January 26, 2011

Good news. The rain has let up a little, the floods are down a little, but Malaysia still smells bad.

How are you?!
Today Sister Wong spent our P-day biking all over downtown Miri. It's crazy how little of Miri we see. Our area is just around the river so we rarely get to see much of the shops and such. We had a good time looking at the the handicraft stores here. There is a lot to see, and a lot to buy, and a lot of people working on me to buy their products. It's cuz I'm white. I walk into a little Iban handicraft store and the owner immediately see's Cha-Ching! And then they find out I speak the language and they go beserk. Always a good time. I will miss everyone loving me so much when I leave this country haha.
I'm sitting in the noisy gamer-room/internet cafe, looking out the window, and seeing the angry clouds rolling in. It has definitely been dryer but when 5:00pm rolls around, there are no promises. Where does all this rain come from??? Maybe the ocean a few steps away is the source...just maybe...
Well lets see this week has been fun I think. Over Christmas and New Years Miri took a hit as far as the work goes and we haven't quite gotten back up to the way we were. Not sure why. We can't find people as fast as we drop em. The other day Sister Wong and I got drop-kicked hard core by a family we thought was excellent. They are the parents and sister of another family that was baptized a while back. They told us they wanted to learn and be baptized, then they didn't, then they did again, now they don't; I can't take this roller coaster of emotions!!! The latest is they are already registered to be baptized in their other church known only to the Island of Borneo. They aren't even baptized! just registered to be baptized. The lady told me the last time we saw her, "I'm sorry, I believe it is true, I want to follow, but we are already registered to be baptized in the other church". My thoughts: "Well.... can't you just...UN-register?" I thought about saying to her the next time I saw her, "Hey! I called your pastor and it's all taken care of. You're un-registered now! Isn't that great? You're welcome." But maybe that isn't such a good idea. The good news is, Sister Wong in attempting to call this lady again, accidentally got a hold of one of her sons. Sister Wong said she was sorry she had the wrong number but then asked the guy, "so...do YOU wanna learn?" He said "sure". Boo-Yah. That's why my daughter is the best. She has done this before, she is a pro at getting new investigators by calling wrong numbers. So the other day we met, Osaka, his brother Robert, the lady-who-didn't-want's sons. Maybe they will be good examples to her. It's sad, Sister Wong and I have no trouble at all getting young, single men between the age of 17 and 35 to want to learn. Why is that? I just don't know.... I couldn't possibly put my finger on it.... I swear we are innocent.
Teaching these boys was a joy. One of them has actually learned before, but he was embarrassed because he couldn't read. Honey that ain't nothin new. They actually talked and responded to questions and asked questions. I love teaching people who are smarter than a piece of wood. It doesn't happen very often. But it's only been one lesson so I'll try not to get my hopes up too much. Or maybe I should keep them up.... Does high hopes equal high faith?? Not sure on that one.
We also got a referral from a family in the branch. They are the poster family of the LDS church in Miri. Everyone loves them, and they are all beautiful people. The husband and wife say they have been praying for years that their older son would have a change of heart and desire to learn about the gospel. Just last week I guess he called his father up and said he wanted to learn. Sister Barama, the mom, was telling me that she couldn't believe it when he told them. After so many years her prayers are answered. Unfortunately he works off shore so he is gone for 4 weeks, then home for 2. Slowly but surely though he will learn. I am excited for their family. Like the father mother and all the kids, this son did not escape the beauty they all possess. He was so handsome and quite a joy to teach actually... :-).
On Sunday last, we were invited over to one of our recent converts house to meet many of their extended family. This couple has been very excited about missionary work and especially excited to have us teach their family. However, when we arrived it was quite apparent that it was a trap. As much as we have tried to tell these recent converts of ours that they need to ask their family if they want to meet us first, they think it a better idea to invite us both over at the same time without telling them. "It will be like a surprise!" they said. It sure was a surprise. When we walked in I saw a few eyes roll haha. Oh well. It all turned out ok and we actually had a very nice lesson about the church and families. In fact at the end and after we invited them to church on Sunday one of the brother in-laws said, "you know, it's been a really long time, I mean a REALLY long time since I have been to church. What you have said is great. I think I'll go attend my church this Sunday" Great, we reactivated him into his old church. I guess you could consider that a step up maybe...
We'll see how it goes.
Thanks for all the emails!
I sure love you guys!
I'm gonna go buy groceries now
sister viehweg