Ancient and modern--Siem Reap

The car we are leasing from the Church needed to be serviced, so we went to Siem Reap last week since that is where the closest Ford dealer is located.  Siem Reap is also the tourist city near the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex. So while our car was in the shop we hired a tuk tuk and a guide and visited one of the amazing wonders of the world.  Here are a few of the over 300 pictures that we took. There are several temples built in the area. Because of our time limitation, we were only able to visit two of them.

This is one of the six libraries that have been identified on the Angkor Wat grounds (and our guide.)

This is a view of the main Angkor Wat temple. I love this picture because of the cleansing ponds. There are several baptismal type basins. 

There are 1800 Apsara dancers carved on the walls of the Temple. They are considered to be angels. 

These ubiquitous patterns represent lotus flowers, a symbol of purity and holiness.  Beautiful lotus flowers grow out of mud, reflecting the human ability to grow out of worldliness into purity.

We climbed to the top of this uppermost part of the temple where, anciently, only the king and priests were allowed. It was a beautiful view of the temple grounds and the surrounding countryside.

The second temple we visited is the one that Lara Croft visits in the movie "Tomb Raider". Huge fig trees, like the one in the background here, are overgrowing the structures. (That is not Lara Croft in the foreground.)

Above is a detail of one of these trees.

A parting shot of Angkor Wat across the surrounding moat. We will be back!

Compared to Battambang, Phnom Penh is the big city

While we were in Phnom Penh for the change of mission presidents, we decided to get some things done there that we cannot do in Battambang. First of all, I got my hair cut and colored. It was a delightful experience. A French hairstylist was recommended by Sister Moon. It was so cosmopolitan (and not expensive) to be styled by him. Apparently, there is a large French population in PP, as well as, Americans, Australians and other nationalities.

We also visited the National Museum with another missionary couple, the Hollenzers. They are about ready to go home, so we wanted to spend time with them. The museum has lovely historical and cultural exhibits.  Photos are not permitted inside, so here is just a taste of what we saw on the outside.

The Hollenzers were kind enough to take us shopping to find some "American" items that we have missed. We packed the car full of things that are not available in Battambang.  Then they treated us to some amazing donuts. (For sure we don't have those in Battambang - even the not-so-amazing kind.)

We very much enjoyed our interactions with some of the other missionary couples for dinner. We also got some necessary things done at the mission office and acquired a lot of materials from the service center We are grateful for the mission office staff.  Among other things, they arranged for Connie to get a Cambodian driver's license. But that is another story....

O, Say Can You See....?

Celebrating July 4th in another country can be very sentimental. Thankfully, we were involved in a luncheon with our dear missionaries in Battambang on July 4th.  The Zone Leaders prepared a program including the posting of the flag and a thought about D&C 101:80 and the restoration of the gospel in America.  We had some much appreciated patriotic decorations that daughter Rachel thoughtfully sent over.  And, of course, we had lots of food (a veritable patriotic feast prepared lovingly by Sister S. - Elder S.).

We love these missionaries. Elder Slavens sang the "Star Spangled Banner" with his homemade "flag."

Americans in Phnom Penh were invited to the American Embassy for a huge celebration. We enjoyed our little taste of America in Battambang.

So the pies did not turn out perfectly (yes they did along with everything else - Elder S.), but no one complained. The favorite was mock apple pie made with Ritz crackers.  We'll make that one again.

Changing of the Guard

We had a wonderful visit to Phnom Penh earlier this month in order to say good-bye to President and Sister Moon and welcome President and Sister Christensen. All the senior missionaries in Cambodia plus the Moons converged on the Phnom Penh airport late Tuesday evening to meet the jet-lagged Christensens.

The Moons and Christensens spent the next day working on the leadership transition.  We then enjoyed a farewell/welcome dinner at a German restaurant with all the senior couples. It was a wonderful event as everyone shared a memory of the Moons.  We didn't get to work with the Moons very long, but they made a lasting impression on us and helped us understand what our work here is.

Afterwards, we went to the airport to see the Moons off. We are so delighted that we got to witness such an outpouring of love from about 50 Khmer members that came to the airport to say goodby to the Moons.  There were returned Khmer missionaries that had served under the Moons as well as families and Church leaders. It was a moving experience to hear them sing "God Be with You 'Til We Meet Again" in English. Again, the Moons were a great example to us all. Even though we had not met most of the people, it was fun to find that we had connections of one kind or another with many of them.  For example we met and visited with the woman that started the orphanage featured in the documentary "Guarding the Bamboo Forest".

The crowd was so delightful. The Moons were well loved.

We will miss the Moons! But we also look forward to working with the Christensens.
[Many of these pictures were cribbed from the Ovesons - thanks so much.]