Week 70- Short & Sweet w/lots of Pics

Hey I don't have a ton of time but this week was full of crazy stuff. 

Sister Bashford crashed her bike while it was pouring rain and hit a pothole (hahah like me in my third trasnfer) but no need to fret, no blood.. but maybe a broken toe. She is a tough Sister!

Speaking of strong...Here's a candid of me working out.... hahah GO SISTER JENNINGS!! 

Here's our view every morning..

 We got invited to eat at an Indian family's home! We were contacting and we met them and I was making small talk and said that I love Indian food! (This is not a lie mom. I love it more than mexican food now.) They invited us over to dinner and we were trying to speak in Khmer to each other because the husband knows a little Khmer but it just didnt work out so there was a lot of smiling and saying thank you in Indian! We shared Family History with them and had them trasnlate the family history book so they can fill it out! It was super cool! AND The food was so good. I am obsessed with Indian food. 

In one day we biked 50 miles to do a service project. Enough said. 

Here we are... Starting on our 50 mile service bike ride:)

Also I think the Lord is just blessing us so much or Sister Bashford is an investigator magnet because people were just walking up to us this last week asking to learn! THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN HERE!!  It was really amazing to see how God has prepared them all and it is an honor and privilege for Him to trust Sister Bashford and I to help them come back to the path to their Father and Heaven. 

Okay. I have to go! Once again, you will have to ask me when I get home about this last week. 

Love you!

Sister Alexa Snooks

This is the market we buy all our food from.

 GORGEOUS

 Cause we're girls and we need pampering sometimes...

 ENGLISH CLASS CONTACTING 

Week 69-Last Transfer

I got my last transfer call last night! I will be staying here in Siem Reap to complete my mission and Sister Davis will be leaving. My new companion is Sister Bashford and we will be English Class Leaders! I am excited!! 

Last Monday felt like forever ago! We were able to go to a waterfall and hang out there for awhile. I will add pictures of it. After, we had our interviews with President. President and Sister Christensen are the best! At the end of my interview, I asked him if he had any advice for my last transfer. In my head I was thinking that he would respond and tell me an inspiring phrase that I would remember for forever and if I ever was asked to speak in General Conference, this would be a story I would tell. hahah Nope! Instead, he said, "Nah, I got nothing for you." hahah I laughed so hard! I told him I wasn't expecting that response! He told me there is no secret to it and that I already knew what to do to be a good missionary. Just continue to do so. I LOVE how real President is. 

It looked like maggots, but I sure hope they weren't. They kinda tasted like beans. The shells kept getting caught in my teeth like popcorn kernels do. I just kept telling myself I was eating popcorn kernels.......I don't even ask anymore.....

On Wednesday an investigator, មីងអឿន, from the second branch got baptized! Even though Sister Davis and I are in Branch one, it was very special for us because she was the first lesson we taught together in Siem Reap when we served in both branches! She was beaming with happiness and she was so excited she showed up THREE HOUR EARLY for her baptism! She thanked us both so much for finding her and helping her come to know her Savior. 

On Friday the 13th we did service, which wasn't the best thing to do on the 13th. We were cutting weeds down and a Sister chopped a piece of her thumb off.. But it's okay! She is good and still alive! 

On Saturday our Investigator ម៉ី, Mey, got baptized! She has been learning for awhile because she is young but she is very dedicated to coming to church every week.  It was a good last week with Sister Davis! 

Sorry my emails aren't very entertaining... but I will send good pictures to make up for it. 

Love you all-

Sister Snooks

Week 68 -Just Keep Swimming

So rainy season has been hitting us hard this last week! We had a lot of flooding. The water would only be a foot deep in some areas and then other area would be so deep it would cover our handlebars while we would be trying to bike through it. Usually we end up just walking at that point. There was one time I was biking in hip-high water and struggling to keep going forward (it was a sandy bottom/road on top of biking through a lot of water) and out of no where the ground dropped and my whole bike went under! It scared me but no worries, my head didn't go under this time! There were  a lot of Cambodians that got a good laugh at this little, (well actually here I'm considered tall) American, in a dress, on a bike, biking through deep water. It was great. A common phrase Sister Davis and I said last week was, "Who knew we would be swimming on our mission!" But hey, it's just part of missionary work. You do what you have to do to meet with investigators......Even if you have to "swim" through a "lake"to get to their house only to find out they aren't there.... True Story. Sister Davis and I started bringing an  extra dress with us so we could look more presentable in our meetings. So gross sometimes. But wow, I love my mission. Everyday is an adventure!

We watched Conference on Saturday and Sunday. In Cambodia we watch it a week later because it takes that long to translate all the talks into Khmer and we (English speakers) watch it at the same time with our Cambodian friends! If you want to hear some crazy Cambodian language, look up conference talks. Cambodian is hard to trasnlate because it takes so much longer to say a phrase in Cambodian than in English so the trasnlation is super fast! But I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have heard from the leadership of our church. We had a new investiagtor name Sokpeak come to conference. The day before we had taught her about prophets and asked her to come listen to Conference. She said she would only come to one hour of it. We arranged for two recent converts to sit by her since we would be listening to it in English in another room. I was a little nervous she would not understand the some of the talks she would hear due to "gosepl language" and that she was from a buddist background. She had only been investigating the chruch for two weeks. Thankfully, the first talk was Uchdorf's and it was perfect for her. He addressed that we all, at some point, need God in our lives and that the Gospel gives us true happiness. The entire talk I was so happy because I knew it was what she needed to hear! She ended up staying for the entire session and then CAME BACK FOR THE EVENING SESSION TOO!!  

This is my last full week with with my Koon (trasnlation: child),  Sister Davis. We will be getting transfer calls this Sunday.  Pray for us. Actually, pray for Sister Davis because the first real transfer call you get as a new missionary is scary! We think I will be staying because I only have one transfer left, but we will see! It will be sad to split from Sister Davis! She has taught me so much and we have worked really hard together. She is amazing! (Like mother like daughter, right?) 

Thank you all! Have a good week!​​​​​​

This is where we teach, in her store! it is a hardware store on the side of the road.

Week 67- Woman's Conference

Last week I realized I had two options. I could either go home with very thin hair because it was too long for my weak, sun damaged hair to hold or I could cut it. So I chopped it off. It was hard to do but hey, it will grow back. I should have done this way back in April! And don't worry, I went to a good place this time and my hair is all even instead of one side being three inches longer than the other. haha

Yay for hair cuts

This week was good! All the missionaires in Cambodia haven't seen conference yet! We will get to watch it this week! But this last week all the Sisters got together and watched Women's Conference! It was fun to see everyone again! I feel like I haven't seen other missionaires in forever!

Sister Luke and I at Women's Conference

 Hair game strong. Sister Lay. 

On the way to meet up with all the Sisters we rode in a van for the 6 hour trip. I was next to this young mom and her baby. The baby was so cute. She was struggling to keep the baby happy through out the whole ride. We stopped at a rest stop and she went running out to go to the bathroom while stilll carrying her baby boy. We followed her and she was waiting outside the bathrooms. I realized that she couldn't go because she had this little baby in her arms. I tried to find someone to hold him for her but everyone was already loaded back in the van. So I totally broke the rules and held the cutest baby for maybe a minute. The little baby even snuggled up to me. I died inside. No regrets. 

The cute baby.  Also, the mother is now a potential investigator. It was worth it. 

We have a family who is learning with us. They came to church once before they started learning. We met with them the first time and were getting to know them. They sell fruit on the side of the road to make a living. The father was telling us how when he goes to church he will go with his son because his wife needs to stay at the fruit stand and continue to sell. I told him with all confidence that if he would give up selling to come to church on Sunday with his entire family, the Lord will bless him and his family more. He was a little taken back by my comment and kept asking me, "So you want me to stop selling so my entire family can go to Church because you think we will be blessed?" I think he asked me that three times to make sure he was hearing me right. I felt like he was going to be a little mad for me asking so much of him before we had even taught him anything. He just looked me straight in the eye and said, "Okay, I trust you. We can do that." Sister Davis and my mouth dropped open out of pure shock. So cool. These people have so much faith.  Mission experiences like that make every hot, sweaty day worth it. 

I can't think of anythings else! Thanks for the E-mails! I will try and be better at responding! 

byeee. 

A message from a traveler

I received this message today right after General  Conference ended from Brandy Brown. She was visiting Cambodia and attended church where Ali was serving......

Just wanted you to know that we met your daughter in Cambodia yesterday at church! She is an amazing missionary!! She translated for us and her knowledge of the language is impressive but her love for the Lord and the people there was the most touching!! She really shines!

Cambodia is an amazing place! The people are so kind! The ward and new converts are so excited to be there and they fill the room!

What a truly incredible experience she is having!

The language is quite impressive she interpreted so well! The Sunday school lesson was on chastity so it was pretty interesting

Week 66- Busy day

I didn't manage my time well and don't have time to write but I'll send some pictures! It was a holiday called Pchum Ben and no one was available to meet so on Wednesday we did a deep clean and played games. Thursday we started doing Elder Nelson's challenge to read every scripture that refers to Jesus Christ! I wish I had time to say more. Sorry!

Have a good week!