ដើម្បីអានជាភាសាខ្មែរ សូមចុច នៅទីនេះ
President Allen Hicken and Sister Alisa Hicken are the recently called mission leaders of the Cambodia Phnom Penh East Mission. In a recent interview, the Hickens shared their feelings about their calling.
The Hickens related that they were long prepared to serve as mission leaders in Cambodia. The Hickens have a love for Cambodia and its people. President Hicken shared that as a young man, he was called to the California San Diego Mission and started learning Thai in the Missionary Training Center. When he arrived in San Diego, he was assigned by his mission president to work with Cambodian refugees who only spoke Khmer. After his mission, he worked in Cambodia for a short while in the 1990s. President Hicken said about being called as mission leaders, “It’s a chance to come back to a country I love, to work with people I love, … in a more intense way than we normally get to do in terms of the work of the Lord.”
“My total time in the area had been three days before we arrived [as mission leaders], it felt completely familiar … we have loved being here. … being parents and raising a family have prepared us a lot for being the mission mom and dad,” Sister Hicken said. “The other thing I really love is getting to serve with my husband. There are very few callings in the church where you get to serve together and work together.”
President Hicken shared that their goals focused on the development of the full-time missionaries, “We want our missionaries to come unto Christ. We want the missionaries to become lifelong disciples. And then we want our missionaries to help others do the same thing. So the focus of our mission is bringing people to Christ, starting with the missionaries.” Sister Hicken added, “We are training [the full-time missionaries] to be the future leaders wherever they are from.”
The Hickens are eager about the opportunity for growth and development for the church in Cambodia with the upcoming completion of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Temple. They expressed, “We are so excited that a temple is coming here! And so we feel like part of what we get to do during our time here is prepare the people for the temple, and prepare them to keep temple covenants and come and serve in the temple...and do the great work of family history that we do in the temple to unite families.”
Meanwhile, President David Hoare and Sister Marsha Hoare are also newly called mission leaders of the Cambodia Phnom Penh West Mission. The Hoares have served in many church callings that have laid the groundwork for their current callings. President Hoare shared, “It’s just wonderful to serve Heavenly Father’s children wherever you’re called. …We always feel inadequate for whatever we’re called, but we have confidence that Heavenly Father helps us, even in our inadequacy.” Sister Hoare said, “Our journey to become mission leaders started last year, but our journey to become disciples of Christ has been a long process.”
President and Sister Hoare expressed their enthusiasm for being assigned to Cambodia -- the country has been an important part of the Hoare family because President Hoare served his first mission in Cambodia as a young full-time missionary. The Hoare family too have a love for the Cambodian people and said, “Let all of the members of the Church know that we love them.”
The Hoares are enthusiastically anticipating working with the full-time missionaries and members in Cambodia to help share the message of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His church and kingdom on the earth. President Hoare reflected, “We hope that it will help them so much that it will be a model for how they live their lives, that the Savior’s love and the doctrine of Christ … will help them individually and personally.” Sister Hoare elaborated, “We love the diversity … and we respect those of different faiths and we can learn a lot from them.”
The Hoares are looking forward to an exciting three years serving the country of Cambodia at this historic time as the temple is completed and Cambodia is blessed with local access to the full covenant path available in the gospel of Jesus Christ through temple blessings.