Here I Go!

I’m heading off to Cambodia for two years and I can’t wait! I’m reporting Dec 7th 2011 and I’ll be serving for 24 months. I hope all of you who are interested can read and see all the pictures and adventures I’ll get to experience and share many stories with all of you! Best wishes to all and God bless!

Elder Decker

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Sunday, May 6, 2012

I'm glad you got the package.  They really don't help me at all at the post office here.  They switch the box I get all ready and they think one piece of tape is all good.  So I'll just send smaller stuff and be like look lady, I'm an American and this is how we do tape!!  I got the package and mail from you and Grandma and the candy is great!  I love candy and miss the American good stuff.  We had a good end of the week and we're hopefully going to have 3 baptisms this Sunday!  The weather is hot!

Yesterday was the craziest, most out of control fast meeting ever.  So Saturday night we are fasting and don't like to come home til the very latest we can and we come home to no power, yuck.  It's hot and not looking good when we still don't have power at 9:30 which is bedtime but the power came back on at 10 and we got to sleep with cold and woke up at 3 because it was off again, lame.  So on Saturday night we met with a member and talked about the temple and preparing to go and what they needed to do.  She kept telling us that tomorrow she was going to sing in sacrament.  We didn't piece it together that tomorrow was fast Sunday.  So we wake up and no power all through church until 1:00.  Church was hot, loud and super unfocused.  The branch president started out with a ten minute talk and then no one in the congregation would stop talking, then the member from the night before started talking and then she starts to sing a non church song in khmae and english and then had her husband come up with the ghetto boom box and sang with him.  It got really quiet for her singing.  It was super weird.  Then later that night we had a debate about what testimony meeting should be like! 

We have tons to do within the branch.  We are working on getting more help with home teaching and visiting teaching and really it's nothing like in America but I get super excited when things happen and it's awesome.  We visited a couple people in the hospital too this week, and the hospital is just like the old movies with people just laying in beds all in a room together....kinda sad but I got to give my first blessing for a little girl, 10, with dengue fever.  It's even hard in khmae but it was cool and she was out yesterday so I hope she is doing better!  We are going to see her tonight and I'm gonna share my candy with her.  I love the people a ton and they all make me smile!  I love you a ton and can't wait to see you next week from the future!!!!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Things are good here.  The weather is the same, really hot during the day and super awesome sunsets and clouds everyday and random lightening happening.  I love the nights here and last night was a great night having our branch missionary meeting outside on a windy night in the middle of nowhere at a little wood house sittin in a hammock talking of our investigators and ways to help the branch.  Super awesome! 

The week was pretty normal and my talk was good yesterday and I went for about 7 minutes so a good young men's talk.  I read 3 scriptures and was nervous to say everything right the whole time and could have done better and gone longer, I just couldn't think of what to say because the language is tougher when I'm nervous.  But people said I did good and it was alright.  We have about 100 people coming most weeks.  This week and last we have had 23 recent converts there and this week 20 investigators from the 2 companionships here.  Each week we have about 60 people to meet with and it's about 30 investigators and 30 recent converts so we have lots to do within a week.  We have lots of member help and we are definitely blessed every day out here and the work is always fun.  We have great investigators and by the end of May we should have 6 baptisms so that will be super good. 

My stomach is feeling fine but I have some stomach pains in the morning that wake me up every day but I don't know.  I just do what I can and I eat enough and I have enough money to do everything!  No worries!  The sunsets and bike rides home at night are my favorite and I love the stars.  We lose power all the time here and some nights are really warm.  I really love oreos!  Cheapest snack here and its really good with lactosoy milk! Haha, and whole milk, mom, super good! 

Funny story, quick, so there are two words, dimple and broken.  They use the word broken for kids and stuff too.  We are at a members house and her husband's sister who is 30 and they tell me to smile and that they like my broken...but the word for dimple is super similar and then they told me to smile again and were like super handsome and stuff.  It was really funny after because neither of us knew that word, lol!  Anyway, love you lots!  I'm doing good out here and teaching tons of lessons and learning khmae every day!