We found them!

We destroyed our microwave which was infested with a huge cockroach nest. I promise we did not scream like girls when we opened the back cover.

BUSY HERE IN CAMBODIA TOWN

We had a baptism this week for Simon!

This is Simon (the shortest one), and he is awesome. He was very prepared by God to meet us. We one day were walking down the street, and we had seen a Buddhist house on this street many times, but we never knocked it. In fact we rode by it every day for about 7 months. Elder Clawson and I both got a prompting from the Holy Ghost that we needed to knock the house. So we knocked it, and the guy didn't want to talk to us right then, so we went around back, and knocked some more doors. All of the doors for the apartment complex had lights on, and not one of them answered the door. We were about to go back out to the street, when we noticed that we had walked by a little shack. We didn't think anyone could live in it, but we went around to the side, and it looked like there might be a light on. We knocked, and Simon opened the door. He was really excited to meet us. He lives in a one bedroom, half kitchen/bath shack. He didn't understand much of our message, but he said we could come back, so we did. We brought with us Om Ron. Om Ron is a master teacher, and within minutes Simon accepted to come to church, and met with us almost every day for about 3 weeks. Ron was the one who Baptized him, and it was an amazing sight to see. He easily could have said that he was too old, or that he wanted to go back to his Catholic church, but he decided to change his life anyway. The cool thing about this story is that Simon moved into that house just 3 days before we knocked it, and so if we had knocked his door at any other time, he would not have been there. I can still remember how strong the prompting from the spirit was to knock that door. I know that God is working miracles and preparing people like him to be baptized. He was my 8th baptism so far, and the way things have been going recently in the Cambodian community, there are going to be a lot more soon!
 We had ward conference, and I learned a lot about Buddhism and Christianity, and how similar the religions are.  I am really appreciating and loving the people here.  

New address coming.  You can send all letters to the mission home address listed in a previous post, or email me at:  nicholas.liddell@myldsmail.net

I hope you are all doing well!  Love, Elder Liddell

THE MOVE!

So we are moving tomorrow, most likely all day. Because we are the last missionaries moving out of this apartment, we have to clean it, and get everything out... So that will be a HUGE job.  That will be fun. So the way that transfers are going to work is I am going to be in another trio with Elder Clawson and Elder Tarter in the bike area, right in the middle of Cambodia town. They are downsizing it to just two areas because Elder Hicken is going home. Elder Low and Elder Fowler, are in the car area, which completely surrounds our area. It's kind of like a big donut. I am moving to an appartment on Walnut, which is a pretty interesting street. There are a lot of funny things that happen over at "The Walnut". We are moving super close to Cambodia town, which will be nice because we won't have to bike so far to get to our area. The only complaint is our appt. is on the 3rd floor, so we have to take our bikes up a few flights of stairs every day.

 I'm excited to be companions again with my MTC companion, and well, I've been companions with Elder Clawson for 6 months already, so what is another few? I'm excited because we will have a car to use, to take members out. We are going to be so busy these next few months. I was told that a Cambodian speaking missionary was called for Long Beach. I really want to know who it is! Maybe do some secret agent spying and find out! Ha ha, anyway... that's it for now.  Time to get to work!

TRANSFER TIME...NEW ADDRESS!

This week was an amazing experience for the Park Ward! We had a total of 6 baptisms, which was the most in the mission! Elder Clawson and I were able to have the opportunity to baptize a family, which is every missionary's dream! Elder Butler, who is a senior missionary baptized Jessica, the mom. Elder Clawson baptized Tharvee, and I baptized Somarly and Wannadee, as seen in the pictures. It was a fantastic service (a little long) that we had to hold in the chapel because of the number of people in attendance. The entire front row of the chapel was filled with people dressed in white, which was such a cool thing to see. It truely was a miracle. The mission president came, with his wife, to see such a miracle event. Our ward was excited, and is doing great missionary work right now. We found Jessica just over 3 weeks ago.

Funny story, when I baptized Wannadee her hair wasn't going down all the way, so when she was down almost under the water, I kind of had to shove her a little farther down, and she started squirming a little bit under the water. It worked! She was baptized, but the first thing she said after we changed was, "Were you trying to drown me??" I promptly explained the her hair was out of the water, and then she was okay with me holding her under the water, for a few seconds longer than she planned! I heard some giggles, and she had the biggest smile on her face that I've ever seen! The whole family was so excited, and now really want their dad to get work off on Sundays, so he can get baptized too! The Lord gave a miracle to Elder Clawson and I right before transfers. We are most likely ending our 6 month long companionship next Tuesday. We've learned a lot together, and are going to miss our area, and converts a lot!

Until I get my new address, please send all mail to the mission home: 

6500 E Atherton St

Long Beach California 90815

Me vs. Asphalt = The Asphalt Won :(

A week in the life of this missionary.  Yes, I'm alive.  The asphalt won, however.  I now have another story to tell.  

So it turns out today we went to the LA temple instead of the Newport Beach temple, but OH MY GOSH the new video in the temple is AMAZING and the LA temple is beautiful inside, so I had a really great experience. Seriously it was so good.  Today was awesome because I really got my whole mind cleared up. I was able to really think, and feel the spirit. I'm so happy to be serving here! Afterwards we went and got hot dogs at PINK'S! The same place we just went as the family in 2012 I think it was? It was a weird to be somewhere that we had all been together. We drove by Paramount and the Beverly Hills hotel, and the Hollywood sign too. It was a really fun experience!

This was awesome.The other morning, we heard squawking right outside of our door in the middle of personal study. The squawking was loud. Not like the usual pigeon or seagull. We opened our door, looked on the roof, and there were two full size green parrots on the roof! We were so surprised. I of course ran and got my camera, and noticed across the street about 20 more parrots, on the power lines! I have no idea how they got there, or where they were going, but it was definitely another random thing that happened in the Ghetto of Long Beach.

I get my stitches out tomorrow... So I'm not looking forward to that, but Elder Clawson and I are hopefully baptizing our family this Sunday. It's a mom and her 3 girls. Jessica, Somarly, Wanadee, and Tharvee. We have been teaching them a lot with the senior couple, the Butlers, in our ward, and they should be ready by Sunday! Cross your fingers.

The work is going great! Elder Hicken only has 2 Sundays left, so we are getting fed a lot by the members who want to say bye before he goes! We are really excited for him, plus we are moving out of our apartment pretty soon.  Thank you for your love and support.  It means a lot!

War Wound

I am totally fine, don't worry! I got a few stitches on my chin, and my hand has some road rash, but it's not bad! Everyone took care of me just fine, I'm going to see the dentist in a few days. Honestly though, I'm okay! The nurse is super nice, and she's been checking up on me. 

We're going to the Newport temple on the 8th, so that's exciting! I still don't think I'm going to see the new video though.

Great news this week, Elder Clawson and I found a family! Jessica, and her 3 kids, all are going to get baptized on February 9th! That's awesome because that was my new years resolution, and we're already accomplishing it! We are teaching them all a lot, and they love it. The senior couple in our ward, the Butlers, are helping to teach them as well. We also have a few other people, doing really well, and coming to church a lot, so we are excited for that. Transfers are on the 16th, and either me or Elder Clawson are going to get transfered out. Neither of us want to leave! Luckily all of the areas in the park ward are doing really well right now.

Elder Liddell has suffered a bike accident. He is out of the ER and is recovering after receiving stitches. The nurse said he will visit a dentist next week to look at a chipped tooth and bruised jaw. We would appreciate your good thoughts and prayers. We have no further information, but it sounds like he'll have a good story to tell.