the calling of three new apostles and to hear the love and respect everyone has for President Packer, Elder Perry, and Elder Scott. They are amazing men and left a legacy we can all learn from. It was incredible to see the themes that came from this conference. Each talk tied into the one before it so perfectly. The Lord really is directing this church and this work. I love it so much!! Being a missionary is the biggest blessing of my life. After conference we were able to go to a family home evening. Man,i love the members here. They are so loving. It was so much fun and the perfect way to end conference weekend!! 

If you didn't have the opportunity to watch all the sessions of conference, get on LDS.org RIGHT NOW and watch them. It will benefit your life so so much. You will get a personalized message from the Holy Ghost. I promise! 

Love, 

Sister Zoe Loftus
Double D

Delicious no bake cookies-So proud!

Cambodian cross-stitch

The view in Cambodia, so beautiful!

Cambodian food

More Cambodian food.  Maybe the food Sister Loftus couldn't eat?

Sister Loftus loves the children in Cambodia-adorable Cambodian girl

Soaking wet after riding a bike in a Cambodian rainstorm.

Life as a Sister Missionary!

Can you see the rainbow?

General Conference as a Cambodian Missionary

Ghost town because of Pchum Ben holiday.

Fast Sunday isn't so Fast

Dear Family and Friends, 

So just a little heads up... i forgot my journal at home, so i really have no idea what I am going to write about today, so sorry!!! Thinking about this week, i feel like not a lot happened, so maybe it's okay. Hopefully I can hit on the important things. 

Monday we were planning on going and teaching a less active that lives on the railroad tracks, but where we park and lock our bikes is right in front of a different less actives house and when we rode up she thought we were coming to teach her, so she got chairs out for us and everything. How could we possibly tell her that we weren't coming to teach her? So we ended up teaching her instead. The lesson itself wasn't very good, but the things that came of it were miracles. I'll expound on that in a little. 

Tuesday we had District Meeting. It was on Personal Prayer and was so good, but then after we were just sharing stories. Get this- apparently a bunch of the houses here that the missionaries stay in are haunted. Like they were telling crazy stories. Some of the houses got so bad that they had to move the missionaries. It usually happens with Khmers because they are more prone and superstitious about stuff like that, but the occasional American has dreams, sees things, and hears things. Needless to say I'm a little freaked out for that to happen. As if Cambodia doesn't have enough adventures and interesting things. haha. We left and went and taught Kit and Kim Hoa (2 of the four girls). Then, as we were waiting for Srey Neng to get home from work, we got to color with Srey Pov. And to make the situation even better it was a Mickey Mouse coloring book. DAY MADE!!!! And the book had stickers, so i now have a Mickey Mouse sticker decorating this transfers planner. Oh, i was so happy and they were all just laughing at me. I don't think they understand the love I have for Mickey and all things Disney!!! After teaching a lesson to Srey Neng and Srey Pov, we went back to the railroad tracks this time to teach our less active for reals, but once we got there her daughter, Bong Chantea, told us that she didn't want to meet with us, she said things were too hard. We just decided to teach Bong Chantea instead and it was exactly what needed to happen. She ended up breaking down and telling us everything that was going on in her life. She has some major family problems right now, but really it was a testimony to me that the Lord knows all of His children. He knew that we needed to go visit Chantea, so he had us run into that other less active on Monday. He as a plan for everything and when we put our faith in that plan we will be extremely blessed and see miracles. 

Wednesday we worked on CBR's (Convert Baptism Record). Goodness what a mess that was. It taught me two things. 1) we have SO many less actives that we need to find and start working with. Our retention rate in this mission is currently 35%. That is SO low... horrible really. And 2) the importance of good record keeping. You know it would be so much easier if we had ipads, but for now we've got to do it all by hand. In order to retain members we have to be as organized and accurate as possible. I finished my first CBR and boy was it beautiful. I even wrote in script on it, which i was pretty proud of. After CBR's we met with two of our contacts. They are cousins. Srey Leap (17) and Rith (13). Rith speaks English very very well. I wanted to teach him in English, haha, but Srey Leap couldn’t really understand, so Khmer it was. They were very receptive, but the only problem is their ages. If they are younger than 18 we have to get their parent's permissions to baptize them and they said that their parent's aren't super down on the whole christianity thing... so we'll see where things go with them. Our English lesson was on body parts, so in order to help them learn better we had them label a body. haha it was so funny!! I'll attach a picture. (: When we got home we watched a movie called Legacy. Such a cheesy classic church movie, but when you're on a mission you take what you can get. (: We also discovered that we have a pet lizard living in our bedroom. That was a little unsettling, but such is life in Cambodia. We have since lost him, so i am just waiting for the little fella to jump out and scare me one of these days. haha 

Nothing super good that i can remember happened on Thursday... 

Friday! We went and met our good old friend Srey Kayo again. She is an interesting character. This time her sister and her sisters friend was there. They gave us lots of food. They gave us banana chips (SO good!!!!!!), these weird candies (I have no idea what they were, but there was a corn flavored one and it tasted exactly like corn. The weirdest thing ever!!! Then there was one that i thought was raspberry, but it ended up being Lychee. I don't even know what that is, but it wasn't good... haha), and then they gave us Green Tea Soymilk... ewww!!! That was nasty.... I'm pretty sure it's against the word of wisdom, but sister Fields drank it, so i just followed her lead. It was honestly so gross and then i kept burping it up the rest of the night. That's when you know something isn't good, when it just keeps coming up. Yuck!!!!! Her sisters friend though, oh this is cool!!! She speaks like fluent English, so i actually got to talk to someone. Yes!!!! And she said she's interested in learning which is even cooler!!!! After that interesting experience we went and taught Bong Chiat and Bong Naavii. They had finished reading chapter one of first nephi, but hadn't prayed to know if it was true, but they had been praying as a family, so that was good. We taught them the second lesson and the spirit was so so strong. We committed them to baptism (the day after Christmas!!!!!) and then we invited Bong Chiat to pray. Oh my goodness. This was a miracle. He said the simplest pray, but it was so sincere and after he was done, we opened our eyes and he was crying and he just sat their with his hand on his heart and we were able to testify that what he was feeling was the holy ghost. Such a tender experience. I loved it!! After that we taught two new investigators. Kind of a long story about how we contacted them, but there is a guy in one of our wards, Mark, yes Mark, and it is his mom and his niece. They have been coming to church for the past 3 weeks. Basically we just need to teach them the lessons and they can get baptized. The niece is 10 and she is the cutest thing. So enthusiastic about learning. She always has her book of Mormon and bible with her. too adorable!! 

Saturday we had to wing it for English class because our books got locked in the library. That was interesting, but so fun. We only had 3 students, so we were able to really have a good time. We contacted another girl that wants to learn. Unfortunately she is 14, so we need permission from her parents as well. What is it with all these children wanting to learn? haha. But a lot of our investigators, RC, and LA are leaving this week and going back to their home towns for Pchum Ben, some Cambodian Holiday... I don't even know what it is, so maybe you guys could look it up and give me a quick run down on it next week. All i know is that it's gonna make this next week an interesting one to see who can meet with us and who is going to be gone. Saturday night we were riding home and passed Dominos (yes, they have that here) and sister Fields decided that was what we needed for our last meal before fasting. We walked in and there's this American guy there. We quickly judged him and wondered why in the world he was here, but he came up to us and told us that he is from California. That all of his family is members, but he's not, but that he is very familiar with missionaries. He was really nice and said how much comfort it brought him speaking English with people here, so he just wanted to help us out. Such a tender mercy!!!! and the pizza was delicious, so perks!! 

Sunday... ugh. Sundays are long enough going to six hours of church in khmer and then you throw fasting on top of it and it made for one long fast Sunday. I love fasting i really do, but it's a whole different ballgame when you can't eat or drink water in a place like Cambodia. Needless to say i was exhausted all day and parched!!! We were really hoping Chiat and Naavii would be at church, but they weren't... huge bummer. We planned on teaching them after church, but when we went Chiat was "too tired". He had gotten home late last night and hadn't slept since then, so we ended up teaching Hiangli. After that we went to a FHE at the four girls house and it turned out to be a party. The bishop and his family were there as well. We were a little late and our punishment for that was that we had to sing a hymn in English. They said "we just want to hear your voice because you never speak Khmer."haha whoops! But then they fed us dinner. It was some kind of curry... I didn't ask what was in it, but I also didn't eat any of the meat, just to be safe. I do know that it had rotten fish paste in it, so that was cool. I have yet to get sick from it, so it must have been pretty safe. I was so thirsty and they didn't have any water, so i ended up drinking 3 glasses of coke.  That was the most soda i've had in years... but i just needed something to drink. I made sure to drink lots of water when i got home!!! 

I think that's all for this week. Thank you for all the love and support. I love you all so much!!!! 

Love, 

Sister Loftus

Double D

aftermath of a famous Cambodian rainstorm

Family Home Evening

lunch in a Mexican restaurant in Cambodia-go figure!

Sister Fields diagraming the body for English class-isn't it beautiful?

Sister Loftus coloring Mickey Mouse with Srey Pov

Dominos Pizza-in Cambodia

Family Home Evening Party-some kind of curry...