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.

A visit with Elder Perkins and Elder Ho to the Chheum Family

On our way to the airport with Elder Perkins and Elder Ho. We stopped at the Chheum's home to visit. They were very gracious and kind to us and gave us water! They were waiting for us the day before and we ran out of time, so we visited on Sunday, November 22nd.


The Chheum family except the young man in front is a famly friend. He is a returned missionary and speaks English really well, so he was our interpreter.

The family listening to Elder Perkins share a scripture. Notice how they gave us the chairs and they sat on the floor. This is so typical of the Cambodian people that are members and those being taught. So sweet and kind.

President and Sister Chheum have 8 children. They all joined the Church 5 years ago. He is now Branch President and she is a Relief Society teacher. Three of their children have served or are serving missions and one is going as soon as his brother, who is one of our missionaries, comes home. This is in their main meeting room.

This is the whole family. We are on the bottom floor. The young man in the green is going to serve a mission as soon as his brother gets home from his. The brother right behind him got sick and almost died right before they joined the Church. He was almost unconscious and the sister missionaries came by, and they got the Elders to administer to him. The next day, he was well!His wife and little boy are in front. The young woman on the right to me, in the black dress has also been on a mission and is now the district YW President.

Elder Perkins and President and Sister Chheum. We had a hard time getting her to smile!

This is our newest building going up. It is in Tacamao and President Chheum is the Branch President here.

Calderwoods leave, and South District Conference with Elder Perkins

South District Presidency with Elder Ho, an area Seventy, Scott , and Elder Perkins. The District Presidentis the brother with the glasses on. President Am Thom.

Elder And Sister Calderwood walk the Red Carpet after working hard as the Service Center Managers for 23 months. Sister Calderwood had some health issues, but through her great Faith was able to finish their full assignment. We will miss them greatly!

Zone Conference and a District Conference

Our Senior couple in Kampong Cham, Elder and Sister Richards. We are in front of their home after the District Conference. Sister Richards fixed us a most delicious meal. On the left is Elder Chung, our visiting Area Seventy. We were there on November 13-15th.


This is part of the leadership of one of the branches in Kampong Cham and their families.

On our way to Kampong Cham from Battambang you see this site quite often. I love it because it brings the scriptures to life when you talk about being yoked and maybe even Adam's Off Ox!

Zone Conference in Phnom Penh is over. After cupcakes and ice-cream, it's time to gather the jackets and backpacks and head back out to work!

Elders Hawkins, Haem, and Sweeten. They are in a threesome until tomorrow, Nov. 24th when Elder Hawkins companion comes in from the MTC. Elder Phivises. He broke his ankle in Provo and had to stay an extra 2 weeks. Elder Sweeten is training Elder Haem.

Another threesome. These are our three Viet speaking sisters. Sister Mai on the right is the Trainer for Sisters Vo (say VWaa), and Harlan. They are also on their way out to the field after Zone Conference.

Bishop Burton came to visit inbetween Zone Conferences. We were honored to have a visit here from him and his wife and two other brethren. We then went out to eat. Bishop Burton and his wife graciously consented to speak at our Phnom Penh Zone Conference. We had 3 Zones joined. They were all delighted and thrilled to hear him speak. For many of them, it is a first time opportunity to meet a General Authority or a first and last time to meet a Presiding Bishop of the Church.