ដើម្បីអានជាភាសាខ្មែរ សូមចុច នៅទីនេះ
In the early spring of 1999, two 19-year-olds, one from Melbourne, Australia, the other from St. George, Utah, were a long way from home -- riding their bicycles on the hot, dusty, pot-holed streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a war-torn country struggling to recover and modernize.
The missionaries, still working on their Khmer language fluency, came across Sam Sophon, then 43 years old, who was curious about these young foreigners. When he first saw them from a distance, wearing short-sleeved white shirts and ties, he thought they might be uniformed deliverymen. In those days, small deliveries were frequently made by bicycle couriers.
Sophon asked who they were and what they were doing. Elder David B.J. Hoare, from Melbourne, and Elder Clint Rogers, from St. George, were happy to report they were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because Sophon had previously felt promptings that he believed came from a higher power, he was intrigued.
Thus began a spiritual journey that has brought hundreds of Cambodian people within Sam Sophon’s “circle of gospel influence” and into the Church. His influence has greatly strengthened Church leadership in Cambodia and, today, has come full circle in a way that could not have been imagined in 1999.
Sophon invited Elder Hoare and Elder Rogers to his home to meet his wife, Chan Sovan, and their five children, aged 12 to 19. The elders were excited because their mission president had encouraged them to find families to teach. Many young people were being baptized, but the fledgling Church in Cambodia needed the strength of mature members and families.
At Sophon’s home, “I had so many questions,” he recalled. But the missionaries were on their way to another appointment and could not stay long. “I was disappointed they couldn’t answer more questions, but they said they would come back.”
And they did. And Sophon’s questions continued. “I asked them so many hard questions, at one time they said, ‘You have so many questions. You will need to pray to God to get them answered,’” Sophon said.
“So I started to pray. One night after praying and falling asleep I had a dream. I saw two angels from God who told me this is the truth. It was a shock. I woke up numb and shaking.”
Sophon’s wife, Chan Sovan, received her answer a different way. “I dreamed I saw many people walking down a road together. A man pointed out a small path leaving the road and indicated that I should take it instead of staying on the road with all the other people.
“It made me feel what the missionaries were teaching us was true and I needed to go down that path. There were fewer people, and it was hard, but it was the right way. I prayed and read the scriptures like the missionaries asked. I was sure I found the right place.”
After about three months of teaching, on June 12, 1999, all seven members of the family were baptized.
left
Sam Sophon and Chan Sovan and their five children at their baptismal service on June 12, 1999, with Elders Clint Rogers and David Hoare in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The baptism might have been considered rather routine. After all, many thousands of wonderful people all over the world join the Church every year. But, today, looking back 26 years, the impact on the Church in Cambodia has been immense.
* * * * * *
Sam Sophon was born in 1956 and grew up in Svay Rieng province in the rural southeastern edge of the country on the border with Vietnam. A farmer’s son, he attended primary and secondary school there and dreamed of going to college and becoming a teacher.
As a teen in 1972, Sophon moved to Phnom Penh, the country’s capital city, to work and go to school. But in 1975, when a terrible civil war broke out between the government and the Khmer Rouge, he returned home to his rural province, thinking it would be safer there.
The murderous Khmer Rouge took control of the country, including Sophon’s village, and he saw many atrocities over the next four years.
“There were two reasons I survived,” he said. “First, God protected me. I have no doubt about that. Second, I learned how to adapt and work very hard so I was useful to them, obeying what they ordered me to do.”
He and his family were hungry all the time. Many of his relatives and friends were killed, including his father, grandmother, aunt and nephew. It was such a horrible time that many older Cambodians do not like to talk about it.
Meanwhile, a young lady named Chan Sovan was also struggling under the atrocities of war. Even before Cambodia came under Khmer Rouge control, it suffered immense collateral damage from the war in Vietnam. As part of the campaign to defeat the Viet Cong, the United States military dropped more than 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia.
Sovan lived in the Prey Veng province and in the early 1970s traveled to Phnom Penh to go to the market. After shopping, she tried to push her way into a crowded passenger van to go home. But the people in the van shoved her out. Just then, a missile hit the van and all 10 passengers inside were killed. Several other people were wounded. Sovan fainted, but suffered only minor injuries, and she was able to help others who were hurt.
Sovan becomes emotional telling the story. “I felt I was really protected by a higher power,” she said, with tears running down her cheeks.
That was not her only harrowing experience. During the Khmer Rouge genocide, Sovan came close to death a number of times, and again felt a higher power protecting her. At one point, soldiers told everyone in her labor camp to wear black shirts they provided. Sovan’s shirt was far too large, so she altered it to fit better. The Khmer Rouge leader was very angry and told her she would be killed for disobedience.
The terrified young lady asked her cousin to give all her possessions to her mother, who had been moved elsewhere. That night, three soldiers with rifles took her into the countryside. She expected to be shot, but they instead harshly warned her to never disobey again and she was allowed to live.
“God protected both of us many times,” Sophon said.
Before being taught about Jesus Christ and His gospel in 1999, Sophon and Sovan did not understand the nature of God. But they both believed that some higher power existed that protected them. Sophon had hoped many times that “someone with all power” would help him find the true religion.
In 1979, not long before Vietnamese soldiers invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge, Sophon’s and Sovan’s families were both forced to move into a large house near Phnom Penh with five or six other families. That is where they met.
The young couple soon fell in love, and Sophon felt a higher power telling him they should be together. He obtained approval from Sovan’s parents to marry her, but there were other obstacles. Almost all actions, including marriage, required permission from the Khmer Rouge. Other young men also liked Chan Sovan, and it would be up to the Khmer Rouge leader to select her husband.
A rule at the time required a young lady to be at least 18 years old to be married. So Sophon told Sovan to say she was only 16, so she could not marry. Soon, when the Khmer Rouge began to withdraw under attack by Vietnamese soldiers, Sophon and Sovan were able to marry. Their first child was born in 1980.
The post-war recovery years were very difficult, still with a great deal of societal turmoil, anger and disillusionment. “There was a lot of drinking alcohol and other bad stuff,” said Sophon.
The young couple settled in Phnom Penh and raised their family. Sophon’s dream of becoming a teacher was not fulfilled until he became a beloved teacher in the Church. But he got a job with the Ministry of Transportation as a maritime pilot on a Mekong River ship, moving cargo from Vietnam to Phnom Penh. He continued working for the ministry for many years, much of it as a river port manager in the domestic and international terminals.
When the family was baptized in 1999, the Church had been in Cambodia only a few years, and it was difficult to be “pioneer” church members. Sovan said some extended family members were not happy with their choice. At first, there were no other members in their neighborhood or in their children’s schools. “It felt lonely at times,” she said. But Sophon and Sovan were soon very busy with Church service and activities and they became anchors for the Church in Cambodia.
Sophon has served in many callings, including as district president, and branch president four times. He currently serves on his Stake High Council and as Stake Sunday School president. He is an assistant area auditor and has been trained as a temple ordinance worker. Sovan has served as Relief Society president and in many other callings. She is also excited to become a temple ordinance worker when the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple opens, expected in 2026.
Sophon and Sovan were sealed with their children in the Hong Kong Temple in 2004. The former Elder David B. J. Hoare traveled from Melbourne to be with them. A highlight of their lives has been to travel to temples in Asia about 10 times to do work for their ancestors.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Sophon’s and Sovan’s biggest impact has been through the many people they have influenced and brought into the Church. Their circle extends broadly, first to their immediate family, and then far beyond.
“It was a wonderful blessing to raise our children in the Church,” said Sophon. “It helped guide their lives so they became good people.” Their daughter and four sons all served missions, extending their influence to new Church members baptized by their children. And now their grandchildren are serving missions and serving in the Church.
Their circle of influence extends far beyond their own children. Over the years, they invited 16 nieces and nephews, mostly from the rural provinces, to come to Phnom Penh and live with them for better education and job opportunities. Most of them joined the Church and many served missions, supported by Sophon and Sovan.
Sophon and Sovan’s home has always been a beehive of activity for Church members, missionaries, teaching friends, and extended family. They have hosted countless Church meetings, seminary classes, and hundreds of missionary discussions. Prayer, scripture study and Church service were always part of the daily routine for everyone in their home.
The dozens of young people they influenced now have their own homes and families. Sons and daughters, in-laws, nieces and nephews have become leaders in the Church. Current North Stake President Samnang Sea estimates that Sophon and Sovan are directly responsible for at least 200 current members of the Church, including many of Cambodia’s top Church leaders. He compared them to the early Church pioneer families who settled in Utah and now have thousands of descendants.
Today, Sophon regularly visits teaching friends with the young missionaries and invites people to be taught in his home. The young missionaries love Sophon and Sovan and their dedicated support of missionary work. Sophon’s wise counsel, love, and his knowledge of the scriptures and gospel doctrine are legendary.
And this is where the story comes full circle. Elder David B.J. Hoare, who taught Sophon after meeting him on the street in 1999, has returned to Cambodia as president of the Phnom Penh West Mission. His two counselors in the mission presidency come directly from the “circle of influence” of Sophon and Sovan. His first counselor, Sam Sareivattanak, is one of Sophon’s nephews who joined the Church when he lived with Sophon and Sovan. His second counselor, Uk Sophal, is Sophon and Sovan’s son-in-law, married to their daughter Bolinda.
“We were just two wide-eyed 19-year-olds riding our bikes down the street,” said President Hoare. “We had no idea what impact the baptism of Sam Sophon and Chan Sovan would have on the Church in Cambodia. It wasn’t us. They were touched by the Spirit. I think they taught us more than we taught them. But the Lord has ways of making ‘small things’ turn into ‘great things,’ as the scripture says.
“This happens all over the world,” said President Hoare. “There are Sophons in every country. And there are more here in Cambodia.”
While they are getting into their older years, Sophon and Sovan have much to look forward to. “We are so excited and thankful for a temple coming to Cambodia,” said Sophon. “It will be a great blessing for Cambodian people. It shows that God is aware of us and loves us.”
Sophon believes the temple will help heal some of the grief and suffering still felt by families who lost many relatives in the Khmer Rouge civil war. “We will gather scattered Israel on both sides of the veil. I know it is God’s plan. It is the work of the Lord for our salvation and for our ancestors. It will be a pleasure and a blessing to be ordinance workers and help our Khmer people make their covenants and be sealed and feel the spirit in the temple.”
Sovan’s counsel to her posterity and all those they have influenced is simple: “We should always trust God and do what he wants us to do. Follow God’s plan and we will get through hard times and be blessed.”
Sophon added, “Let God prevail in your lives. Follow His plan, not your plan. If we obey the commandments, we will receive the Spirit and guidance to do things that will make us happy and keep us safe.”
Some of the Cambodian Church leaders directly linked to Sam Sophon and Chan Sovan:
- Sereyvatanak Sam, first counselor in the West Mission presidency, a returned missionary
- Sophal Uk, second counselor in the West Mission presidency, a returned missionary
- Phean Kong, a bishop and returned missionary
- Tan Sam, second counselor in the South Stake presidency, a returned missionary
- Utdong Panha Sam, bishop of SMC 1st ward, a returned missionary
- Sakhorn Mornh, former bishop of SMC 1st ward, a returned missionary
- Sam On, former bishop of SMC 2nd ward, returned missionary
- Bolinda Sok, serving as AOA (area organization adviser), a returned missionary
- Van Chan, serving as a ward clerk, a returned missionary
- Lensandab Sam, 1st ward Sunday School president, a returned missionary
- Dane Sam, stake young women president, a returned missionary
- Thon Am, South Stake Patriarch, was introduced to the Church by Sophon and Sovan. His entire family became members.
In addition, another dozen or so young people served missions who were mentored and supported by Sophon and Sovan.