Sam sent the following email, photos, & video clips on Sunday, October 25, 2015.  Our questions/comments are in italics.

October 25, 2015 at 11:43 pm

Subject:  Doing Good

Hey Guys,

I'm kind of out of time a little bit because I wasted my time and now we're going to play basketball. But I'll tell you that we're doing good. We were wondering if it’s coming up on another mission transfer time.  But we are pretty sure you and Elder Riches will be staying together regardless.  Don’t greenies stay with their trainers 12 weeks minimum? We just started the transfer last Thursday, and we're looking to make this one better than last. I'm still with Elder Riches, as expected, and we're doing good. He's great to be with and we're working really hard to try and help the area. We had some ups and some downs with our investigators, as always, but trying to stay positive. We figured we got the phone numbers of about 25% of the people we contact, which is pretty solid odds. We're happy to be out here. I sent you guys some videos that can make up for the lack of writing. Someone please remix Om Leang singing all I do is win, everytime I step into the building everybody's hands go up. That'll blow up YouTube.  Is that cute man that you taught to say the phrase, “All I do is win every day!” a member of the church? Yes, he's a Mormon and is off the wall. Have a good week!

Heidi's Note:  After clicking on the Video Link below, the clip will open in Dropbox.  Do not click the large "Play" triangle in the center of the video because the video quality here is poor.  Instead, click the blue "Download" button at the top of the screen, and then click "Direct Download."  This will download the clip to your computer where you can view it on a QuickTime or other video player where the video quality will be better.  
Video Link:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/057zxu6xnbtd55z/Oct%2025%2C%202015%20Om%20Leang%20.mov?dl=0

Outhouses....perhaps?

Sam sent the following email & photos on Sunday, October 18, 2015:

Subject:  The Cubs, Really? The CUBS!!

Hey guys, what's up

We did the best we could this week. We have a few good people, then also some others. Sometimes it's frustrating because we want to help all the people that we can. Like we want to help everyone, but darn for that agency thing that makes it hard for people to follow through and meet with us. It's hard because when they exercise it to not learn with us you're prone to feeling like you're failing. But we're trying to push through and sift out the bad ones. The chaff, if you will.

Had a good ponderize on "salt of the earth" this last week.

We got Monday and Tuesday to clean our apartments cause of the holiday, then all of us in the city got together and watched the Restoration the long version. That's a boss movie.

We talked to a white guy who was preaching the gospel down at one area we were at. Well actually we tried to talk to him but he was like "no, you're different" and he wouldn't talk to us. He wouldn't even speak in English to us. Really rude. We were just going to know his name and talk to him but he's like naa naa. 

One lady dropped a bag as she was riding on her moto, so I stopped and picked it up for her. As I was handing it back to her it sounded like people were laughing at me. But then I realized that was just the chickens going crazy inside her bag.

People don't have great lesson etiquette. Like the one guy who decided to pluck nose hairs in the middle of the lesson.

Even though the work sometimes feels a little disappointing in this area because it's not super fast, we're still doing good things and I think we're doing it to the best of our ability. I'm going to go so hard on missionary work when I get home. You know, it's not so hard to talk to people about religion, they've just got to know that you really care about them first.

It is pretty warm here but by now I'm totally used to it and we're out in it all day, everyday.

Peace and Love you guys!

Also, remember that friendly waves and confidence will get you wherever you want to go, even if you're probably not supposed to be there.

Sam sent the following email, video clips, & photos on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015.

Subject:  Pchum Hauy

October 11, 2015 at 11:34 pm 

Glad to know you all liked my poem.

Well the work was hurt a little bit by various activities like zone training, general conference, and everyone leaving to go to their srok for Pchum Ben. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands will roll forth, unless a Cambodian holiday comes through, in which case the stone breaks into a million little pieces and goes to hibernate for a few days before reassembling itself and rolling forth until the great Jehovah will come and say the work is done. Thanks Daniel.

But seriously, everyone is vacated out of the city right now and the mission is mandating us to clean our houses thoroughly tonight and tomorrow because they think it's better than just driving around and not having anywhere to go. 

Conference was good. I liked a lot of what was said. I thought it was interesting in somebody's talk how they said that Laman and Lemuel had many faith-building opportunities, but didn't really put themselves into trying to want to believe.

We are trying to keep reigns on our investigators and I'm feeling a little better about some of them. They are really busy, but we are still going to help them to progress.

Note for next time: lock the door that you watched the english session of general conference in before the next session, because if you don't, the first counselor and his wife and their baby will go in there and take a nap on the floor and use the tablecloth as a blanket and he will also have his shirt off for some reason. Also, knock before reentering any rooms you may have previously inhabited. Just a word to the wise.

I got some videos for you on dropbox. Picture-wise, we see that English is still a very difficult language to learn.

Heidi's Note:  The video link is below.  When you click on it, the video will open in Dropbox.  Once there, I noticed that if you click on the center triangle to play the video, the quality is a little choppy.   So, instead of clicking on this triangle, find the box labeled "Open" in the top right corner of your screen, and click on it.  This should open the video with the QuickTime player, and the quality will be better.  

https://www.dropbox.com/s/udaksukrzfsv7g0/Oct%2011%2C%202015%20.mov?dl=0

I think my personal favorite is, "Semianal."

Sam is on the far left.  His companion, Elder Riches, is third from the left.
I don't know the names of the other two elders.

Sam sent the following email, photos, and video clips on Sunday, October 4, 2015.  I'm sorry it has taken me all week to get it posted.  We upgraded our computer's operating system, and it really threw me off my groove!  Painful!

October 4, 2015 at 10:59 pm

I've got some old videos I put on dropbox for you guys,

We worked hard and had a good week last week. We were loving mixing adages this week at home. I also got a "new" bike this week so we're a lot more mobile than before. Much like in Remember the Titans we are "mobile, agile, hostile." Naw I'm just kidding, but it's nice to have gears that work. We'll watch conference this week. We got 5 more new investigators this week. Still trying to have patience to wait for these guys to progress. But Elder Riches and I at least feel like we're doing our part.

We took our trash out once this week and that was something that I never want to do in my life again. Pretty nasty stuff.

We're doing good, we're seeing miracles. I wrote a poem earlier today:

Compensation

I'd like to think when life is done

That I had filled a needed post,

That here and there I'd paid my fare

With more than idle talk and boast;

That I had taken gifts divine,

The breath of life and manhood fine,

And tried to use them now and then

In service for my fellow men.

I'd hate to think when life is through

That I had lived my round of years

A useless kind, that leaves behind

No record in this vale of tears;

That I had wasted all my days

By treading only selfish ways,

And that this world would be the same

If it had never known my name.

I'd like to think that here and there,

When I am gone, there shall remain

A happier spot that might have not

Existed had I toiled for gain;

That some one's cheery voice and smile

Shall prove that I had been worth while;

That I had paid with something find

My debt to God for life divine.

Just something that just came to me. Actually, I didn't write it, but I did find it in my desk and thought it was apt and very good. Well done, Edgar A. Guest. I think it rings true on several levels, but I'm not feeling like breaking it down. We're trying to bring smiles to everyone's faces, and then invite them to change their lives and learn about Jesus Christ. How great is our calling!

I miss you guys and love you. Peace!

Video Clip: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ijtreztfdr1kdr1/Oct%204%202015%20%20copy.mov?dl=0

Hey, this is 4 of us from our group of 6. They came over and did an exchange with us 

and it was really fun. Good guys

Youths can change the world.............with the guidance from adults. 

What an almost inspirational quote