Dear Elder Slavens

Dear Elder Slavens
Elder Trenton J Slavens
Thailand, Bangkok/Arizona, Gilbert/
Texas Houston East
Elder Dallin J Slavens Cambodia, Phnom Penh
Elder Chancellor J Slavens Idaho, Twin Falls

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Larping, dude i kill you, sorta

This week was a week. 

It all started when Elder Hall and I were asked if we could teach someone. There is a family here who are members already, but their son is not yet a member. And he was 9. So the rule is, if you miss getting baptized when you are 8, then you have to get taught by the stinky, ugly, stupid elders. So we were like "here we come!" So we planned on teaching this kid. But then we get there, and want to double check his age. So we do. Turns out he was really 8! So they forgot to get their son baptized when he was "8", but then it turns out he wasn't even 8, so we don't have to teach him! BUT, there was another member of that family who was 20 and married into that family, so we are teaching him now, and he is SWEEEEEET. 

He came to church on Sunday, but all of our 3 other investigators didn't come because one didn't have a helmet and didn't want to get caught by the police and pay $2, and the other couldn't find a pair of pants. So remember to find your helmets and pants on Saturday, people. It'll make getting to church on Sunday a whole ton easier. 

Not much more this week. Sorry guys. I don't eve nhave good pictures this week. I have failed you all. 

BUT. My camera was stolen by a 8 year old girl who i call "Baby Monkey" and she took model pictures. So that is sweet. 

Love you all. 





So I decided to try modeling too. What do you think?



Sunday, September 20, 2015

Sorry for the long email, but just read it

Hey, so let's be honest. My least favorite part of writing these emails is sitting down at the computer right now and trying to figure out how I can organize all my notes into a well thought out, organized email. But for this week, I'm WAAAAAY too lazy. So I am just going to say it in order of how I wrote it. 

First, my new companion, Elder Hall and I, just went HAM trying to get members to read their scriptures. Because the scriptures are dope. So every person we met who was already a member of our church, we taught them about the Book of Mormon, why it is awesome, and we gave them crayons and note books and book marks! How cute is that! And everyone was so stoked! All you have to do to get people to do what is seemingly boring, yet important, is give them something shiny that makes it uber fun. 

Then we got a call to go visit a member who was in the Kambong Cham hospital, and let me just tell you. I promise I will never get sick here. I am horrified of that hospital. The patients were laying on the floor. There was blood everywhere. It smelled like puke. And the walls were full of sewers. 

We had a lesson with one of our few investigators. His name is Vuan. It was so dang awesome. He is super hard to meet, but we just found him as we were riding our bikes down the road. Then we went to his house with him to teach him. Basically we were teaching him about being baptized, and then receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, and we showed him a picture of someone having priesthood holders lay their hands on the persons head, and he was like "Oh yah! I've seen that before. I had a dream that the Elders were putting their hands on my head at church and saying a prayer. I wasn't sure what it was, but now I know! Thanks!" 

There was another time when Elder Hall and I were eating in a restaurant, and a group of white back packing chicks (white people- NOT COMMON) walks by, and then you hear one say "did you guys see the cute Mormons over there?" and then the group sneaks back to take a peek at yo home boy. I pretended like I didn't hear, but I kinda wish I didn't hear because now I think I am the most attractive person in the world. 

One time I was just standing, and a bug FLEW INTO MY EYE! It entered my eye! So Elder Hall scraped it out with  a book mark. Then, another bug FLEW INTO MY OTHER EYE! But Elder Hall couldn't find it so it was in my eye ball for TWO DAYZ. Talk about NOT COMFORTABLE. I finally got it out. Fear not. 

I talked it in my sleep. I was speaking Khmer. I thanked someone for sharing, and asked them to give the closing prayer. This is how I talk in my sleep now. 

And we'll wrap it up with my favorite moment of the week. Someone fed us dog meat. It was awesome. I've made it. I'm really here, man. 

Love you guys. 
Elder Dog Meat Eater 
or
Elder Eats Dog Meat



Look closely at the meat... Can you hear it barking? 


​I swear that kid was just drinking coke... 


​Me and Elder Hall "hanging out" tee hee tee hee 


​Me, a man, and that mans cow


Guinness Book of World Records #1 biggest pig 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7xZnzSL5JQkVkRicnl4MUl6VWs&usp=sharing

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Have it your way, then

Hello my dear friends. 

In this week of my life, we prepared for my last companion, Elder Beacco, to leave Kampong Cham by going to all sorts of peoples houses and just saying adios and taking some pictures. There was one member who gave us some interesting news. Remember how I said a while ago I learned that cats do not have 9 lives, but for a matter of fact only have one, and are always squished on the road? Well, now I learned that also, it is very lucky in Cambodia for a black cat to walk past you. So I think I am going to go to a market and buy a ton of fish and staple it to my flesh so I can have black cats come eat it. 

To pick up my new companion, we went up to the city of Phnom Penh, which is basically Cambodian San Francisco. They have Burger King up there. REAL Burger King! It was an amazing experience to partake of fast food once again. 

Then, I came back to my jungle province filled with rabbi monkeys (what I call monkeys with rabies) with my new compy, Elder Hall. He is a bawler. And everyone in our province thinks that he is half Philippine. He is 100% white  and his name in Cambodian means "bloated from eating so much that I want to die".
I still be good. We do lots of lessons. We talk to lot of people everyday to teach about Jesus Christ. I love Jesus Christ. I learn that true through the Book of Mormon and pray of mine. Please try also. Love you. 

Elder Snevals


​SK8 till you are dead


​Me and Elder Hall and the drunk dude I talked about last week.
 I got a sweet video of him still being drunk on my google drive thing 
if you want to look for it and watch.


​J Crew


This is not a skinny man I had to carry on my bike.


Haircuts in the love shack



She has a deadly venomous bite, too! What shall I do next? Drown her? 

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Dungeons and Dragons

So who wants to hear about my week? The water in my house shut off. It is not because we aren't paying for it. We are. But Cambodia is just awesome. So we haven't had running water in 3 days. So guess when the last time I washed dishes or took a shower or even just washed my hands was? 3 days ago. Pray for me. I don't know when the next time I will have a shower is. Do I care? NAAAAAAAAAW

This week was insane. Let's just start with the hobo lady that my companion and I stopped and talked to for a second one night. We were biking home, and then we saw a hobo lady so we stopped to talk to her. She had some crazy mental issues. Which made the conversation interesting, until something I just couldn't imagine happened. It's something you see in movies, but never expect to really happen. We're talking to her, and then a group of kids ride by on their bikes, swoop in close, and just UNLOAD rocks at the lady we were talking to. They were yelling and screaming and laughing. I couldn't really believe it. Then they came up from behind and did it again. We were just trying to comfort this lady and ask her if she was ok. The kids start swinging in on their bikes for a third time, and so I jump right in front of the lady and block her so the kids couldn't throw any more rocks at her. I walked after the kids and just asked them why? They wouldn't answer. They didn't come back (mostly because I told them the cops were coming). But I had just listened to a talk on charity, and how we need to help out homeless people. So know it is possible, people. Alls you gotta do is just stop. Talk to em for a second. 

The miracle from this week came from fasting. FASTING IS DOPE. Miracles always happen. Earlier in the week, we were just about to head home from a lesson with a member, when a COMPLETELY wasted guy stumbles in on the lesson. So we decide to take him home. It's the middle of the night, we don't want him to pass out somewhere random and never get home. So as we are basically dragging this drunk dude, I am cracking p. But he keeps asking us if we will pray with him and such. We realize he is a member of our church! So we get him home, which is next door to another members house. On Saturday, we decide to teach a lesson to the neighbor about inviting the drunk member to church again, and you know what, HE DID! And the drunk guy came to church sober! It was amazing! A member who found us, who we never knew about, came to church because he was just invited! It was awesome. Pretty hard to fully tell how cool it was over email. But just never give up hope, I guess? There is a lot to be learned from the drunk dude story. 

To wrap up this email I would just like to tell you all that one of the people who lives in my house with me now knows how to play Dungeons and Dragons. So we have been playing that every night. It is beautiful. It is larping in your brain. 

Also, My current companion, Elder Beacco, is OUT OF HERE! My new companion... Elder Hall. If any of you were at BYU with me and Elder Hall during the summer or fall, this is pretty exciting. I've know this guy for way long now. We go WAAAAAAY back. He knows my cousin. He is from Texas, like all of my other companions. 

That's all I got for this week. Peace out. Lexi Grondell (too fre$h Lex), send me an email. 

Love, Elder 


​I want you all to appreciate how straight this cows teeth are. 2 years of braces, and my teeth aren't CLOSE to that straight! 


Double take at that cows teeth 


​Had one of the Assistants to the Mission President come with us for a day, 
so we celebrated by taking a selfie.


This week I don't have a lot of pictures, but that is because I filmed a lot of videos. I am trying to upload them onto a google drive, and attach the link so ya'll can see all my pictures and watch so videos if you miss my voice. I forget what all your voices sound like.