Missionaries Departing, But None Arriving!

We have started a tradition here in the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission that when missionary returns home with honor he/she gets to walk the Red Carpet. When our kids were at home, when they returned from their missions and/or married in the Temple they walk the red carpet. This is Elder Parry, a wonderful missionary from Long Beach California walking the carpet the day before he left which was last Friday, the 18th. He plays on the volleyball team for USC.

Elder Porter, another fine missionary, walks next prior to his departure on December 18th. He is going home to Alabama and go to a Junior college in his home town.

Elder Jenkins is one of our terrific Assistants here. Also a great missionary. He walks the Red Carpet also prior to his departure December 18th. Elder Jenkins will be going to Weber State and participating in the Hurdles.
Sister Him is one of our wonderful Cambodian missionaries. Her parents came to the mission office to get her and she was released here. She is a great missionary.
Sister Anderson walks the Red Carpet also. An absolutely great missionary too! She was going to meet her parents and sister today, December 21, but the plane hit a snow bank in New York and was unrepairable. They could get to Hong Kong but not from Hong Kong to Cambodia because all the airlines were overbooked and there was no room on the plane. It was sad, but she is bouncing back and spending time with her former Cambodian companions until she goes on Christmas Eve. She leaves here Christmas Eve day at 11:30 a.m. and gets to Vancouver, Canada at 12:30 p.m. December 24th because she gains the day she lost coming over. No time wasted for her.

Here is the whole group together. I had a bad hair day it looks like!

Special Decorations and a Special Couple

I went to a store across the road with two Senior Sisters on a little break we had. It is a quilting store. All the quilting is done by women who live in Vietnam. It is called MeKong quilting. All proceeds go to these women. This is one of my purchases to brighten up the wall here in our living room. It is all quilted and reminded me of the work my Mother does on some of the projects she has given us.


These two quilted stars balance out my little family display!

Except for our Nativity, this is my favorite Christmas display here in the mission home. It is in the foyer on the top floor right before you go to the kitchen or our living room, or the dining room. It just makes me feel at home. The red tablecloth is Cambodian and has gold elephants all over it. Well, I just thought I would share something that makes me feel at home!

The Senior couples and our assistants who sent the Richards home!

The Richards walk the Red Carpet! What a great couple. We wish them the best as they adjust to life with family and the cold weather again!

Meeting the Prime Minister

Scott was invited to pick up a medal from the Prime Minister for the wheelchair contributions the Church annually gives to the disabled in Cambodia. He was representing the Church. The medal was pinned on by the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen. If you blow up the picture below you can see him get the medal! We sent a better picture on the e-mail this week. Maybe Varci will forward it to anyone interested in seeing a good picture of it all. The above group we went with to receive it. From L - Right, Pres and Sister Sappon )lst Counselor to Scott, Behind Elder and Sister Curtis who are the LDSC country directors and also Service Center Directors, and President and Sister Eng, 2nd counselor in the mission presidency.

Now look through the two heads and you can barely see Scott getting the medal from the prime minister. If you blow it up, it is better. Sorry!

A Cambodian Wedding

We went to our first Khmer Wedding on Thursday the 10th of December. Here is the bride and groom by the wedding cake. They have on their 3rd outfit of the night. It is a tradition that you wear three different outfits for the evening. All traditional attire. The brides clothes are not necessarily that modest. This couple are active in the Church and hers are not too bad. They are the Gauts (not right spelling but it is how they say it).

He is a returned missionary from here in Cambodia. However, we never got to work with him. He is a great asset to the church here and speaks excellent English which will help him get a good job. They will go to the Hong Kong Temple sometime this year. She has never been yet.

We are with some members of the bride's branch. Everyone has these fancy blouses they dress up with, but the men just wear casual shirts while the women are dressed to the nines, so to speak! They serve you maybe 7 courses from Chicken strips, to duck, fish, and sour soup, and fried rice. We ate anything that looked safe!

This is a close up of the members of the Bride's branch. They are all active and very sweet ladies. The sister in the orange kept patting me and putting her head on my shoulder.

Here is the bride and groom! The reception was held in a field across from the home of the Bride. The Elder's helped take out all the weeds for Elder Gaut as he is still called here. They did it for their service. So they were invited and they ate in the Bride's home to keep them away from the formal wedding because of some immodest dress and beer that is drunken by non-members. Aren't the bride and groom beautiful in their Cambodian Dress?

These are the missionaries that helped clear the land. Elder Gaut said I put them in a safe place. But then where did all the girls go to change into their three outfits? In the Bride's home which is where the missionaries were! But they did well. They are great missionaries. Elder Isabell on the left, Elders Stevens, Chheum, and Schiefer. Elder Isabell's Dad was a missionary that I served with in Uruguary. We worked together in Fray Bentos. A Small world as the expression goes.

The last dance!

Visit to Vietnam

This is right at the beginning of Halang Bay where there are about 3000 islands jutting up out of the bay. This is inside a cave similar in size and maybe bigger than Timpanogus. My camera didn't take the pics too well, so I'll only show this one. That little light at the top of the page is a whole from the outside letting in light. I sure wouldn't want to fall in that hole. It was maybe a 100 foot drop. We were just about 3 hours west of Hanoi.

We were the only ones on this little ferryboat. The food was sure good. We are with the Talbots who are serving in Hanoi. They are the country LDSC Directors. The young man was our guide.

The pictures below are all of Halang Bay.

This young man was right by a floating house that catches and sells live fish. His fruit looked so good, but we didn't need any, so we paid him a little money for letting us take his picture.
There are several floating houses where people live and fish. They call it some kind of a floating fishing village.

More of Halang Bay


These are supposed to be two chickens fighting.

.These ladies are planting rice. This is on the way to Halang Bay

The lady on the left throws the seeds out, and the lady on the right smooths the soil and gets the seeds under the water.

This is a family up in Hanoi. The Dad is the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency. His whole family are just so sweet and nice. They wanted a picture with us.

This is Elder Thang ( I think you say Tan). I've been calling him Elder Tin. We had been training on planners and his and Elder Nyguen's are the best in the mission. They are the ones that tell Scott, President we will obey with exactness. And they do! This was in Ho Chi Minh

Four new missionaries

Elder Ly from Ho Chi Minh. He got stuck in the Manila MTC because there was a chicken pox outbreak and he hadn't been vaccinated. He never did get them, so after 3 weeks late, he is here. He speaks English quite well, and is prepared and ready to serve. He came while we were in Vietnam, so Friday coming up, Dec. 4th, he gets his offical orientation with breakfast and lunch!


This is our newest Senior Couple. They are serving in Ho Chi Minh. They are Elder and Sister Jackson from Bountiful, Utah.

Elder Phinvises (say Benvwseh) is from Thailand. He knows the Rock Family. They were in the same branch. He attended the International School all his life and speaks fluent English. Both of his parents are Thai. He also is a prepared missionary. This little badge, his companion made for him. I thought it was kind of cute! Elder Phinvises got stuck in the Provo MTC because he sprained his ankle and then it got infection. But he is really well and ready to work. He has been here one week now.

I threw my jacket on so I could look official!

Christmas Decorations in the Mission Home/Office

A view of where I had to put our socks. I brought the ones we used on our first missions when we were single! Awww, sentimentality!


This is our little tree. I am still in the process of decorating it. But it adds warmth to our living room.

One of my favorite Christmas Decorations from Home. Our Nativity from Israel. The gold cloth is something I bought in Vietnam. I am going to hem it eventually! It is silk.

This is in the mission office right in front of Scott's office.

This looks like we've got a throne for Mr. and Mrs. Santa. The little missionary nutcracker people were already here. I put them out yesterday and today as the missionaries came in for Preparation Day, they got a big kick out of them.