This week we were privileged to spend an hour in the home of Kim Loan (Teeda) and her parents. Teeda is 18 and battling cancer. She is one of the most kind, pure and humble people one could ever hope to meet. Immensely popular because of her friendly and outgoing personality, she speaks four languages fluently--Vietnamese, Khmer, Thai and English.

Last week, we were invited for a (Chinese) New Year's get-together in the home of a woman from Branch 3 who lives with her daughter in a Viet village along unused railroad tracks. The row of structures on either side of the tracks contains small 'tenement' homes with common walls.

This is the main floor of the house we visited, roughly 10x10. We enjoyed bread, fruit and drink with some Viet-speaking missionaries, but we had to leave before the main course of rice and curry. There is a lower floor which we did not see. The lower 'floors' are typically open space with dirt.

My Hoa and Lam Sophy from Branch 3. Lam Sophy (right) has already served a mission to Cambodia and My Hoa is preparing for a mission.

This little girl from Branch 3 is wearing a traditional Vietnamese áo dài, pronounced ow zai in the North and ow yai in the South. She was trying hard not to smile because she is missing her two front teeth.

Ratha Marady (2nd from right) pictured with his parents and younger brother. We took this photo in Phnom Penh on Jan 15, nine days after his successful operation in Vietnam to repair a large Ventricular Septic Defect (hole in heart). Prior to the operation, surgeons projected an 80% chance that he would need a pacemaker, and the necessary 'wires' were implanted. They were pleased to report six days later that the pacemaker would not be needed and promptly pulled the wires--another tender mercy of the Lord. That is the short version of a long list of mercies and miracles extended to this fine family over the two years that Marady's condition was diagnosed and evolving. It was gratifying to see the Church help the family to surmount the challenges of finance, finding a quality heart center and rare blood resources, translation, scheduling, passports, transportation, lodging, etc. and to see so many people earnestly and prayerfully involved in bringing this to pass.

Dr. and Mrs. Duy, who were instrumental in facilitating Marady's surgery at Tam Duc Heart Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Dr. Duy made all the contacts, accompanied Marady and his parents, and provided translation between Vietnamese, Khmer and English. The surgery would not have happened without him. He first became acquainted with Marady's situation when we called him for help from the Phnom Penh Heart Center at the time it was discovered that the B- blood needed for Marady's surgery was not available in Phnom Penh.

Elders Chea (left) and Phirun finishing their two-year missions. Elder Chea is a great cook, noted often by his fortunate companions throughout his mission. Elder Phirun has a Bachelor's Degree in French literature, and is an accomplished musician.

Hooray for a new senior couple! Elder and Sister Tuck arrived last week and were greeted at the airport by Phnom Penh-area seniors. The flight didn't arrive until 11 pm--a late night for old folks like us! It should be noted that the late-arriving flight gave us time to enjoy the airport Dairy Queen--the only one in Cambodia. The Tuck's are assigned as Member/Leader Support for the Kean Svay and Takhmao branches. They will serve for 18 months.

Six on a moto leaving Sunday meetings at Branch 10. We've heard of 7 on a moto but have only seen a few 6's. Cambodian law requires only the driver to have a helmet. With increasing traffic, Cambodian laws are changing regarding motos. A recent change is to limit adult riders to two. Its implementation is slow.

Sister Suon Sokhom and her husband, Yi Phanna, departed last week for Hawaii where Phanna will be attending the BYU campus. They are such good people and will be missed. Also in the photo are Tay Phirum, Kim Sang and his wife and three children, and a couple of other children of friends. Flying out of country is always a big event attended by crowds of well-wishers. There were about 50 more friends and family to bid Sokhom and Phanna farewell. Sokhom has spoken with friends since her arrival on Oahu and one of her comments was, "It's cold here."

Elders Oleson, Hill, Vanfleet, and Wilcox sporting aprons to help clean up the special mission staff dinner hosted by our mission president and his wife. Aprons are a necessity due to the need for bleach water to rinse the dishes. There is nary a missionary without spots on their clothing from splashed bleach water.

With no ladder available, Elder Wilcox gives our admin assistant, Long Saret, a boost to remove the Christmas decoration from the mission office light fixture.

Phnom Penh has many indoor and outdoor barbershops and the cost of a haircut depends on the location. At streetside, under a nice shade tree, it only costs one dollar. There are also inside shops-with no air conditioning-that only charge a dollar. With A/C, the price jumps to $3. Totally unreasonable--who in their right minds would ever pay $3 for a haircut?! By the way, the barber working on the old guy is using a set of hand clippers. No electricity keeps the overhead down. ;-)

Christmas in Cambodia is difficult to capture in a few words or photos, but the below seven posts catch some of the high points. One of the nice things about the experience here is that much of the materialism common to the USA is absent from children and families because they cannot even begin to afford personal gifts. That fact alone puts more focus on the real meaning of the season--celebrating the birth of our Savior.

It is a tradition for Church members here to portray the Christmas Story at their annual branch parties, and they go all out in their presentations. Here is the angel announcing his "good tidings of great joy" to the shepherds when the "heavenly host" make their entrance. It should be noted that the boys dressed in sheep costumes elicited a lot of smiles. ;-)

This little angel is one of Sister Ai's daughters. She is holding a candy cane given to her by a Santa who came all the way from New Mexico to visit good children like her. "Sister" Santa cannot resist taking their photos.

Branch 10 hosted a special Christmas Eve Family Home Evening (FHE) for members who might otherwise be alone. It was a wonderful event with singing, a spiritual lesson centered on the Savior's birth, a group game and, of course, refreshments.

This little guy was one of the participants in the FHE. His mother is in a wheelchair and we gave them a ride home after the activity. His mother is one of the sweetest, most humble people anyone could ever hope to meet.

We were delighted to have carolers from Branch 3 drop by our apartment late Christmas Eve. We noticed, however, that Santa (aka Branch President Lam Sovann) needs to put on a few pounds.

Yes, Virginia, Santa rides a moto in Cambodia.

Looking forward to singing the hymns of Christmas in our own language, we attended Christmas sacrament meeting in the International Branch in Phnom Penh. This is little Hilda with her mother. They are wonderful members from Nigeria.