Letter #44 - Week of 10 Dec 2008 - "I already entered Islam"

Hello,

This week has been fantastic as usual. Doing missionary work in KK for a couple of days was fun, especially since Elder Pace doesn't have a full range of vocabulary yet (he's only been in East Malaysia maybe a month or so). I'm impressed with how well he can communicate with so little experience. But I still got to do a lot of the talking. It was fun.

It was really nice to come back, though, as it always is. Unfortunately, a lot of our investigators are out of town because of the 2nd Hari Raya, which took place on monday. There were a few people that were here, though, so it was all good. Keng Shun has been very sick lately, so we haven't been able to meet him.

I don't know if I ever told you, but Douglas has been avoiding us lately. He hasn't been picking up his phone when we call from our home phone, and whenever we use a different phone, he has hung up immediately upon hearing my voice. I asked President Skelton about what to do, and he said almost certainly Douglas "did something naughty" that he didn't want us to find out about, so the solution is just meeting him for long enough to spit out what the problem is. He said we should "accost" him, perhaps right outside his place of work. He said that surely won't be the last time I'll accost somebody in my life of church service. So that's what we did. We decided to go down to his work sleeping quarters at 4:30, so surely we could either meet him in the quarters or at least as he was on the way to work at 5. I was really nervous and fearing the worst as we got off the bus and walked past the abandoned movie theater on the way to his decaying cement apartment building on the shore. Elder Stone and I stepped aside into the trees for a minute to say a prayer. We pleaded that Douglas's heart would be softened such that he would openly and honestly state his problem so we could work through it and he could continue in his conversion. We walked up the dark stairs that smelled of urine and rotting fish and huddled around the door to his apartment. We knocked, ready to shove a foot in the door the second it was opened. Before long, we heard the jingle of keys inside the door, and Douglas stood before us shirtless, with a reserved smile. "Douglas! We've been trying to call you for so long! It's good to see our friend again. Is there a problem that you didn't want to talk to us?"

"Yeah," he said. "I already..." Now, over the last few weeks, I had tried to prepare my mind for every possible problem. Working in a club, surely the most likely problem was that he finally caved in and drank alcohol. That would have been simple. Tell him don't do it again, and move on. Perhaps he had met oppostion by family or friends, and he decided that following this new church wasn't what he wanted to do. All we needed to do was remind him of what he knew to be true. I certainly didn't expect what came next. "I already entered Islam. I got married to my Muslim girlfriend last week." That was the most permanent decision he could have made. We stood in unbelief. We can't do anything more with him.

Our branch had a great Christmas party on Friday. I say it was great, but I know most of the branch was disappointed. Apparently, the Christmas party usually fetches every member on the role. There were only a handful there, although probably half of them were new members, investigators, or less actives.

Send my thanks to Grandma and Aunt Jenny for the Christmas package. The candy all made it fine, but a mouse or something got to the jerkey before the package got to me, so I couldn't eat it. She wanted me to eat a Burger King burger in honor of Grampa. As for Burger Kings in Malaysia, there used to be one in KK, but it closed down a few months ago. I'll make sure to use some of the money to get a burger in Singapore. All the other elders always go to Carls Junior while there.

I'm surprised how much Christmas decorations and such there is around town, with so few Christians. The last 2 restaurants we've gone to have had Christmas music playing. The one last night just had the hymns. They were all instrumental, though.

So, where's Andrew headed after December? He's graduating, isn't he?

I did recieve my envelopes with my certificates in them, and I sent one set to Singapore this morning. I haven't yet recieved a Christmas package from you. The transfer won't be happening until the 22nd, and I might not get transferred anyway, so it won't be an issue.

We've been really pushing to spend a lot more time with the members, and it has made missionary work a lot more enjoyable, not only because of the increased success we're starting to have, but because of the love we're feeling for these wonderful people.

Sorry for the breakage. I had to copy it from notebook. Long story.

It's good to hear that Joshua has decided to serve a mission. It's the greatest experience in the world.

It's weird. I'm 20 in 2 weeks.

Glad to hear the Sand Creek basketball team is doing good.

I've got a lot to say about Jose and Esperanza, but I'll surely have a lot more to say after we meet them again tonight. They came to church on sunday without anyone inviting them, and they're helping us teach their friends. I'll say more next week.

For now, goodbye,
Elder Muffler

Picture from Zone Conference in Kota Kinabalu (KK) - Elder Ogden, Elder Niederhauser, Elder Herbst, Elder Pace, Elder Stone, Elder Houston, Elder Perrot, and Elder Muffler