AsiaLIFE

It’s a long way from their Salt Lake City headquarters, but members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are becoming a growing presence in Cambodia. Julie Masis shines a light on the lives of locally based Mormon missionaries. Photo by Conor Wall.

When you meet 25-year-old Sister Lacey Robertson on the street, you would never guess that she survives on US$30 a week and works without days off.

Her hair is pulled back neatly in a bun. Silver earrings, in the shape of flowers, decorate her ears, and black mascara darkens her lashes. On her wrist is an African bracelet, a gift from a friend. Every day her clothes are neatly pressed—on Wednesday mornings she irons all her outfits for the following week. “We’re supposed to look our best,” she says.

Robertson, a soft-spoken young woman who is studying to be an elementary school teacher in America, is one of 76 Latter-day Saint Mormon missionaries currently living and proselytising in Cambodia. To fully immerse the missionaries in the local culture, the church does not allow them to speak with friends or family back home. The last time Robertson spoke to her mother was on Mother’s Day, the one occasion each year other than Christmas when she is allowed to phone her parents.

“If we allow that more often, they would not be able to work,” explains Scott Smedley, the president of the Cambodian Mission. “They’d be constantly calling their friends and family at home.”

Mormon missionaries take a decidedly grassroots approach to their proselytizing. Robertson wakes up at 5.30 every morning and spends most of her time travelling around on her bicycle seeking out potential converts to the cause. She does this seven days a week until 6pm—except for Wednesday morning, which is her half-day of rest. That’s when the Mormon sisters and elders (male missionaries) do laundry, clean their apartments and go grocery shopping.

The extreme dedication is paying off. The membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cambodia, where the religion was first established in 1995, passed the 10,000 mark in March 2010, according to Smedley. In 2009, there were 432 new Mormons in Cambodia; in 2010, there were 700 new members.

A Flourishing Faith
To serve the increasing number of Mormons in Cambodia—who, in accordance with Mormon tradition, give 10 percent of their income to the church—a growing number of expensive new chapels are being built. The first Mormon church in Cambodia opened its doors in 2004 and cost more than US$2 million. Last year, the demonination, who until recently owned land only in Cambodia’s capital, started expanding into other parts of the country.

The first Mormon house of worship in Battambang, which cost several million dollars, will be completed this summer, according to Smedley. Mormons have also bought land in Siem Reap and are now negotiating a land purchase in Kean Svaay, a suburb of Phnom Penh, where they plan to build their next spiritual home.

Prime Minister Hun Sen recently honoured the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its humanitarian work in the country (Smedley keeps a framed photo of Hun Sen giving him a medal prominently displayed in his office). The church regularly donates eyeglasses to Cambodians and gives away 1,500 wheelchairs per year in Cambodia and Vietnam, says Smedley. But that’s just a small portion of the Mormons’ humanitarian work in the country. Most recently, the church funded a US$400,000 measles inoculation campaign in Cambodia, vaccinating 1.5 million children against the disease.

Latter-day to Day
Missionaries in Cambodia have to contend with the normal hazards of daily life in the tropics. Last summer, there were five cases
of dengue fever and two cases of typhoid among the 76 missionaries, and one girl was hospitalised after a road accident. On top of such risks, they are often fatigued as the church dictates how they should spend every half hour of every day—down to the order in which they do their morning exercise, shower and study the Bible.

“They are here to teach about Jesus Christ and that’s it,” says Smedley. “It’s not a vacation.”

Missionaries may not drink tea, coffee or alcohol and are forbidden from attending movies, parties, weddings or concerts. The mission president also has to give his approval to every DVD they watch; sexual scenes, violence, murder and bad language are prohibited. They may not listen to music, except for church music. Young men and women may not invite members of the opposite
sex to visit their homes, much less have boyfriends or girlfriends.

While they are restricted to calling home only twice a year, missionaries must write weekly letters to the president of the mission. Other church rules state that missionaries may not ride motorcycles, wear flip-flops, or have beards or moustaches, and that girls may not go out after dark without special permission.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages men to serve on a mission for two years before they get married; the sisters serve voluntarily. Of the 76 Cambodian missionaries, most of whom come from the United States, only 14 are women.

On A Mission
For their proselytizing work, missionaries receive no salary. To go on mission, they give the church US$425 per month, from which the church takes care of their housing and allocates them US$30 per week. To finance their mission, missionaries “start saving when they’re babies,” says Smedley.

On the US$30 per week that she receives from the church for food and other expenses, Robertson, who shares a two-bedroom apartment with three roommates, can’t afford most Western foods. Most nights she and her roommates have rice for dinner, but the girls are not complaining.

“For me what makes it worth it is that I know I’m doing what the Heavenly Father wants me to do,” says Robertson. She pauses for a minute, then adds, “And to bring joy and eternal life to the souls in Cambodia.”

An earlier version of this story was published by Asia Times Online, www.atimes.com.