After Holiday Traffic and More Friends at The Service Center

We have often mentioned the traffic here in Cambodia, one thing that is absolutely amazing to us is how crazy traffic is the day after a holiday. It seems like nobody wants to get back to work so they go super slow and of course they have learned how to effectively create a rolling roadblock. The speed limit in Phnom Penh is 40 kilometers per hour (kph), which is about 25 miles per hour and that is about as fast as it ever goes. Today it was closer to 20 kph, so patience was the word going to the office this morning.

We were very busy at work today doing all of our normal assignments, nothing new or exciting. The same was true at home tonight. So we thought that we would tell you about another department at the Service Center. When we got to Cambodia our office was between the Seminary and Institute Country Director on one end of the hall and the Secretary for Seminary and Institute at the other end of the hall. We got to know them very well during those first ten months. When we had to move to the Service Center they also had to move.

Touch Sophorrn is not only the Country Director for Seminary and Institute but he is also the First Counselor in the Phnom Penh South Stake Presidency. We have even had his little family over to our home for dinner one night. He graduated from BYU-Hawaii and has to teach a number of classes, especially when a volunteer teacher quits or when they cannot find a volunteer teacher.

The original Secretary that we worked with was Kuntheavy, but she went to the U.S. in January and married an American. The new Secretary is Chanrith, she was in our Institute class when we first started teaching, but had to stop when they asked her to be an Institute teacher. She did not have enough time to fit both into her schedule. She has only been a member for about a year. She is always happy and a joy to be around.