Bamboo Train Ride

Want to go for a ride into the country on a train?

Here is a picture of a 10 horsepower gas engine. Looks like a lawn mower engine. We rode out in the country for about 2 hours and back. We saw a lot of country without the big city atmosphere. We saw very little wild life. No deer, squirels, rabbits, wild turkeys, etc. We did see several very interesting birds, that we had not seen in the city. There are elephants, tigers and bears in the country, but they are very isolated areas. We had a very enjoyable trip together and really enjoyed the fellowship.

We found that the train was two axels covered with a platform made of bamboo.

There were about 12 of us senior missionaries, two of our drivers and the lady who sits on the front of the platform to shoo off the cows and people and cars off the track as we drive along.

If you meet another train coming at you, it is a matter of the train with the most people on board staying put and the lesser number train lifts the bed off, the axels and the other train passes, and then the trip continues for both trains.

Mom is looking happy and glad to be away from the busy schedule that we keep. The railway track was essentially abandoned, with only a tourism traffic.

We traveled through many fields, with raised borders and ankle deep water. The rice seedlings are just being planted and soon will be a beautiful green color.

On either side of the track were fields that will be planted in rice soon. Some water had been retained from the rain we have had this month.

Note the rice paddies on both sides of the tracks.

Funerals and Wats in Phnom Penh

The first funeral was of a much loved sister and her family were members of the church. They held the services at the church and here you see her plain little wooden casket loaded into a funeral hearse. The family is riding with it to the cemetery where the family and friends do everything but dig the hole. After the dedication of the grave, they take care of the rest.

The second post is of a sister whose family are Buddhist, but the children are members of the church. The services are at the Wat and the children did what the rest of the family wanted. This is the day after the mother had passed away. The family has white cloth wrapped around them. The church did a very brief service and then the monks took over. They chanted for a while and then the procession moved to the place where one is creamated. They march around the casket 3 times. This was too much for Soriah and she fainted and took quite a while to recover. Elder Morgan has decided that one of the things he will emphasis in the next training he does will be, care for the family that is mourning the loss of their loved ones. The second funeral took place on Saturday of the open house and the Sunday morning following the open house. It was quite a weekend.

Open House in Phnom Penh

We were very pleased at the response from the community and the district families. We had the help of all the branches from the North District.

We started our guest in the chapel. Here the Branch Pres. is greeting everyone, shown the sacrament table, and the choir sang a song, and one person bore their testimony. Then the guides took them to visit the auxiliaries displays. The next place was the cultural hall where there were displays of Employment Center, LDS Charities, Family Home Evening, Family History, CES Seminary and Institute and then food. The sisters were dressed in their traditional Khmer and the men in their dark suits. We had about 70 VIP's, 600 to 700 members and non members, and we got 35 referral cards. The sister on my right worked so hard to keep things cleaned up and helped make things run well.

Smiles in the market

These people have a ready smile. If you smile at them they are very quick to respond. We do so love these good, humble people we work with every day.

It is also very interesting how they hang their meat out on hooks all day long.

A Walk Through the Markets

We enjoyed our walk through the market the other night as we went to visit with the less active who we enjoyed visiting. The Elder is eating some pork on a stick. This bottom picture is when we went to visit an investigator who had lotus seeds for sale. Elder Morgan said you couldn't pay him enough money to eat anything grown in the lakes around Phnom Penh. I tried one seed and didn't really care for it but the sister missionaries ate them with great relish.

It is starting to warm up here. It is 10 o'clock at night and it is 91 degrees. We enjoy getting back to our apartment today after riding around in the tuck tuck all day. We have enjoyed a very pleasant Easter, very different for any other Easter we have had. I spoke in both our branches on the meaning of Easter. The members know about the resurrection but don't know the term Easter.

Weddings

The temple in Manila, beautiful at night and glorious in the morning.

Dr. Yi and his wife Kim Rotha on the day they were sealed together for eternity. They were very happy.

Khmer wedding, exchanging gifts to each other and families. There were a lot of beautiful colors, costumes, and pomp, but no power to bind in heaven their marriage that was performed on earth. I felt the truth of the Lords words; "Having a form of Godliness but lacking the power there of."

Trip continuted

These were the selections for snacks at the bus stop. After the boat trip to the floating village we went to a buffet where there were some Apsarah dancers and Vicki and Ann had their pictures taken with the dancers after the show.

Vicki at the top of one of the many temples they cimbed, looking down at Ann. I climbed some of the stairs, but passed on many.

At the end of the day of touring the temples, Vicki and Ann rode to the top of the hill to overlook Angkor Wat. They were so happy to have had the chance to ride an elephant.