Elder Austin Steadman: Old friends, new comp

Hello everyone! :) Well this was another insanely fast week for us over here in Cambodia! :) So in the middle of this week I had the opportunity to go down to the city (Phnom Penh)! We went down on Thursday because my comp was having some bad toothaches, so Sister Moon scheduled him to go to a dentist to have his teeth looked at. Then I figured that since I was going to be there already, I might as well get my teeth cleaned considering it has been a year and a half since they have been cleaned... yeah, I know, it’s disgusting... I’m living in Cambodia... get over it! haha Anyway, so we went to the doctor and when I got called back the doctor was checking my teeth and then he was like, “Hey, I think that you need an x-ray of your teeth.” So I was like ok whatever and we got one and then it turned out that one of my fillings had fallen out apparently, so he told me that I had to get it refilled, but the good news was that I had no new cavities! That's pretty impressive if I do say so myself! haha So he filled it again and surprisingly it was no pain whatsoever! That's literally the first time that I have ever been to the dentist in my entire life and not had any pain! Ironically, it was here in Cambodia!! Haha The funniest part of it all was that my comp did not have anything wrong with his mouth! They just did a cleaning on him and that was it! haha Anyway, after that we had some time to go to the market and I was able to get a new camera so that will be super nice! It’s also waterproof, so hopefully I will be able to take some really cool pictures! :)

Chillin' at the dentist's office

After we got done with the market we went to the mission home and they told us that we had like 5 hours to go out and proselyte and we could go wherever we wanted to go, so as soon as I heard that we peaced out to go visit my old area, Stung Meanchey! I was able to see lots of the members over there, which was so awesome! It was fun to see how happy they were to see me! It made me super excited to be able to come back with my mom and dad and visit all of them! :) I also got to go and visit some investigators that I had when I was serving there and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that one of my very favorite investigator families got baptized! :) When they told me, they could not wipe the smiles from off of their faces and neither could I!! It was cool to see them progress from two people who had no idea about Jesus and really had no desire to learn about Jesus, to becoming two strong members in the Church! I was overcome with joy as I was talking with them! And they told me that they had never forgotten about me and always asked the other Elders in their area how I was doing and where I was serving! The best part of the visit was when they told me that they are saving up their money so that in 2 or 3 years they will be able to go to the temple and get sealed as a family for time and all eternity! When they told me that I almost broke down in tears! I was so overwhelmed by the Spirit and could feel so strongly that their Heavenly Father loved them sooo very much and I also felt that my Heavenly Father was proud of me for going out and finding these two wonderful spirits and bringing them to the knowledge of the gospel! :) Man, nothing on this earth is better and more rewarding than being in the service of my Lord! :) I took a picture with them and promised them that I would send them a copy so that they could have a picture of all of us and they were very excited about that! I also wrote them a letter encouraging them to keep on moving forward and to always stay strong in the gospel! They truly are an amazing couple! So that was a super amazing experience!

New member family in Stung Meanchey!

The Bong Narit family from his 1st area :)

Transfers were on Friday and I got to pick up my new companion! His name is Elder Medley! He is super cool! He actually came out on a mission a year ago, but then had to go home to clear things up and that's exactly what he did and now he is back out here 100% worthy and ready to serve The Lord! I have an insane amount of respect for him! He has given up so much in his life to come out here for two years! Not only that, but I also respect him for doing everything that he needed to do in order to get his life back in order and have the Spirit always to be with him! He is such a stud! He is from Gilbert, Arizona and pretty much has the exact same personality as me! Just a super laidback kind of guy with a good sense of humor, so he is super fun to be around! Obviously the language is kicking his butt, but it kicks everyone’s butt when they first get here so I am telling him not to stress about it too much and know that eventually it will come! We are still leading out both of our areas so that's pretty interesting! haha Lots of bus riding! I did the math and counting this next transfer I will have done about 48 hours of just driving back and forth from one area to another in 3 short months! haha That's a lot of driving! But we are pushing through it! Please pray that the members will stay strong as well! Usually there are more Elders here so it’s easier to meet with all of the members, but now we don't have as many so we have to carefully choose who we are going to meet with so everyone please pray that all the other members who we don't have time to visit will still stay strong and come to church! :) But yeah, everything is super good right now! I love my trainee and I love my areas! Life does not get much better than it is right now! I am looking forward to working with Elder Medley and finding more investigators to teach as well! That's pretty much all that I have for you all this week, but know that I love you all so much and you are all in my prayers! I hope that you have an amazing week and try not to miss me too much! ;) I’ll be home eventually!!!

All my love!
Elder Steadman:)