December 10, 2003
November/December 2003

Well it is hard to believe we have been here over four months. Today is Thanksgiving in America or will be in about 14 hours. My wife and the other couple in this house are cooking dinner for 14 missionaries. We will do chicken as turkeys are hard to find and expensive. We will carry on the Taylor tradition of asking the Elders to share one thing that they are thankful for. The thought came to me that I am very thankful for the Pilgrims and their desire for religious freedom. Without their convictions America would not have been established as a country where the Church of Jesus Christ could be restored and grow.

Now the weather report. Today is clear skies and a light breeze blowing the palm trees outside the house. The weather will be in the 80’s by lunchtime. It is the dry season (winter) so we get rain about once a month. This makes everything dusty. The natives get cold and wear coats!

The Church continues to grow in numbers and impact in the community and nation. There was a great two-page article in the local paper about the Christian churches in Cambodia and it was mostly about the Mormons. It was a very balanced article. If you are interested in reading it the articles is on the paper website www.phnompenhpost.com.

I have been asked to be the Mission auditor and Susan is my assistant. I have been working on issues in financial management for the Church. This month we were very successful in having one of the major banks in Cambodia (Canadia Bank) agree to set up a banking network for our units. This will allow us to have accounts for each unit to pass all donations through. The system can grow with the Church and include the other countries in the mission like Laos and Vietnam. The system can also be tied to Hong Kong (Area office) and Salt Lake City. I was very happy to see this happen. It means we are ready for exponential unit growth in financial management.

After our presentation at Canadia bank, Mr. Hoa, the VP, asked how many baptisms the Church would have this year in Cambodia. I told him a little over 1000. He said that was good. Then he said "I have a suggestion so you can grow faster." He went on to say that the families in Cambodia were looking for churches or organization that teach moral principles. He suggested that we teach English and moral principles together and families will join. It was most interesting to have this respected banker tell us how to share the Gospel. We are doing some of this but if he is right we could be much more direct in some of our English classes and use the moral concepts of the Church in the teaching. (The profound things that make the most change are: You are a child of God, You can talk to Him, He still communicates with His children, He has a plan for your happiness, Jesus Christ is a central figure in the plan. You can change and follow the plan and share in this happiness. Your family can live with God.) I was most interested in the twenty minutes discussion by this good man about the needs for his country for families and religion. It was surprising!

As auditors, we are also conducting regular required unit audits. This job is like a bank inspector and finance trainer rolled into one. We check process, procedures and accounts. We have many new members that have been called to do this work and they are doing a wonderful job of managing the Lord resources.

We are introducing a new system of financial management in January so must train all the units during December. That means translating the manual into two languages and preparing the training aids plus doing the training itself.

The street scenes are becoming normal to us now. We still cross the street a bit nervous. It is interesting to see change. We are now seeing a number of modern supermarkets in town. They cater mostly to the non-natives but I can see they will have an impact down the road as transportation improves. There are a number of large markets here in town. They have hundreds of stalls for vendors. The markets are set up with sections, flowers, food to buy, food to eat, men’s clothing, women clothing, jewelry, house wares, office supplies, electronics, CD/DVDs, shoes, fabric, hand tools. You name it and it is there somewhere. The markets are hot, humid, and crowed with beggars at every turn. It is an experience but the price is right. Ties range from 25 cents to two dollars if you do not ask for a better price. Shirts range from 50 cents for a used one to 3-4 dollars for a new one. We buy our meats from the supermarket, but our housekeeper buys fruits and vegetables from the local markets. They are wonderful. Most people do not have storage in their home for food so they must buy just about every day.

We have had some very interesting experiences with people investigating the Church. Last night I was out with the Elders and a wonderful family of four boys ages 15 to 8 years. The mother of the family had been very concerned about religion and she had an interesting dream. Jesus Christ and several people appeared to her in the distance. She knew it was Jesus Christ. She saw a body of water with waves and understood her feelings of the past were like the waves but that she was to be like a mountain. Interesting. The eagerness on the faces of this family as the Elders taught was amazing. This was but one of many such experiences. The spirit of the Lord is truly working in this country with complete families joining the church and fathers leading the way. It leaves us to ponder in gratitude as we realist the Gospel of Jesus Christ seems to be filling in pieces of a puzzle in the lives of many.

We have families lined up in some areas waiting their turn to be taught the Gospel. It is hard to believe and it has nothing to do with the poverty of the nation because we ask them to pay 10% of their income when they join. I wonder what is happening in America? Are we becoming so desensitized that we cannot hear and feel the promptings of the spirit? I had a fellow say the other day he did not follow Budda or Jesus Christ. He proceeded to tell me what he believed and most of his beliefs are teachings of the Church. He knew from the spirit teaching him. It was amazing. We just fill in a few points here and there to complete the picture.

We appreciate your friendship. We think about life in America and here and would love to have you experience the joys and sadness of these people. Thank you for your interest and prayers.

Susan and Gordon