Because of an earlier meeting with an US Embassy official we took a taxi to Charentsavan for church. It is a smaller city of about 15-20,000 people about a half hour away, but it was the closest Sacrament meeting we could attend that started later, as we had missed ours.
Attending Sacrament Meeting there was very nice, in fact wonderful for me. There are a lot of younger members there and they are full of enthusiasm with probably 10 children attending.
The four Elders seem happy we were there and the members adored us. They were a little noisy before the meeting started but once it started everything settled down and by the time we got to the Sacrament, everyone was very quiet and it was very spiritual for me. They had 40+ people there and even had to open the overflow in their small chapel.
The Branch President is in a wheelchair yet has a powerful voice and it appeared that they really respected him. He gave a talk and didn’t use any notes and is a very dynamic speaker.
His Mother introduced herself and kissed and hugged me a hundred times. I would love to know more about her, as her hands are very rough and calloused, yet she looks happy and is a very pretty lady.
Early on in the meeting an older sister started to walk up to the Branch President and he and Elder R. kind of motioned for her to sit down. She ignored them and went on up during one of the talks and must have said she was leaving, waved to everyone, then walked out.
They had several Priesthood holders which is great. Most of the women wore jeans.
Elder L. was translating for us and after the meeting when the Branch President's mother started talking about the Elders, through her expressions it appeared she was saying how much she loved the missionaries, but Elder L. was saying things like, she hates the missionaries, in fact despises them. I finally said you aren’t telling the truth are you and he kind of smiled and said, well no. He really has a dry sense of humor, it was quite fun. She loves loves the missionaries.
After a young girl, probably about age 10-12 gave a really good talk and afterwards the Branch Pres’s Mother was throwing her kisses and shouted out “Apreck” (wonderful). Then the ward choir sang, eight people, four missionaries and four members. This same young girl sang in it and she has a wonderful voice. The choir was, well enthusiastic. In fact all of their songs were sung FAST. I couldn’t even sing a word or two before they were on to the next line.
We had two taxi drivers. George was going off shift but he rode with the other driver to show him where to go. Going down hills they coast, then turn on the engine just when you think we are going to stop. George was telling us about this shiny black rock that we saw along the road called obsidian.
"Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly without crystal growth. Obsidian is commonly found within the margins of rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows, where the chemical composition (high silica content) induces a high viscosity and polymerization degree of the lava. The inhibition of atomic diffusion through this highly viscous and polymerized lava explains the lack of crystal growth. Because of this lack of crystal structure, obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness, leading to its ancient use as projectile points and blades, and its modern use as surgical scalpel blades."
So they pull over, run across the freeway type road and pick us up two pieces of it.
What a great day!
