Attn: Wally

A WALLIE MISSION UPDATE
January 15, 2009
I think it might be of interest to you to know exactly what our mission entails. We are PEF/CES missionaries. The PEF stands for “Perpetual Education Fund” and was introduced by President Hinckley back in April general Priesthood Meeting of 2001. It is a divinely inspired program and rather than take the time here to go through the details I ask that you go to lds.org, then click on “Gospel Library” then “General Conference”, then April 2001, then Priesthood Session, then “Perpetual Education Fund”. There you can read President Hinckley’s address where he introduced the PEF. Now, throughout the world there are 33,000 students with loans who are going to school where otherwise they couldn’t.
Now, for a few of our recent experiences. I mentioned a few weeks ago that we went outside of Phnom Penh (PP) about 3-4 miles in an area that was 5th branch when Wallie was here. In fact, the little gal who was guiding us (Suen Sokhom) pointed out the place where Wallie lived as a missionary. Although the apartment complex is set back somewhat off the main road it seemed there was a small alley way leading up to the place. I named that little alley “Waallie Aallie”. I’m going to make a sign.
At any rate, last Saturday we went back to see if we could find the one PEF student I told you about that lives in squalor a little outside PP. Again we rode down the dirt path that led to his little shack and sure enough the whole family was there. My heart just dropped to see that a family of 4 was living in such destitute conditions. There was a little girl, probably 5 and a little boy about 2 ½. The floor was slatted so we could see the tepid water about 4 feet below. At one point during our stay I heard what sounded like a stream of water kind of dribbling down into the water below. I thought “what is that”? Then I noticed that the little boy was using the bathroom as he lay beside his mother. I saw no signs of food anywhere around the room and wanted so much just to give the man a $10.00 bill to buy some food but I realized that doing so wouldn’t help him. It would probably only make things worse in the sense that he would feel more worthless. His self esteem was pretty much gone anyway and he was humiliated that he was in this condition. He had been employed as a guard at one of the churches but had fallen asleep during the night and someone—it seems another guard—had preplanned a robbery. So when he was asleep (when he should have been awake) some robbers took a few things from a storage shed. The next day he was fired. That was devastating to him. This happened about a year and a half ago and since then he has tried to provide rice for his family by fixing old electronic equipment people throw away and then selling it for a small sum.
At any rate, what he really needs is a job. Today I spent some time working with the church employment department (managed by another missionary couple that are our close friends) to see if there were any jobs available. I want to tell you, the Church Employment Resource Center here really does a great job of matching the employment needs of the employers with the skills of the members needing a job. In the last 8 months they have placed over 400 people in gainful employment. Well, the missionary couple told me, and rightly so, that he would need to come into the office and they would help him fill out a résumé. Then they would help him develop some job interview skills. I feel confident that he will get work. He has a bicycle that he can use to ride the 10 miles to the Resource Center. I will keep you posted on the outcome but tomorrow I will work to get him an appointment with the Employment Resource Center.
Last Friday evening, Mom and I were just getting ready to leave our office when a little gal knocked on our door desiring our help to get into a particular school. She is a lovely little gal—so capable in her English abilities and very intelligent. Well after answering her questions and seeing her desire for education we approved the initiation of her loan application. Just before she left we told her that we wanted her to come to our office at least once each month for a few minutes and “update” us on her schooling and other aspects of her life. We gave her our cell number and as she was writing down our name she stopped, looked at us and said “I know this name, I have written it before, did you have a son that served a mission here”? We said, “Yes, we did”. I stood up and said “Was he about as tall as I am, but not as broad in the shoulders nor narrow at the hips”? She said, “Yes, that would be him—but not quite as much hair nor quite as good looking”. I said, “Yes, that would be him”. (I’ll have to admit, I did add a few words in that last sentence. Then she proceeded to tell us that she had embroidered two missionaries on bicycles for an Elder Nelson and then stitched at the bottom a message to his mother for mother’s day. Mom’s face lit up as she said that she has that very picture and holds it dear as one of her favorite mother’s day gifts because it was mailed to her by her son while he was on his mission in Cambodia. Tears flowed as those two precious women hugged each other. There was a uniting of their spirits.
The next day we met another PEF student and as we were talking to him he began to look at us more closely, shook his head a little, stopped speaking, looked at us some more and then just said with a smile on his face, “Are you Elder Nelson’s parents”? As we said we were he got so excited! It turned out to be one of Wallie’s companions while he served here in this area. Wallie, he really loves you. He gives you credit for all the joy he now has in his life. I simply said “I’m his father, you know”. He then hugged me. He’s now married and has the cutest little 6 month old daughter. We call these “Wallie” experiences and they are a regular occurrence. It makes our mission so fun.
Well, I’ve rambled on for quite a while but I want to quit by telling you that we love you all so much. Further, we want to tell you that Obama is not the answer to life’s problems—the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. Mom and I witness the truth of that daily—many times. Stay true!
Love Dad