Smoke and Sparks

August 18, 2009 (continued). Surprise! I turned my journal page this morning to begin adding a new day to this blog, et voila, 2.25 more pages from August 18 await (that was a long drive to Sihanoukville, so lots of writing time, I guess).

What a wonderful lunch at a restaurant back in Phnom Penh. It was across the street from a fancy bank and all the employees seemed to be having lunch when we arrived, all dressed in crisp, white shirts and wearing navy slacks of skirts. The food was perfect: Loklak for Daniel, which is beef in a sauce/french fries/tomatoes/lettuce served with rice and a sauce of lime juice, pepper, and sugar; mine was somlor mchukreuang, which consists of morning glory shoots in a delicious lemony-green sauce containing spinach and chicken, all served with rice. Yum! All three other dishes were equally as beautifully prepared and presented--quite the dining experience--and all five meals, three Fantas, and two bottles of water for $15 (we even had peanuts as appetizers and very sweet, fresh pineapple for dessert).

Our two history stops were the Killing Fields and Toulslalong, both very sobering with 3 to 5 million killed. So much to take in and so hard to comprehend. And to think that I was a freshman in college at the time, totally oblivious to the atrocities occurring in Cambodia.

Our final visit of the day was quite a long tuk-tuk ride away to a sister's home and what appeared to be a roadside restaurant. We were seated at a table for the five of us and served jackfruit, a prickly sweet potato-looking fruit what had a sweet/sour flesh inside (a personal favorite), and the red prickly fruit (oh, how to name and describe these delicacies). Then even though Ben had asked for no special treatment, oh my! We were served a meal of six different main dishes and rice. Daniel's lunchtime beef dish--two beautiful plates of it--appeared first, which made him smile to see a familiar favorite. Then, two different soups, one with fish; also, a rice/shrimp dish; plus, two plates of decoratively sliced cucumbers and carrots, plenty of bottled water, and cups with ice for Coke and two other canned drinks (mine was greet and tasted like cream soda [bubblegum, according to Daniel]). Six beautiful ladies who had all worked to prepare the meal joined us for dinner, with lots of giggles and smiles and happy conversation. The member's sister had a painting on the wall, which Don admired and bought. The sister wants to give Ben another painting of a Cambodia scene and will meet us in town in two days to deliver it to him.

The drive home was "smoke and sparks"--we had a small electrical fire in the tuk-tuk, so we pulled over to the side of the road and bailed out until the driver was able to get things into working order again (which he did amazingly quickly with his handy toolbox). Adventure!

Poor, Yet Rich

August 18, 2009. This will be messy because I'm writing en route to the Gulf of Thailand. There are six of us in an 11-passenger Mercedes Benz van (4 Parkers plus the drive Buntha and our tour guide/travel agent Kung Seiha, who is a Khmer returned missionary who completed his mission a year ago). These two Khmer will be with us the next few days to help with travel, phone, motel accommodations, etc. Ben's happy to have their service to relieve some headaches for him.
Yesterday--oh my! Our tuk-tuk driver for the day is named Chevkosal and he's the branch president of the area where Ben was most recently serving. We rode to Sensok first, and the area was our first to see so many houses with no water or sewer. Interestingly (and as Ben had said), many of these humble homes on stilts with bare wooden floors and tin roofs had televisions. We stopped at the church first and Ben was surprised to see the new addition, which more than doubled its size since Ben served there. The happiest little boys (which Don later called "electrons") came running into the courtyard--so cute--they all hugged me and ran and ran in happy circles and smiled for pictures and giggled and ran some more. I went into the chapel area and sat down to play the piano, accompanied by three little boys on and off my lap, running in more circles, and sitting next to me or on my knee with exuberant plunking on the keyboard. So fun!

The first family we visited in the home taught me a profound lesson. We greeted them at their front door, then walked around some attached homes, across a small slough (which I later learned was their sewer), and to the back door where we took off our shoes. We walked through a small kitchen area and into the living room. As we sat cross-legged on their wooden floor, the father of the family pulled out his scriptures, asking, "What's your favorite scripture?" He highlighted and recorded our names and the date beside each passage and then related how that scripture was important to him. For example, Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 talks about organizing ourselves and preparing a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of order, a house of God. He said that they have a house of order, evidenced by the pictures in their home--one of the Hong Kong temple and the largest of the Savior (demonstrating their priorities). They also had pictures from their baptism day on the wall and the daughter Maohe Bammak left and returned with her baptism day picture of her with Elder Parker. The father thanked us for sacrificing the two years with our son so that he could serve his mission in Cambodia. Don got teary-eyed (o.k., so did I); it was a great moment. We visited more and the father told us during the Khmer Rouge he saw things that were unbelievable. We felt a great closeness with this family.

Walking along the streets of this village was quite a humbling experience, as this was the poorest neighborhood we have seen to this point. We stopped by another home, but only the 16-year-old daughter (top of her class in school) was home, so we didn't stay. We walked further and stopped by another home and found the father, who was extremely drunk (at 10 a.m.!). He invited us in, but Ben declined and even chastised him for not being responsible and taking care of his family The children were down the street a ways, too embarrassed to be home with their drunken father.

Chevkoval then drove us to visit lotus man. He was so cute--after talking with Ben for a few minutes, he realized who he was (it had been over 10 months since he had seen Ben). "Oh, Elder Parker," he exclaimed, and he got tears in his eyes. He said Ben is truthful because he said that he would bring us to meet him (said promise was made 10 months ago), and he did. We were invited to sit on a mat lotus man laid out for us under his house. Daniel and I enjoyed a few brief French phrases with lotus man. When Don asked him how he survived the Khmer Rouge with his ability to speak French, he said, "I pretended to be crazy." We were all delighted that the waders we brought fit lotus man perfectly. He grinned from ear to ear. (Our camera battery ran out, so we only have the picture of this imprinted in our hearts--but it's a doozy!) As he bid us farewell, he turned to Daniel and said, "Bon voyage and bonne chance." (Have a nice trip and good luck.)

"I Don't Want to Go Back Home"

August 17, 2009. "I don't want to go back home; I want to stay here," I announced this morning. To which Ben responded, "Welcome to my world."

The people here are so loving and kind. Church began at 8 a.m. yesterday, ad we were blessed to enjoy the Primary program. The primary in the 8th branch in Phnom Penh has about a dozen children, plus their leaders. I was a little surprised to hear them sing--besides about a dozen other songs--the two new primary songs for this year, "My Eternal Family" and the "builders" song. Most of the parts were memorized and the songs were so interesting since we know the tunes and received their message through the sweet Khmer lyrics to the melodies. Looked like about 90 in attendance at the meeting.

The Sunday School lesson was about the final days of the prophet Joseph's life and how he was peaceful about fulfilling his mission. Ben was asked to explain some concepts from time to time, which he did eloquently (as far as we could tell, being in Khmer, of course!).

The Sunday School instructor sat beside me during the Relief Society lesson to translate for me, which was nice of her. I volunteered to play the opening hymn (the top hand, anyway) and the lesson was about the purpose of each church meeting. About a dozen sisters in attendance.

After all meetings, we visited and took pictures. Ben received cards and gifts, and I was even given a shell key ring with an engraving of Angkor Wat on it.

Then, our day was spent visiting members' families, a rich experience indeed. The first family of six that we visited live in a small, humble home nestled under some stores in Phnom Penh. We all "visited" for about three hours, playing games, working puzzles, and feeling so relaxed together. Don did a number puzzle on the white board, so I did one, too--they loved them! Daniel even showed how much of the number "pi" he has memorized. Dad taught the young daughter of the family the hands over hands--move away before getting "caught"--game. Daniel got in on the action and enjoyed other simple games as well--blowing bottles caps with straws across a wet table, for example. We were all in very close proximity due to the small living room, but is was nice--so comfortable and relaxed. We were given dragon fruit with such a bright pink flesh--so delicious! Don, Daniel, and I all got our fingers pink, but we noticed members of the family (and even Ben) all ate the fruit as they peeled back the skin, keeping fingers clean. We also were served bottles of water--and the fan felt good. Our first rain came while we were indoors. I considered it a downpour, but Ben said, "No, if it was a downpour, we wouldn't have been able to hear each other speak."

Our next visit was about a 45-minute tuk-tuk ride out into the area where Ben most recently served. It was our first trip out of the city and Ben seemed to visibly become happier--he's a country boy, I do believe. But I could relate. It was great to see some green--a few groves of trees. The home we visited was a haven of banana trees, papaya trees, and other tall, rich vegetation. We were greeted by a 21-year-old daughter of the family. She speaksEnglish very well and is meeting with the branch president next month for an interview to become a missionary. Ben said the branch president has given an occasional 4 on a scale of 1-5 as far as how prepared he feels the member is to serve a mission, and he would like to give this girl two fives. She really is amazing. We were served an delicious curry with rice and bread--also some soy milk that the mother had made. About nine 20-year-old boys from the branch were there to meet us as well--all so nice and very happy. They had been waiting for us since 4 p.m., and we arrived at 6! No complaints, though. Ben gave away soccer balls and CTR rings along the way--all well received with smiles and laughter. Such a joyful lot. Seemed a shame to leave, but we had one more family to visit.
This mom, dad, 16-year-old daughter 40-year-old son-in-law and 6-year-old grandson set up a card table with a pretty red cloth and served us "mian" fruits--and more bottle water--and again, we enjoyed the cool from the fans. This 65-year-old gentleman had amazing stories of his experiences during the Pol Pot era--shot at, foraging for food and water in the hills for three months, and spending some time in prison with unbelievable, but true, conditions. When we left, we thanked the family for the visit and for the fruit. Since we mentioned that we liked the fruit, they bagged what was left for us to take with us!

Elephant Ride

August 16, 2009. What an adventure in texture, color, smell, and flavor today. To begin our day, Daniel and I rode an elephant (a beautiful female elephant named Simba) in the park across the street from our hotel! We actually rode out on the street with all the traffic of cars, motos, and tuk-tuks, which surprised us, and we received lots of smiles and waves. People took our pictures, and I felt like I was in a parade and should be throwing candy to the children. After the ride, we all four fed miniature bananas to Simba.


Next, we stopped at a tailors' shop where Ben had his custom-made suit sewn and had Don's measurements taken, selected fabric and design, and will return Tuesday for a fitting (all this plus leaving a deposit--$10 extra for the large American measurements--in less than 15 minutes). Next stop--the market. Oh, the fruit, the fruit. . . and the fish and whole chickens and variety of vegetables and cooked dished and trinkets and treasure--all in such a small space. The pungent odor of the meats almost knocked me off my feet. Whew!


But we bought mangosteen, the fruit Jill declared her favorite from her years in Sri Lanka. "You're buying too many," Don said to Ben.

"No, I'm not," Ben replied. And he was right. Outside the market, we devoured those luscious fruits within three minutes.









Our visit to the Royal Palace was enriched by our tour guide. Daniel's comment: "I've never seen so much gold and silver in one place." One Buddha was carved from emerald.

Our ever-so-faithful tuk-tuk driver today delivered us to the tailor, to a museum, to a market, to lunch, to what Ben calls the Khmer Costco (3 floors of market merchants), to the Royal Palace, to a cell phone shop, back to our hotel, to the church for two hours of basketball, and back to our hotel. He was always waiting for us after each errand, he kept care of our packages, and he was cheerful and ready to roll at our beckon call.

Sure wish I'd have taken the camera with me for basketball at the church--two hoops outside with a dozen or so mainly teenage boys playing ball. Another dozen guys were at the opposite end of the parking lot on some lawn playing volleyball. And, across the street there was music playing and several locals doing aerobics (we saw three such groups on our ride over). Ben was like a magnet! Such warm greetings from all . . . and after several games (and a sweat-soaked shirt for Daniel--it was hot outside without exercising!), Ben spent even more time visiting, plus introducing us to people. One of the sister missionaries we met is Sister Wang from California, whose youtube video of her opening her mission call is one we watched from home. Her companion is from Twin Falls and has only been out two days. Lucky girl to get to serve here.

Church tomorrow!

Two Years+ Reunion

August 15, 2009. Excellent! Couldn't have been a better day yesterday. The highlight, of course, was seeing Ben for the first time in two years and three weeks. We rented a tuk-tuk to get to the mission home--a couple of elders waved at us as we were coming down the street. As we walked through the gate, Ben shot out from the behind the gate and surprised us--we were teary-happy and other elders were snapping our pictures.

We enjoyed a lasagna dinner, especially the delicious fresh fruits for dessert. The best dessert was the devotional where we all sang, "Called to Serve," President and Sister Smedley each spoke briefly, we watched a DVD about John Moyle entitled "Only a Stonecutter" (Moyle was a stonecutter at the SLC temple), and then we got to hear each of the nine departing missionaries bear his testimony. When Ben bore his testimony, he mentioned how he never would have dreamed of serving a mission a short three years ago--he was emotional and mentioned how he never cries when he bears his testimony--so he credited his dad who was quite choked up himself for the tears. Absolutely a perfect day.

August 13, 2009. New experience: when I got out of the air-conditioned taxi from the Phnom Penh airport in front of our hotel, my glasses fogged up. Serious! It was a bit of the opposite experience of walking into a warm house after being outside on a cold winter day. The humid Phnom Penh evening left me in a fog--and I chuckled.

The Asiana airlines which we flew from Seattle to Seoul (12 hours) and then Seoul to Phnom Penh (5.5 hours) is the Airline of the Year 2009. And we could certainly see why! The service was "top rate," as Don kept saying . . . hot towels; two full meals; snacks; a sandwich; an endless supply of water, juice, and pop; toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Daniel smiled big when the headphones were handed out--plenty of movie-watching time.

My favorite quote of the day is by Daniel as we were standing at the rear of the last flight waiting for all the other passengers to unload. We were talking about getting to see Ben tomorrow night at 6, and Daniel said, "I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!" Me, too, Daniel. Me, too!!

New Mission President

Introducing the new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Smedley. We will be meeting these folks in just two weeks (unbelievable!) when we go to pick Ben up from the Mission Home. They have invited us and other missionaries' families to dinner on Friday evening, after which they will release Ben to our care until he returns home to Spokane for his official release by President Tait from the Spokane Washington West Stake.

The Adventures of Flat Christopher

from email date July 14, 2009

(We had mailed "flat Christopher" to Ben at the end of April...)

hey, i just got "flat" christopher in the mail yesterday...that took awhile. there were two stamps on the front of the envelope that said "mail missent to boroko papau new guinea" so i'm guessing that had something to do with the delay, huh? :) i checked the address you wrote and there was nothing wrong with it, so i wonder what happened...oops. anyway, i took a couple pictures with the cutout just a second ago next to the independence monument here in downtown phnom penh, and i emailed them to you. i noticed that they wanted them back if not by may 1st as the due date said, at least before the end of the school year, and not smack dab in the middle of summer vacation. maybe christopher's 3rd grade teacher will have some use of it? ;)