November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

This gurrrrl gots so much to be thankful for; number one item: INDOOR PLUMBING. I am reminded time and time again here in Miri, how thankful I am for a toilet, instead of a missing board plank on the floor. #2 A family that rocks. That's you guyzzzz. Thanks a million for the letters. (I hope your feelings aren't hurt that you aren't #1 on my list, but think about it...a toilet...that's hugely important, necessary, vital to my happiness...

So what y'all eat for thanksgiving? DidKristin's squeeze make it home with her for the festivities? I hear britt brent lisa max and MYSELF will not be there. That's sad. I'm sure no seat will be missed as much as my own....

This is the first year I have ever spent Thanksgiving at the beach! What a miracle of a day. We celebrated on Wednesday because that is our P-Day. We assigned out food and, despite my worries, the Elders actually pulled through on their assignments. One house of 4 elders BBQ'd chicken there at the beach, the other house of 4 brought mashed potatoes and gravy that was divine, the senior sisters brought soda, yams, and some cut up pinapple, watermelon, grapes, papaya, oranges, etc. in a big bowl and Sister wong and I made APPLE PIES. I don't want to brag but they were fantastic pies. We looked everywhere for pumpkin or canned pumpkin to make pie but couldn't find it. Oh well, the apples were a success. We spent all afternoon playing beach volleyball, futsol (wich is pretty much soccer), and catching crabs (which were taking over our beach). All in all it was a fantastic day. The best part was we biked about an hour to and back from the beach so we were able to work off the feast a little bit. I haven't showerd yet, we came to email straight from the beach and I still have that sticky salty feeling on my skin. I love that. There at the beach it was hot, but the wind was blowing so it made it quite nice. We had a blast. I love the missionaries I am serving with in this area. Never have I ever laughed so hard; that's a lie, I pretty much laugh at everything. we have a good time.

We brought with us one of our investigators named Josua. Josua is awesome. We use to teach him and his wife but she recently ran off with another guy. Sad story. Josua has been really, I mean REALLY depressed lately. He is only 20 years old. Yesterday we found him sitting at a little food stall. We walked up behind him and I saw a glass of clear liquid sitting in the middle of the table and a white stick hanging out of his mouth. I thought, "oh great, he is so depressed, he is smoking and drinking is sorrows away," Boy was I wrong. We sat down at the table and he pulled a green sucker out of his mouth and took a sip of his ice water. I was so releaved. He is a good kid. It was about 3:00pm and Josua said he had been sitting there since morning just drinking water, eating suckers and watching people. We convinced him to follow us to our appointments that day to give him something to do. He followed us to three appts and he loved it. At each house they fed us juice and biscuits, like they always do, and Josua thought it was the coolest thing. We invited him to the beach today with us to help him get out of his depression. The senior sisters picked him up and brought him in their car. When they came to our apartment to pick up the food Josua went over to the Elder's apartment and chilled with them as we finished getting things ready and into the car. Elder Evansan said Josua kept telling them how happy he is. He told the Elders he followed us "yesterday and got fed tonz of crackers and juice and met so many nice people, and has never had to go to the bathroom more in his life and he was really really happy!" Hearing that makes me pumped. When we invited him to the beach today he was so excited. It worked out nice to have him there because four of the Elders are native so he didn't feel threatened being around a bunch of white people. But all us white people could still talk with him anyway. Josua was off the walls, he acts like a 12 year old its so funny. He kept climbing all the coconut trees and bringing down coconuts. He would crack them and make us all drink the juice, over and over again. The coconuts weren't ripe so the juice was pretty sick.

As we walked along the beach the Elders would run after all the tiny crabs trying to catch them. They looked hysterical. The crabs were so small you couldn't see them so it just looked like the Elders were running around in circles and diving at the sand randomly. Those little crabs were FAST. Then the Elders started throwing them at me; that was not fun at all....aww it was a great day.
Josua is getting baptized in 3 weeks.

I'm excited this weekend because Karen and her little girl Teo are getting baptized. I don't think I have written too much about Karen, which is too bad because she is amazing. She has a 9, 7, 6, and 3 year old, and a husband that is the scum of the Earth. I probably shouldn't write that...but he is. They are by far the poorest family I have met here. They have nothing, the husband wont work. Karen goes dumpster diving each night at the restaurants and malls to find food for her kids. The husband is a drug addict and is never home, he only comes back when he doesn't have money; which is rediculous because Karen doesn't have any money either. Karen can't talk either. Well, she can talk but it sounds like someone who has had a stroke; very very difficult to understand. When we first met her I couldn't understand her at all, but amazingly her kids understood every word. The little nine year old girl would translate what her mom said to us. Little bit by little bit though, I have gotten to the point where I can understand most of what she says. She is a hysterical women. And she does everything for her kids. This is so rare among parents here, so many parents view their children as an annoyance. A few weeks ago Sister Lowe came with us to teach Karen and her kids. Sister Lowe decided she wanted to help them out a bit and went a bought enough rice and other essential foods to last those little kids months. We went back a week later and it was all gone. Karen said her husband ate it all. She says he eats five times a day and eats A LOT. I couldn't believe it. He has these starving little kids and he eats all their food. The baby still drinks a bottle and you know what they put in it? Water and sweet and condensed milk. Ya that baby's teeth are all rotted out. The other day the baby was crying because she didn't have a bottle, Karen said her husband had used all the baby's milk for his coffee. She told him not to because they baby would cry if she didn't have a bottle but he just hit her. I hate that man, that's not very Chirst-like of me. Karen says he won't sign the divorce papers, for the life of me I don't know why not.

Anyway, we'll just forget about him. Karen and her daughter are getting baptized this saturday!! Teo is the top student in her class, which is really amazing since she comes from and incredibly disfunctional home. She is nine years old and she already has a job. Now that school is out until next year she works at a little food shop for 10 ringgit a day. She also watches all her younger siblings when her mom goes out to find food. It's incredible. She is a really smart girl. I am so happy because the Church has made such a difference in Karen's life. Besides her children, it's one of the few sources of happiness she has. She's quite the women.

I like going to their house because they have a pet monkey we play with, it's cute. They say at night crocodiles come under their house (their house is on stilts over the river) but we have yet to go their at night. I would be a little scared....The kids shower in that river! Which is nast because everyone's plumbing and waste dump into that river. Teo said one morning she couldn't shower before school because their were crocks in the water. AND THE MOM LEAVES THESE KIDS HOME ALONE! it's insane.

We have so much. I have so much. I'm so so so so so so so grateful for the stuff, the endless amount of stuff I have.

I'm incredible grateful for the things that happened in my life to get me on a mission. At the time, I thought everything wasn't working out at all! But now I realize everything wasn't working out the way I wanted, it was working out the way Heavenly Father wanted. Throughout college if things would have gone according to my plan, there is no way I would be on a mission in Malaysia right now. It is so cool to look back and see how Heavenly Father has guided me to here, to Miri.

There is a new District movie out. The District, is a training movie for missionaries. They followed a district of missionaries in California with cameras and filmed what they did everyday. In the DVD they also have interviews and commentary throughout, done by the missionaries. There is one quote by one of the Elders that I absolutely love. I believed they were filming either early in the morning or late at night because he looked so tired. He quite tiredly said, "I don't know why I'm so happy.... because I am so tired aaaaallll the time". Amen to that. The mission is the best best best stuff.

I love you guys

sis v

November 16, 2010

Hey there fam.

First things first, before I forget. Macsen! I met a boy with your name. I know you thought you were the only one but not true my friend. Although he spells it Maxson, it is still very much the same, sounds the same. When he told me his name I had them repeat it a couple times. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't and unfortunately I don't think we will be going back to that home any time soon :-).

Dad, I do remember that dog experience in Tijuana. That was hysterical. May I just say that the other day I saw something that totally one-upped it. I don't even know how to describe it....I'm not going to discribe it, but don't worry, I got pictures. Dogs are disgusting.

I bet the days are getting shorter at home now.

I'm just sitting here, I don't know what to write and the clock is ticking. Last week we found 9 new investigators that said we could come back and teach them. This week none of them wanted anymore. Love it when that happens.

We went hunting for souls in my favorite part of our area, Padang Kerbau. It is so so so pretty, I love just riding around out there. Last week we scouted out a place we had not been before and decided to go check it out yesterday. Much to my disappointment they were all chinese homes. It was hysterical because I would talk to them in Malay but they would also talk to Sister Wong in Chinese, and why wouldn't they? she's chinese! Poor Sister Wong would just look at me and say, "they're talking to me in chinese again what do I say, I don't understand." It got to the point where she would stand a little ways off if they were chinese just to avoid the whole mix-up. It makes me laugh every time someone talks to her in Chinese, but I fear it is at her expense. We are going to have to send the Chinese Elders back to that area, I'm sure they would have a bit of success. We were a little dissapointed but finally, when we came to the end of a very long farming road, we found a cluster of Iban shacks. sing it: ''Miracles happen..." We came up to the first shack and an enormous Iban lady walked out. I'll admit her person and the look on her face was a little terrifying. But we started talking to her, she softened, invited us in, like the Ibans always do, and then went on to invite her two neighbors and all of their kids over. It was great. They are excited for us to come back, at least they seemed like they were. We always carry the game, "Pick up Sticks" in our bag to play with families who have a lot of kids. I think the game is quite boring but the people here loved it. We took out the game and played with them fo a while. Every time the huge lady moved a stick on accident she would let out a huge belly laugh. Oh man it was so funny, I have no idea why she was laughing so hard. There was a shoulder-high book case jammed packed with empty alcohol bottles in front of her shack, that should be a fun issue to address when the time comes....

After we left her shack and continued down the road we came upon another home that looked abandoned. It was in the middle of nowhere. We looked at the door for clues as to what kind of people lived there. People here always hang religious peices on their doors or above their doors, whether its muslim, buddha, taoist, christian, hindu, iban traditional, ugama lama etc. The Chinese always have something bright and usually red on their door. On this house we saw something brightly colored hanging on the wall near the door and assumed it was Chinese. We were standing pretty far away on the road though so we thought we should bike in closer for a better look. It turned out to be a bag of laundry soap hanging there. So much for assumptions, glad we went closer.

The lady that lived there had been taught by Elders some time ago. She said she had been to the 'latter day church" once before. We talked to her for awhile and found out already had a book of mormon. We asked her if she would allow us to come back and continue teaching her. She replied, "but sisters how? I already entered the latter day church..." My thoughts were, A. she went once and thinks she entered and B. ITS THE SAME! I thought we had made that clear but I guess not. We assured her it was the same church, she seemed pleased, we're going back on Thursday.

People are so funny, sometimes we teach people only once and they start telling people they are a part of our religion. We met one lady once and taught, she wasn't interested so we havent' gone back yet. But the elders, a few weeks later, met someone who said she was part of our church and that the sisters taught her. It was the same lady! We taught her, she said she didn't want, and then she goes off telling people this is her church. How does that work? I guess we should go back and try again, since she's claiming mormonism now.

We had a good experience with somes guys named Tia and Juana (pronounced Jonah) last night. We have taught them before but they both went back to Kampung for about a month and haven't seen them in awhile. They both got back yesterday so we went to see them and teach. Juana was on date to be baptized before he left but he was gone so long we had to change his date. He just picked up and left without warning, happens all the time. So last night, after we taught again the Restoration we reminded Juana that he was already on date to be baptized but we needed to pick a new date. He was still wanted to be baptized but was shy to be baptized alone. Tia was there, and previously when we taught him we invited him to be baptized so many times but every time he said he wasn't ready yet. After Juana expressed his concern Sister Wong turned to Tia and asked, "hey Tia, you wanna be baptized the same day as Juana?" Kind of have jokingly have not. I totally expected him to say he wasn't ready yet, like he always did before. But instantly without hesitation he replied, "boleh (can)" very seriously. My thoughts were, "wait what? are you sure?" Luckily i didn't voice them. I couldn't be more thrilled, I don't know what changed but I guess while he was back at Kampung he started thinking about baptism more seriously.

Amidst all the frustration miracles happen.

Today we are going over the the Senior sisters home with a member to learn how to make delicious curry! I'm so excited. I've been wanting to learn how to make this stuff for over a year now. It's gonna be boss.

I love you all, happy thanksgiving, I grateful for you!! And I'm grateful to be here.

loves,

sis v

November 9, 2010

Sup fam,

I'm feeling better thank you very much, all except for a stupid cough that doesn't want to go away. It's made teaching really fun because everytime I open my mouth I have cough attacks. Sister Wong has really had to step up this week, becuase often I can't get a word out. She's done beautifully.

Dad, I think I may have given you a false sens of Miri from all the pictures I have been sending. Miri is indeed a town that is quite modern, it even has a couple malls. But then you turn a corner and it's poverty. The Malays and Chinese are usually the wealthy ones that live in the houses and on actual streets; but we don't teach them. So, we spend our time in the shacks by the river with the Ibans, Kenyahs, Kelabit, and Kayans. Mostly the Ibans though. On P-days we often spend time in the city, and the place we live is in the more modern part of the city. It's really is a crazy city, absolutely zero city planning. We will be biking down a road of shops and all of the sudden there is a beautiful chinese home, and then we turn the corner and there are little shacks with no plumbing or electricity. I guess I only take pictures of the shacks and sticks because, A that's where we spend our days, and B that's what's foreign to me.

I live in a place called Jinhold Apartments, Lot 2160 Jalan Bulatan, Block 4, MCLD, Taman Piasau Indah, 98000 Miri, Sarawak. Google Earth your heart out dad. We live about 25 minutes from the airport. And that town you found, KUCHING, is the captial of Sarawak. Kuching means "cat" in Malay, which is fitting because cats are everywhere here. They are taking over. I'm told in the city of Kuching they have huge statues of cats...wierd. I believe we will be going there next month for the 3rd session of that big training. Ugh cats, they are gross, and dogs too. If there is anything my mission has taught me it is to hate animals... They are so disgusting. Is there such thing as dogs with hair? I forget becuase all the dog's hair is scratched off from itching the fleas. Just kidding...but seriously.

This week has been ok. There is always a hi-low after baptisms because you get the feeling of having to start over. They train us over and over again on how to avoid the "tidal wave" (having a ton of baptisms and then nothing), but it's still hard to avoid. We still have a few planned for the end of the month, but we are having to be more and more creative on finding ways to find new investigators.

The next day we went back and visited Matthew, the lonely man, and taught him about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He was waiting for us on his porch, dressed up very nice. The day before, when we met him he was in grungy grass stained clothes trying to fix a weed wacker. He had cleaned up his house, had soft music playing, juice made and ready to drink (with ice! what a delicacy), biscuits and he had bought candles for light (he doesn't have electricity). He said, "I've been waiting for you guys" Ya we noticed, the place looks amazing and you've actually showered. He said he had been waiting a couple hours. THis guy seriously needs company. His wife and 2 kids are back at Kampung. We had a good lesson and talked with him for a while. He said he would read and we are meeting him again in a few days. He is super super strong catholic, so I'm kind of nervous about that but we will see how it goes.

I have a lot to learn when it comes to missionary work, man oh man
love you all,

sister viehweg

November 3, 2010

What a great letter dad! Filled with so much news. I love fall. I forgot Halloween was on Sunday. Did everyone dress up? Was it cold? I bet it was just a little bit cold wasn't it; like cold enough to wear a sweater. The world still gets cold like that right?

Right now I feel so so exhausted. I've been sporting the flu this week and it's been a joy. Last Satuday we had an appointment cancel because they said they had the flu; I distinctly remember saying to sister Wong, "how can anyone get the flu or a cold here? It's so hot!" The very next morning, bam, I got the flu. I should have knocked on wood. So that has made me quite tired, but on top of that we decided to bike to Brunei today for P-day. Brunei is the intensely Muslim and insanely rich tiny country just north of us. We did'nt actually enter Brunei though. The purpose of our journey was to hit up a crocodile farm up that way. Only 15 minutes more though and we could have been in Brunei. It was about an hour and a half bike ride there, which really isn't that long, but with the flu it really took it out of me. I wasn't about to miss out on the party though, all 12 of the Miri missionaries were going. We biked along the coastline the whole way there, I wanted to jump in that water so bad. It was a lot of fun, the zoo was pretty pathetic though.

Many many wonderful things have happened this week. I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. Yesterday was already my 14 month birthday. It's flying because I love this area, my companion is literally the best, (I feel like she is training me), and our investigators seriously rock right now. Everything went smoothly with the baptism last week. It was superb. We bought ties and white shirts for Diki, Dewa and Jackson since they didn't have any and were going to be baptized. They didn't have anything to wear to their baptism. We showed up at their house a couple hours before the baptism and gave them their gifts. They were excited, but not one of them knew how to tie and neck-tie. We had a little seminar were I showed them how to tie it. It was hysterical. I had the three of them practicing, and then their three Malay roommates came out and wanted to learn too. They were all terrible at it. I was laughing so hard, I hope that didn't make them feel bad, I don't think it did. They looked great at their baptism, wearing the ties I tied for them (they never did quite learn). I don't even know where I learned how to tie one since I never wear them, probably some friend at college taught me.

Last night, Tuesday night, we met them all again and had a great lesson about missionary work. These boys are very very very very very shy and it's like pulling teeth to get them to answer a questions. I don't know what changed but last night they actually talked! We actually had an ideal lesson where we talked 50% of the time and they talked 50% of the time. We asked them how they felt after they had been baptized and at first they just stared at the ground, like always. Then we had the inspired idea to have the two members with us share how this church has helped them first. After that they all started sharing. Diki talked about when we first started learning. Diki was the first one who really took an interest and he said at first, all his friends made fun of him for not wanting to drink or smoke with them anymore. "But now look," he said, "they're all following me to church now." Which is true. After Diki started coming Dewa came, then Jackson, then Baru, Pendi, Jonah, Hero. They all started following. And now none of them want to smoke or drink. It's great.

Jonah, Diki's friend, came to church for the first time last week. We have been trying to get him to come to church for a while. He always says he will come, but then Sunday rolls around and he goes fishing. Finally this Sunday he came. He came mainly to support his 3 friends who were be confirmed, but church ended up having an intense affect on him. When we met him last night he said after going to church just once, he no longer wanted to smoke, he no longer wanted to drink, he had Zero desire! It was amazing. I think this is the first time I have had an investigator change so significantly after just one church attendance. This church is so true. Jonah is now on date to be baptized at the end of the month.

Bonnie had his baptismal interview yesterday and passed. He is so so excited to be baptized Saturday. I don't think I have had an investigator and grateful as Bonnie. Every time we teach him he expresses the gratitude of his heart. He is so happy. A few weeks ago we were struggling with being able to help him quit smoking. He just couldn't cut the habit. Whenever we met him he would say he had smoked again "but just one stick!" His excuse was, "saya perlu buang air besar" which literally translated means "I needed to throw big water" (aka I had to poo). After he said that I just stared at him, not really following. "so you had to go to the bathroom..... and so you smoked....soooo I'm not seeing the connection here! Get a flippin magazine!" I still don't really get it but to him, it seemed like a legitimate excuse. Anyway, he has been clean for two weeks now and is still going strong. Last night after his interview I asked him what helped him stop smoking and he said he just thought one day "If I want to do this, I need to really do this" And then he stopped. The mind and spirit are so powerful, the body is weak; the desire just needs to be there.

The great thing about Bonnie is he is instensely excited about sharing the gospel with his family and friends. His father is so cute. His father loves us; and he loves the Book of Mormon, his father knows the Book of Mormon is true. But you see, his father has already been baptized so therefore, no need.... wrong. We're working on him. Bonnie's mom and dad love us so much because of how we have helped their son. They have definitely seen the change.

We are still on the hunt to find women and girls to teach. We aren't having much luck. More and more men are entering the church but without women, they aren't staying very long. Where are all the GIRLS? They are hiding somewhere.

But ya, the work keeps chugging along in Miri. The missionaries here as so much fun, which makes the work so much fun. We have big plans for thanksgiving, we are saving our Ringgit to go to the big turkey dinner buffet at the Marriott at the end of the month.

Kids still point out the largeness of my nose and thighs but I seem to love them anyway haha. The people are good to us here. It's going to be wierd to go home and not have every guy we pass on the street yell "I love you!" - I believe it's the only phrase they know in English. It's done worlds for my self esteem haha.

Love you guys

keep the letters coming

Sister Viehweg

October 26, 2010

Hey Daddy,

Good to hear Bogus has snow, Macsen said Timp also got some. aaaaahhhh snow, i will never live in a warm weather place again after this, i just love snow too much. Although it is very beautiful here. The other day we went with the Elders to visit some of their recent converts, it was the girls birthday and she invited all the missionaries in Miri to come (all ten of us). It was so beautiful biking to her place because she lives in a Kampung (kampung is the word they use for neighborhood or hometown) next to the beach. We got to bike along the beach for awhile. This place is heaven.

On the bus ride back from Sibu I had a great time looking out the window. On the trip to Sibu is was dark for most of the trip but on the way back it was still light. The bus drove through the jungle and we got to see so many longhouses tucked in the middle of nowhere. Its crazy that one house is these people's entire home town, its their Kampung.

There are two Elders serving here in Miri that are from Kuching, the big city south of us. Elder Lamat is Iban and Elder Ajek is Bidayuh (both local tribes here in Sarawak). On the bus ride we got to talking about these Elders' hometowns and I found out that Elder Ajek's Kampung is not a longhouse, but a Rumah Tinggi (a Tall House). Many of the Bidayuh's built their homes on tall stilts because years ago, during the tribal wars, the Ibans would come and stick their spears up through the floors. They built them tall for safety. The history of this place is crazy. There's a little fun fact for you.

Let's see, this week has been pretty ok. We are teaching an awesome couple right now. His name is Jantai and her name is Eda. They have a daughter named Viviana and a son back at Kampung staying with the grandparents; I think I might have mentioned them before. We met them while sister Whittemore was still here back in June. It took a couple months for them to sort out their priorities but now that Jantai quit his chef job and is working construction (off days on sunday), Eda quit her job to stay home and take care of the kids (they are going back to Kampung next week to get their son and bring him here), they are ready to learn. Boy are they ready. I absolutely love this couple. I think Jantai is one of the very few men I have met here that has good strong family values. He is the one that wanted his wife to be there at home for his kids, he wants so badly for his kids to grow to be good people, and he loves his wife. Now, I know probably every man here loves his wife but he is the only one who shows it. It is so refreshing to see a couple that actually seem to like eachother. At church couples never sit together, in fact they usually sit on opposite sides of the church, they don't touch each other, they don't hug, they don't hold hands, nothing. I'm sure it is cultural but still... It's nice to see Jantai and Eda sit by each other at church, and tease each other, and support each other.

I might have already told you this story but I had actually forgotten about it until late last night while I was lying in bed. As I lay there I was remembering when we first met Jantai, Sister Wong was not yet here. I wanted to share the story with her so I said, "Sister Wong I have to tell you what I just remembered about Jantai and Eda!" I probably scared her because it had been quiet for quite some time. Way back when Sister Whittemore and I first met Jantai we knocked his door. He seemed very excited to see us and almost expecting us. We later found out that he was indeed expecting us. He told us the night before he had a dream that two visitors would come to his house the next day. Two girl visitors. He even told his wife that day before she went to work that he was expecting two visitors. Then we came. I can't believe I forgot about that until last night. Heavenly Father's hand really is in this work. It's sad how easily I forget the little/huge miracles that happen everyday. He loves his children so much. *wipe a tear* (wish I wasn't, but I really am crying haha, this mission has made me such a baby, I cry at everything. This morning I was watching some training videos and was crying, they weren't even emotional or spiritual). Jantai and Eda really are so special. When we teach them they are so eager to learn. Eda leaves next week to go get her son, she will be gone for a few weeks, and then when they get back they will all be baptized as a family.

Last night we took the Elder Lamat and Ajek to some boys' house that we are teaching for their interview. Diki, Dewa, and Jackson will be baptized on Saturday. 16- year- old Dewa didn't come to church on Sunday which surprised us, he has been really good and his baptism is this saturday! We kept prodding and prodding trying to found out why he didn't come and all he did was sit there and shake his head. Finally he blurted out he did come but he was late and the door was locked. (he tried to come in the back door to escape notice but it was locked, I don't think he tried the other door, he was embarrassed and just went home). We asked him why he was late and he admitted that we went shopping for clothes to wear to church. Saturday night we had a lesson all about appropriate clothing for the sabbath and such. Dewa went Sunday morning to buy clothes to wear to church. I felt bad, I guess we should have taught that lesson during the week to give them time to buy clothes for church, instead of late Saturday night. Poor kid.

After he interviewed everyone Elder Lamat came out of the room looking serious and shaking his head no. I was thinking, "oh no,...." He sat down next to us and said quietly and quiet seriously, " Sister he....he....he...uh....he passed." I could have killed him. I was thinking, "what! did he drink? did he smoke? what happened!" The Elders love to tease. It's a good thing I laugh at everything and think everything is funny. There are some Sisters who get ticked. But really, the Elders are quite funny.

The other District Leader in this area, Elder Kumar, is Tamil form West Malaysia. He always says " the interviews are free, but the signatures gonna cost ya" He tries to get us to pay for his signature on the baptism record. What an abuse of power.

I'm excited for the baptism this weekend.

Love you guys

see ya next week

Sister viehweg

October 21, 2010

Hey Daddy.
Thanks for the email.
I love you too.
I'm still in Sibu and the conference here has been fantastic, as usual. Yesterday we didn't have our P-Day, and today we didn't have Pday either but training finished at 6pm so we all headed to the mall to do some emails. It sounds like the weather is great in Boise. Fall is creeping in slowly but surely. I think of Fall and cold and I get trunked out of my mind, best not think about it... Kristin's bring a boy home for thanksgiving eh? right on. Just hold off a little Kristin, what will everyone think of me if I have TWO younger sisters married before me. so embarrassing....(haha she's gonna be ticked at me for writing that)
the bus ride down to Sibu was great. Oh man it was so nice to sleep. They played Jet Li movies all the way down. Rock on. Although I found myself staring out the window for half the movie. I use to love scary movies and stuff but now I can't handle it. They weren't even scary, just instense and I couldn't watch. so pathetic.
These trainings really are so great, they make me realize EVERYTHING I am doing wrong and that I need to be doing everything so much better, in all aspects of missionary work. I hope there is a little forgiveness in heaven for the things I lack. Sometimes I wonder if people end up refusing our message simply because I didn't present it right or didn't take the time to find out their real concerns. Luckily we have this training to help us become better. It's been an inspiring week full of great discussions, lots and LOTS of role play, and shared experiences.
I just got a call from some of our investigators while sitting her in this internet shop. We are teaching a group of about 6 bachelors (age about 16-24) and they just called. They asked, "Sister! you come back yet?" "sister! when you come back?" "What you doing now?" "sister have you already eaten?" they're great. I miss them and it's not even been a week.
Anyway. President always makes a power point for his training and this time around he decided to insert excerpts from various missionaries' Presidents Letters, to share some experiences that help explain concepts. In my Presidents letters, I just copy and paste what I write email home to you all, minus all the gentile comments of course. I can't waste time writing President his very own email! Just kidding....but really. Anyway, I think he had taken a piece of almost every one of my letters from the past 2 months and put it on the power point. You know how I write, It's conversational, it's sarcastic occasionally, and so reading them in front of everyone (yes, he had me stand up and read them each as they appeared throughout the training) was kind of embarrassing. However, it was really cool for me to see all the different things that I had written about, all the little miracles. They are so easy to forget! It's so easy to forget all the awesome things that happen and to think, "have I done anything?? have I accomplished anything?" So that was a nice little reminder.
I have yet to listen to Conference in English, I don't know what I'll get the chance, I got a little out of it while listening in Malay but not much. But, president had a talk with us today about the reaction in the US regarding Elder Packard's talk. I was shocked as President Clark talked of the protesting and the disagreeing voices, even among members! President said some were leaving the church because of it and saying Elder Packard needed to retract his statements. How can this be! I was so upset as he was telling us. Isn't the fact that Elder Packard is a prophet seer and revelator good enough? This talk truly is shaking the flakes from the trees. All those who are upset of angry at the talk, do they even have a testimony at all? This is a fight against Satan and the cowards and the weak have made themselves known. I wonder if, no, I'm sure that Elder Packard knew what the reaction was going to be from his talk yet he did it anyway. True love casteth out all fear right? This apostle truly loves the Savior because he is fearless. Man, I'm so upset right now. I love the apostles and prophet, I support them in everything they say, what they say is what God says. What a world we live in... I'm glad I'm in Malaysia, where all I have to think about is being a representative of Jesus Christ. What a simple life Mission life is.
Love you all!
Miss you all!
sister viehweg

October 13, 2010

Dear Dad,

Thanks for the email again. Cool that it was 10-10-10 the other day huh, there was footage on TV of mass-weddings going on all over Asia. Thousands of couples gathered to be married all by one preacher just to have the anniversary 10-10-10. In my opinion 11-11-11 would be much cooler, they should have waited a year.

Sounds like you all had a good week full of football. Right on. And dad I do remember you telling about us the story of meeting the apostle in Isreal and then later on in Japan, although I thought it was Elder Maxwell not Elder Faust. So ya I guess you do need to tell those stories more often so us kids can get the facts straight. I'll tell you this, In the MTC Sister Goodwin once was talking about how cool it would be to be baptized in the Jordan River and I told her my dad was - ya, I had to brag. She thought it was the coolest thing and has told all of her companions since, and more hahah. You've got a cool history dad, make another book. I'm on page 398 in my mission journal, which doesn't seem like that much but the pages are big; I'm proud of myself, especially since I hadn't written in a journal since middle school. Most of the pages in that Middle School journal have since been torn out and thrown away too - I mean, who really likes themselves in middle school? I sure didn't, what a depressing journal that was haha.

ANYWAY. Miri has been good this week. Transfers are in two weeks and my little daughter Sister Wong is terrified I'm getting transferred. I have tried to assure her that with how expensive this mission is President never transfers people for no reason. And since no new sisters are coming, there is no reason for a transfer. I'm not going anywhere, but she still worries. It's funny.

Next week all the missionaries serving in Sarawak are going to Sibu, the city south of us, for the second phase of the major training we had in Singapore earlier. We are excited. We get an 8 hour bus ride that I am actually really looking forward too. 8 hours of just sitting sounds really really great to me; man I'm tired. I remember when I first got to Kuala Lumpur, my trainer Sister Mccurdy was so tired all the time. I remember thinking to myself, "man, why is she so tired? I never feel tired at all". Now I know....Sister Wong has all the energy in the world and she keeps me going, NOT THAT I'VE GOTTEN LAZY OR ANYTHING. haha.

Last Sunday they showed Conference at church. It was a total nightmare. The two branches gathered together to watch it on the screen in the chapel. Ibans have zero sense of what it means to be reverent. Throughout the entire session everyone was talking, not even in hushed tones, in full voice! People were on their phones even. No one was paying attention. The sound system was terrible so no one could hear above all the talking, the translator was a girl which really REALLY confused the Ibans. Seeing a man on screen and hearing the voice of a woman just didn't compute for many of them... PLUS the language was Indonesian so much of it they didn't understand. That Sunday we had a lot of investigators at church and the whole time I was just praying they were feeling something that I wasn't...because it was totally unspiritual. That Sunday actually broke my record for people at church thus far on my mission. It was awesome. Everyone who said they would come, ACTUALLY CAME. What a miracle. For many of them it was their first time attending church so all the following week we had to explain to everyone that we don't watch films every week as worship. They thought that was the normal, and they were not impressed. It's been stressful because we talk up church so much because it is so important and so awesome, but then they come and see chaos and a movie. Fortunately a few felt something special; two of the boys who attended church for the first time Sunday agreed to prepare to be baptized next month when we visited them this week. Their names, Jackson and Baru. They are so cute.

The other day when we were teaching them we asked Baru to give the opening prayer. He agreed but looked terrified. He said he had written a prayer to help him remember how and asked if he could read it. It's not ideal, but we consented because he really did look so scared. As he took out the piece of paper and unfolded it the paper was shaking so bad because of his trembling hands. Haha he was so nervous, as he prayed his voice was so shaky. After his prayer we assured him that it was so perfect. He was breathing hard and smiled, "hhh hhhh hhh really? hhh hhh hhh" It was hysterical, I've never seen a 24 year old man so scared.

This morning Sister Wong was making fun of me becuase I literally stood in front of my closet in my whites, staring at my clothes for 20 minutes. I hate all of my clothes. Burn them all. They are so sick, they have sweat stains, and black spot stains all up and down the back from the water kicking up off the roads when it rains. So old. So, today I bought a shirt. The first article of clothing I have bought in Malaysia. I held out for a long time but finally couldn't stand it anymore, I needed a new shirt. I'm very pleased with it. With my luck, the first time I wear it will be a down poor and it will be stained, just like all the other ones. Oh well, It's not like I'll be bringing ANY of these clothes back with me, their just yuck.

Love you all

Have a good week

I know I will

This mission is the best mission in the world. I know other missionaries say that but this one REALLY IS

Lisa told me before you that she was prego haha! I'm special

Sister Viehweg

October 5, 2010

wow dad thanks for the letterssss. you rock. Wierd that it has been so warm in Boise. I personally can't wait to feel cold again, but I'm sure you are all dreading it. Hey Happy Birthday Danielle!

It's been a good week in Miri. It's been a hot hot hot week. It is so hard to move when it gets this hot. I walk outside, instantly am drenched in sweat, and just groan. Sometimes I wish I was serving in Siberia, oh what it would be like to want to wear a coat... But that thought doesn't last long because I instantly remember, THIS IS THE BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD. That is fact. I'm trying to think of what has happened since I last wrote home...

Sister Wong is a lot of fun. She's from Irvine CA and before the mission was a student at USC. She and I are studying the same major. She wants to go to med school. Her mom is a Pediatrician but also has 8 kids! I don't know how she does it. One of the reasons I leaned against going to med school was because I want to be a mom. This lady did both. I don't know how. Sister Wong's mom is from Taiwan and her Dad is from Hong Kong, but she was born in the US. I always laugh when people here start talking to her in Chinese, it happens everyday. Everyone is so surprised when she says she is from America, they think every american is white. Everyone we remembers her name. We bike down the road and people yell out "hi sister wong!". I totally get jealous. I like to blame it on the fact that Viehweg is impossible for them to pronounce and therefore they can never remember it, but maybe the truth is they just don't like me as much. Sister Wong is really funny, so we get along great. She is quite chill and really sarcastic and keeps me laughing. The other day she drug a palm branch all the way home on her bike (she looked like a huge peacock) because she wanted to try weaving it like she sees the Ibans do. I don't know why. I laughed, the Ibans don't even weave palms, I don't know where she got that idea from....probably watching Other Side of Heaven.

I met someone at church named Bonyface last week. The Elders are teaching him. That's the best name I have ever heard and I shall name my first son after him.

We are teaching two brothers right now from Indon and they are a lot of fun. Their names are Diki and Hero. Diki is 21 and Hero is 17. They have been working here in Malaysia since they were 14. Diki is great, he is excited to be baptized and he comes to church every week. I can always tell an investigator is somewhat committed when they go out and buy black pants and a white shirt after attending their first Sunday. Hero, says he wants to be baptized and always promises to come to church but hasn't been yet. In fact, most of the times we have come to teach the two brothers Hero has been a little drunk. It makes for a hysterical lesson, but its also quite frustrating. I think it annoys Diki. Maybe Diki will just have to be baptized alone and then set a good example for Hero. I love teaching these boys because every time we go to their house all their friends gather around. I think every time we teach them we get 3 new investigators. We show up and the boys just start coming in from who knows where. They always say, "Ya we wanna learn, ya of course we will come to church!" But they never do. We are going to have to try harder to keep them to their word. At least they are willing to listen.

On Monday night we had Family Night, with a less-active family in the branch. The wife Theresa is really trying to become active again but it's hard with a husband who doesn't really want to make time for church and kids who don't really want to go either. We gave a lesson on preparing as a family to go to the temple, with church attendance being a very important step. We aske each of the kids what was holding them back from coming to church and the 13 year old daughter said, "too busy". Sister Wong asked her what she did on Sundays and, kid you not, she said, "sit at home"..... Sister wong and I just looked at each other and tried really hard not to laugh. So, she's too busy to come to church because she has to sit down. I recall writing home something like that as an extreme exaggeration for the excuses I hear. It is no longer an exaggeration. I will never cease to be amazed. They are a great family, we had fun with them, and I think we helped the kids feel more comfortable about coming to church. They all said they will come...we will see.

The other day I met, taught, and got a new investigator all through a phone call. It was sweet. We had just passed by Rusilla's house (who is not coming to church by the way, it's sad how Heavenly Father can set everything up so perfectly but still, people have their agency) and there were about 5 guys on the porch all totally smashed. They were making fools of themselves saying they wanted to learn and come to church. We gave them our card thinking hey, what could it hurt? It they wake up sober and want to come they can call. A little later we got a call from a guy named Devan. I couldn't remember how I knew him and asked him where we met. He said we had never met; he was the Rusilla's house just then and got our number from the card. Turns out he ran inside when we came because he was so embarassed how all his friends were acting (I don't blame him), he had not been drinking. He asked , "sister is this church really really true?" "sister what do I wear to church?" "sister this church has a prophet right?" "sister can you teach me, I truly want to learn" "sister Jesus was really real right?" etc. We had a nice conversation. We are meeting him on Saturday.

We haven't got conference yet. I think we will see it in a few weeks. It takes a little while to get the translated DVDs here in Sarawak. I'm excited though, I love conference! I hope you all loved it too.

Thanks for being an awesome family! Love you

sis viehweg

September 28, 2010

Here ya go, yet another letter. Are you guys getting sick of these? I feel like I have written so many. I remember getting missionary emails back in the other life I had before this one and they would sit in my INBOX for weeks until finally i just deleted them (I know, I'm ashamed). I hope my letters don't bore you too much.

First things first, Happy Birthday Shannon tomorrow! - And anyone else you has a birthday around this time happy birthday to them too. I think 6 out of the 8 elders in this district have birthdays in Sept, must be a good month. (not as good as May though, that is for certain)

I got news that Britt and Brent got packed and on their way. That's exciting. I also got news that Shannon and Bryson have cell phones now? That's frightening, how'd ya swindle Dad into getting you one of those?

So you want to hear how my week went? It went swell. Moses and Payah and Amelia were baptized on Saturday. That makes for one complete family, cha ching! I'm so so so so happy. Saturday was a bit of a stress though. The baptismal font at the church buidling decided to die. Apparently it never drained from the baptism the week before, and since the water is not clean, it became a swamp while sitting there for a week. I thought the water looked green on a good day, but after sitting a week, oh nightmare. It was sludge at the bottom. The branch President from Branch 1 and 2 and the chinese group leader were all there trying to figure out what to do, along with the district Presidency, and one very incompetent "plumber?" - I don't think we can really call him a plumber. The pump to drain the font is broken, and no plumber in town knows how to fix it because plumbing in Sarawak consists of a bucket, a scoop, and a hole in the ground. Sister Wong and I thought to poor chlorine bleach in the water just so it would be safe, but Elder Dass quickly talked us out of it. He pointed out that all the algea would indeed die, but in so doing would turn brown instead of green. Better to have a lake-looking baptismal font that one that appears to be filled poo. In the end, we baptized everyone in it anyway. Did they care? Not a lick. These people dont care what the water looks like, they just want to be baptized. It helps that they have nothing to compare it too (the whole time I'm thinking of the perfectly clean, heated water of the fonts back home).

After being baptized we always invite the brand new members to share their testimonies before closing the baptismal service. Moses' testimony made me want to cry. He talked about how at first he didn't like the church, he didn't want to learn. But he said slowly the Book of Mormon changed his heart. That book has power, it truly is amazing. He also said the fact that we have a prophet alive changed his heart. "No other church has that!" he said. He also said the sister missionaries coming into his home and teaching his family changed his heart. I am grateful for the sisters that first started teaching him before I arrived. It was great to see all five of his daughters and his wife there, the three that were already baptized, the oldest being baptized with her parents, and the 3 yr old cheering them on.

I'd also like to share about Dhelany. Dhelany is the sister of our investigator Rhodeller. He introduced us to her and her husband the other week. Dhelany is 17, her husband is 18 (but he acts like he is 10, he's hysterical). We have been teaching Dhelany for two weeks now but just yesterday she truly opened up and we had the sweetest lesson. We went to teach her when it was just her and her husband at home so we could really focus on helping them; usually Rhodeller and his friend are there when we teach and they demand attention. We asked Dhelany if she had been reading and praying and she said a little. We asked her how she felt when she read and prayed and at first she said she felt just normal; but after a few more questions she opened up and started explaining about how when she read from the Book of Mormon she wasn't as angry as she usually is, she feels better, she feels happier, etc. We pointed out to her that these were feelings from the Spirit. We had been urging her and her husband to read and pray so they would recieve an answer about whether or not it was true. We asked her if she thought it was true and she asked, "how will I know? what is the answer like?" We simply pointed out to her that those feelings she had while reading and prayer were her answer. I told her I thought she already had received her answer. Haha after I said that her eyes got big and she said, "really? I thought God was supposed to come and talk to me like he did Joseph Smith!" I laughed and said, "although that would be awesome, an answer like the one you got is just as good."

She got pretty excited and started asking all sorts of questions like, "how do I know if I sin? I already follow the word of wisdom so what other sins are there?". You see, whenever we teach Rhodeller and Jonny we focus on the Word of Wisdom because that is their main issue. But Dhelany already follows, she didn't know what other sins there were. Originally we planned to teach about The Gospel of Jesus Christ, about faith, repentence, baptism, holy ghost, and enduring to the end, but we aborted that idea and decided to teach the ten commandments instead. She wanted to know what other commandments there were, so we gave em to her! She is catholic but had never heard of any of the ten commandments before. How can that be! She understands now, more of what she needs to do to overcome her sins, which are very different than those of her brother. Unfortunately this story does not end happily. At the end of the lesson she told us they are all moving. They aren't moving far, infact they are moving closer to the church, but they are moving into the Elder's area. NOOOOOOOO. We have to pass them to the Elders. So, we are losing 3 investigators. So sad. Really, i'm sure it will all end happily, i just wont be involved anymore, I hate that. Especially since we just barely got her to open up to us. why why WHY? oh well. the work goes on.

Hope all is well in the blessed US of A!

loves

sis viehweg

September 21, 2010

Hey,

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. This week was Zone Conference so it messed things up a bit. I can't believe we had Zone Conference again, it seems like we just had one. The time is flying, but then it's creeping along ever so slowly like it always does; missions are funny like that. Zone Conference was great, as usual. I think I have the world's smartest mission president. He knows everything there is to know about church doctrine, deep doctrine. Part of our training each Zone Conference is just on doctrine. This time he focused on angels, just angels. It was fascinating, a very interesting topic to explore. After Zone Conference I'm always pumped to go work but always a little sad too. Zone Conferences are so fun because all the missionaries get together. When it ends its like all your friends are leaving. For P-day this week we met the 8 Elders serving in Bintuluh (the city 3 hours south of us) at Niah Caves. Then were busing up to Miri for Zone Conference and Batu Niah is right between Bintuluh and Miri. We decided to all meet up there and hike the caves again. It was fun. There were about 20 of us. While we were in the dark caves the Elders scared me pretty bad. There is a point on the trail were you hike through the cave and it is pitch black, we carry torchlights. Elder Bench and Tyler went missing and I didn't really think anything of it since everyone else said they had decided to turn around and head back. When we all decided to turn around and go back I ended up leading the group (i'm sure that was no accident). After a while of walking in the dark Elder Bench and Elder Tyler jumped out from behind a rock right in front of me yelling. I'll admit, they got me pretty good, it was dark! I screamed. Not funny. They thought it was hysterical though.

I enjoy hiking in the jungle. This time we got poured on, only on the way back though and it actually didnt' last very long. This rain was torrential. We hike on boardwalks and stairs so it got really slick. I kind of felt like I was hiking underwater; it was some serious jungle rain. We took shelter under this little stand were a bunch of Iban ladies were selling bead work and other handicrafts on the side of the trail. After about 10 minutes the rain was gone and the hot hot sun was beating down, so we could continue on. Jungle weather is insane; it goes for flood to oven instantly.

So sounds like y'all had another great week in Idaho/Utah. You sound busy Dad. I hope you get a P-Day sometime soon. Hope the goodbyes weren't too tearful when Brittany and Brent left. Sounds like I'll have to make a trip to Texas when I get back, just to visit. I hear Texas is worse weather than Malaysia....good luck you two:-) This week I have had to kill a cockroach in my shower every morning. I don't know where they are all coming from!!! One time I didn't see it until after I was already showering. My eyes were closed and I felt something crawling all over my leg and foot. Ew Ew Ew Ew Ew Ew. It was huge. I screamed and then annihilated it with the 409 bottle I had handy on my bathroom sink. I'm almost out of 409...I seriously hate bugs.

This week has been pretty busy. We are teaching a lot of single men (no surprise there) with a smoking problem. A lot of the people we are teaching right now don't really know how to think. They have had no schooling or anything and it is a little bit difficult. They don't understand anything we teach. After I get done explaining what a prophet is and why we need them I ask Ipan (one of our investigators) "So, what is a prophet". He just stares at me, then at the ground, then becomes fascinated with something on his pants, then chuckles and says "I don't know". So then I say, "a prophet is a man called by God, to lead us, he has God's power" (pretty basic right?) and then I ask again immediately after tellling him that, "ok so Ipan, what's a prophet?" He again stares around for a bit and says, " I don't understand, I forgot already" I don't really know what else I can do, it's like teaching a wall. His two friends were even worse. At least Ipan says he didn't know or that he forgot. His two friends woudn't say anything. I would think it was evidence of lack of interest but they keep coming to church and they are trying to stop smoking so they are interested, they just don't know how to think. Slowly but surely I'm sure they will get there. We are teaching 3 other guys just like them. Where are all the girls! I shouldn't complain.

I am very excited for Saturday. Moses, Payah and Amelia will be baptized. Moses and Payah are the parents of the three sisters we baptized a couple months ago, Angela, Anastasya and Lydia. Amelia is their other sister. The whole family will be members!! I'm so so so so happy. Payah is 8 months pregnant and was really scared to be baptized. The senior sisters changed her outlook on it. We brought them along for the meeting and Sister Lowe told Payah to think of her unborn baby in heaven, cheering for her and hoping that she would be baptized. Sister Lowe told Payah to think of how special that baby would be to be born in a family that already are all members. I was sitting there translating it all for Sister Lowe and it was incredible. I never would have thought to say the things Sister Lowe brought up. Maybe it's because I have never been a mom. The things Sister Lowe said changed everything. Payah went from wanting to wait until after her baby was born, to wanting to be baptized the very next week (this week). It was awesome. Amelia, the daughter, didn't want to be baptized because her friends were all in the SIB church. But that same lesson Sister Lowe told her a story of a family she knew who for a reunion wore shirts that read "no empty chairs in heaven". Which meant they wanted their entire family to make it back to heaven. Again, through translating for Sister Lowe, Amelia's mind was completely changed too. She didn't want to be the empty chiar, she didn't want to be the only one left behind. That same night Moses' perspective was changed too. He kept saying he needed to talk to his relatives in his hometown and see what they think first. Sister Lowe asked if they said no, would that change his mind at all. He thought about that for a while. The next time we met him he kept saying, "who cares what others say, if I know it's true I will follow, and I know it's true, so I'm going to follow". Sister Lowe was awesome. In one sitting we were able to address and resolve all of their concerns. And now they are all so excited! The church is true guys.

Thanks for all the prayers. I love you so much!

sister viehweg

September 14, 2010

Hey Dad,

No worries about not writing. Lucky for me, our family is big, so I always get at least one email every week. You all are the best. Dad it sounds like you had an excellent birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. One year older, and oh so much wiser too. It sounds like you and Deb have a lot of exciting things starting up with work and everything. I hope it all goes well. That is tight Dan went off to the Navy, I remember him always talking about it. I forgot it was football season. Dad when you wrote about Football in your email I thought, "why is he writing about football its the middle of the summer?" wrong. Its not summer anymore is it. It all sounds exciting. I hope the year turns out well.

Hey that's so awesome you found Bro Doxey, or he found you. I love them! His daughter and son-in-law in the KL branch are so cool, as is he of course. They made us Japanese curry all the time. I remember having a conversation with him about how you and he both served in Sapporo.

It was a good week in Malaysia. Over the weekend was Hari Raya, which was cool. It's the holiday that marks the end of the month of fasting for the Muslims. All the Mulsims were dressed up in the traditional clothing all weekend, and went around visiting everyone all weekend. It was cool to see. For this holiday it is tradition for friends and family to visit their Muslim friends home and eat. We got to follow some branch members on some of these visits just for fun and it was cool. It was the first time I have ever been in a Malayu's home. They fed us delicious curry and rice and some wierd cakes. As we were leaving they insisted on getting a picture with us because they thought it was so funny two Americans came to visit their home on Hari Raya - so they said. That all happened around lunch time.

Later that night we followed Tungalim and her kids around to visit their Malayu friends. It was kind of like a progressive dinner. We went from house to house sitting and eating. Except the food wasn't a dinner, it was candy, cookies, sugar, sugar, and more sugar. I felt so sick. Every home we went to they would give us some sugar drink and then put dozens of bowls in front of us filled with Malay treats. It was fun. It was cool to be apart of the Malay culture for once. I always feel so separated from the Malays because they are never involved in our work. The fire works seem to have been going off non-stop since Friday.

There is good news on Rusillapetra, ya i know, weird name. We have been frustrated because she has to watch her younger brothers on Sundays and is not able to bring them to church right? She said that things had changed and that her father was willing to watch the boys but really, nothing has changed. She still hasn't been able to come. We have been fasting for her and we feel things are looking up. She is so much more dedicated to learning than she was a few months ago when we first started teaching her. She is really excited when we come over now, and she is more open towards us. Her little brothers like us too now. When we first started teaching her they were terrified of us and would hide. Now, when we come they know to fold their arms and close their eyes to get ready to pray. It's cute.

Another miracle happened with Rusilla the other day. She has a cousin we have been trying to get to know better, but the cousin really didn't want anything to do with us. We would try to talk with her and she wouldn't even look at us, she would stare at a tree and try and act like we weren't there...so weird. We kind of gave up on trying to teach her. However, yesterday we went to see Rusilla and she was so happy. She said that her cousin had told her she wanted to come to church with her on Sunday, and because her cousin wanted to come, her aunt (the cousins mother) was supportive of it, and because the aunt said it was a good idea, the aunt told Rusilla's father, and somehow conviced Rusilla's father it was good for them to go to church, so now Rusilla's father agrees with the aunt and will watch the kids on Sunday, hopefully. We don't know what changed the cousin's mind. Maybe it was yesterday when we told the back of her head we hoped it could come to church this week....i dunno. I'm happy though.

Let me tell you about Jonny. We have been teaching a boy named Rhodeller for a while and the other day he introduced us to his friend Jonny. Jonny is Roman Catholic, but one day saw that Rhodeller was reading from the Book of Mormon and realized that he had the same book. He was curious about this book they both had so Rhodeller invited him to learn from us too. I love it when investigators act as missionaries. The first time we met Jonny he came with his English copy of the Book of Mormon, it was old and it looked like he had had it for a long time. We asked Jonny where he got his copy of the Book of Mormon and he told us that his Catholic priest had given it to him in Sibu, a town farther south. He said the priest had given out quite a few copies to members there.... very interesting. He liked the book and is excited to learn more. It's been a little difficult teaching him though because he has the belief that all churches are right, no churches are wrong, it doesn't matter how you worship as long as your heart is good. He is coming around though. It just think it is so interesting how he was led to missionaries...

The Primary president has asked me to come in the last hour of church these past few Sundays to play the keyboard for the kids singing time. I am more than willing because, in all honesty, Primary is way more fun that Relief Society. I don't feel bad about it either because we have no female investigators, so it's not like a really need to be there right? That's my justification. I love hearing malaysians sing, they slurr the notes all over the place, it's adorable. Whats even better? Hearing Malaysian kids sing. I sit there at the keyboard and pretty much cry haha. I'm such a baby. But they are so cute!

Anyway, that's all for now I think. Guess what, my hair is getting longer. But the cut is still so awkward from the hack-job I got in KL. I guess it's ok though because I have to wear it in a pony tail everyday because of the helmet. I got work from sister Wong that they changed the dress code for the Sisters while she was in the MTC. Everything is ok to wear, and their skirts don't have to be mid-calf anymore, they just have to cover the knee when sitting. And you can wear accessories and hair stuff! There is definitely a new face to the sister missionary. She didn't even have to wear nylons in the MTC, they totally did away with that rule. I'm glad too, I felt bad for all the sisters who had to serve in missons that required nylons; its a form of torture. The things she brought are so much cuter than mine. Oh well. They are all going to get ruined anyway, if they aren't already...

love you all

sis viehweg

September 7, 2010

Dad, it's been two weeks. I'm not mad, just worried. WHERE ARE YOU?? No one has mentioned any deaths but I wonder...

In Miri this week Death was the excuse for 5 cancelled appointments! So Death is on my mind haha. I tell Sister Wong, "yes, in this mission, death is one of the main excuses for cancelled appointments. It shouldn't be, but it is. It is so wierd, people are dying all the time. Maybe there is something in the water. No, change that, I KNOW there is something in the water.

The other new Senior Sister arrived in Miri this week. Her name is Sister Lowe. She is hysterical. She is very sarcastic and funny. I really enjoy her. I hope she survives 18 months with Sister Clark. Not that Sister Clark isn't fabulous; she's just old :-). Sister Lowe is a lot younger. They'll make a great team.

How has the week been going for you all? Hope everyone got use to school all over again. My old companions have written me saying they are at BYU again. So weird. That place is still there?

Want to hear about my miracle this week? A while ago we were teaching a cute girl named Rosillapetra. Ya wierd name... She was great. She loved what we taught and she wanted to be baptized. But her parents weren't really supportive and they made it difficult for her to be able to come to church. In the end we ended up having to drop her because her family was making it too difficult for her to progress. She is 17. The other day, I don't remember which one, we were dropping a few people's homes on our way to an appointment and I had the thought to go drop by Rosillapetra's house. This thought seemed strange to me because we hadn't contacted her in a few months. So, we went to her house. She wasn't there. I tried calling her; her phone number didn't work. I thought, "great, this is just another time I mistake a random thought of mine for being the spirit." Her little brother said she was at her cousin's so we decided to go ahead to our next appointment. On our way there we turned down this tiny path between houses and a canal and ran right into who???? Rosillapetra. I couldn't believe it. The odds of us meeting her there are impossible, that's for sure. Someone above is watching out for her. The best part was she said, "Sisters! I went to church on Sunday but sat in the back so you didn't see me. My Dad says he can watch the kids on Sundays now so I can come to church (this was a big issue before, she cares for her 3 younger brothers), AND my mom says it is ok with her if I want to get baptized (before, her mom thought we were crazy and did not want her to join the church)." wow. Hearing all that made me so happy. Everything had changed. We had to get to an appointment but said we would come back in an hour to meet her. I love the times when I can see how carefully Heavenly Father watches out for his children. One of the coolest things about serving a mission is seeing how people's paths cross ours'.

A couple days later we went back to her house to teach and found out, to our great devastation, the family had moved. Within a day they decided to pick up everything and switch houses. I was ticked. I didn't know how we were going to find her because she didnt' have a phone anymore and we didn't know where she lived. We were biking around looking for her (because earlier we had planned to meet her at her house), hoping that she would keep her promise and meet us there anyway even though they had moved. No such luck. I swear, these Ibans leave no thought for planning ahead. They have no idea what they are doing ten minutes from now. Amazingly enough, after biking around for a while, we ran into her walking down the street AGAIN. You just don't run into people like that, but we did with Rosillapetra, TWICE. What a miracle. She showed us her new home (which is closer to the church) and we are starting to teach her over again. She has forgotten everything she learned before (no surprise there, she's Iban). We are excited. And the fact that her parents hearts have changed so much already is great. Even though they still are not interested in learning at all, the fact that they allow Rosillapetra to learn now shows great change. You should have seen them before.

Sister Lowe and Sister Clark moved into their own house yesterday. They were staying with us until everything in their house got finalized. I didn't think I would, but I really miss having them around. It was like living with your mom and grandma. They made us feel really good about ourselves :-). Everynight we would come home drenched and muddy from the torrential downpoor and they would fuss and fuss and fuss; saying "oh my goodness you poor sisters, you girls are just so wonderful, man I can't believe what you go through, etc." I never thought anything of it until these Sisters moved in, it just seemed normal. Of course we are going to get wet, we're in Malaysia. Now that they are gone we arrive home, expecting to be fussed over, but instead we are greeted by a dark empty apartment. They truly are missed. Sister Clark was also always wondering what our eating schedule was. "Now sister Viehweg have you eaten lunch? When are you going to eat dinner? Are you going to eat before you head out? When will you stop for dinner tonight? You're going now? you haven't eaten yet!! etc. etc." It's hilarious. I always had to tell her I wasn't hungry, or that we would just eat later, or we usually don't have time to eat dinner.

They are so cute.

Yesterday we were visting a less active member and she kept asking me why my nose was so long and pointy. "Why does it have to be that way?" she would ask. Not kidding she said, "kenapa kamu dilahirkan macam itu (why did you have to be born that way)?" Flip girl, like I know! You gotta love asians and their flat noses.

I hope everything is going well with you all. Love you!

Oh ya one more thing, this is funny. For my one year birthday last week I made a cake. And while we were eating it Sister Clark made everyone sing Happy Birthday to me. And then she wouldn't let me do the dishes because "no one should have to do the dishes on their birthday". I was laughing so hard. It was a great day.

Peace

sister viehweg

August 31, 2010

Hey fam fam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYSON!

Also you all should say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me. I am one year old tomorrow, Sept 2. Which is so crazy to think about. Can't believe it's already been a year. Oh how the time flies; truly it does. I just got here right?? Wrong.

This week has been great with Sister Wong. Except my voice feels shot every night because of all the talking. Sister Wong is a lot better at the language than I expected, but still, I end up having to talk a lot more than when I did with Sister Whittemore. It's great having a greenie. She is so excited to do everything. Everything is fun, to her; even knocking doors in the middle of the day in the hot hot, oh so hot, sun. It sure makes me take a second look at my attitude. I don't mind contacting or knocking doors but my excitement level definitely doesn't reach Sister Wong's.

Everyone thinks Sister Wong is local because she is Chinese. Her mom is from Taiwan and her dad is from Hong Kong but she was born in CA and doesn't speak or understand a lick of Chinese. We will be at the store or knocking somewhere and everytime we run into Chinese people they go off speaking in Chinese to poor Sister Wong. She tries to explain to them that she doesn't speak Chinese but it's all in vain; they see her face, assume she understands and don't listen to her try and explain. I just laugh... it's pretty comical. The great thing about Sister Wong is she is not shy at all. The best daughter I could have asked for. She will try talking to anyone, even though she doesn't really understand what they say in return. I really appreciate that. Doing this will help her learn the language so fast too.

So Sister Wong is really short, like really really short. I'm not sure if she is 5 ft. When we were flying back from Singapore I did something really stupid. We were going through immigration in Kuching (another city in Sarawak) and I was standing in line. I thought Sister Wong was right behind me but when I turned around to look for her I couldn't find her. We were with a bunch of elders and I kept looking trying to find my companion. I thought out loud "where's my companion?", and the elders were looking at me like I was an idiot. Then I looked down.... Sister Wong had been standing in front of me the whole time. She really is that short. I had turned around and her person had not even entered my field of vision. I didn't know that could really happen haha, I thought it was just something people joked about with short people... it's fact though, I truly did not see her. She said, "I figured i'd just wait and see how long it took you." She's a good sport. We have fun.

Let me tell you the greatest thing about training. She thinks I'm good at everything. haha. It's great. I'm sure she will soon realize otherwise but for now, it's really helping to build my confidence.

For the first few days of the week this week President, Sister Clark and the Assistance were in town. We had a bit of training with President Monday morning and then he went on splits with the Elders while Sister Clark came with us. President goes on splits with every Elder, every quarter. And we go with sister Clark. They don't understand anything but it is still kind of fun to have them tag along. Sister Clark came with us to teach a girl named Lisnawati. She is the daughter of Essau and Tungalim who I think I have mentioned before. She is a really cute girl and is scheduled to be baptized this month. When we were teaching her with Sister Clark the other day though, the issue came up that she had a Muslim boyfriend. We totally abandoned our lesson plan and focused on this issue alone. It's such a sad thing we have to deal with. Just because if she married Muslim then she would have to become Muslim, all her children would be forced Muslim, all her grandchildren would be forced Muslim and so on; and they would never be able to convert. This decision alone literally strips her posterity of their agency to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this life. It's tragic, and serious. So we asked her some very blunt questions about what she believes and what she wants for her family. We encouraged her to pray. I pray she will make the right decision. She is 20 years old and I'm not sure she really understands how serious this all is. A handsome Malayu wants to date her and likes her, why give that up for a church she doesn't quite understand. This happens a lot among the young women here. So many have converted to Islam so they can marry their Malayu boyfriends; and once they convert, they can't go back. Unless they leave the country, which none of them will ever have the money to do. ahh it breaks my heart. (NOTE: this is a sensitive subject Dad, I almost want to say delete this paragraph before you send it out to everyone but I don't really think that is necessary. I heard someone posts my letters on a public blog, I don't think it would be a good idea to post this).

Yesterday was Independence Day for Malaysia. Our branch had a party at the church to celebrate, from 6:30AM until 5:00PM!! I don't know about you but that seems like overkill. That's about the longest church party I have every heard of. Who knows why they started so early either. I asked a member why they were starting so early and her reply was, "we have to stetch and warm up before we play all the games". They take their fun seriously. And play they did. We had meetings in the afternoon at the church with President and the Assistants and from what I saw I don't think the fun and games every stopped even for a moment. Ibans crack me up.

For District Meeting yesterday, in honor of Independence day for the 4 Malaysian Elders in our District of 8 missionaries, we sang America the Beautiful but inserted "Malaysia" instead of "America" in the chorus. It felt wrong to do, because I am quite patriotic, but the local Elders sure loved it.

Hope the first day of school went great for everyone!

love you all

sis v