In our call as Senior Couple Missionaries, strict rules were not given therefore we have some freedom of choice about what we are to do. We have been given an assigned area, the Ta Khmao 1 and 2 Branches, and the Kean Svay Branch.
The young missionaries have strict rules about when they are to get up, study, plan, go out to teach investigators and others, return home and retire to bed. The seniors do not have the same rules, but are to use common sense given their health and physical capabilities.
But we are to determine the exact ‘what we are to do’ on our own.
After taking several days to get situated in our new apartment, we called the young missionaries assigned to the Ta Khmao 2nd Branch to see if we could go out with them, believing the fastest way to get to know our assigned area was to accompany the missionaries who already know the area.
Elders Elder and Hem
So for the past week and a half, we have been visiting inactives, non-members and members with the missionaries. So far we have learned that we are not in as good a physical shape as the missionaries and get tired faster.
Another thing we learned is that some members live in very primitive conditions. Going out into the countryside, we have driven down some very narrow dirt ‘roads’, rutted with muddy spots. We pity our tuk-tuk driver, but pay him well.
Some homes are built on stilts over water filled ditches. We haven’t had the nerve to ask where their bathroom facilities are because we haven’t ever seen anything resembling an out-house. Both Julia and I are leery of taking pictures in the poorer sections of the area because we did not want to focus on the poorest of the poor and imply wrong things about the area. But for every poor home we have visited, we have seen others poorer still.
One of the homes in our area
For the most part, when we smile at the people, they smile back with their beautiful smiles.
When we visit the people in their homes, they sit on the floor, but scurry around to find us chairs. We intended to purchase stools to take with us because sitting on the floor will not work for us. We know this because a few days ago we had to sit on the floor twice. Most Americans do not fold the way you have to fold to sit comfortably on the floor, especially if you have gained a few extra pounds. So Wednesday, we searched for stools, which was difficult because the major markets were closed for the Chinese New Year. We finally found some, then forgot to take them with us on the visits. Today, we took and used them. I think we need to get some padding for them.
We go into the homes, or sit outside around a bed platform, and watch the Elders converse with the people in Khmai, every now and then picking up a word we have heard before. The missionaries then ask the person to select someone to say the prayer, invariably one of the missionaries, but occasionally they ask Julia or me. Julia can do a simple prayer in Khmai but I generally pray in English. Then the missionaries teach one of the concepts in the lessons, challenge the person to read the Book of Mormon, then ask to select someone to say the closing prayer, trying hard to get the person to say the prayer themselves, which works probably two-thirds of the time.
Often as we leave, the person or family we visited thanks us for coming, saying they have never before had a Senior Couple in their home. Almost as often, they ask us to come back for dinner. So far we have been able to say we cannot due to prior commitments, but I don’t know how long that excuse will work. We are concerned about our health safety, especially with the water and foods that may not have been cooked at a high enough temperature.
We have gone out with the missionaries 8 times now, and are beginning to understand what we need to do to assist them. I do not think going out with the missionaries all the time is the best use of our or their time, but that an occasional visit at the missionary’s invitation would be best, with our time used to independently visit members on our own. There are some challenges we will have to overcome to visit members without the missionaries, such as the language barrier and our not knowing where they live. We may have to find someone who can translate and knows where the members live.
I believe the best use of our time will be to work with the recently baptized converts. Keeping new members active has been a challenge here and that will probably be our best function. We will present some of our ideas to the Branch Presidents to receive their guidance since they know the people. We are thinking Julia can teach piano and music directing and I can assist in English language training.
It is good to hear from you. I admire your sense of adventure and faith to leave familiar comforts and take big risks.
When Scott and Jamie lived in Taiwan, Jamie said one of the first things she did was memorize phonetically the names of every major street withing 10 miles of their home, and then to recognize those names written in Mandarin conji on street signes. She got lost once walking around the city, and when she finally found a familiar landmark and got home, she decided it was time to become navigationally skilled. You might consider that option yourselves. They also bought a 125cc motorcycle, which saved lots of money on transportation. You could buy a couple of them and do just as well too.
I hope you continue to enjoy the service and that you make a few new converts of your own.
Love you,
Dave and Kathy