Utah Nature

The Blessings of Obedience

admin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:20:51 +0000

We have met some wonderful members here as we have attended our assigned Branches, who are filled with faith and who carry the spirit with them. One we visited several weeks ago told of loving her husband more after joining the church. This particular family appeared quite happy and was improving their home for we could see construction in their back yard. One of their sons, who attended our visit had served a mission in Cambodia and had become proficient in English by serving with English-speaking missionary companions and had a fairly good job.

In contrast, we went with the missionaries last Friday, visiting several families in a much poorer area and met with a family whose home was a lean-to against a wall next to a dirt track. Neither Julia nor I took a picture of the home out of respect for the family because it was so ramshackle, consisting of warn-out tarps stretched over poles covering two old bed platforms. This family consisted of the father, mother and three children, aged from about 16 (?) to 8, two girls and a boy. The family had not been coming to church and we were there to encourage their attendance. They proudly showed us pictures of their baptism all dressed in white, except for their little boy who wasn’t old enough then. The pictures showed the Sister Missionaries who had taught them.

Apparently, soon after their baptism, the father went back to drinking with his friends, and didn’t have enough money to fix their moto to take the family to church.

This brother asked me what suggestions we had to help him get to church. I was somewhat at a loss for words but finally suggested, as the missionaries had, that he stop drinking and fix the moto. I asked if they prayed as a family, which they said they did every day, so I asked if they read the scriptures and the answer was ‘no, they don’t know how to read’. I was dumbfounded. This father and mother did not know how to read and had not taught their children how to read either.

During the Pol-Pot era, all the educated people were herded up and murdered. The only way to stay alive was to be uneducated or convince the soldiers you were uneducated. Many of the older people are still uneducated while the younger people are smart and are seeking education.

As we were speaking to this family, an older gentleman, in a wheel chair was wheeled up to listen to our conversation. Perhaps the attitude of ‘it is dangerous to be educated’ comes from some of the older generation who survived the Pol-Pot era. Whatever the reason, it saddened me to see these children not having a basic education.

As with visits with others, I felt the father’s question to me was a thinly-veiled request for a hand-out. Unfortunately, although we are directed not to give money to members or investigators here, I feel such gifts will not change their lives. They will spend the gift on whatever they value most at the time, but will not change their living style or their behavior. Only the gospel, obediently followed will cause a lasting change in their lives, bringing prosperity. The spirit when followed causes people to desire to change their lives, seeking education and improvement. When this happens, then the Lord can bless them with more opportunity.

The Lord does not need nor want an impoverished people, but wants to have an obedient and powerful people. When I last spoke in church, I told the people that it is not possible for us to know where we will end up in life, that when Julia and I started out we had no idea which way the Lord would take us. And so it is with them, if they are obedient, the Lord will direct their path leading them to much better circumstances than they can now imagine. The key is being obedient to the commandments and following the Spirit.

On this same trip, we passed by many homes that earlier had seemed really impoverished, and they are, but that first home we visited showed me that there are levels of poverty. Here is a representative of one of these homes. The big pots in the front of the home store water, which may come from rains or be delivered (no one I asked knew which).

Home built over a Ditch

Many of these homes have shiny motos in front of them indicating that a family member has a job in the city which they travel to each day. The swarms of motos in and out of the city attest to this. I have never seen so many small motorcycles, often laden with 3 to 4 people passing the tuk-tuks I have ridden in.

What I see as I ride tuk-tuks around here is an industrious people. When I mentioned this observation to one of the other Senior Couples, they told me the obvious, “They have to be or they starve. There are no government social programs here.” There seem to be numerous NGO (Non Government Organizations) that do help the poor but I don’t see any of them having the ability to reach all the needy people.

As I visit different places, I see people begging, the same person at each place, such as the old lady in front of the local bakery. But more often, I see people trying to offer something from the over-priced books being sold by the one-legged man or the older lady sitting on the floor with a scale at the Central Market. I didn’t buy the book but I did weigh myself. One of the most common ways enterprising people obtain tips is to guide vehicles trying to back up out onto the roadway. Men will stand in back of the vehicle, stop the traffic (or try to) and motion the driver to back up. The common payment for this service is 1000 riels, about 25 cents. Most of the drivers I know purchase $20 worth of 1000 riel notes just to pay for this and other services.

Blackout

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:31:08 +0000

Since we moved into this home in Ta Khmau, we have not had any Internet access and have not seen a newspaper, not for the lack of trying. We have had a lot of work to do to move into the home and get everything in the proper place.

Last Friday, I ordered an ADSL Internet connection from MetFone, the company the landlady said they had difficulty with and that we should not use, however the price was right, $33 a month for 1 mb (midnight to 7 PM, 512 mb 7 PM to midnight), a ‘promotion’ they are having. They promised connectivity within 3 days. The salesman never told me what equipment I needed to have on my end of their service even though I asked him several times, which I attributed to the language barrier.

As I searched around the home, I found a line coming into the home in a room that had a desk in it, which I assume was used as an office. This line has what looks like 50 feet of cable coiled and a twisted connection leading to a standard phone jack which connected to an ADSL router. Small wonder the Landlady had connectivity problems. Twisting wires together does not make for a reliable data connection and a coil of wire acts as an inductor, inhibiting the signal flow.

Hand-twisted Wire Splice

I suspect I will have to purchase an ADSL modem or router but I don’t know yet if one is provided as part of the service.

Having been used to Internet access in my home for the past 16 years, going without connectivity has been a real challenge for both Sister Tuck and I. Add to this the birthday of our oldest daughter during this period and our inability to send birthday greetings which caused additional grief. That said, I remember walking past an Internet café where they had several rows of computers connected to the Internet, which we could have used, but the thought never entered our minds because we always had access from home.

This has given me a new appreciation for the pioneers of yester-year who left home without any expectation of ever being able to communicate back home, save perhaps a letter or two having an uncertain delivery. I am thankful for the modern communications capability we have today throughout the world.

Update

The ADSL line was installed on Monday as promised but the existing cable was replaced with a new one. Interestingly, the cable splice was transferred to the new line, but the speed program said I had 2MBPS, so perhaps the hand splice doesn’t matter. This is certainly not how I would have done it but since I do not have any soldering or crimping tool equipment here, I cannot fix it. Also interesting was we were able to reuse the ADSL router (really a modem) left by the landlady.

We are still plagued by power failures every day so when I found a small computer shop where I purchased some 10 meter Internet cables ($3.50 each), I checked on the price of a UPS. They had a 750 watt UPS for $38, which looked like a fair price, although I would rather have a larger one just to keep my modem and router running during these outages.

I am amazed at some of the prices I see here. I don’t recognize the brands, but the prices seem quite reasonable. For example, I bought a power strip with 5 switched plugs for $7. I expect it would have been twice that in the US.

The Final Turn-over

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:54:03 +0000

Our landlady visited yesterday and took the remaining items we did not want from the home. It was filled with many beautiful and expensive knickknacks which we did not want responsibility for. She took them and the inside Buddhist shrines, the big outside shrine goes later.

But, she also told us of other things we had to do or pay for. Apparently, the electric bill is hand delivered each month, and can run from $60 to $200, depending on how much hot water and air conditioning we use. Next comes the water bill, which comes every 2 months, also hand delivered. This should run about $10. Then finally, the village chief will deliver the garbage pickup bill at the end of each month, which is 5000 reils, about $1.25. All this hand delivery has us worried since we may be out and about when the person comes.

Next we found that we need to fly the Cambodian Flag on National Holidays. There is a long steel pipe beside the home that is used for this purpose. It is to be placed into a special socket in front of the home in the morning and retrieved in the evening – if it is left out it could be stolen. Since we do not have a Cambodian Flag, our landlady will bring us one. The problem I foresee is knowing when a National Holiday happens.

We also received a lesson about watering the plants and feeding the fish. I had been watering the plants but happened to notice the fish accidently and wondered about feeding it. We have in a large ceramic water pot some water plants with a huge white Koi fish swimming around in it. Apparently, this fish needs to be fed 2-3 times a day using some special fish food. It should be quite hungry because I haven’t fed it for a week now. The landlady promised to bring some fish food today when she comes to pick up the larger items she didn’t have room for before. I expect this special fish food is the more expensive brand because it is only available from Lucky’s Supermarket.

Water Pot

White Koi in Pot

The landlady brought some fish food which turned out to be some small spherical pellets that are sprinkled on the top of the water. There seemed to be no specific rhyme or reason to the quantity or placement of the pellets, but each packet is supposed to last 2 weeks of twice-a-day feedings. I hope I remember.

The landlady couldn’t find her Cambodian flag, so we purchased a new one for the huge sum of $4.00. Since Tuesday was a National Holiday, we flew it outside the home.

Flying the Cambodian Flag on a National Holiday

Big Money

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:13:34 +0000

We are in our new home, and it is beautiful – to look at. As with anyplace you look at more closely, there are the downsides. But first, the upsides. Did I say it is beautiful?

Most homes and public buildings have ceramic tile floors throughout, but here the entry, kitchen, bathrooms and utility rooms have ceramic tile but the rest of the home has dark wood floors. The doors, door and window frames, cupboards, clothes armoires and curio shelves are all matching dark wood. When I first saw it, I thought this place was certainly opulent, and it truly is.

Looking from the entry into the kitchen

Downstairs has the entry, a spacious dining room with a huge (massive) table with 10 matching chairs, a large modern kitchen, a utility (storage) room and two bathrooms.

Upstairs has a large sitting area and veranda, two master bedrooms, a servant’s bedroom and an office or computer room. Each bedroom has an adjoining bathroom. The ceilings are high, probably 3 meters which is why the staircase has 20 very tall steps.

Sitting Room

Surprisingly, there are no ceiling fans in any of the rooms, but each major room except for the kitchen has an air conditioner in it.

The entire yard is surrounded by a tall fence with sharp-pointed steel bars facing upward. The main gate is on rollers and has a door built into it, both secured with massive locks. When you leave, you have to reposition the door lock so it can be locked and opened through an outside opening. Heaven forbid you should lose the key while out and about.

Front yard and gate

Detail of Gate Lock

We were warned that the front master bedroom, which is close to the street is noisier but cooler and the back master bedroom is warmer but quieter. We initially settled into the front bedroom but it really was noisier. People on the street seemed to party deep into the night, so we moved to the back bedroom the second night. The decision point was not the noise, but the bathroom is somewhat larger for the back bedroom, but the shower is inconvenient. As it turned out, the family behind us played games with their children until about 9 o’clock making all kinds of noise, but then is was quiet, or almost quiet. There is some animal around here that screams like a hurt dog a good part of the day and night. We have no real idea what it is, but wish someone would hush it up.

The noisy animal reminded us of an event that occurred on one of our non-member visits with the missionaries. I was asked to give the opening prayer when all the sudden, a rooster began to crow. As I spoke louder the rooster crowed louder. As soon as my prayer ended, the rooster shut up, not to be heard of more. It was as if the rooster was in league with the dark side and didn’t want me to pray. When we told this story to the other Senior Couple Missionaries, one of them told about a monkey and a rooster being caged together in the same cage. The third day they found the rooster had been strangled. While I was praying, the thought of rooster stew did not enter my mind, but it has since.

We have been advised not to have the local members come into our home, and I can see wisdom in that. They already think we are rich, seeing this home would certainly cinch it. Today, as the Internet salesman left the home, he asked what the home cost to rent. I told him “Big Money”. He grinned and left.

We are being moved

admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:06:30 +0000

Yes, we visited a number of homes in the Ta Khmau area, led by the real estate agent contracted to the Mission, looking at possible places we could move to make our work in Ta Khmau more effective.

When we arrived in Cambodia, the Mission had acquired an apartment for us in Phnom Penh, in a nice brand new high rise apartment building. The apartment is small but well situated within the city, but not so well situated given that we are assigned to work in Ta Khmau and Kean Svay. Tuk-tuk costs to get into our areas is prohibitively expensive and we are feeling the pinch.

About 10 days ago, President Smedley contacted us through Elder Snyder, the Senior Missionary who runs the mission office, to see if we would be willing to move out into the Ta Khmau area to be closer to the people. The Mission had an apartment already rented that had been used to house Sister Missionaries who had been previously assigned to the area. To help us with this decision, Elder Snyder took us to the apartment so we could look it over. The apartment looked like a disaster to us because it was a serious downgrade from where we currently live and several aspects of it would be extremely difficult for Julia, such as the steep outside stairs used to get into the apartment.

So we prayed about it, and felt it was wise for us to relocate to be nearer the people we were to serve, and wrote an acceptance email to Elder Snyder, even though we were not enthused about the apartment. When Elder Snyder discussed our acceptance with President Smedley, the President suggested looking for a home we could rent reasonably rather than using the apartment. So we went on a house-hunting trip.

The first home we looked at, a villa really, was across the street and up a few properties from the Ta Khmau Chapel, and was absolutely beautiful. Next to it, none of the other properties compared favorably, but we did see another home about a kilometer from the church that was more plain, adequate and cheaper. I favored the less expensive home, but Julia wanted the first one we saw. I could see the writing on the wall, but held to my opinion long enough to check out the two places again. I was won over by the proximity to the church, which was ‘just across the street’.

So Elder Snyder and the real estate fellow negotiated a deal and we are to move in on February 1.

If you want to see where it is, use Google Earth – the Chapel is at 11° 28’ 32.75” North, 104° 56’ 54.46” East and the home is at 11° 28’ 33.07” North, 104° 56’ 50.99” East. Here’s the front gate. I’ll get indoor pictures when we move in (perhaps).

The Front Gate

I hesitated to show this because everyone will think we are not here to serve others but have come to live like kings. Please remember, this was not my idea.

Go and do what needs to be done

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:27:33 +0000

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.

Tuk-tuks

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:49:54 +0000

We use tuk-tuks to get wherever we need to go, most often using the same tuk-tuk and driver, Mr. Sam OL. Since our assignment is to Ta Khmao and Kien Svay, we have been having Sam drive us there to the Chapels where we pick up the young missionaries and ride out to visit inactive members and investigators. So far, each time we have driven out of Phnom Penh, it has cost us $20 to go out and back. In the last two weeks we have spent almost $200, probably substantially increasing Mr. Sam’s income.

Mr. Sam and his Tuk-tuk

We were told that the average tuk-tuk driver makes $100 a month. I find that hard to believe, but there does seem to be a glut of tuk-tuks around the city. We see a large number parked waiting for customers. As we walk about or exit the markets we have several drivers aggressively ask us if we need a ride, so business must be slack right now.

I believe the tuk tuk we normally ride in is slower than most others because other passenger laden tuk-tuks often pass us and several times, after dropping off the Elders at the church when we complete our visits, they pass us riding their bicycles, but it beats walking.

Lexus Vehicles

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:43:58 +0000

Perhaps the most popular vehicle line seen in Phnom Penh is the Lexus. This is astounding given the poverty level of most of the people, however, just owning a Lexus apparently isn’t enough, some have to flaunt it.

Lexus Label on a Lexus

This label has a 3D affect and seems to be made of a thick vinyl.

Perhaps if you have a Lexus and are feeling under appreciated, I could get one for you. (We joked about putting this sign on a Hundai at home.)

Money and the Cost of Goods and Services

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:36:12 +0000

The local currency is the Real, that trades officially for about 4080 per US Dollar, but the real currency here IS the US Dollar. All the cash machines dispense dollars and everything is priced in dollars. If something costs less than a whole number of dollars, change is given in reals at 4000 per dollar.

There are no coins here, everything is paper money. The common denominations that I have received are:

100 Real Note – 2.5 cents, 500 Real Note – 12.5 cents, 1000 Real Note – 25 Cents and a 2000 Real Note – 50 Cents (not pictured). I understand there are larger notes, but I have not seen them. Each note is slightly larger as the value rises. Shown with a dollar for size comparison.

Cambodian Money with US Dollar

It appears the customary tip for someone opening the door for you is 500 reals. If they actually do something more worthwhile, the tip is 1000 reals. For example, in crowded places, someone may help guide your vehicle as you back out of a stall. In this case the customary tip is 1000 reals, or about 25 Cents.

Note that real business is transacted here in dollars.

It appears there are two prices on the street, the amount charged when selling to a Khmai (what they call themselves) and the amount charged when selling to a foreigner. Therefore there is some expectation of haggling to get to the real price. For example, last night coming home from visiting with another missionary couple, we flagged down a tuk-tuk driver, showed him a business card from the apartment complex and asked ‘how much’. The price was $3, probably inflated by at least double, but I accepted it because it was dark and I had no experience with the driver to have any trust built up. We had to go about 14 blocks which in the daytime would have been a good walk.

We went looking for a wicker shelf a few days ago and found some 1.5 meters high, 1 meter wide and ½ meter deep for $27 from some shops along the road with 5 or 6 shops having the identical item at the identical price.

Gasoline seems to be running about 5000 reals per liter for regular. Diesel is a little cheaper and there seem to be a lot of vehicles that use it. A word about gasoline – some of the stalls along the road have small stands with soda bottles in them, containing a creme soda colored liquid. When we examined these more closely we found they contained gasoline. This explained the lack of normal gas stations along the roads.

Vehicles cost a lot and seem to hold their value, mostly because of a 150% import tax on the vehicle. A 2000 Toyota Camry costs about $11500. The mission service center brought in a new Ford Escape which cost them over $58000.

Items in the stores that have to be imported cost substantially more here than they do in the states. Interestingly, things are not always imported from where you expect. We bought some Snickers Bars, finding them for 85 cents on a 2 for 1 sale that were imported from Australia whereas some we had purchased the day before were from France (and they taste different from what we expected).

Our apartment rents for $700 per month and the utilities are about $150, but it is the smallest they have in the high rise.

Stalls line the roads selling whatever

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:22:20 +0000

There are places where the merchant stalls crowd out into the road. Usually, if you find a fruit seller, you find half a dozen fruit sellers. If you see a wicker furniture shop, there will be 6 to 8 in a row. There are normal stores, the kind that sell to expatriates, but you seldom see Cambodians inside. The same is true of the restaurants as well, most of the ones I would go to do not attract Cambodians.

So far we have shopped at Lucky’s, Pencil’s, Thai Haot and Sydney purchasing kitchen items, staple foods which we recognize and meats. These are markets that look like a small supermarket in the States, catering mostly to the expatriates. We haven’t purchased any foods other than fruits from the stands along the streets, yet.

Fruit Stand

You have to watch the fruit stands. The last time we bought fruit was at the end of the day and they slipped in some fruit we didn’t buy. I am not sure if we paid for it or not but we were surprised when we got to our apartment.

We also shopped in the Central Market and the Russian Market. These places are congregations of stalls offering everything from food to clothes to flowers to pots and pans – whatever. Russian Market sort-of specializes in tourist knickknacks. Both markets have a wet market, which is a meat market where they actually butcher the meat on premises, perhaps even killing the pig or chicken after you choose which one you want. Julia nearly puked.