4th of July Independence Day Celebrations in Cambodia

Today was the beginning of a new Saturday morning Institute class. We have been asked to teach "Principles of Leadership", and what a wonderful group of young people came for our class today! We had 13 participants, with at least 3 others who told us they will come in the future but had a conflict for today.  After class, we had enough time for short FaceTime visits and a quick grocery shopping trip before going to meet President and Sister Christensen at the mission home for a fun outing.

With the change in presidents, we arranged to pick up tickets for President and Sister Christensen to attend the Independence Day Celebration with us at the U.S. Embassy. Since there are no parking lots, the tickets suggested attendees come in a taxi or Tuk Tuk. We opted for the latter. We arranged for the BYU-UofU Tuk Tuk, owned by a church member, Seyha Haem, for our trip today. This was the first time our friends have traveled in the Khmer Tuk Tuk taxis, and they thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

The Embassy was dressed up and decorated for the occasion with the traditional red white and blue buntings, and flags. There were about 3,000 people there, including the other senior missionary couples and church members from around Phnom Penh.

We enjoyed visiting with so many people, and introduced the Christensens to several people they will have more opportunities to get to know in the community. The entertainment was a U.S. Navy Band. There was a children's choir that sang the Cambodian National Anthem before the U.S. Ambassador, William Todd, spoke to the crowd, then a Cambodian Circus. There were several vendors selling food: We chose Mike's Burgers!

The more important event we are missing at home is the baptism for our grandson, Roman. We made a special FaceTime call this evening just for Roman. We are proud of him and are thankful we can still keep in touch with each of our family while we are away. As we attend a baptism tomorrow we will be thinking of Roman.