Non-Members Who Just Show Up At Church

It was so nice to be back to the Steung Mean Chey 3rd Ward and Chaktomuk Ward today. We only missed last week, but it seemed like it was way too long since we saw our friends in both wards. We are always greeted so warmly and treated so kindly by the members of all ages, from babies to grandmas and grandpas. The young missionaries change Wards/Branches that they attend every six weeks to six months. With the Senior Missionaries they generally are assigned to a unit and leave them there the whole time that they are in country. Because of that we really grow close to those that we go to Church with and truly miss them, even when we miss just one week.

We had two very interesting experiences with non-members today, that involved both wards.

Just as Priesthood at Steung Mean Chey 3rd Ward was ready start the Elders came in with a man from Nigeria asking if Elder Oveson could tell him where the International Branch met.  When he heard that it was fifteen minutes away in the opposite direction from where he lived, he decided to stay and have Elder Stringham translate for him. He thoughtfully listened to the lesson and then asked, can I ask a question? He wanted to know what the mission of the Church was and if we believed in the trilogy. The bishop immediately assigned Elder Oveson to answer those questions. He was satisfied by the answer and is more than willing to meet with the Elders to get other questions answered, He said this felt good and he wanted to know more.

At the Chaktomuk Ward there was man that showed up for the whole block who is not a member. Last week he went to the 8:00 a.m. meetings in that building. The Assistants to the President were going to try and find out which area that he lives in and get some missionaries in to see him as well.

As we drove down one of the major roads on our way to church today we noticed that they had taken the center dividers out. We are sure they will be replaced by concrete barricades. Not having dividers just invites the traffic to sprawl into the other direction's lanes.

Also in our picture for today is an update on the building across from our apartment. It now looks like they have furniture on the top floor, so they are beginning to move in and use it. We have watched it progress from a shell to basically finished over the last seven months.