Cambodia Town and Me

So this week was good! I still can't believe that I am training. It is good for

me. I know it was inspired.  This area we are in is tough, and there is 

much progressing going on, but we are going to work hard.  We are not 

afraid to hit the pavement and put in the time and effort that's needed.

I am so excited for this Saturday.  It is Khmer New Year!  It is going to be 

an absolute blast.  Everyone has been planning and preparing for a 

really fun time.  We will also be holding a special sacrament meeting on

Sunday as well.  I need to give a shout out to our mission nurse.  She is

really awesome and I am really grateful for her and all she has done for 

me and our mission.  I hope everyone is enjoying springtime where ever 

you are.  Love, Elder Liddell

Goodbye 2014...What an amazing year!

First off, I want to say thank you for all of the awesome letters, gifts, presents, and love that I have felt this Christmas! I don't have very much time really at all to write back, but I do really enjoy getting the letters, and reading them! I hope that my weekly email suffices for my lack of letter writing!

One of the highlights of a recent conference for me, was that I got to sing with 7 other Elders an a Capella version of Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy. We made President Tew cry, so I think that gets us brownie points in Heaven. When I get the chance to share my musical talent, I always feel the spirit. I think back to the times that I've felt the spirit the strongest, and it is generally because of a moving hymn, or other musical number. I'm so grateful Sister Tew called me and asked me to arrange a number, it was a great experience!

The rest of last week was great! Korean BBQ, of course, was super filling. I was way overstuffed for days (if you know what I mean). Luckily we didn't have too much to eat until the Christmas party Saturday night. That party by the way was AWESOME. Our ward definitely throws some of the best church parties there are... There are really good opportunity's to fellowship, and set up lessons with people that we don't see too often! As a way to bridge the culture gap, we Elders learned how to do the Cambodian dance, Rom Vong Angkor, and performed it for over 200 people! They loved it! It was really fun, and really hard not to laugh at times. Chan, one of our Recent Converts from this year, taught us how to do part of the dance.

Recently I had It was one of the most amazing lessons of my life.  Sometimes it's easy in missionary work to brush off quick lessons about prayer, or small points of doctrine, but this lesson and the individual I taught proved to me that every second counts.  I won't know if people will use what I teach, but I have to be that one to offer,

and act as a servant of Jesus Christ. It gave me motivation to never give up!

Things are great in Long Beach.  I am surrounded by awesome people.  I have come to truly appreciate my many blessings; my friends and family, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially the people I serve.  The Cambodian members made my birthday so much fun, and cooked an awesome Thanksgiving feast for all of the Elders.  Below are some photos of a day in the life of this humble missionary... I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

I Can't Believe it's October!

I'm finally feeling like I'm getting a hang of this Zone Leader thing. It's pretty crazy, especially being split, but it's getting done! We had my first leadership meeting on Tuesday,  It was great.   President and Sister Tew's training were really good! I learn a lot about relying on the spirit, and developing Christlike attributes in order to lead.

The primary party had a fun water activity that we helped set up. It was crazy that that was my second one that I've gone to.  Soon all the Holidays will be here, and time will fly even faster! My mission is going by really fast right now, whereas at the begging it felt SO slow!  I miss the seeing the changing colors of the leaves and the drives through the beautiful canyons in Utah.  October here will bring new Cambodian speaking Elders which is what we have all been looking forward to.  Our ward is having a Halloween party...Disney themed....I have loved our fun family times there, with friends (Candice & Tyler, etc..) and family meeting us there for a great time.  

Wishing you all a happy fall!  

End of Summer

This week was really fun. Last P-Day was really enjoyable, and we had a blast! We went to the Living Planet Aquarium at the Pike. That was fun going back there after so many years! It's still really cool, and I would definitely go back. We found coupons in our mail for 50% off, so it was only about 15 dollars. We saw a lot of members (that we didn't know) and a lot of people said hi. We also met a returned missionary employee there, and she gave us nectar for the bird encounter. Elder Clawson had birds attack him and he spilled the nectar everywhere!

The best part was the shark touch pool. We touched stingrays and crabs too. We got to look at all the exhibits, and a sea lion show too.

After that, our week was again a fantastic week! For some reason there was an extremely high attendance at Sacrament meeting, and we almost had to open the back doors! That's my dream, I want those doors open!

We are teaching a new family. George and Sophi are less active members that we found while contacting a referral. He basically told us he really wants to come back to church, so we volunteered to help with that! Then, we started teaching his 3 boys that are all baptismal age, and our lessons are SUPER fun! George's wife is still a work in progress, but things are going great with them. I expect a baptism soon. 

A Leap of Faith

So this week was pretty awesome. Something that is really hard for us is
finding SOLID people that will stick with us and progress. This is
especially hard in the car area because the church building is about 30
minutes away from everyone in North Long Beach. Well, I think we've started
to make things happen. The Stake Presidency asked us try to seek out Priesthood holders in the Park Ward if it is going to continue to be a ward. So, taking a leap of faith, I went through our ward list and higlighted every male with the Priesthood, or that is un-ordained and left it
at that. Well, as we went tracting, talking to everyone, etc. we started to
notice that we kept meeting males. Now this is strange because 80 percent
of the people I have taught on my mission have been females. But anyway, long
story short, we found a less active family who really wants to return to church-with 3
BOYS baptismal age, and a father who wants to come back. We also have found
2 more LA priesthood holders recently and have picked up many male
investigators. It's SO cool to see how when the Lord wants something done,
and there is a need, if we ask in faith an act, we will be the instruments
to get it done.
Elder Liddell

Here's the latest from Cambodia Town.
We are so lucky to have such great people to serve and serve with. Everything from awesome members like Seynin, going with us to teach, a sweet member named Sandy taking us out for sushi, countless meals from Sinuon, and so many other examples.

On Saturday the Stake held a big Pioneer picnic. It was awesome, and there was a lot of good food. That was the entirety of us celebrating the pioneers, they don't do too much of that here. 

On Sunday they asked me to play the piano for Primary. After opening exercises they pulled out their laptop and speakers, and kindly excused me to go to Priesthood. (I probably should try and practice more next time). Elder Clawson was laughing so hard when that happened. During the birthday song, I realized that I don't know how to play the ending, so there was no ending.

Besides that we did the normal, of finding, and teaching. Soon we'll be baptizing. Next SundayAngelina, is getting baptized. She's super, super awesome. She's the same age as will, it's really fun to teach her. Her mom and sister are recent converts as well.

We met a awesome Cambodian named Weisee who is in a wheelchair, and works at a watch store. He is really nice and friends with some members in the ward. We think he'll get baptized.

Angelina and Vincent were sick, and had funerals two weeks in a row, so they haven't been confirmed yet! Yikes. Well, next week we can try again! Sometime things come up, but they are awesome.

We went to Garden Grove BLVD and Beach BlVD on the south side of the street (Still in our mission boundaries) to contact a referral. We also have a potential in Seal Beach. We're really excited to get to go and teach somewhere new. New scenery is always good. 

Things are going really well. I hope everyone's summer is going great!