Jan 27, 2010

Hey hey.
I didn't write yesterday because I was picking up my new companion from the
Airport. Sister Mccurdy was sent to Miri, Sarawak, East Malaysia to finish
the remaining three months of her mission. Her dream has been to go to East
Malaysia so I am happy for her. So far she has only served in Singapore and
KL. Her flight was at 11:50am so we took a taxi, I sent her off, and then
waited for Sister Lim to arrive at 1:30pm. BY MYSELF! Ya, it was insane.
I walked around the airport for about two hours all alone. How glorious. I
was surprised when the Elders told me that is what they wanted me to do.
Honestly, it was really boring. I just sat there studying Malay words and
got something to eat.
Sister Lim is from Kuching Sarawak, East Malaysia. She is Chinese
Malaysian and joined the church while working in Singapore a couple years
ago. She is cute, I love her accent. She is quiet but not becuase she is
shy. I introduced her to Nanda Som and Janak yesterday and she taught them
with me. Nanda was skeptical last week when I told him a chinese sister was
coming to take Sister Mccurdy's place. He seems to have it in his head that
only a white person knows enough to teach the gospel. I am pretty sure
Sister Lim won him over though. I think she is an amazing teacher. And he
was happy that she can speak Malay. I am really excited about the things we
can do together. I am hoping she will help my improve my language skills.
So, I am here in KL for another transfer. I am happy though, I would be
very sad to leave these boys.

Som was baptized on Friday. This makes me so so happy. Som was having a
hard time during the weeks leading up to his baptism. His family said he
would be dead to them if he joined Christianity. Naturally, this made him
very sad and worried. He kept asking Nanda how he did it, how he left his
family for church. Nanda would tell him, just wait until after your
baptism, then you will see. I guess Som was also having terrible nightmares
that were really scaring him. Poor guy, he never looked happy.
BUT, he showed up on friday ready to be baptized. Actually he was a
half hour late, which about gave me a heart attack. The change in Som was
instantaneous. All these men are different after they are baptized, but
none as much as Som. He was grinning from ear to ear, laughing, telling
jokes, speaking a ton of English that I didn't know was possible. It's
awesome. Nanda and Som are besties and when Som came out of the water Nanda
was so happy too; he snapped his fingers and said, "I love this one!".
Then, again in church on Sunday, I was sitting by Nanda when Some was
confirmed and he whispered "I am so happy" to me. I am glad these men are
feeling how wonderful it is to share the gospel with a friend.
This week Som brought a friend of his for us to teach. He has been
baptized 4 days and he is already a missionary. I love it.

Nanda found out the other day that I was a year younger than him and it
shocked his world I think. We were filling out a baptism record and I told
him my birthday. He yelled, "WHAT!" and made me say it over and over
again. haha I hope he can still respect me.

Kiran is filling out his mission papers! He is soooo nervous and it is
adorable. He always says, "but sisters, I don't knows how answer questions,
I don't know how to tell what is a good thing, what is a bad thing" I keep
telling him he will learn. I cannot wait for him to get his call. I
secretly hope he goes to the states because he is in love with "AMERICA!"
But I have a feeling he will stay over in this part of the world because she
speaks hindi, napali, pakistani, and malay. We shall see.

Farooq has quit smoking! That is the biggest news of the week. He had
worked his way down to one a day and when we stopped by the other day he
said he was finished with smoking. He does it no more. I was thrilled. I
am sure it is so hard to change an entire lifestyle. I am always so amazed.

Dad I will look into finding a way to tape/record these men's stories and
experiences. I think it is a wonderful idea. Some of them have been
through so much it is shocking. I feel really blessed to be around so many
wonderful people. Their faith amazes me. I don't know why I was called to
serve in such an amazing mission, I don't feel like I deserve the amazing
success we have been having. People here are just ready, us missionaries
hardly have anything to do with it. And I tell you what, when, not if but
when, a mission opens in Nepal, those missionaries are going to have their
hands full.
We took Nanda and Kiran to dinner at one of the Ex-pats homes on Monday.
They are the Sanders, from Utah, and she is working here at the US embassy.
He is retired from the FBI. They are wonderful!!! I love this couple so
much, they are my family away from home. And all of our recent converts
love them too. When we invited Nanda to come with us he was so happy. He
said he loves this couple so much and when he is with them he feels like he
is with his own parents. Nanda asked us to ask Brother Sanders if he would
be his Godfather, that's how much he loves him. I am so grateful for them,
they are always willing to help teach and invite people to their home.
While we were at the Sanders Nanda got a call from a friend of his. He
came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "my friend, he
want to go to church and take baptism". I replied, "now??" He nodded.
haha. I had to explain to Nanda that there are lessons we need to teach
before one can be baptized. So we are meeting with this man on Monday, Im
excited. He is also from Nepal. Like I said, people here are just ready. I
feel so blessed to be a part of it. I am learning a lot of Nepalese. I can
say "I am so so happy" "have you already eaten" "yes I have eaten" (since
that is the greeting here) and words like "prophet, heavenly father, jesus,
prayer, can" . It's fun. Nanda and Kiran love it when I speak Nepalese,
they think it is hysterical. But, they do tell me that I sound Nepali when
I speak it, which means my immatation of their accent is pretty good. Be
impressed family.

I love you guys. Thank you so so much for the letters. I feel very
spoiled. You are the best.

sis v

Also, the other week when I wrote congrats to brysons date, I meant
danielle, I must have been thinking of bryson making a fool of himself while
typing.