Elder Platt’s Missionary Mail

 

  Things might be a little out of order because I've been drafting this for 9 weeks . Well I got transferred out of tmall khoule! It was a short 2 transfers and i did some really good farm work. Lots of planting seeds, and watering and weeding. I left that area a good field, white and ready to harvest. Elder Willis is my replacement, we seem intertwined by fate, and he's done great work there already. All my aunties and uncles have safely entered into baptismal covenants as of a few weeks agoNow I'm  Back to the city so thats great 👍.  But whats really cool is I got a new bike 🏍. Finally the story of my garbage bikes has come to a close. After more than a year since my original steed was destroyed in a moto accident, am the proud owner of a cherry red Giant. A silky smooth sensation of a ride.  There also was a whole mission conference because president Renlund did a mission tourl We have a new teaching friend named Monica who referred herself to the missionaries a...

  Hello friends and family The last 2 weeks have been a great experience with 13 good days and 1 hot one. it is an amazing time to be alive in this country of Cambodia.  I see the rest of my brethren floundering as wet season rages, but as for us in the (relatively) dry battambang, we get to enjoy autumn winds and milder temperatures so thats a great contrast to my adventure here in the peak hot season.  In the last month we've got a branch president called, and more people coming every week. Yesterday we hit 59 people attending sacrament! A new record, mainly due to a family that is helping people come to church by piling them into meat carts attached to Honda scooters.  If there is a will there is a way. Some won't look at the snake on the stick to be healed, and others are willing to drive hours just to come to church every week.  They shall have their reward. Its just super amazing to be with these wonderful people, to hear their stories and be their fr...

  Then keep it rolling for another week   today I took a nap (no time to write email)😴 please enjoy the pictures in the meantime

The elite group  Baptism day It's been a crazy transfer so I thought I'd drop an email to appease the mothers out there.  At some point I entered a trio with e. Ellingson from my mtc group. We worked alot and saw alot of cool miracles. Then boom as fast as it started it was over.  Back to just two. But yeah we put in some good work, dropped a couple 10 bombs for sacrament, and last Sunday my friend monoe got baptized. I'm super grateful to have had the opportunity to teach him. His desire to learn made me want to be a more diligent student of the gospel, his attitude was always so happy 😊.  After his baptism he bore a sweet sweet testimony and his wife told me that in 17 years of being married she's seen him cry twice. Once when he "did her wrong" and the second when he was standing there, hair still wet, just telling the small congregation why he knew Jesus Christ's gospel was the best thing for him and how it will help his family. If there's somethi...

  Firstly, greetings to brother, younger brother uncles, aunts, grandma's, grampas, everybody all together🙏 I had a week that is truly amazing. I went advertising in many places ! In houses, park, and so forth.  This area has leadership and ward missionaries that are handsome and diligent truely. On the trueday,  we went out with a youth named tung. He had a day off from school so we advertised and taught with him from 11  morning to 6  evening. I love tong and appreciate his willingness to serve Also we exchanged companions and I got to go with the ZL that is a beloved of mine.  Elder ellingson makes me a better person and I was so happy to finally be in the same area as him for the first time since good old mtc days Sorry for my khmer Grammered english I'll stop now.   I am currently trying for the world record most consecutive days with primarily instant Ramen eaten. My body is receiving the consequences gracefully.   បានបំផ្ទុះបន្ទប...

  This week I studied the teachings of Nephi, an ancient prophet. He's so amazing in his steadfastness in the good work. Truly an role model of mine. Also his many times great grandson, Nephi, was such a great man. Even though many people were wicked at that time, he still tried his best to help them.  Just helping and loving people no matter what. That is what I learned this week.  And it was a good week, lots of work. I'm excited to see what me and elder baconawa can do with another 35 days left in the transfer. Here's some kids 

  I didn't have much time last week so here's a quick summary Exchange with ZL nydigger where I fell in a ditch.  Now he's going AP so it was cool to work with him for a day. Speaking of that transfer boards came out! I left battombang (the westernmost zone) and went to east zone. Specifically I am now serving in ta kmou which means black grandpa so thats cool 😎 .  What's not so cool is when I sent my bike and luggage through the carrier mail service,  the kind front desk lady heard "tma khoul" which is a small town 45 min north of my old area and certainly nowhere close to me. Tha khoul does. Not equal ta khmou Big confuse moment, as they say, but through some miracle I now have my stuff back 2 days later.  Also Im now on bike number 6 because bike number five was just bike number 3 but with new handlebars and the chain still not fixed!! My new comp is elder Hang and he goes home in 5 weeks. He seems pretty chill tho. 😎  I hope to dedicate more time to t...

  Its been 3 weeks since transfers, this house is still quite delightful to live in. I didnt email last week because i got busy and forgot to click send, so now this will be a wombo combo 2 pack special treat. Everyone has settled in and we are doing good work Elder Tira a.k.a My companion a.k.a The Cook Me a.k.a elder platt Elder Mendenhall aka. DL menden aka the prodigal father  Elder Hunt. The child. Aka Mr Australian/new Zealand/Samoan accent. (He eats alot. For example I can get stuffed from a big 3 dollar burrito on "3 dollar build your own burrito" night at Green Mango. But he, he downs 2 burrito, a plate of nachos and two cans of Sting. (Hence the title(he needs more money for food))). For the work over here I've been talking to so many people in neighborhoods and parks and everything. Also I've been doing some great member work. The leadership in my current area has been described as the "strongest I've seen in cambodia" - dead Elder huang. So I...

  This country is a big sweat shop. We export the sweltering air that comes out of your blow driers. Sunscreen just melts right off, so sometimes it feels like there's no point, nevertheless I will persevere. Other than that the work is going good!!! I'm talking to so many people with my new comp, and it's so fun. Super exhausting, 👌 which is the best. I've learned enough launguage to communicate in most situations where I'm in charge of the conversation, and so all I have to do is avoid grandma's ranting about helicopters or aunties complaining about interest rates.  8 months ✔️ ✅️  O also my new bike is so smooth.  "You never know you been low till your feeling high, Never know you been slow till on the wind you fly," I can ride it so fast 😌 🤪  This week I really loved studying from the book of Mosiah. It's crazy how in one generation, zenifs people turned wicked under the rule of Noah, and Abinadi came in dropped a truth bomb, then after some...

  So I have kind of been living squalor for the past little bit, but this week I bugged my landlord untill she sent nice handyman. He managed to get our fridge working again, and laundry machine, and the ac. I feel like a king. Also elder fred somehow hocus pocused hot water into my shower during our exchange last Friday. Elder fred is cool and he's going home  in 6 days  so it was great to learn from him. And we had 5 burgers 🍔 at a restaurant called hi Cheese. I particularly enjoyed that meal because my current companion likes to splurge on other stuff, so he rarely is liquid enough to eat out. Anyway this upcoming week is gonna be exquisite. We have a zone conference, and transfer boards are gonna drop. 👌  Also we had a couple baptisms ! 

  Elder Vaughn J Featherstone told a story about the son of a king who understood who he was, and how he should act. King Louis XVI of France had been taken from his throne and put in prison. His young son, the prince, was taken by those who had captured the king. Because the young prince was to be the next king, they wanted to destroy him morally. They knew that if they did, he would never be able to become the king of France. These people took the prince to a faraway city, where they tempted the boy with every filthy thing they could. They tried to get him to partake of many harmful substances, they used terrible launguage around him all the time. They tried to get him to steal candy from a baby. They tried to get him to cheat at monopoly. They tried to get some trifling ladies to adulterate him, but instead the prince took them on a nice date to the ice cream parlor, paid, and had them home by  10pm . Anything they could do to try to get him to let go of his morals, they di...

I did some service this week and chopped tree. Let me tell you, we need to bring back lumberjacking for our young men. Theres just something about hackin' wood 🪵 😍.just my soft missionary hands and my axe vs this tree. I won 🏆 my hands got blisters a bit, and the tree lost This week i will describe more about my time here. It is so hot. We had rain last tuesday, and I feel like it just got more swealtering every day since. Because it was hot already, and so dusty here in battambang. It seems like every road is getting worked on so its all dirt while they try to put in normal roads.  So then it rains and gets all humid and the air is like I just opened an oven to get some cookies out of the oven, execpt the oven never closes and I get stir fry instead of a cookie.  Yesterday I looked at someone's phone for the forecast, and it was a high of 39. I'm not yet to good with Celsius, and the following is my knowledge.  0 = 32 farenheight. Water freezes at 0 23= 😇☺️❄️ (coldes...

Fun word of the week  Montezuma's revenge-Diahreah experienced by travelers (typically in Mexico)(I found this word when looking for the translation of diahreah)(Google translate is so handy it gives synonyms" Seek and ye shall find a hot shower. I've been taking cold showers the last transfer because I didn't ever check the other bathroom for hot water. 😒  I honestly thought I would get some change this transfer, so when I they first revealed transfer boards I thought it was a lil joke from the AP ( they do that sometimes to play with us) becasue nothing changed. 🤔 i guess it was not a prank, but it kinda feels like one because all indicators were pointing the opposite direction.  Anyway, afterwards there was a Lil situation, and I thought we were gonna have to e.t but I guess maybe not we will see. These last to weeks I have started reading the old testament. I'm only 50 pages in and its been exciting. I think I will read this book alot slower than the other bo...