Livin' it up in the jungles of Cambodia

Hello everyone!! :) Well another week in the books!! This week was a little different from the regular though as far as new areas go! Ha so I’m not going to lie, the goodbyes this week were super hard! I love the members of Stung Meanchey sooooo much and cannot wait to be able to see them all again next year when I come back to visit with my parents! So there were some hard goodbyes, but I went onto the bus to my new area with a positive attitude and ready for another amazing adventure! I think that adventure is the perfect word to describe the next couple of months that I am going to be spending here! Haha so it turns out that I am not really serving in Kampong Cham! I am about 20 miles out from the city, literally in the middle of nowhere!! Haha I'm not kidding when I say that either!! There is literally nothing here… it’s so crazy! The closest market to our house to buy any kind of food is about 25 minutes away, and in our area there are only a few shops including a bike shop, a shop that sells bamboo juice, a small gas station, and 1 factory where lots of the people in this area work! Ha it’s so sick! I literally feel like I am just living in the jungles of Cambodia!! Our house is super nice though! It's just me and my companion here and all of the other missionaries are in the city super far away from us so that's kinda cool that we’re just out here all alone livin’ it up! :) haha Our house does not have a shower, so I finally get to have the pot and bucket experience for showering! Truly I think that I would have been disappointed if I did not have the chance to experience that in one area while I was here! And come to find out, I think that I like it better than a regular shower!! Once you pour that first bucket on your head and you get over the initial shock of how cold the water is, it’s awesome!! :) Honestly, I kinda like the cold water because it cools me off after a long hard and hot day in the sun!!

Anyway, so in the area that I am in now they do not even have enough members to have a branch yet, so all that we have down here is a small group! And we also have a group leader here and he is so awesome!! Literally the nicest guy you have ever met in your entire life! So we also do not yet have an official church building here to worship in either, but luckily we have rented out a nice little house that we have made into a small sacrament room! Unfortunately, they do not have ac in that house, but it’s ok because we got permission from president so that we do not have to wear our suits on Sunday at all, so that's pretty tight! :) Anyway, this week was super good! We just went around on Saturday and Sunday and my comp, Elder Xiong, showed me all of the members and our investigators as well! We have tried to do lots of contacting since I got here and luckily we already have a new investigator, so that's exciting! :) On Sunday there was a power outage so we did not have any electricity to turn on the fans in the Church building, so needless to say it was an extremely hot Sunday! Haha, but luckily the electricity came back on in the evening so we had ac to sleep in at our houses! :) We had 23 people at church which from what I understand is pretty average, but we are hoping this next week we will be able to have a lot more members who are inactive come back to the church so that they can take the sacrament and meet some of the new members that we have here as well! This area is going to be a lot of fun! I can tell that this area is going to stretch and pull me in a lot of ways, but I can also see that this area has an incredible amount of potential! It just needs two missionaries who are willing to put in the work and effort... and luckily it does! :) I am excited for this next transfer!

My comp is a total stud! Before he came on his mission he was a cook so as you can imagine I am just in jungle paradise!! Every night we always have an amazing meal! This Sunday he made egg rolls that were seriously to die for!! And I must say that I am VERY happy to do ALL the dishes every night with no argument at all! :) haha Man I don't know how I get so lucky with everything in my life, but I sure do feel blessed and know 100% that my Heavenly Father is looking out for me over here and loves me very much!!:)

Well for this week that's pretty much all that I've got for you!! I will let you know how this next week goes! Love you all! Keep me in your prayers and pray that the people here will have a willing heart to learn about Jesus! They strongly believe in Buddha here and so lots of people don't want to learn, but I know that through the power of prayer that Heavenly Father can and will soften their hearts and lead my footsteps towards those who are currently being prepared to hear the message that we have to share with them! Thank you all so much for all of your love that you are sending me each and every day through your prayers! I truly can feel it every single day! Being a missionary is the greatest blessing I have ever received in my entire life! :)

Love you all so much! :) Until next week! :)
Elder Steadman:)

P.S. A note from the missionary mom: Austin is playing it down, but he hurt his wrist in his bike accident a few weeks back and has been in quite a bit of pain. They are sending him to physical therapy to try to help it heal so he can stay on his mission. Please keep him in your prayers that his wrist will heal properly. Thanks so much! Love, Mindy