Phnom Banon, Pictures, and Baptisms

Well this week was pretty insane. where do i begin.

Monday was a pretty good day we were able to go visit Phnom Banon. That's where most of my pictures are from. Its this really tall mountain with a temple at the top. To be honest its not that cool but i was so dead from climbing all the way to the top of that dumb thing. The coolest part was walking down, we got the bottom and went into a cave with a really old Khmer guy. He showed us this broken down tunnel that used to exist that soldiers and what not would used to escape from the Khmer Rouge. He said at one point it lead all the way into thailand.

The rest of the week was filled with tons of biking and meeting. We were able to help Elder Yeates (the senior couple up here) meet with the presidency and translate. He is currently working on securing a plot of land to use for burying the bodies of members so they do no have to do the cremation and Khmer Temples. He is honestly the greatest senior couple elders ever. He is super proactive, and gets stuff done. He knows almost all the members and knows when their are problems before we even do and he doesn't really even speak khmer.

So anyways the week, it was honestly so long i don't know if i could honestly remember i did. Honestly it felt so fast when we were doing it but at the end of the week we look back and just think holy crap, that was forever. It culminated in us moving dirt for almost 4 hours. biking almost 30 kilometers, cooking food for our recent converts. all off of a couple bottles of water, a bowl of cereal, 1 plate of rice with curry, and a smoothie, all day. The next day i was home all day because i got heat stroke. My body just totally crashed. The mere stats of what we did yesterday are insane. I have probably like at least 7 pounds this last week and a half. Definitely was a wake up call that i need to eat a ton more, or work a lot less.

Well that's basically about it for me. Yesterday we baptized a mother and her 4 kids. It was so cool because 1 of her sons was already a member (18yrs old) and was able to baptize his mom and four sybllings. He was nervous and didn't want to but we made him because we knew that would be something so cool to tell people while he is on his mission. I know that this work is true. Battambang is so crazy. After this next weekend, (where we will have more baptisms hopefully) we will have close to 50 recent converts. Imagine being in a ward, where almost half of the attendance, are members baptized within the last year. Insanity.

Love always, Elder Rucker

Provinces and Pictures

This week was the greatest week ever. We did so many cool things on our trip to the Provinces.

Monday we left for Battambang. We had time so we were able to go to a place called Phnom Sampov. It's a mountain there that's super cool. At the top are some cool pagodas, monkeys and caves. There's a spot where they threw people in (Pol Pot Time) to kill them. Then a man, years later, came and gathered up all the skulls and put them in this tower like thing. A little boy guided us around and told us the history. We took some cool scenery shots at the top  and also took some cool pictures and videos of the BATS. That mountain has a giant cave where tons of bats fly out of. Its a notstop stream of bats coming out of this mountain. It's like something you would see on planet earth. If you honk the horn, scream, or bang some tin roofing they all kind of scatter apart, but then will instantly reform back together. The mountain was super cool.

Tuesday we served with the BB elders. I went with Elder Ann and Elder Gooch. It was fun to be with Elder Ann again. It's not the same Elder Ann i was just with though, the one i trained, this is the Elder Ann I was in the same house with way back in Kean Svay. But i served with him all day and it was a blast, especially trying to get him to do the Gangnam style dance. Overall that was the day.

Wednesday we went to Siem Riep. I went with Elder Barney and Elder Schleede. Serving with Elder Barney was great, he is a really good guy. We taught english class all together that night, then had to bike Elder Jorgensen about 20 minutes back to the house because his tire popped while we were escorting the sisters home.

Thursday. We went to kampong thom. Really not much going on there. Kampong thom is like the smallest place in the world, tons of rice rields, and everyone sits at home but are also all way too busy to learn with us.

Friday. I went to Kampong Cham. I served with Elder Bennion and Elder Sin. Elder Sin's family was in tuoltompong (1st branch) where i served. I met his family every week and helped them because his sister was inactive and the mother wasn't a member. Elder Bennion was a gunner for a paladin tank in the army, so overall he's a super cool guy and very fun to be with. He took me to an island. (the pictures). We crossed a bridge made out of bamboo. They literally rebuild that bridge every singly year, because when it's rainy season it washes it away and almost entirely floods the island, depending on the year. We went there and was able to do some service for a long time member family there cutting trees and bamboo.

Friday morning we were able to go to phnom bros and phnom srey where we took lots of pictures with buddha statues and what not. That mountain was famous for having a giant cannon during pol pot, and a bunch of people were killed and burned there like phnom sampov too. There's a bunch of skulls, but that place lets you hold them. I didn't really like holding it though even though i'm smiling, definately never want to hold a human skull ever again. But we were able to talke to a 20 year old boy there and buddhism and pol pot. As for buddhism he doesn't know anything even though he lives at the watt on the mountain. Who is Buddha's father? Why is the red dot on his head? why are those circles on his hands? where did he get his power from? what's this seven headed snake everywhere? He didn't know.

On Monday the King's body was burned. They were showing films from Cambodia back in like the 50's maybe. It was such a nice country, pretty schools, parks, roads, buildings. It was top of the line, set up to be, and was, the jewel of southeast Asia. Cambodia was predicted to be the world power of Asia. It was going to be huge, and lots of countries were just going to merge into it. Then Pol Pot, who got schooling in China on Communism, came back and murdered all the smart people, to turn Cambodia into a servant of China and Vietnam. The scars of Pol Pot will never go away. He single handedly destroyed the country. Generations on end will be affected because of his decisions.

The culture of cambodia  is so affected by Buddhism, but you can really see how Pol Pot has effected their culture. They literally live from day to day, because that's what they did. They just try and make it through, doing what they can to get by, if they can get enough rice for that day then it was a success. But overall it's one of the most special countries in asia. 50% of Thailands baptisms are Cambodian. Number of investigators baptized is three times higher in Cambodia than the average for Asia. These people need the gospel, and as the rising generation comes, it will only grow even faster. There will be a temple here some day. And there will be many stakes here too. I know it.

I love you all, and I love this country,

Elder Rucker

A Visit to the Royal Palace

Hello everyone! this week was a pretty interesting week. It started off pretty good, and ended even better. There are tons of things going on. Next week we will be headed out for our province trip again. Then back to get back into the grind of things.

Tuesday was leadership training meeting. from 8 am to 5 pm we were able to train the leaders. Specifically, Elder Gibson and I were able to train on Accountability and Evaluate your teaching. The overall theme being communication. The importance of communicating with you companion to help you have unity in everyday life as well as in teaching investigators.

Cool things are going on here in Cambodia. First things first. I want to know if you guys ever heard about these things or its a cambodia thing or what. 1. gangnam style. Its super big over here (has been for a while i've just always forget to write about it). Its kind of dying down now but it hit big. Everyone was doing the dance, shirts were being sold, all that good stuff. 2. The king of cambodia Norodom Sihanouk died. He died in October. Did you guys ever hear about that? There was a lot of stuff going on here for that. Friday was a big parade where they brought his body around in a parade from Watt Phnom to freedom monument back to the Royal Palace. Monday will be an even bigger day, where they will finally cremate the body of the King. Today we went to the royal palace because we all haven't gone yet. So we went today because we figured, is there a better time than now to go? We get all the way into the line to go into the palace, and an English Press guy came up to us and asked if we were really going to try to go in. We asked why not. He said that they haven't let a foreigner in yet, then he said we got the farthest out of any so far though. Luckily we happened to fit the requirements of the dress code, white shirt black pants, and we knew Khmer. Well long story short, we got in. It was super cool. A huge big 'ol tower with his coffin at the top of it with lots of people burning incense and praying for him. It was crazy.

After we finished at the Royal Palace we decided to go next door to the National Museum while we were there. That was pretty cool but overall i thought it was a little weak and pretty small. They wouldn't even let us take picture inside, what's the point of going to a museum if you can't take picture of all the random little things that they have. The funny part was though, while we were at the Museum we happen to run into Don and Sovan (our investigators) at the national museum. That was fun. We were able to make great progress with them this week. We were able to finally get them to commit to a date. We also started teaching Sovan in Khmer because she really wasn't understanding that much, which was good for her to hear it in Khmer anyways. We commited them to be baptized on the 17th of this month. It was a little scary for him because he realized how many addictions he had to overcome first, but overall he was optimistic, willing, and determined to change so that he could be baptized. It was so amazing to see such great faith shown. We didn't know how he was going to react, but his desire to follow Jesus Christ was so great he was willing to take a chance.

I know that this is the True Church of Jesus Christ restored again to the Earth through a modern day Prophet.

Elder Rucker

Vietnam, AP and Loving it!

The Office Elders

Xin Chao Gia dinh. 

Things as an AP are definately, well, to say the lest, busy. Its really rewarding though and i'm learning so much. Its crazy to think when i showed up there were at 33 companionships and now there are like 53. It has grown so much. The mission is finally starting to get older too. It's weird to think i'm the second oldest group right now and my companion is in the oldest group. So yeah this is my first p-day in the office, and its not really a p-day since we will basically be doing stuff to try and get Christmas going for monday and tuesday.

So vietnam. To summarize, its awesome. Its so amazing. The members there are super smart. 15 and 17 year old fluent in English. 18 year olds tearing up the piano (better than me may i add) after learning for 3 years on the internet. Its crazy. The food there is super good. Everything there is pretty cheap, especially food. And they make more money there too. There are actual supermarkets they use, and there are a lot more cars. The Elders apartments are definately way nicer too. It's weird to see 

The most amazing thing is the missionary work there. If you see some pictures with me not wearing a tag, its not because i forgot it, we aren't allowed to wear our tag outside of the church. They can't contact people there, and they can't do anything outside the church. The only way they can tell people is if people ask questions. Its scary though because of the Government and Police. There are stories of spies, etc, trying to lure the elders or sisters so they can arrest them. Overall it was really weird going around in country with communist flags hanging up left and right. What really hit me is when i was on an exchange with Elder Nam in Ho Chi Minh. We were riding a bus (about 30 minutes) to get outside of the city to meet with a recent convert of theirs. He told me the history of Vietnam to the dedicatory prayer, to the Church & C.I.A. setting up helicoptors to get church members out of the country right before the fall of Saigon. (His mom was one of those who was taken out). Before that people were getting baptized by the dozens. You can just tell the country is so ready for the gospel. The government has not yet opened it for us but things are going good because within my time here they have let foreigners in to proselyte. Before it was only natives. My companion and Elder Tai were the first two foreigners to go in. You still have to be of Vietnameese descent in order to go in though.

Going to Vietnam, it was awesome. I got to see so many great things and meet such amazing people. All in all though it was mind boggling to think, as i was walking a dirt road in Vietnam, to actually think i am going about preaching the gospel in Vietnam. "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing". This truly is the stone cut out of the mountain that will fill the whole earth. Someday the blessings declared in the dedicatory prayer of Vietnam will be blessed, and those people will be able to partake of all the blessings of the gospel. Please keep praying for Vietnam, that it will opened to more missionary opportunities. 

Me in front of the cathedral in Ho Chi Minh

Burger King in Vietnam

Baskin Robins in Vietnam!

Hey Everyone! 

This week was pretty good. President Moon left with his kids for Siem Riep so it left a lot of free time for us this week in order to do our AP thing. Elder Kim and I getting along great. I love being his companion, hopefully we will be friends for a long time. Everything in the house is doing well. This week was overall really great to spend some time on our area, to have zone leader counsel, and to go on some exchanges which was really fun.
On monday, we prepared for zone leader counsel and caught up on things for that and were able to go out and meet a less active family. The  husband of the family is a returned missionary who actually served his mission here in liked 95. He was here when Pol Pot was taken out. He has some cool stories. Unfortanately we were unable to meet with him because he doesn't come down to see the Elders. He is very well off though.
Tuesday was Zone Leader Training and it was nice to learn from president, to be able to teach, and to listen about the different areas of the zone leaders and how the missionaries are doing.
Wednesday i went on an exchange with elder Jorgensen in Pochengtong. It was so fun to be with him again. It was just like old times. Usually when you go on an exchange there is kind of that awkward feeling in teaching because you have never taught with eachother before and you usually didn't have a lot of time to prepare, but me and him felt the same thing, we taught in unity and it was like we had never left eachother even though its been a year.
Thursday was another normal day where we had time to do weekly planing and meet with some more investigators.

Friday was also another super fun day because i was able to go on an exhange in Tuol Tom Pong. All the members remembered me and i was able to meet a ton of them at the church too. It was so cool to see and hear how most of my recent converts there were doing so well and going to strongly. The crazy thing is one of my recent converts Rotonak, and his sister Rotana were so talkative. We originally find them because we found there parents who were inactives, and the father had the Melchizedek priesthood. So we found him, activated the parents, and taught the kids. Then, they like us, but would never talk. Now they are so talkative and confident. AND Rotanak used to have a really bad stutter. It's totally gone now. They are attending church and seminary every week.

Overall things are going very well and its great to have an opportunity to go out and have some time proselyting. I was able to spend some time seeing how missionaries are doing in their areas, to see what thy are working on and help them get a new focus and learn principles from Preach My Gospel. I really feel i have a hang on the AP thing now and i'm starting to know what i'm doing.
I'm really excited for next week because next week is our trip to the Provinces. I'll spend a day in Battambang, Siem Riep, Kampong Thom, and Kampong Cham. So i'll definately have a lot more to talk about for next week.
That's about it for me. I know this work is the work of God. I know we are all called of God. I am so grateful for the tools he has given us in these latter days. The scriptures, and more recently, Preach My Gospel. I don't know what you missionaries did without it.

Love always, Elder Rucker

Assistant to the President

One of my favorite families. He is the 2nd counselor, far left is his wife, and the one next to me is my investigator Dane, who is a friend of that family. We found her because we reactivated her older sister and she started learning. At first, she didn't want to learn and hated us. Now, she was super sad to see me leaving and is planning on become a member and becoming a missionary in 1 year. She set the goal herself, i didn't even mention that yet.

Well. It was Saturday at like 6, president gave me a call. Elder Sem has been sick for a while so i thought that he was calling about that and got the wrong number. He asked if i had a minute. Then he asked me if i would accept the call to be his assistant. I totally forget that transfer were even here. So i have been called to be the new AP for president Moon. I go in today at 3. The actually exchange happens on Friday but i'm getting called in early. Elder Sem is going to whitewash 9th branch with a khmer companion. Elder Garlick will be district leader. And elder An will be with my old companion, Elder Jongsma. Super crazy.

Me and a bunch of the youth at Kah Ko. They all went in order to go a big party we scheduled down there and to say goodbye to me.

It will be super sad to leave this area. It was so hard not to cry. This was the first area where people were calling me and saying goodbye and saying how much they would miss me. People actually cried, it was so nice. I really did feel loved in this area. I am glad to say i can leave this area with no regrets. I did was I was supposed to do and now I am moving on to something new. 


I just want you all to know i know this church is true. And that God has a plan for all of us.

Love always, Elder Rucker

Service in Baku

Things went really well this week. This transfer as a whole has gone super super fast. Next week i will be telling you about transfer calls already. The thing is i don't think anything will be changing so don't expect too much. 

So Tuesday as you know was cleaning and CBR day, nothing too cool. Wednesday was sports day. That was really fun. Most of the time me and Elder Jorgensen just yo-yo'd. The real highlight of the even is that every single one of us ate a crazy burger. Haha. That was so fun. Elder Sem Elder Garlick and Me ate the whole thing. Elder An ate about 1/4 of it. Got home, and threw up. haha he still doesn't know how to eat greasy fatty American food.

Thursday was the best day of the week. We all rode out to a place called Baku. There are a lot of members there. They say its 27 kilos away i say its only 19 or 20. But anyways its quite a bike ride out there. Anyways, its just way out there. But we went in order to help them harvest rice. It was so fun. There was a group of like 15 of us that ride out there. Lets just say the members got their butts kicked from the bike ride, but the Elders were good. It was really fun harvesting the rice, but let me say it was really hard. Everyone got super tired after about an 1 hour. Me and Elder An dominated. Me and him did the equivalent as the rest of them all together.

Friday and Saturday were pretty normal nothing different or abnormal. just meeting with our investigators.

Sunday was the day where all the successes were had. 5 inactives at Church. Our guy Rido from Kah ko came and Srey Lot came too. The big success was we had a former member of the branch presidency, who has been inactive for years came back, as well as another man who was big in the church come back as well. Their families haven't come back yet but they've expressed their desires to bring their families back too. We also got another lady back who has been inactive too. All for like 5+years. The branch was so excited too. Everyone got up and bore their testimonies about how grateful and happy they are to see all those people come back and how they know when we follow the commandments of God we are blessed. It was a great day at church. Everybody was very welcoming and it was a great experience for everyone, active and inactive. 

I know this church is true. I know that when we obey God's commandments we are blessed. Almost every inactive will say they were happier when they first joined the join. Then most admit that they aren't happy anymore because they are inactive. That is the truth of the Gospel, the biggest it gives us. It just makes us happy. You would think the happiest day of the week would be Wednesday of Playing sports with friends and playing with a yo yo and eating a crazy burger. But Friday Saturday and Sunday were by far way happier and way more satisfying.

Love always, Elder Rucker