I live in California! Not just any place, in the ghetto of Oakland!!! I LOVE it!!!
I left the MTC at 4:30 in the morning and had talked to 11 people before I got to Oakland, I felt amazing. The Gospel is life changing. In Oakland, I met up with the senior couple that came to get me and the Sister that flew over with me, and we drove to the mission home. Apparently we got there in the middle of zone conference, it was weird. But I met my new companion, ELDER HIBBERT! ! ! He's awesome and Loves to work hard, so we get along great!!! He has no fear in sharing the gospel, he tells basically every person that crosses his vision. I love it. He's going to be good for me. He served for a year in Cambodia, but got sick, so now he's stuck with me! Ha ha!
Right after zone conference finished we went and taught a lesson in Khmae, it was awesome and I understood way more than I thought I would, even though that wasn't very much. I still was able to share in the lesson and give a couple thoughts to add on, and the lady said my Khmae was really good so I was beyond excited. We had another lesson with a less active after that (we are assigned to reactivation for the Cambodian Branch right now, so we mostly deal with less actives), and he had this funny room mate that would sit really close to the door while we were teaching in the kitchen, but refuse to let us teach him. He just sat and listened the whole time!
The next day we went on a search for less actives all day, it was great. We met with the branch mission leader, his name is Poamrang Rith (Pamrong Riff) and he's awesome, I love him! He served a mission and loves to help the missionaries a ton. he makes our life a lot easier. We met with him Thursday morning and his mom gave us like 15 egg rolls, it was awesome. Next we went to find a less active named Sawroy, and he was really sick and all his friends were over for gambling day, it was really fun, and he was really receptive, but still refuses to come to church. We'll get to him soon. Next we went to find more less actives, and tried contacting this black lady in a van in the parking lot, and she started freaking out about how Mormons don't even love Christ and stuff, and then she said that when Christ died there "was a loophole or somethin' and all the people before became perfect all at once". It was hilarious to us, and she said she would be praying for us, so all in all it was a good experience! The rest of the day we spent tracking down the lost sheep, and we didn't have to much success, it was a little rough!
The next day was basically the same thing, but today people actually wanted to talk to us! I loved it! We had weekly planning so we weren't out til way later than usual. We went to see our investigator with a baptismal date, and we went to his room cause he was sleeping and he got really mad at us so we said we'd stop by later, ha ha! He ate some bad cuddle fish and has had really bad diarrhea for like five days now, it's not the greatest. After that, our next lesson fell through, so we went and tried to find more less actives, and we got in touch with a couple that had been less active for 7 years, and they wouldn't tell us why they weren't coming and it was a little discouraging, but they fed us too, so we all were happy, we're going to stop by again soon. We met a guy contacting that said to us "don't you worry nothing illegal has happened yet! Stick around too long and you might be in some trouble!" We talked to him for like 15 minutes and he kept saying he wanted to go to Europe, ha ha
Saturday we had a zone leadership meeting for Elder Hibbert, and then we had an appointment to talk to a priest named Sean from our branch about mission, it was so fun, He's exactly like I was in high school, so we were pretty good friends right away! We went to teach a less active right after Sean, everyone calls him King Kong. A couple months ago he got shot in the head at what we think was a drug deal gone wrong, and he is fantastic, I need to get a picture with him. Then we went to a members birthday party, where we were fed more food than I had seen the whole week. It was awesome! And Cambodians cook really well and are the most generous loving people in the world. I love them so much. They tell me my Khmae is really good, which basically is the only thing I need to hear from anyone right now. We went home with like five plates of food and a box full of doughnuts. The Church is true!
Sunday. Holy cow! Talk about getting thrown in the water. At ward council meeting they asked me to give a quick introduction and talk to the branch in Khmae and English, but I got nervous and only did it in khmae, but that's a good problem I guess. Priesthood was hilarious, and I met my favorite person here, named Peng Try (Peng Tree). He's the nicest, and he is working so hard to learn English and get a better job for his little 3yr old. I love Peng Try! Sunday school was all in Khmae and I understood almost all of it, I was so happy! In sacrament, I got up to speak and after the lady I was translating for said that I had amazing Khmae for only having learned for 2 months, and I teared up because the Lord was answering my prayers!! Since I left I have been praying that I would be prepared to teach the gospel when I got here, and I was prepared!!! The Church is true, God gives gifts to those who are diligent and faithful! My goal is to be fluent in 2 months, and I have Heavenly help!!! I love my mission and my language and the people I get to serve! No where I'd rather be! ! !
Lots of Love,
Elder Cameron Tolman
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