We traveled to Kampong Cham Province with President Moon to visit with the provincial governor. The visit had been arranged for us as the governor had not made it to a relief ceremony where President Moon had hoped to have a chance to meet the governor. We left Phnom Penh early in the morning for the four hour drive up there. There have been some concerns in the city with the government over the construction of the new chapel there. They were not happy with how high the building was going to be so it was previously agreed that there would not be a steeple on top. The Buddhists did not like that the building was going to be higher than their pagoda. The chapel is in a beautiful spot right in the center of town and by the park and across from the provincial hall. It is really an exceptionally nice spot and takes up a whole city block. The Church was able to buy the lot a number of years ago and feel fortunate to have done that as they do not think they would be able to buy it now.
We hoped to create good will by visiting with the governor and think and hope we accomplished that. We talked to him about all the projects that LDSC has done in his province and we had a district governor with us who has been a great supporter of the Church as his district had benefited from the work that LDSC does. He spoke of the church very highly so we think that was very helpful. The Governor was still talking about the building blocking the view of the river but he seemed ok as the visit progressed. President Moon presented him with a very nice pen carved from wood and made by a friend of his in Alpine. The governor very obviously liked his gift and really looked at it closely before putting it right in his pocket. We also gave him a packet of information about the Church that we have prepared for opportunities like this. We hope much good was accomplished by this visit.
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