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
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