Our Monday Was Very Full

One of our greatest joys with our new assignment as the Area Self-Reliance Services Communication Couple is getting to know the other couples a little better. We hate to take too much of their time, so we try to keep our calls to just a half hour or so, but they usually end up being closer to an hour. Today we Skyped with Elder & Sister Rasmussen in Malaysia. They are such a fascinating couple, they served in Malaysia over forty years ago in the Peace Corp, so they had learned the language before. Elder Rasmussen is currently a counselor in a Branch Presidency and one of only two High Counselors for the District. They do a lot of different assignments on their mission because they are the only couple in their immediate area. The middle of June they have to leave Malaysia and go to Singapore, to get new visas before they can go back to their area. They are such a faithful and wonderful example of being willing to do whatever they are asked to do.

Today was one of those interesting days that was filled with a variety of different meetings, projects and helping out. We have our weekly Self-Reliance Staff Meeting every Monday, it got delayed a bit because Sameth was a little late this morning. These meetings are very good for us because we find out about things that the other two are involved with that we had no idea. Like the fact that Phanna went to Battambang over the weekend for a My Path Devotional and to train new specialists. We also share items that we have been tracking, especially about the PEF loans and what is happening with Self-Reliance in the South Stake.

Tomorrow evening we begin our missions' Couples Conference. Sister Oveson has been working on compiling some of the Romanized Khmer Hymns to share with the other couples. She has worked hard on this project, but we feel like it will not only be a blessing to the current couples but to those in the future.

Since our time in the office will be significantly less this week we had to start working on our Institute lesson today. We plan to finish the preliminary notes tomorrow and then wrap the rest up on Friday when we are back to our desks.

There are some mornings as we take our walk that we never get the camera out of our pocket at all and then there are days like today when we took about twenty pictures. There were not only the wonderful children, but there were also the little birds in a cage heading for market or the Wats for sale. There was also the Cyclo with two men and a wheelchair. There were so many photos we did not use them all, but there will be those other days when we need them.