Letter #14 Week of 14 May 2008 - Zone Conference and Dog Bite

Hello family,Surprise!
During zone conference, we write our emails home on the first day of zone conference, which was today. So, I'm in Kota Kinabalu. Coming here is as good as any vacation I could take. The elders here live in beach front condos in the nice part of town. Ada sangat cantik.
(Editor's Note: "Ada sangat cantik" translates to "It's extremely beautiful")

We had some new investigators come to church yesterday. That was exciting, because that hasn't happened in a long time. There are 3 boys that came: a 14 year old, a 12 year old, and a 9 year old. Their mother grew up with Sister Hiew, and Sister Hiew and her haven't seen each other since Sister Hiew got married, so that family already has a friend in the church. It's a very good situation.

Zone conference has been very uplifting and fun today. I really enjoy my interviews with President Skelton. I like being able to smile and look him in the eye and tell him with confidence that I've worked hard and have been obedient. He is hilarious and has a lot of uplifting comments.

We played futsol (it's like soccer with a smaller field, smaller goals, and a little bit smaller ball) again. That was great. I found out that Elder Haycock not only attends the Air Force Academy, he is also on the soccer team. He was on my team today. When I called you, I think I told you about the soccer jersey that I got a deal on for about $3. Well, I wore that today to play, and while we were walking back, these guys started shouting at me and giving thumbs up. I didn't understand what they were saying, but they kept pointing at my chest, and I finally realized they were all wearing Chelsea Football Club gear.

Thanks for the picture of Brady's car, and also for the list of missionaries serving from the stake. It's very fun to know where they are all going.

That's nice that a pre-missionary and two current missionaries got to speak in church on mother's day. I wonder what that's like. Actually, I lied, I don't need to wonder, I already know. 10 minutes before sacrament meeting, I was asked to give a 10 minute talk, on a subject of my choosing. Naturally, I spoke on mothers. You know, I haven't yet been able to give a talk or testimony in the Sandakan branch without crying a little. But yesterday, I just lost it when I talked about mothers, because I knew what my mother has done for me. I was reading about the stripling warriors, and how strong they were because they had been raised and taught by their mothers. I kind of had to finish my talk early.

We've gotten a couple of new elders in our zone since the last zone conference. One is a Malaysian born Indian who was very good friends with Elder Dhillon before their mission. He is hilarious. He speaks english with a very thick Indian accent. He complained about the missionaries serving in Ipoh, because they always come back after their mission is through and take away all the young women as their wives. He told me about how he plans to go to BYU after his mission, and grow out his mustache as a sign of manliness, which will attract a girl to him. He will bring her to his appartment, and cook chicken curry for her, and will keep very cold water nearby so her mouth won't get too hot.

That's a shame that Andrew and Christina won't name their child Sandakan, but I guess that's not such a great name anyway. I've got a much better suggestion, though. Kinabalu. It' just rolls off the tongue. Kinabalu. That's a nice name. Kinabalu Adam Muffler.

What else, what else? Oh, one of the mice finally took the peanut butter from our mouse trap, but it didn't trip. Those mice are really upsetting me, because they're running on the countertops and all over the place. I saw one in our bedroom yesterday, and the trap we set a long time ago under my bed didn't have any food on it any more.

Okay, I can't hold it in anymore. I've got to tell you. I don't think you worry too much after hearing about the spiders, so, I got bit by a dog a couple of weeks ago. We visited a less active member, and we were talking out in front of the house. Their dog, which was on a chain, was completely calm and right in front of me, so I started petting it. Without growling or barking or anything, it sunk it's teeth into the underside of my right arm. As I instinctively stepped back, it also ripped my pants. I was mad, because those were my favorite pants. But as for the bite, I was just very thankful for where it bit me. It could have gotten my fingers, it could have punctured an artery or vain in my wrist, but it just caused very minimal damage. I washed it out with water, and went to a clinic, where they gave me a tetanus shot and cleaned it out. I was on antibiotics for a few days, and it's mostly all cleared up now, except for a couple of scars. He only really got one tooth in me deep. I went back about a week later to take pictures of the dog. I'll send those some time. It was a relatively painless experience. The worst part was the bruise it caused. The dog had a powerful jaw.Elder Dhillon and I have avoided dogs since then, and the less active member has, unfortunately, not yet come to church.

Sincerely,Elder Muffler