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
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