Our mission will pass quickly if all weeks are as busy as this one. We have been learning our responsibilities while working through the daily administrative tasks associated with supporting mission operations. I handle finances and Sister Snyder does correspondence, visa management, travel, and other things. We work with wonderful people, all under the direction of our mission president and his wife. They are spiritual and down-to-earth, dedicated in their service to the Lord.

It was a special experience this week to facilitate a couple of the financial details surrounding the upcoming temple trips to Manila of families from the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh branches.

In addition to almost 100 young proselyting missionaries (age 19-24), we have ten senior couples who work in a variety of assignments, including humanitarian, perpetual education fund, welfare and service operations. Of recent note has been their work with non-governmental organizations (NGO's) in projects related to wheelchair distribution, increasing rice production, teaching hygiene to Cambodian children in outlying provinces, distributing school materials, and facilitating education and job training.

This week, one of the senior couples coordinated with a young Boy Scout from Colorado whose Eagle Scout project was to provide needed eyeglasses to Cambodian orphans. He accompanied his family who were here to greet his missionary brother upon the completion of his mission and, while here, personally presented an orphanage with 500 pairs of eyeglasses--truly heart-warming.

Sister Snyder managed to take a little time off to go to a couple of markets, and the below photos will give some of the flavor of those trips.

Our spiritual highlight this week was attending Sunday services at the Takhmao Branch. We were given a few moments to introduce ourselves in sacrament meeting. Sister Snyder created quite a stir when she announced our 25 grandchildren, and the people were very tolerant and encouraging of my attempt to speak a few phrases in the Khmae language.

They had a baptismal service for four people right after our meetings, and ended that service by inviting all four to the pulpit to bear their testimonies and, after the closing prayer, the congregation filed past them to express their love and respect via the traditional "cum riap sua" greeting of hands pressed together just below the nose.