November 3, 2003
Dear Friends

Wheel Chair distribution was the big event of the month. The Church and the Wheel Chair Foundation in cooperation with the Cambodian Red Cross gave away 500 wheel chairs. We gave away 30 at the formal presentation. (Lots of media).

The rest will be given away over the next several months. Many touching scenes as people came to receive their wheel chair. Cambodia has more land mines than people! Every year about 100 people are killed from the land mines and several hundred are hurt. Plus of course the normal accidents. The big challenge is using the wheel chairs. Most people cannot use them outside their house. There are very few paved walks or streets and no such thing as a sidewalk. Most people do not have transportation to haul the wheel chair. So the gift can only be used at home if they can get them up the stairs and have a solid floor (many huts have dirt floors.) Getting them from room to room will be an issue in some home where there are rooms. They could certainly help the beggars getting across the major streets. That is really scary to watch them crawl or move in a swinging body movement one-body length at a time.

HT/VT

Susan and I have been visiting the members, many of whom are less active. Susan uses the van and goes with the women of the branches and I take a Kombei and go with the Elder’s quorum presidents and Elders. The problem here is that people do not have addresses that you can drive too. When a person is baptized they take their picture and draw a map of how to get to their house/phteah. Even with the maps it’s a challenge to find. That is why we have the Elders show us where people live. (This is a major challenge in managing a congregation of the Church of 400 people.) We are having a great time doing this. Two weeks ago I was out and during the course of the morning we saw several people and gave four blessing. You know the priesthood of God was here before Khmae or USA medicine.

Last week we lifted our Kombei over two ruts in the roads. This week the Elders pushed the Kombei through a mud hole. (The mud is like brown thick gravy.) We also got stuck in a rut and all got out and the Elder lifted and pushed the Kahbei on down the road-trail.

We have met some wonderful people during these visits. The agenda goes something like this for the home teaching visits. They always welcome us in. We get to know them. Bring out their membership records to review – 40% error. Have prayer and share a message from the Book of Mormon. (Most people do not have bibles and the other Church scriptures are not translated into Khmae yet.) We encourage them to come back to Church to renew their covenants they have made with Jesus Christ and will talk about the further blessing they can receive by have the Priesthood in the home and using it to bless the family. We are having some success with our visits. The people are always so warm and thrilled that we come to their house. Many of the houses are not much - palm leaves or grass for the poorest. We have not had a bad experience yet. We always come home much recharged as we share our experiences.

We have much to be thankful for here. The food is wonderful. We love many of the dishes. Susan has learned to make cakes in the rice cooker. We had a wonderful experience sharing this new skill with a family in their humble home. The family consists of a mother, deaf daughter and two sons. The father recently died of AIDs and the mother also has it and is very weak. They really enjoyed the experience of learning how to bake a banana cake. So sad to think these children will soon not have a mother but they will have the Church. (AIDs is a big problem here in Cambodia but not much is said about it.) Everyone helped stir the cake and the one thing all Cambodians have in their home is a rice cooker. She didn’t even have a plate to turn the cake out on but Susan had taken some paper plates.

We enjoy going out with the Elders to teach. Last Sunday we shared a DVD - Lamb of God -on our laptop. Eighteen people showed up for the viewing and several want to be taught. Today the Elders were coming to a planning meeting and were stopped on the street by a man who wants them to teach his family. That's how it goes in Cambodia. There will be over 1000 new members of the Church before the end of the year, most in this city. God loves all his Children and they recognize His words. It is so powerful to watch. Their lives change for the better and they become so powerful.

The weather has changed. The natives tell us that it is the cold season for the next two months – low 80s. The natives are wearing long sleeve shirts and some coats for the moto drivers. It is a couple of degrees cooler during the day and the nights are pleasant. There is a breeze most every day that is not followed by rain. But no rain means dust on the roads. If you are on a bike, moto or Kombei its good to wear a mask over your nose and mouth to reduce the dusk taken into the lungs. (We ride in a Van most of the time.)

We think of you all and pray for your wellbeing and happiness.

We so appreciate the support of our family and all of you