John & Carol Homer arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last Thursday (Oct. 9) to pick up their daughter, Jessa, who has just completed her 18-month mission there.  The Homers were so nice to deliver a package to Sam for us.  They went to Teuk Thla on Sunday (Oct. 12) and found Sam at church.  They took the following photos and sent them to us.  John also called us on Sunday to tell us that Sam looks great and is doing really well--such a comforting report!

Jessa, John, Carol, & Sam outside the LDS Church in Teuk Thla, Cambodia

Sam with his new Khmae companion.  I think the bag Sam's holding contains ties
John brought from the US.  John had learned that many of the Khmae men don't own
ties, so before his trip, he gathered a bunch of them to donate.  I think Sam
is supposed to give them to his branch president so he can distribute them.

Above & below:  John snapped these candid shots showing Sam engaged in the work!  Isn't he precious?!?!?

Okay~Following are the email and pictures we got from Sam later Sunday night (Oct. 12, 2014).  As usual, I am inserting our questions to him, and italicizing them.

From: Samuel Christensen <samuel.christensen@myldsmail.net>

Subject: It's still hot in Cambodia

Date: October 12, 2014 10:41:58 PM MDT

Hey Guys,

Did you get the package we sent?  So yes, I got your package from the Homers. Thanks so much, there was a lot of good stuff. The little pouch magic trick especially will get everybody's attention. I don't know if Hi-chews are Asian or not. Have you ever had Milkita candies? They're all over the place here and are pretty good. John said the other day that this is probably the best 2 years...of Nate's life. He's probably right.

So yeah, I'm still in the same area, and it's actually pretty fun because now I'm the only one that knows the area and the people, so instead of being a little sidekick following along, now I get to actually do something that I feel has meaning instead of just tagging along. My companion is 23 years old and he's been a member for 13. He knows a lot of English, but his accent is a little hard sometimes. I think he's excited to have an American companion because then he gets to practice his English. And because he practices his English and told me that when I speak to him he wants me to speak English, my language isn't quite like I think you all think it is. Also, we live in a 2-person house so it's just the two of us. Not four. He does cook pretty good even though I think the sanitation is a bit suspect. I know you keep saying to do everything I know is clean and sanitary, but most of the time I just let him go to town and do his thing. He cooks and I wash everything.

Last Monday's front-page Deseret News headline announced, "Same-sex marriage now legal in Utah."  Is this an issue in Cambodia?  I haven't met anyone who's gay in Cambodia, so as far as I know it isn't really a thing. I don't know, maybe it is.

Do many Cambodians have TV sets and/or cell phones?  I would say about 50-50 have tvs. Even really poor people often have tvs. Their programming is terrible though! They have the lamest shows you've ever seen. And everyone has some type of phone, even if they don't have money on it.

When Elder Yorgason was here before, it was easy to not--I don't know how to say this--not be the one who was working hard, because I knew that everything was going to get done and be all right. Now that he's gone, it's more of a choice to work hard or be a little more lax. Kind of like when a kid goes off to college and makes decisions for him or herself, or a mother bird leaves the nest. So I actually get to choose to work hard and do everything that's good because it's better that way. Cause if I didn't push it and do it maybe now it wouldn't get done.

We just finished conference the other day. I was actually excited to watch it. The Saturday morning session was so good! There is no way that it is that good every time and I just sleep through it.....right? My favorite talks were Lynn G. Robbins, Christofferson, I think it was Uchtdorf. Then Holland's was also good in the later session and Bednar's was good too.

Have you heard anything about the new church movie, "Meet the Mormons"?  I'd be really interested to watch that movie. Hopefully it gets a lot of attention and a lot of good press. You haven't seen it yet?

Ok, I'm in a hurry and have to go. I don't want to turn into that lame, typical missionary that only talks about working on his mission and boring spiritual stuff. Don't let me become THAT guy.

"Here's our friend that heard the whisperings from the Spirit about tithing...

...and another classic sign. No grenades in grocery stores, people."

P.S.  Hey I just watched the trailer for Meet the Mormons. You guys should definitely go see that.