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| Breakfast with AP : Elder Barrett & Thy |
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| Sister training leaders, Sisters Rith & Chhum |
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| By MeiKong River that come all the way from China, in Kompong |
President Neang asked us to go with him for zone conferences over the weekend, Zone conferences started on Wednesday, August 25, with the local Phnom Penh zones - North, South, and East, then we rode with the Assistant to the President (AP) and Sister Training Leader Trainer (STLT) to Kampong Cham/Kampong Thom, followed by Siem Reap and Battambang. The North, South and East zone are local in Phnom Penh so we attended two training, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. Friday morning, we drove from Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham which is a 3 hours drive, we arrived around 12 pm, we had a good visit with all the missionaries there, it is so nice to see the faces of missionaries; it is easier to put name to faces instead of just a picture.
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| Turtle soup |
We spent the night in Kampong Cham after another 4 hours of training with missionaries serving in Kampong Cham and Kampong Thom. President took the missionaries out to have special meal; a sea turtle restaurant where they serve turtle as their delicates. It was okay for us because we grew up in Hong Kong and our parents had have those interesting meals before. Local missionaries love the food, even American Elders and Sister gave it a try. They said it tasted like chicken. At least I know the turtle is well cooked because it is cooked in boiling hot water with garlic and veges. Ted said it tasted okay; I tried the soup but I really didn't care for it. It reminded me of what my mother cooked before; I didn't like it then and I don't like it now! We spent another night in Kampong Cham. Because of Covid pandemic, the hotels are very slow; a night stay used to cost $80 US now only cost $20!
The next morning we left very early for Siem Reap which is another 3 hours or more depending on traffic.
Elder Thomas Barret is the one that is driving on this trip and President Neang as him to follow him. It was a "baptism by fire" type of training for Elder Barret. He was very cautious with his driving the day before and it took us longer to get to Kampong Cham; when he followed President Neang, he learned how to pass people on the left so that we can get to places faster ... we were told that was the Cambodian way of driving; otherwise it would take twice as long and we would be stuck behind slow moving truck the whole way! The best part about this morning is that the President stopped at a fruit stand. We were told the fruits were grown locally; we sampled some red meat Dragon fruit, pomelo, super size Avocado and best of all Durian! The dragon fruit was sweet, pomelo was tangy, Avocado was mild and creamy and the Durian was sweet and crisp, no mushiness at all. I wish I could bring some home to Phnom Penh!
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| Best durian we ever tasted |
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| Best durian we ever tasted |
We had a great meeting with the missionaries in Siem Reap and afterward we went to a BBQ place for dinner. It is literally having lighted coal on the table with a wire rack on top of the coal to cook your meals. I am just thankful that the meal was not too spicy, we also has soup that is kind of like what we did back home; they called it soup, we called it "hotpot". We spend another night in Siem Reap, attended baptism of 7 people the next day on Sunday. We were so impressed by these newly baptized members. One of the lady is 67 years old. She rode her bicycle 8 Kilometers to come to church! She is so happy, and her face showed it all; the gospel of Jesus Christ does change life and bring true joy!
We did some sightseeing of Angkor Wat, a light lunch with organic chicken and beef. I mean organic because it is a skinny chicken in compared to those fatty one in the States. Ted, seeing the chicken so skinny and lean, said that he would start a business in raising "fat" chickens! However, we were told people here does not like American chicken because they taste different. The leaner chicken tastes better I guessed.
| Cham |
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