Our Last Sunday For Both Three Hour Blocks

It is hard to believe that today is the last Sunday when we will attend the full three hour block of both Wards that we were assigned to visit almost twenty-two months ago. Next week we have been requested to attend the International Branch's annual Branch Conference, so we will go to the Steung Mean Chey 3rd Ward Sacrament Service and then to the Branch at 10:00 a.m. The following week is Christmas and, just like the rest of the world, there is only Sacrament Meeting. Then the Wards change schedules with the New Year, so Steung Mean Chey 3rd Ward will be from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Chaktomuk Ward is from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. so they overlap.

We have grown to love the wonderful members in both of these Wards and each have their own unique characteristics. The Steung Mean Chey 3rd Ward is in the poorest section of the city and has more families and little children. The Relief Society President and her husband, the Ward Clerk, brought their new little baby to Church for the first time today. We went to their wedding and helped them with arrangements to go to the Hong Kong Temple. It was great to see this little family. The Chaktomuk Ward is made of strong Sisters and Young Adults, with few families. We have shared before that they have two Sunday School classes, Gospel Doctrine which is mainly the older Sisters and Gospel Essentials which is the YSA. We usually go to Gospel Essentials, because that is where we can get translation from the missionaries, and it is a fun class.

Today in the Chaktomuk Ward we got to meet a Sister Missionary, Sister Tao, who had served in Mongolia and was touring with her mom and sister on their way home to Long Beach California. She was born in Cambodia but moved to the U.S. when she was about four. She still has family in Cambodia that they had come to visit. She asked Elder Denkers if he remembered her, they were in the MTC together. We live in a very small world when it comes to the Church. We also saw our new friend Lotus that is from China as she was waiting at the Church for the missionaries to teach her. We hope she gets baptized while we are still here.

Our collage tonight includes a couple of moto loads that we passed on our travels to Steung Mean Chey and decorations at a local Toyota dealership including a Christmas tree made out of the ovals that they use on their logo.