Jun 12, 2014 Spiked Chocolates

Another week, another set of adventures! Seriously, every single day here is just a blast. It's interesting for me to see what makes the days fun and exciting. Oddly enough, it's not the adventures, the new things, the language, the food or anything related to that at all. What makes this whole thing fun is the work. Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone I meet and inviting them to apply His teachings and change their lives. That's a thrill. There is nothing more important, exciting or fun than this work! There really isn't! Short confession: I didn't really think I would like my mission. I knew it was the right thing to do but I didn't really enjoy going to three hours of church on Sundays or meetings/firesides, teaching with the missionaries, home teaching etc. and I figured missions would be more of the same. My mission here certainly has changed me, and now, this work that I might have dubbed a chore 5 years ago is my whole life and I LOVE IT! Teaching and serving others and doing the work of the Lord is the most rewarding thing I've ever been a part of. Kind of going in circles here at this point but yeah, just wanted to share.

Well, we had a special activity for our English Class this last week where we had everyone create paper Facebook profiles and play get to know you games and word games and stuff. At the end we had some fruit and cookies and stuff to share and all gathered together to eat and talk before heading home. Elder Quirante and I were talking to one of our recent converts, Sophal, as we wrapped up the activity. He pulled some chocolates out of his bag, popped one and offered us some as well. The chocolates were pretty small and shaped like bottles. Biting into mine I was kind of shocked when it squirted juice, but Elder Quirante was smarter and just ate the whole thing. As I chewed on the chocolate I had a weird feeling, almost like I was drinking cough syrup. The liquid in the candy seemed to have some kick to it! Elder Quirante and I looked at each other then at the wrappers and found that the candies were made by a popular beer company in Cambodia. A little shocked, we spit the chocolate out.  Poor Sophal felt really bad. He was really funny about the whole thing! As for me, I thought it interesting that of all the ways I could accidentally drink (injest?) alcohol it was from a piece of chocolate while I was at the church. 

Well, I feel like I haven't typed for very long but I am definitely out of time! Last week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Church in Cambodia. It was a great thing.  Most significantly, two stakes were organized and the first Khmer Bishops and Stake Presidents have already been ordained. President Moon sent us some thoughts about this in an email to all the missionaries. He said: 

"There has only been one other time in the history of the Church that the first two stakes in a country have been created on the same day.   The only other time that has happened was in Ghana, in Africa. That happened just a little over 20 years ago today.  At that time the church in Ghana was about the same size that it is today in Cambodia.  What does the Church look like now in Ghana-- 20 years after those first two stakes were created?  I don't know what the church will look like in Cambodia in 20 more years, but it is interesting to see what has happened in the 20 years since those first two stakes were created in Ghana.  Today there are almost 60,000 members in Ghana, 168 wards and branches, 4 missions, 1 temple, and an MTC.  What a wonderful thing to think about the future of the Church here in Cambodia.  You are part of a great work-- a miraculous work. One member at a time.  One step at a time.  One miracle at a time.  What a wonderful thing to be a part of that miracle in people's lives as they come to know the truth of the gospel and receive the blessings of joy and eternal life that it can bring as they accept and live the truth."

I have personally seen the joy the gospel brings into people's life's. I know that every one of us, where ever we our on our journey, we can set right now as the time to recommit to be more devoted to following Christ more completely.

Love y'all, 

-Elder Vore