TENDER MERCIES AND MIRACLES (Nov. 2025)

 

SEEK AND EXPECT MIRACLES!

-My purple pen exploded in my bag.  I discovered it shortly after removing my personal Book of Mormon from the bag.  Tender mercy that my well-loved Book of Mormon was rescued before it was damaged or ruined!

-I was able to say my first Khmer prayer with native Khmei teaching friends.  Simple, but fluent.  I felt very blessed in the calm flow of words.  All day long I was floating high in the spiritual support I received.

-Tender mercies abound with the first Sacrament Meetings in Kampong Speu!  What joy to be a pioneer in this area of Cambodia!  I felt very inspired with my first talk at this new building in this new area.  And just being prepared for to serve the sacrament was a series of tender mercies, especially with the new flat white sheet we had purchased the week before for a bed but had not yet removed from the packaging.  We were brainstorming on Saturday night how to set up the Sacrament table when that brand new sheet came to mind.  It worked perfectly.  Pres. Dien was also was able to round up some little plastic cups from a restaurant to serve the water.  We had a white metal tray to serve them on.  It was one of the most sacred Sacrament Meetings I have ever been in.

-I had the thought to suggest having district council at 7:00 a.m.  Lo and behold, the church set-up team arrived about 7:10 (not the 9:00 time we were told!).  Because of that early meeting time, we and the elders were all set to go with helping out!  We wouldn't have wanted to miss that especially fun moment of seeing the crane lifting the baptismal font up three stories!!  

-We were sitting on the floor, cutting fruit with an older member.  I accidentally jabbed my fingernail with the sharp knife.  It could have been quite bad if it had hit my hand instead!  Definitely watched over.

-I just happened to discover a very hot electrical adapter that was actually melting.  This easily could have turned into a fire.  This was discovered in the morning, right before we were leaving for the day and evening.

-A definite tender mercy - I have looked and looked for weeks for my international driver's permit with no success.  I was ready to have family back home try to work out something through the place we got them.  I prayed again about it, and within minutes, Jim found it with some extra cash he keeps tucked away in the car.  

-On Friday, we received the message that the police wanted to come to our place and meet with us on Monday morning.  We had the whole weekend to stew about it.  When they came (all seven of them!), they were actually very nice and respectful, and no intimidating questions or signatures were needed. They were immigration police just making a record.  They said they were just helping us to be safe in this new area.  One blessing was that we were able to distinguish that we were not part of that crazy evangelical crusade that happened a couple of weeks before.  Another blessing was that I was able to ask the girl who was translating for us if she had heard of our church.  She pointed to the missionary tag and said she had!...and that when she was younger, she had gone to church on the weekends!  We chatted about some of her interests and life at the police academy while the others were filling out paperwork.  We actually ended up becoming friends on messenger!

-We had the unfortunate fear of getting into a modo accident.  With this crazy traffic, it was bound to happen, despite all careful attempts.  He was coming down the opposite way as Jim turned right into a gas station.  We feel incredibly blessed that it was very minor and that it was a fit young man (maybe mid-twenties) that was knocked to the ground.  It so easily could have been a common scenario of little children or several people riding.  BIG MIRACLE.  We were shaken up, but all settled calmly and nicely.  We were so grateful that someone on the scene spoke English - we would have been lost otherwise.  We paid an agreed amount of $25 to help with modo repairs. We felt incredibly watched over and so very blessed that it was handled by the instant gathered crowd in such a respectful way.  It was a wake-up call to never get too comfortable and "second nature" in our driving.  We need to always be on the alert.