Letter #100 - Week of 30 Dec 2009 - Baptism of Maem

Hello,

It seems like Christmas was yesterday.

Well, not much has happened since Christmas. Elder Shipp is struggling with health issues again, so we have had to stay in the house a few days.

Sunday was excellent. When I first got to Penang, there was an investigator named Pei Lin who was avoiding the missionaries. She had a baptism scheduled for the Saturday before I arrived. In her baptism interview with the assistant to the president, she expressed fears about her baptism, and he thought they were resolved. But, she didn't show up to her baptism, she didn't show up for church, and she didn't answer her phone. Well, she ended up answering her phone after about a week, and after a few weeks consented to meeting us again. We just had a couple of appointments in which she showed signs of wanting to come back, but she fizzled out into nothingness again. Well, after a text message from Elder Shipp, she came to church on Sunday. After relief society, the branch president took her into his office to talk to her. She says she has changed a lot, and has decided with confidence she wants to be baptized during the coming month. We set an appointment with her for tomorrow. Elder Stone and Elder Troxel will be coming for exchanges and so I think she would really love to see Elder Stone again.

We went on exchanges with the other set of elders in Butterworth yesterday. That was fun.

I spent most of Saturday on a bus. It was a long day travelling down to Sitawan for a baptism interview and coming back.

Maem was baptized after church on Sunday. It was fantastic. She's overcome a lot to get to that point.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #99 - Week of 25 Dec 2009 - Merry Christmas

Sorry I don't have much time to write. It was nice to talk to you today though. As for everyone else, I guess I can just say merry Christmas!

I've really been feeling a wide range of emotions today. I've always had it in the back of my head that this Christmas would mark the beginning of the end of my mission. It's sinking in that my mission not only won't last forever. It won't even last very long. And for the first time, I'm starting to feel the pains of that. I'm missing Malaysia before I've even left.

To answer your question about how I'll feel different about school, I think it'll just be a difference in priorities due to a better understanding of the purpose of my education. Elder Russel M. Nelson, who I am naturally drawn to because of his awesome contributions to heart surgery, gave a talk a few years back that was published in the ensign. I don't recall whether the audience was CES or just BYU, but he started his talk by telling everyone to think for a minute about their distant future, about the time when their last surgery is over, the last court case has been adjourned, and they are retired. He asked them to think about the kind of person they are, especially with regard to their family. He asked them to consider the service they will have rendered throughout their life, in their family, the church, and the community.

Now, the things I have learned go far beyond that talk. One talk doesn't make a big difference, but hours of thinking about the subject involved does.

Before my mission, I went to school so I could be number one. Quite frankly, school is the only place I could get such a distinction. I could never earn it on the track or anywhere else. But I always imagined that I could graduate at the top of my class, that I could go on to medical school and be some sort of superstar, and then go on to enjoy a prestigious career.

I never really considered why.

Such ambitions, in and of themselves, are useless. I mean, there's a shelf full of trophies in our basement that have about as much meaning as being some famous doctor.

I guess, at some point between the time I stopped going to biology 120 where I'd sit in the back of the class and vocally contradict half of the things the professor said and now, I realized that a life of humble service, as the Savior did, is what my real ambition in life is. That life of service might share a few steps of the path that I used to be on. I might be at the top of the class, and I might be a famous doctor. And I might not. But I will be a father. I will serve in whatever calling is given to me in the church. And whatever prestige I might achieve in the world, I will use it to influence others for good. After I finished talking with you this morning, I read in Mosiah 8:19. I don't have it at hand, but I just want to draw attention to the last phrase, the phrase which reads "thus he becometh a great benefit to his fellow men." If I were to state in one sentence my objective in getting an education, that would be it. Of course, the most important way I can become a benefit to my fellowmen is by learning some useful skill, which will allow me to hold a job which I can earn money and support a family. And past that, I hope to learn things that will help me to be useful in the world.

I'm so happy to be spending my birthday as a missionary in the service of my Lord. I know He lives and loves us all.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #98 - Week of 16 Dec 2009 - Got Spoiled in Ipoh

Hello,

For the Christmas call, it would probably be best if you called 8:00AM Christmas morning Penang time. I won't be emailing again before that. Christmas will be our p-day. We'll have all day. The number is XXXXXXXXXXX.

We just got back from Ipoh. We went down on Monday night. Elder Shipp and I got spoiled big time when we were there. His birthday is tomorrow, and it's been a long time since he's been there, plus it's Christmas, so Sister Chris and President Yap took us to dinner, and we had ice cream with them another time, and they brought us breakfast and Christmas and birthday presents. In addition to that, Elder and Sister Dabels had lunch for us after we presented a training, and we had dinner from Sister Lydia. I gained at least 3 pounds on that exchange!

The exchange itself was very good. I went with Elder Hall to visit Sister Cathreene. She is doing loads better from the last time I saw her, which was when we stopped teaching her. Since then, she has been baptized and found a new job and is seeing a psychiatrist, and she just seems much happier. She was just laughing her head off at everything I said yesterday. I was telling some good jokes, but I didn't think they were that funny until she told me. After going to her house, we went with her to her friend, who after recieving a Book of Mormon last week, has been reading it and loving it. She is really excited to come to church, and so glad that someone is willing to come and explain things to her. She was unhappy with her old church, where she would go every Sunday but not get anything out of it.

Lew got baptized last Friday. After his baptism he shared a very simple testimony, "Hello. I know this Church is true. I am happy to be baptized, and the best is yet to come. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Maem surprised us at church again. I really don't know what to think about those members. It seems like they trick her into going to Thailand during the week, but she finds a way to show up on sunday and ask when her baptism can be. We'll see if we can get her interviewed and baptized this week. She's the best.

Elder Shipp reminded me that ecco shoes supposedly have a lifetime guaruntee on them. I grabbed my torn up pair that should have been thrown away from the Ipoh house. I'll be bringing them home with me.

Elder Shipp is going to look at getting a tailored suit. I don't think I want one. But if they're really cheap or super nice I think I might want one. I'll let you know after I see them. What do you think?

I figure I'll probably not be finishing in Penang. There will be transfers this coming Monday, then again the first week of January. I would love to finish here, but maybe they'll send me back to KK for a few weeks. Who knows.

Thanks for the testimony of tithing.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #97 - Week of 9 Dec 2009 - Confusion about Extending

Hello,

About the extension: I think there was a misunderstanding among the assistants. I was talking to Elder Troxel over dinner last week, and he mentioned that Russel M. Nelson would be coming to the mission in the middle of next February, and said we could still consider extending until March 10, when new missionaries would be coming in. That sounded very appealing to me at that night. I told him I would extend and that I would talk to President Clark about it in the morning. After thinking a lot about it and praying into the night about it, I decided the next morning that I don't think it is the right decision for me. I just don't think I could continue to stay completely focused and work hard for an extra month, so I shared my decision with Elder Stone and never talked to President Clark or Elder Troxel about it. Well, you know the consequences of assuming. I just shot an email to President Clark and I would imagine it all gets fixed soon.

Thanks for all the pictures.

Zone conference was fantastic. After my email, we went to an all-you-can eat steamboat restaurant. They have this huge buffet of mostly seafood (they also had chickens, different kinds of dumplings, and vegetables) and you take the raw food to your table and throw it in one of the pots of boiling soup in front of you and steam it yourself. It was awesome. I can't believe people actually came. The tradition for at least the past two years has been for the KL zone conference Elders to go to Chili's.

Our Thai friend Maem finally came back from Thailand. I guess she was staying until she could get everything settled with her workers. She still really wants to be baptized, and came to church on Sunday. I still kind of worry about what the Soons will do (they borrowed her car last week when she was going to bring all her workers to church), but I think she will make it. We're thinking she (and I) will like a baptism on Christmas day.

I am feeling a bit sick today. I came home after district meeting yesterday and slept a few hours before going out again. It feels like I'm starting to get sick a week out of every month lately. No fun.

We're planning on going for exchanges in Ipoh next week. That will be fun.
I don't know if I ever talked about Anita. She is an Indian lady, a Roman Catholic who is married to a Hindu and has one 7 year old daughter. She has really gotten a lot out of reading the Book of Mormon. Well, she has been busy for a couple of weeks, but we finally got to see her last night. She said the things she has learned so far are definitely different from the Bible: and better. She wants to be baptized. I think it will still be tough for her to have enough faith to quit her job or do whatever else she needs to do to get to church.

We were going to go to the beach today with Malvinder (Elder Dhillon) but I just am not feeling up to it. We'll probably go next week.

Just now, when we were sitting in the food court eating, a white, hippie kind of guy came up to us and started talking to us. He had a long beard and shaggy red hair and jeans with holes in them. He has been here for a few years, and is just trying to learn about all the cultures. He apparently is working in the kitchens there at the food court. He grew up in Denver. His motto is "senyum selalu" (smile always). I don't quite understand how he could live a life like that, with no end goal, no direction. Hopefully he gives us a call and we can instill in him a sense of purpose.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #96 - Week of 2 Dec 2009 - New (Old) Companion

Hello,

Yes, Elder Stone is going to be the new assistant. I am leaving him here in KL (we're here for my last zone conference) and taking back Elder Shipp. I was with Elder Shipp before for 3 short weeks in Ipoh. He came out the same day as me and will probably go home the same day (although he said he is considering extending).

That's nice that Andrew and Dan could get together for Thanksgiving. We definitely need to get together when I come back. When I show people my family picture any more, they all make comments like I look so young in it. I deny it, saying that it was just a couple of years ago. The other day, I realized it has been nearly 5 years since that picture was taken.

It's funny. Which of the Muffler boys 5 years ago would have thought that they would be in Utah or Idaho? None of us. And we'll probably all end up there together.

We finally got our cell phones today. It's nice.

My interview with President Clark was really short today. He just said he's proud of me, congratulated what we're doing, and thanked me for the quality of my weekly letters to him. He said they're really model letters, and he will be talking to the other Elders about improving the way in which they report to their mission president, that they need to be a lot more professional.

I was wondering about a few people. Have you heard lately about Steven LeBaron, Spencer Van Wagenen, or James Allen? What are they up to?

Elder Shipp is getting transferred from Johor Baru. He said that Ben Griggs is going to be working there for a while. They found out he was from Colorado Springs and that he knows my family.

On Thursday, we went to Butterworth for a baptism interview and Thanksgiving dinner. The investigator being interviewed is a man named Mr. Kew. He was quite long winded, but it was obvious he has a strong testimony and is very sincere. I got done with the interview, and Elder Barlow was filling out the baptism record. He asked about the marriage date. Mr. Kew said there wasn't an actual date. After a request to explain, he confessed they weren't ever actually married. They never registered with the government. They never had a ceremony. One day, they just decided they were married and moved in. That was embarassing to me. I'm still getting used to all the probing questions I should ask during the baptism interview to make sure there are no problems like that. When we told Mr. Kew he couldn't be baptized until he was officially married, he was devastated. He asked probably 8 times if there was another way than getting his wife down to the registration office, and we said no, just pray hard, and ask your wife, and go. I think we all have the problem sometimes when we're given an assignment, we just think of all the ways we could fail, rather than simply pour our energies into doing it. I realize Mr. Kew had asked his wife to go several times before, but this time is different. He needs to go to be baptized. So we left him with our assurance that he could do what he needed with God's help. Indeed, a few days later we found out his wife was fine with going and signing the dopy papers, which is a miracle in its own right, and he should be fine for his baptism this Saturday.

Elder Shipp and I have a lot of hard work ahead of us to see success in the area: everything has kind of fallen apart since I've gotten to Penang. But I suppose I wouldn't want to finish my mission any other way.

I did get the Christmas package today. Some of it might actually make it to Christmas. We'll have to see. I still haven't opened it.

Normally, for zone conference, the mission president gives a topic for us to prepare a short talk on, and he chooses a few missionaries to give the talk. I gave the talk last time, so I probably won't get to speak tomorrow. I really liked the topic, so I want to give a few of my thoughts on the topic.

Elder Holland in a BYU address about a year ago mentioned that frequently, when missionaries are called upon to speak in zone conferences, they will give a talk using the shortest verse in all of scripture, "Jesus Wept" Breaking with that tradition, I want to use the second shortest verse "Remember Lot's wife." The topic assigned to us was "The doctrine of remember", and I figured that verse teaches two extremely important aspects of remembering.

For the first lesson, it is necessary to review the story of Lot's wife. Lot was a righteous man who lived in the epitome of wickedness, Sodom and Gomorrah. He was told by heavenly messengers that the city would be destroyed, and he was commanded, along with his family, to flee. He left, and as his family was leaving, God sent fire down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. His wife, in a moment of nostalgia, looked back upon the city, and was turned into a pillar of salt. Now, the lesson I took from it had nothing to do with salt, a little to do with fire, and a lot to do with remembering. It is this: Lot's wife wanted to remember the wrong things. Sodom and Gomorrah were sort of a symbol of sin, of past mistakes, of behaviors and attitudes that we all have but have changed and left behind. The fire that rained down from heaven reminds me of the sancitifying cleansing of the Holy Ghost, which is described as a baptism of fire. God has told us throughout the scriptures, that our sins should not be remembered, that once we have repented, He will remember them no more, that our old man of sin was crucified with Christ. To look back as Lot's wife did would be to revert to our old habits and ways of life, to want to go back to an old sin or weakness after we have set it aside.

Of course, there is an appropriate way to remember. Jesus instructed us to remember Lot's wife. Remember the lesson you learned, the stories and characters and mistakes and triumphs of the past. Moroni instructs us to remember the mercies of God before we do any praying as to whether the Book of Mormon is true. As I recall, the word remember appears something like 216 times throughout the Book of Mormon. Remmebering our covenants will allow us to live by our covenants. The actions of prayer and reading the scriptures and taking the sacrament are essentially just practices of remembering the commandments or the Atonement. To be thankful is to remember the mercies of God. To ask is to remember the grace of God. To have charity is to remember the love of God. To have faith is to remember that God is there. To have hope is to remember His promises.

I hope we may all remember what we have learned, and act accordingly.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #95 - Week of 25 Nov 2009 - Tough week in Penang

Hello,

Penang has been a very tough area the last week.

Last week, we were sitting in Maem's cafe, talking about her baptism. She was a little depressed, and she told us it was because the members who referred her were giving her an especially hard time. I think I told you how they were apostatizing and all. Anyway, she said they were going on vacation to Thailand, and they wanted her to go with her. She said no, she wants to stay so she could go to church and be baptized. That didn't make them happy. They got really angry with her, and threatened to send the police to close down her shop and take away her friends who don't have a passport. Anyway, we were talking about 12:30 in the afternoon. She said they had rented a van and wanted to pick her up and leave at 2:00. They told her not to tell anybody else about it (they had borrowed money from several people in the branch with the excuse they were in difficulty from loan sharks, but they really just wanted to take a long vacation to Thailand and England, and perhaps move to England to stay). While we were talking, Brother Soon called. Elder Stone knew them quite well before they went off the deep end, so he took the phone and answered it by saying "Brother Soon! I hear you're going to Thailand." That didn't make him very happy. He hung up. They showed up about 20 minutes later. We did our best to give Sister Maem emotional support. When the Soons showed up, they denied they were going to Thailand and promised we would see them at church on Sunday. Actually, just Sister Soon said that. Brother Soon gave us the most angry stare I have ever seen, shouted "I'm not in the mood!" and left on his motorcycle. That was a very interesting reaction. Obviously, asking about vacations is in no way offensive and provocative. If they were taking a normal trip, they probably would have been happy that we cared. But they know they are doing wrong. The show of their countenances doth witness against them. They seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and from His servants. Well, Maem did end up caving in and following them to Thailand. She should be back soon. She was having some sort of heart problems or something, and ended up in the hospital one of the days. I feel so terrible for her. Hopefully the Soons are on to England.

It would not be fair for us to send someone to England without England sending someone to us. The Penang Elders had quite a nice trade. A young man named Lew came to church on Sunday. He had spent the last 4 years or so studying and working in England. He had been going to church and learning from the Elders off and on for the last 3 years. When we were first talking to him we asked "Are you still interested in learning about the church." "No," he said. "I just want to be baptized." Oh
.
We talked to him again last night, and it seems he had just put off baptism because he didn't feel ready, but after coming back to Malaysia, he realizes it would be the right thing to do. It seems like he knows it all. He had been in a singles ward in england, and was around lots of member friends frequently. He's been to the temple grounds and firesides and watched general conferences. He'll be an awesome addition to the branch. He'll probably be baptized on the 5th of December.

We'll have zone conference next week. Probably my last one, because in January we should have a General Authority tour the mission.

Every time I watch any show with dancing in it I also wish that I had been put in dance lessons. Just this morning during breakfast and as we cleaned, we watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas show from last year, and it had some traditional dancers in it. And Mom would probably like to hear that I really love the song O Danny Boy that's included on the disc.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #94 - Week of 18 Nov 2009 - Exchanges in Sitiawan

Hello,

Excuse me if this letter is kind of different. I'm still kind of waking up from a very long nap on an even longer bus ride. We went to Sitiawan for exchanges yesterday. The taxi driver who brought us to the bus station reserved us a ticket as we were driving to the station, so we didn't get to choose the company that goes straight to Butterworth. Instead, we got stuck on a bus that went to Ipoh first. We had a layover. Then it was a slow ride the rest of the way. So, rather than getting back in 2 and a half hours, it took us 6 and a half. I don't want to complain a bit though. I spent at least 3 hours sleeping, and that's what I would have wanted to do anyway.

Going on exchanges in Sitiawan were fun. We weren't quite sure how much english Elder Teng knows, so we decided that rather than one of us go with him and one with Elder Ip, we both went with a different companionship. I went with the malay Elders. But I got to see enough of Elder Teng to be absolutely amazed. He is so passionate about being a missionary. It's strange to think about. He actually didn't go anywhere to join the church. His uncle was a church member, so he didn't have to leave his town to join the church. I don't know what he was taught before he was baptized, but it doesn't really matter. He's awesome. Elder Stone said "When he teaches, he looks like a fiery Christian pastor." There are a few things he understandably doesn't understand. As an example, he asked Elder Stone "Do we teach people from other Christian churches? I mean, they are true, they just don't have the authority, right?" Sometimes he wanders off or does other things that stem from not being as familiar with the rules as many missionaries are. He's going to do great things as he learns how to channel all his enthusiasm into the right channel.

Maem, the lady from Thailand, won't be baptized this week. Her daughter had to be picked up from the bus station during church on Sunday, so she couldn't make it. If we understand each other as well as I could hope, that daughter has been baptized in our church in Thailand. She certainly recognizes the Book of Mormon and says her church has two people like us.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that my first companion, Elder Dhillon, is attending college here in Penang. When he first got here, he referred a friend, Kelvin, to the Elders who he had met only once. Kelvin is doing quite well and should be baptized next month. He has been to church a few times and likes it a lot. He didn't come this week because of something with a government loan officer. Malvinder (Elder Dhillon) also missed church.

A member from Japan, Sister Imai, invited us to entertain her son's kindergarten class for a birthday party on Monday. We got permission to do it, so we went to teach the kids duck, duck goose. Elder Stone also played a song they really liked on the piano. He's a big fan of music from Jon Schmidt, and it has certainly rubbed off on me.

I don't think I mentioned that on Monday we went to Ipoh to give a training and do a baptism interview. Sister Chris and President Yap took us out to dinner.

I went around with Elder Hall. He is so made for that area. He is doing so well there, and fits in perfectly with the members, the couple, and his companion. I hope he doesn't leave until he finishes. We tried to go see Sister Cathleene. It sounds like she was baptized a bit prematurely. She hadn't even come to sunday school or relief society before her baptism and has only made it to sacrament meeting twice in the 2 months since. She's kind of avoiding the Elders now. Sad story.

That's awesome that Jacob is getting baptized. I remember him well.

If you get the chance, tell President Muirhead he is a saint, and if it is too much hassle, I don't think I would mind waiting a day.

It's good to hear about Ben making the basketball team.

I feel really bad, but I forgot Dad's birthday, so if it's this week... Happy Birthday! And if not, well, I look kind of bad now.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #93 - Week of 11 Nov 2009 - Lady "Trying to Speak in Tongues, Or entertain a baby"

Hello,

This has been a very tiring week. Probably one of the most tiring weeks on my mission. For one, it takes some getting used to adjusting to a new area, especially a bike area. Also, it seems like we are never finished with calling people and planning before about 10:55. I'm sure I'll have it worse with children some day, though.

The Penang branch and area has been awesome. There are a lot of recent converts from about 2 years ago, who all fuse the branch with energy. I really love the members of the branch. Every Friday, we get to teach an english class (and in the process learn a lot of Mandarin). The branch's sunday services are conducted in English, with many people taking advantage of a Chinese translator. There were 65 people that I counted at sacrament meeting this week. About a year ago, and before that, Penang (we're techinically just in the city of Georgetown, but we call it Penang) was a Mandarin area. That is, there were Mandarin speaking Elders here. But then, for some reason, they phased that out. When I got to the mission, there was a pair of Elders that were absolutely amazing, according to what everyone says about them. There are a lot of really strong recent converts from their era. It's wonderful to have a history like that: the members expect you to do wonderful things, so you end up doing wonderful things.

We're teaching some really good people. There's a Thai lady ready to be baptized next week. She's been going through some opposition from a few members that are in the process of apostatizing over wanting some money from the church and having their request denied. They were trying to convince her to go with them to a huge 4 day retreat at which they would be baptized with hundreds of others into another church. This Thai lady, Maem, is still strong though.

On Monday, we went to the restaurant which Maem owns. She wasn't there yet, but there was a young Malaysian Chinese man named Daniel who began talking to us. He was somewhat interested in what we had to say, then stayed and listened to the lesson we had with Maem. Actually, he took the privilege of helping to teach the lesson. Hopefully, we'll be able to help him gain a testimony of the truth. He has only been a Christian about 4 years, and has a very dynamic personality. He'll make a great branch missionary. I know we only met him once. That's just what I see.

I'm really excited about a Chinese-Kadazan man who we met. He moved away from KK (in the village I used to work in) the same time I did. He is really humble and interested in our message. We'll be teaching him again tomorrow.

Yesterday, we had a district meeting with the 2 companionships in Butterworth and the senior couple there. Butterworth is a city on the mainland right across from Georgetown. We hopped on a ferry to get there. I think that was my first time on the ocean since Massachusetts. Elder Stone says that one of the members here loves to take us fishing in the ocean, that we could go every week if we wanted. They catch a ton of stuff, it's just usually too small to eat. Often, they'll catch stingrays. I'm excited.

After that, we went on exchanges. I went with Elder Barlow, the district leader, in his area. That was a lot of fun. It's amazing how, when you're called to a position of responsibility in the church, you're also blessed with the talents and abilities to perform well. As a zone leader, I find myself way more able to be social around the other missionaries. I find myself better able to contact new people. We had a really good day together. Last night, we had an appointment with a Catholic lady who has committed to baptism. We were watching the Church's Finding Faith in Christ DVD when out of nowhere, I heard ridiculous noises spewing from my right. I turned to see Mary with her eyes closed as if praying. Every now and then, she would throw in a discernible Alleluia or Praise Jesus, so it was obvious she was trying to speak in tongues. Or entertain a baby. No, I'm pretty sure it was tongues. After the film, she talked to us about that: "Was it okay?" We had the senior couple with us. Elder Thorne seems to have served in a lot of positions in the church where he was called upon to counsel or be a judge of situations. And even if he wasn't, he is very wise and mature. I would completely trust his judgement. He tried to deflect the issue telling her she would understand more with time, counselling her not to do it in public, but saying she could pray whatever way helped turn her thoughts to God in her own home. That answer didn't seem to satisfy her, so I read with her Jacob 4:13, and told her that perhaps if she had strong feelings about Jesus, they could be better expressed through something that uplifts and edifies others, some way that others understand, such as a testimony or a hymn. That still didn't seem to satisfy her. She said she only felt free when she immediately started to babble after the urge came. Then I asked her a question "Does God force us to do anything?" She agreed that he didn't. Then I read with her Galatians 5:22-23, which has a phrase in her version that we don't have in the King James. Instead of Temprance being a fruit of the Spirit, her Bible read "Self-control." With that knowledge, she recognized that perhaps those feelings were interfering with, not a result of, her communion with the Holy Ghost.

I am really impressed with the Butterworth district. I've noticed that when Elders are together at home every night, one of three things happens: the apartment is quiet and people aren't really enjoying missionary work. the apartment is vibrant with Elders doing things that are sometimes quite irreverent at best. or the Elders can't stop laughing as they talk about how awesome their day was and the people who they met. Last night definitely followed my last description. It seems like it is a nightly occurance for each companionship to tell the other Elders about every person they talk to. And when they do so, the way is more Jay Leno than Tom Brokaw.

Right now, there are 6 companionships in the zone, including us. There are also 2 couples. One of our companionships, who we'll be going on exchanges with next week, consists of Elder Ip, who is from Hong Kong, and Elder Teng, from mainland China. Isn't that awesome? We can't send missionaries into China, but we get missionaries from China. Before my mission, I never knew quite how big the church is in China. There is a five figure membership. Of course, there is no proselyting in China, but there are plenty of Chinese who get baptized in other places and go back.

The rain has been picking up here. It rains almost every day.

They're going to change myldsmail soon. The church got a contract with google, so they'll be switching to using g-mail.

I'm disappointed our cell phones haven't gotten here yet. They'll be so helpful.

I should probably get going.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #92 - Week of 4 Nov 2009 - Transfer to Penang as a Zone Leader

Hello,

Well, I'm writing from the Pearl of The Orient: Penang, Malaysia. I was wrong about getting a greenie. I got transferred and am now a zone leader. My companion is Elder Stone, which is pretty much the greatest thing that could have happened.

Sunday afternoon, I had to leave church early so I could get to the airport. I flew to Singapore first. President Clark started having zone leader councils, with all the zone leaders in the mission. That was so amazing. We have a lot of very interesting characters for our zone leaders. It was probably the most fun group of people I've spent a day with.

Penang is similar to Ipoh in a lot of ways. The city and people are similar. We ride bikes here. I think I'll really enjoy spending my last few months here.
My batch of missionaries will be finishing on February 10.

Each companionship in our mission will be getting a cell phone to replace our land lines this week. I think that'll be so helpful. We waste so much time messing with pay phones and waiting at home so people can call us and what not.

I picked up the Christmas and birthday package with the books and CD's and shirt. And opened it. I didn't want to wait, because then I would barely have any time to enjoy them. Thank you so much for those. I'll really enjoy the books. Those were good choices. Elder Packer's parables are the best, and of course I love Elder Nelson's stories of him as a heart surgeon.

It was hard to leave PJ. I really loved that area. On Saturday, we got to teach Melchor the Filipino again. It was his first day off since he got his job a month ago. He was more interested than ever. He hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon, and he was confused from the things he had always been taught and what his friends were saying. He actually asked us to give him a blessing of comfort and counsel. I was the voice for that blessing, in which he was told to continue seeking truth, and obeying it as he found it. He came to sacrament meeting the next day. I think it won't be much longer before he chooses to be baptized.

Jordan came to church with us on Sunday morning. He is making a lot of good decisions.

Wang Song was super busy studying for finals, but he made the sacrifice to come to church on Sunday and stay for all 3 hours. I'm sure God will bless him for it.
Mei didn't make it to sacrament meeting. I was really worried about her, until we were heading home, and she was maybe 400 meters away from the church, walking slowly and eating an ice cream bar. Oh, Mei. She definitely needs to learn a lot more, but she's pretty determined, so it'll be awesome.

I'm a bit overwhelmed right now. I don't adjust well to change. But being with Elder Stone has taken nearly all the hardship out of it.

We have a squash court at our place. Elder Stone is going to teach me later today. I'm excited.

Can you send me Elder Bearnson and Elder Caywood's mission addresses? I can't find them anywhere.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #91 - Week of 28 Oct 2009 - Favorite month of mission so far!

Hello,

Over the last few years, I have noticed October tends to be my favorite month of the year. That has held true this year as well. I have had so many good experiences this month. I think this has been my favorite month of my mission so far.

The space key isn't working so well, so I'll just have to do without and hope you understand. (Dad put spaces in all of the rest of the letter for readability, it all came without spaces!)

Where to start?

I guess I'll start yesterday, and work my way back. Yesterday we had a big combined district meeting with the zone leaders and the Sisters serving in KL. It was a lot of fun.It is Elder Peter's last week. He gave an awesome training.

After district meeting, we met up with John. I first met John in the train station last week. When we walked in and were about to buy tickets, I noticed a large group of very large men. There were 5 guys, most of them about 6'3" and very muscular. I was really curious where they were from. So curious that I quickly bought a ticket and followed them on the train they were going on, without really caring where that would take us.

As it happened, they are a group of professional rugby players for a local club named cobra. They are from Fiji. I talked to the smallest one,John. He had a flower in his ear. I asked him about the flower, and he said they were on their way to perform some traditional music and dance at a wedding. I was a little worried he didn't quite understand what we were out to do, but he understood just fine, and taught him about the Book of Mormon. He'll be leaving for a tournament in Sandakan this week, but we'll see over the next few weeks how he does with it.

Wang Song finally decided to be baptized last night. After teaching him about the word of wisdom and the importance of following a prophet, we were talking to him about how his prayers have been. He said he had come to the point where he believed in Jesus Christ and the Church, but he still wasn't ready to commit to something as big as baptism. After some further encouragement, he gave us analogy "I feel like a kid who has a rotten tooth. He know she needs to go to the doctor to have it taken out. He knows there is no use waiting. But he is still afraid of the doctor, and he puts it off." We kept pushing him, and he asked us "Do I have to decide now?" We told him we couldn't force him, but he would be much better off if he did decide now. He did.

Jordan, a former investigator from Botswana, cameback to Malaysia this week. He called us up, anxious to meet with us and ask us some questions. After resolving his anxiety regarding his brother having died without being baptized, he also decided to be baptized. He is worried he won't be able to overcome the strong pull his old church has on him, but he is determined to try.

We've been meeting a lot of people from Myanmar lately. I'm not quite sure what's going on there, but there are a bunch of Myanmar Christian people from Chin State here with refugee cards from the UN. It's really tough, because I don't think we have The Book of Mormon in Burmese yet. In fact, the only thing we had access to was a pamphlet with Joseph Smith's testimony in it. Elder Judd's father just sent him a couple of copies of the Gospel Principles manual in Burmese, so that should help tremendously.

Happy Halloween.

Love, Elder Muffler


Last P-Day we went to a huge Hindu temple at Batu Caves. Here is a picture with a statue at the entrance. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves for more information on the Batu Caves and Hindu Shrine.

Letter #90 - Week of 21 Oct 2009 - New Companion from Sri Lanka

Hello,

Transfers have given us a bit of a shock again. I am back to PJ1/PJ2. My companion is Elder Rajah-Kanagasabai. He wanted me to tell you he is a crazy, short Sri Lankan man. He has been in the field for 8 months, and spent his whole time in one area in Kuching, Sarawak. Actually, his grandparents are from Sri Lanka but moved to Malaysia, then his parents were born in Malaysia but moved to Australia, so he was born and raised in Perth, Australia. He's a really awesome Elder, very smart and hard working. He'll be an excellent companion. I'm sure we'll get a lot done together.

I keep meeting people from all over the place. My list of countries I've met people from grew with the addition of England and St. Vincent, an island in the Pacific.

We went to meet Lucy, the Guatamalan maid. The boss isn't quite ready to listen, but she is all about Lucy coming to church. Apparently, Lucy is from a very poor family, and is a relative to her boss, and needed somewhere to work, and her family needed money, so it all worked out. Lucy speaks next to no english: just what she has picked up over the time watching the kids. I'm saddened I've lost all ability to communicate in Spanish. I tried my best to talk to her, to share a simple gospel message. I told her "puedo leer, pero no puedo hablar espanol." She replied "Pero puedes entener." Yeah, I can." So, every now and then when she wanted to say something, she'd say it in spanish, and I'd ask her to repeat it a couple of times, and I would finally get what she was saying. We'll arrange for an American family that live near them to take her to church on Sunday.

Wang Seng is progressing beautifully. He's a really deep thinker, so we had to teach the most full, comprehensive plan of salvation lesson I have taught yet on my mission. He asked some questions I hadn't even considered, like "If opposition is necessary in all things, then how could we have perfect happiness if we won't face opposition and sin in heaven?" We invited him to be baptized, but he is still not completely sure he believes in Jesus Christ. As he says, he wants to repent, and he would be baptized, but he just isn't sure yet about his faith. We tried to help him realize he has been exercising the faith he has, and that if he would make the decision first, he would gain the assurance he needs. I'm sure it won't take long for him to gain the faith. He has been praying and reading the scriptures every day.

I suspect we'll both get new missionaries and split up the area again in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the packages and thanks to Grandma for the money. I'll go for some souvenirs with it, I think.

I'm not quite sure how we will do sacrament meeting, with the two meetings in 2 different places starting only an hour apart. We'll figure out something.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Here is a picture of Elder Rajah-Kanagasabai from another missionary's blog (Elder Rajah from Australia, Elder Herbst from Salmon, Idaho, Elder Hill from Las Vegas, Elder Tyler from Jackson Hole, Wyoming):

Letter #89 - Week of 14 Oct 2009 - I love this Area

I was just writing a passionate, enthusiastic email. I guess I must have been too excited as I wrote, because I kicked the power switch and lost it all.

I'm still in the groove, though, so I'll just continue what I was writing, and trace back from there.

Elder Caywood's comments in his letter on his baptism were amazing. I couldn't help but shed a tear as I read them.

Matthew and his friend Wong came to conference and seemed to like it well enough. Wong brought us the news that he had prayed for the first time before a test, and he passed the test (he had failed two the week previous). He has always made comments that have seemed a bit off. We set up a lesson for last night, and when I called yesterday Matthew said that he couldn't come, but Wong still could, so it would be the first time we had him alone. At the beginning of the lesson, he expressed concern that he didn't know if God was real. He said, being in a communist country, he had always been taught God was imaginary. We told him he could resolve that dillema very simply through prayer, if he prayed in the right way. We began by reading the Lord's prayer in the Book of Mormon. After that, something clicked, and some deeper concerns surfaced. I won't go through everything we talked about, but it boiled down to the fact that he has felt, especially since he started meeting with us, that something is missing in his life, that he is doing wrong. He knows that drinking and smoking and violating the law of chastity are wrong and they bring unhappiness, he just doesn't know how to get away from it all. Of all my investigators, I think he is the most socially awqward, but I think to date, what he told us last night was the most clear, direct appeal to the need for Jesus Christ in his life. That sorrow, that desire to repent, is at the very heart of what we are here to help with.

We were kind of stuck with nothing to do on Monday. President Clark has strongly encouraged us to focus on recent convert referrals, so we decided to meet Kelly and see if we couldn't encourage her to find someone for us to teach. We told her about counsel from Elder Ballard: The key to member missionary work is faith. One great way to show faith is to prayerfully set a date to find someone for the missionaries to teach. She was very reluctanct, and wanted to set a date next year. With some encouragement for something much, much sooner, she chose the last day of the month. We expressed our complete confidence in her and God and the power of prayer, and went our way. It was a little surprising even to me to arrive home and recieve a call from Kelly informing us she already found a friend who wanted to learn from us. We taught Sandy the next day, and she also is awesome.

I think Esther will follow in Kelly's footsteps and have some people for us to teach within the next few weeks.

So, here is the rest in a nutshell.

Esther was baptized. She's awesome.

We met a Guatamalan whose house maid is a member. We'll be meeting them on Friday.

General conference was awesome. I especially enjoyed President Monson's talk on service, and Elder Holland and Elder Bednar's talks.

A Nigerian investigator bore his testimony to some other new investigators. He accepted a baptism date after the fact.

I love this area.

Sincerely,
Elder Muffler

Letter #88 - Week of 7 Oct 2009 - Fish Spa and Ibuprofen

Hello,

This week was excellent.

Zone conference got me really pumped to move forward. President Clark has such a firm grasp on what this mission needs. It's awesome to see an inspired mission president.

The zone activity fell apart last week due to timing with interviews and all. Elder Judd, Elder Jeffries and myself ended up going to a souvenir market. I got quite a few cool things, like some chinese art, and some framed Islamic writing. While there at the market, we stumbled acrosss a fish spa. People go there, pay a couple of dollars, and stick their feet in this pool full of fish that come and eat your dead skin cells off, so your feet are clean and soft. I couldn't resist. It was the most ticklish thing I ever put myself through, but after a couple of minutes you get used to. My feet feel real nice.

Saturday was good. Kelly came with us, and we taught another recent convert, as well as Matthew and his friends. Due to a Chinese holiday, Matthew didn't come to church on sunday, and neither did his friends.

On sunday, a former investigator that wanted to get baptized but suddenly went to China, came back to church. She is still interested in being baptized, but has mostly forgot the teachings of the church. It was fun to see Kelly, Mei and Sharon (the former investigator) interact together and respond to our lesson. They're all around the same age, and I'm really looking forward for them to grow together and strengthen one another as they move toward perfection through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Yesterday, the college students met us with lots more questions. They had a really good grasp on all the stuff that's presented on the internet, but still had questions on a few doctrines and church government and so forth. Elder Jeffries and I answered all their questions , and afterwards we were discussing the answers to them, and he helped me to realize something when he said "It's a good thing you were there: I wouldn't have known how to answer some of those questions." I thought about that for a minute, and I wouldn't have known how to answer them a year and a half ago either. I think it's easy to forget the continual nature of learning and improvement. I always find myself thinking I've made it, that I've always known the things I know and that, although there is much more to learn out there, I probably won't be able to learn it.

You can send the package to the Singapore address. My first instinct was to have it sent here, because I should finish my mission here, but if I got transferred for some odd reason it would be a lot harder to get to me.

I don't know if I mentioned my first real sushi experience last week. We went with Esther to a Japanese sushi restaurant. I ordered the STAMINA ROLL: grilled eel, seaweed, rice and vegetables. It was awesome.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. I'm thankful for modern medicine, though. Ibuprofen has done wonders today. Actually, ibuprofen isn't available here. I guess it comes from a pig or something. No matter. Elder Jeffries bought a costco bottle of 500 pills. I don't know what he expected to do with all those on his mission, but it is still pretty awesome.

The clock is winding down. The Assistants mentioned last week that the scheduled day for us to go home falls right in the middle of when new missionaries are coming. I know President Clark has been trying to set a more regular transfer schedule, so he prefers missionaries going home when missionaries are coming in. I know at least one Elder from my group will be going home a month early for school. I'll see how it goes, but I will extend a month if it helps the mission. Neither the mission president nor the office couple has mentioned it yet, so I guess I'll just find out when they send my itinerary some time soon.

Things are going very well overall.

President Clark has put in the expectation of a baptismal service every two weeks again. That gets me excited. I know that when I was in KK, that goal helped me so much to stay motivated and focused. I hope it will do the same again.

I feel so bad for Elder Bearnson. That's rough. It's the rough experiences that teach us, though.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but Cathleene in Ipoh got baptized. Elder Hall brought me a picture last week.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #87 - Week of 30 Sep 2009 - Big earthquake near Indonesia, What happened?

Hello,

It's been really fun working in 3 branches. We're not as busy as I thought we would be.

Esther will be baptized during the coming week. We're really looking forward to that. She's so excited to go to the temple. Apparently, she lives very close to the temple in Korea. She'll be going back in December. She's looking at continuing her studies in the UK or US. Apparently, the school she has the most desire to go to is Johnson and Wales. I know they have a branch in Denver. That would be cool if she studied there.

Mei decided to be baptized. Once we got Kelly, a recent convert, involved with teaching her, it was over. Kelly called us on Saturday informing us when and where she would be picking her up for church. Kelly was attached to Mei's hip for 3 hours during the church meetings, and Kelly explained all that we taught and helped resolve all the concerns and fears which Mei had.

We had an interesting day at church. Several college students, all but one of whom are Muslim, were at church on a college assignment to learn a few things about another religion. It's a really sensitive situation as to what we can or cannot do with them, so we tried to be friendly but not do anything against the law. I thought it worked well.

Elder Judd and Elder Jeffries have really been fun companions. We've been having lots of first time experiences with Elder Jeffries. It was his first time he ate durian this week (and my first time liking it). Last night, we went with Esther to a sushi restaurant. I had some awesome eel sushi.

We have zone conference today and tomorrow. Elder Hall and Elder Stone, as well as many others, are staying with us. Later, we'll probably go to a planetarium or something.

As for Christmas and birthday, I really don't know. I don't feel a great craving for anything, and even if I did, I'll be home a few weeks after Christmas anyway. Actually, I just thought of some things. I'd like a copy of the EFY 2009 CD. It would also be nice to have another church CD. I don't know what. Andrew probably knows something good. I would appreciate a BYU T shirt from this year (the homecoming shirt). President Clark allows us to read books from General Authorities on P-Day, so could you find something you think I'd like?

I've heard there was a big earthquake near Indonesia yesterday. What happened?

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #86 - Week of 23 Sep 2009 - Transfer/Combine area with Kelang

Hello,

This last week was another awesome week. I went through sort of a mini transfer. When I was on my visa run, I went in to President Clark's office and asked him when we would get new missionaries to ease the burden of handling two branches which represent probably two million people in population. He made a comment like "It's going to get worse before it'll get better... but you'll probably have some the first week of November." I didn't understand his comment, because I thought there wasn't anyone going home before then. It turns out I was wrong. There is 1 Elder from Sri Lanka that went home on Monday, and it just happened that my companion went to replace him. But who would replace my companion? Since there was no one to fill his shoes, I am now with another set of Elders in Kelang, a different part of KL, and we have responsibility for all three branches. It's been awesome so far. My companions are Elder Judd and Elder Jeffries. Elder Judd has been out a few months less than myself. He is from North Carolina. Elder Jeffries just came to Malaysia 2 weeks ago when I came to KL. So I get to help train him in the work and language.

I think I have mentioned Matthew before. He is from mainland China, and recently got his doctorate and is working for a Chinese firm here in Malaysia. We've taught him a few times during the last week, and he has the glow about him: the glow of happiness of one who is discovering the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the glow of excitement of someone who is becoming converted. He asks a ton of good questions during the lessons, especially about the language of the scriptures "Why does he tell us to cry to God? I thought we should be happy when we pray."

Melchor is still doing well, but is still opposed to the idea of baptism. He's reading the Book of Mormon a ton, so it'll just be a matter of time before he comes around. He's been studying some other church books also.

I've only met one of the other Elder's invesigators, a college age young woman from Korea named Esther. She had us over and made us authentic Korean food. It wasn't complete without kimchi, a kind of spicy fermented cabbage. The one we ate was 6 months old. At first, she tried to shield us from it. She had a little bowl she kept next to herself and her friend and told us we wouldn't like what was in the bowl. I had heard of kimchi, and asked if that was what was in the bowl, and after that she couldn't hold me back. I liked it a lot. Esther also introduced us to a friend, a Malaysian Indian who had spent some time in Korea with the embassy. She also studied in Canada, and talked and acted like an American. She seemed mildly interested in what we had to say. She wasn't opposed to it, anyway.

It's a real exercise of my business and planning skills to be in an area two weeks and then try to take all the plans we had and incorporate them into my companions' plans. I used to hate thinking about that kind of stuff, but I've really started to love it on my mission. That was a hidden strength I had, the ability to plan.

It's good to hear about all the missionary work back home. I do remember visiting the Burgers, but I only remember going the first time. I think I left for BYU after that, or maybe a couple more visits. I also remember Shandy. I remember she was a very good singer and was a part of Grease and a couple other musicals at Sand Creek.
(This past week, John Burger, who Adam and Rick home taught, and Chad Staggs, Shandy's husband, were both baptized here in Colorado.))

I'm not sure I clearly explained, but I did move apartments. We now have two apartments for our companionship. I guess if we're stuck in the wrong part of town and it's late, we can go to the other one. Or we can make it a P-Day home.

I guess BYU is saving their breakthrough year for me when I come back.

Love,
Elder Muffler

(Click on any of the pictures below to see larger)

4 investigators, Elder Muffler, and Elder Murphy


View out the balcony of his apartment in Petaling Jaya - The Petronas Towers, two of the tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur in the distance


Picking Guava


Picture of Elder Muffler in front of Kelly's Castle near Ipoh - As he stated with the picture: "In Style"

Letter #85 Week of 16 Sep 2009 - Easy entry back to Malaysia

Hello,

I got into Malaysia just fine. Not a question asked. I guess at the KL airport they are just trying to go through as many people as possible so they don't have time to waste on people like me. The lady at the counter did get a little wide-eyed while looking at my passport, but then looked back at the application for a visa I filled out, and seemed content that I was visiting friends, so I got another 90 day stamp.

I appreciate the forwarded emails from Elder Caywood and Elder Bearnson. It gives me a big boost to hear about them.

A lot happened over the last week. Saturday night, we taught the men from mainland China again. It's kind of hard to teach them together, because they are so different from each other. But it was okay. They understood dispensations and the need for a restoration. Right now, they're struggling with giving up four hours of their only day off to go to church. We can help them with that.

Another girl from mainland China came to church. Her name is Mei. I think she was only taught one lesson, and it was a month or two ago. But we see her a lot because she works in the KL central train station, which is very close to our house. Every time we pass by, we can say hello and see how she's doing reading the Book of Mormon and invite her to church and english class on sunday. One of the single sisters in the branch recently returned from a mission on Temple Square chinese speaking, so she helped a lot as a friend and also to explain what was happening during sacrament meeting and class.

One of the expatriate families took us to dinner on Saturday night. We had some good ribs. They're really a nice family. It was fun to hear them talk about Malaysia. I kind of ignore how different some things are.

Our Filipino friends turned down a baptism date. They gave the usual, I've already been baptised excuse. Sister Rita told us they read the Book of Mormon almost all day. They won't start work for another month. I don't think it'll be long before they give in.

Sunday morning was the best. We got up early to go to a baptism in another branch. An Indonesian lady was getting baptized. It was fun to see her friends in the church who looked forward to that day as much as she did. All 3 of them were gathered excitedly chattering outside the door where the baptismal interview was taking place. When Sister Honi came out, she looked nervous, and pale as though she would faint. But those faithful friends swarmed her with hugs and laughter and a few tears as she passed and would be baptized into the Lord's church a few hours later.

Things are going well here. I'm so much happier than I had been.

We recieved an awesome training from our zone leaders this week on how our calling to serve in an area is really from the Lord, and we should use all of our unique talents and abilties to bless those around us. I think that, more than just being in Ipoh, I was really supposed to be with Elder Hall during that time. He has gone through so much. His parents are divorced. He talks so fondly of his mother and sister, but the only half-sibling or step-sibling he says anything about is one of his half-brothers, a 28 year old dermatologist resident living in Texas. His grandmother will probably pass away within the next couple of months. The doctors have given his mother 3 years to live. He sometimes has a very hard making decisions by himself and fitting in, and sometimes others take advantage of his gentle personality. I was thinking about how it wasn't a coincidence that during the time of his surgery, which was surely one of his most difficult experiences yet on a mission, it was so very lucky that his companion was someone who shared nearly all character attributes with the step-brother that he respects, down to an ambition to be a doctor and a quirky humor. The Lord is involved in the very small details in our lives.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #84 - Week of 9 Sep 2009 - Visa Run to Singapore

Hello,

I'm in Singapore right now on a visa run.

President Clark has changed a few things about our emails. He has attached a 1 hour limit, and has given us some reports to fill out during that time, so we'll have less time than we used to. It should be fine, though.

This last week was awesome. I really enjoy serving in PJ. In the KL area, there are four branches: the Kuala Lumpur branch, PJ 1, PJ 2, and Klang. Our zone leaders and a set of sister missionaries serve in KL, another set of elders serves in Klang, and for now, it's just me and Elder Murphy between PJ 1 and PJ 2.

I actually didn't hear about the BYU game. The only news I heard came from this old white man that interrupted a basketball game this morning (the Elders in Singapore play at the church every morning... I'm so jealous) to tell us that the New York Times ran an article about John Huntsman being the ambassador to China. I didn't quite understand what he was getting at. It seemed like he was leading up to something amazing like China was open to missionaries. But then he just stopped.

I haven't gotten to meet many of the members in PJ 1. The two branches meet in different buildings, and their sacrament meetings start only an hour apart, so we went on exchanges and I went to PJ 2 while Elder Murphy went to PJ 1.

Last Thursday, we had dinner and shared a message with Sister Monique, who began investigating the church with her husband in Taiwan 14 years ago, but haven't been able to get baptized due to their not really being married because the husband couldn't get a legal divorce because of some law there. But other than the fact that she isn't actually baptized, she is a very active member of the church, faithfully serving as a primary teacher and visiting teacher and being a good member-missionary. Before going to the KL branch, I thought members in Ipoh were rich. I hadn't seen anything yet. Sister Monique lives in a penthouse on the 26th (and 27th) story. She drives a Jaguar. Like most missionaries, I have been able to serve with people whose worldly circumstances are far below my own, and have learned the lesson that money does not make happiness. Some of the happiest people I have met have been in the dirt-floor villages where disease is abundant and luxuries few. But I think I have learned another lesson that few missionaries get to see, and that's that money does not prevent happiness, either. Talking with Sister Monique, I feel the same feeling I have with those humble, happy people of Sabah. I suppose a couple of characteristics they share (and many others lack) are that they enjoy work and they enjoy simplicity. I don't imagine Sister Monique busies herself with clubs and cars and condoes and cash. In fact, she shows us what she spends a lot of her time doing. She has a piano and bought a cheap book and is teaching herself how to play. Although she has hired a maid (nearly all the upper class Chinese people do), she does not allow the maid to do all the work. She still enjoys cooking for her family and, as was the case that night, for the Elders.

Another of the members from PJ1 I have gotten to meet is Sister Rita. She is a Filipino lady, and she is the most stereotypical Filipino member I have met yet. She is bubbly and perky. When we showed up unannounced at her door on Saturday night, she said "Oh! Elders! 2 weeks we have had some men from the Phillipines staying with us, and have been sitting around all day saying to each other, 'I wish the Elders would call today', but you did not call." That may sound extreme, and she probably didn't actually say that out loud, but after meeting her, and knowing how Filipino members are, I'm willing to bet that was a truthful statement. I bet she really had wished we would come over every day for the past few weeks. Well, we did end up there, and met her new friends from the Phillipines, a couple of younger guys. One, named Melchor, came to church Sunday morning and really enjoyed it.

My favorite lesson was with some men from mainland China. It is really interesting to meet men raised in a communist country and talk to them about religion. They will be really good to teach for the next while. I'll keep you posted.

Well, I need to move on and get those reports written. I hope I get back into Malaysia. Please pray for me to get my 90 day visa. If things work out right, this'll be my last one, and I'll be able to get an extension which will bring me just barely to the end. If things don't work out right, well, I guess I'll be coming back to this internet cafe next week. They were giving me a hard time exiting Malaysia, and just let me through because, well, I was leaving their country. I don't imagine tomorrow will be fun at all. I suppose I just need to trust the Lord knows what he's doing, and if he can part the red sea, he can get me through immigration. I still don't think it will be pleasant, no matter how the outcome is.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #83 - Week of 2 Sep 2009 - Transfer to Petaling Jaya, outside of Kuala Lumpur, West Malaysia

Hello,

I'm writing this from a dark, dirty internet cafe in KL that smells heavily of smoke and I supsupect is mostly used for internet gambling. Elder Murphy chose it.

Well, there was a huge influx of missionaries this week. They are arriving in Singapore today. Elder Hall will be getting a brand new companion, but they sent me here to Petaling Jaya, a suburb of KL. It's been kind of crazy with travel and everything, and at first we were supposed to get a third companion, but we found out this morning he is getting redirected. Right now, we're covering two branches, and I suspect that won't last long, but I'm not really sure.

KL is so different than the other areas of the mission. I love it so far. Like Singapore, KL is a very diverse, international place. As an example, the last 5 people baptized here were a Malaysian girl (planning on going to medical school in Russia), a man and woman from mainland China, a Burmese man, and a Nigerian.

Apparently the branch we're focusing on, PJ 1st, consists of about half white people. The last guy I met on the train last night was a Somalian. It's very cool to meet so many different kinds of people. There's even a member of the branch who moved to Colorado Springs last month to get a master's in music education for handicapped children. I'm not sure what school she's going to. I haven't gotten to talk to her parents yet.

Elder Murphy has been out just over a year. He is from the outskirts of Kansas City, Kansas, and went to BYU before his mission. He is very funny. Since Monday, we have also been together with Elder Judd, who I am replacing and who will be fetching his new companion today from Singapore.

It was sad to leave Ipoh. I'm really excited to be here in KL, though. I always knew I would have to face up to my weakness in contacting on Buses and trains. I don't know what it is, I get shy when I'm sitting next to somebody on a moving vehicle.

I would send pictures right now, but I'm afraid of getting a virus on my camera. I've got some cool pictures from off our balcony. You can see a cool cityscape, including the KL towers.

Sister Loh and Sister Chris came to the bus station in Ipoh to see me off. Sister Chris had called the night before and asked if I had any requests for a last breakfast. I asked her to bring my Chinese favorites, char siew pau and siew mei (little pork dumplings). After we had said our goodbyes and I got on the bus, it sunk in how foolish I was to have waited to eat those for breakfast. You see, Monday was Independence Day, and the buses were packed with Malay people going to KL to see family members. I am pretty sure I was the only non-Muslim on the bus. I also realized that it is fasting month, and so the Muslims are not eating from sunrise to sunset this month. So there I was, with a box of pork on a bus full of Muslims who were fasting. I waited until we stopped at a rest station. I would have felt so bad to eat that in front of them. That would have been like someone sitting on the stand during a fast and testimony meeting downing whiskey.

Serving a mission in a huge city like this is fun, because it kind of puts into perspective what you're trying to do as far as sharing the Gospel with everyone in the world. Watching the people rush by on the street or in the train station, I can't help but think how important it is to put forth all my effort, because there is far too much work to do and too little time to do it.
Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #82 - Week of 26 Aug 2009 - Castle, Fruit Farm, and Letters from Primary Class

Hello,

Today has sure been a crazy day. President Yap (the branch president) and Sister Chris (the relief society president who loves to spoil the missionaries) decided to take us to see some sights around Ipoh. So right after studies this morning, President Yap picked us up and we all went to Kellies castle. I got some awesome pictures, but I forgot to bring my camera just now. I wasn't really looking forward to going there, but it was a really cool place. It was built by one of the British guys who made a fortune here a hundred years ago. He wanted to build this huge castle for his wife, and was putting in all sorts of cool features, like a tennis court on the roof, and an elevator (the first in Malaysia), but then when he went to Portugal to pick up his elevator, he got sick and died, so the castle never got finished and kind of went to ruins. But then someone rediscovered it and cleared it out. It's a really awesome building.

After the castle, we went to a little fruit farm. They specialize in pumelos, but also have guavas, mangosteen, bananas, and limes. A nice old Chinese lady let us pluck our own guava. Before today, I remember having eaten pumelo, but I ate lame sour ones. Today we got a sweet one that was amazing. I had 3 big chunks.
After the pumelo farm, we went to lunch, then to the airport to welcome Elder Dhillon home. There were probably 20 church members there to see him home. He has done wonderful things here in Malaysia.

This week was another disappointing week. We are just stuck in a hole that we can't seem to get out of.

Sister Cathleene hasn't been making any changes lately. She still tells us she'll come to sacrament meeting, then ends up at the Methodist church. We'll have to stop teaching her soon.

Lately we've been teaching 5 Indian girls, all sisters, who come from a Hindu family. Last time we went, we saw that on an altar in the back of the house where they kept an idol, on either side of the idol they placed a Book of Mormon. That's not something you see every day.

Send my thanks to the primary classes that wrote letters and drew pictures for me. Those make me so much happier. I had a question about one of those letters. The return address is from Sister Jones. Is there a Sister Jones living across the street?

That is great about Grampy serving as a missionary. I didn't know they called ... um ... seasoned church members as ward missionaries. In most of the branches and wards around here it's just young single adults.

Still no lifeguarding for me. Tomorrow the pool should finally be ready.

I want to ask about this H1N1 flu. People here are going crazy about it, telling us we should be wearing masks 24/7, giving us all sorts of extreme stastics that obviously aren't true because they conflict with each other. Is this strain of flu any worse than other strains of flu, and how widespread is it?

Lots of changes are coming in the mission next week.
Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #81 - Week of 19 Aug 2009 - FHE with Cathleene

Hello,

This week was kind of slow.

We had exchanges with the zone leaders yesterday. Elder Stone chose to go with me (it's the third time we've been on exchanges after we were companions). They were excellent.

We got to have a family home evening last week with Sister Catherine Doss and her family (they're the ones who referred Cathleene). Afterwards, we taught Cathleene a lesson on the Book of Mormon. It was a really awesome lesson. Elder Hall and I each talked about how we started reading the Book of Mormon and the changes that started to happen. It was really good to look back at my own life and recall what happened. I first started reading the Book of Mormon in 8th grade. We had just finished fall break, and it was the first day back to school. We had dropped Andrew off at the MTC the week prior to that. I say that because I think being in that environment might have influenced me. I don't know. But that morning, I got ready for school extra quick, and had lots of time. I don't know why, but I decided to start reading the Book of Mormon that morning. I read 3 chapters and felt great. I felt great at school that day, so great that when I came back from school that night, I read a couple more chapters from the Book of Mormon. Well, anyone that knows me well knows I'm a creature of habit, so it shouldn't surprise you that the next morning I woke up and did the same thing, recieved the same great feeling, and came home from school and continued. Over the weeks that followed, I started to read progressively more, until I was spending 3 sessions a day, 4 chapters at a time, reading the Book that gave me such a happy feeling. The real tribute to the Book of Mormon I want to give is that I don't remember when, but at some point after reading from the Book of Mormon, I started praying, morning and night, and sometimes a lot in between. At some point, I started to start actually speaking to people between the hours of 8 and 3. Video games moved down a few levels on my priority list and taking a shower every day moved up. As I entered high school, with seminary and sports and studying more, I couldn't quite keep up 12 chapters a day, but I continued to set aside some time to read the Book of Mormon every day. During those emotionally difficult and awkward years of high school, I had something to keep me steady and sane. Many of the things that present such enticing and powerful temptations for youth never looked very enticing and powerful at all, because I read about their consequences every day. After high school came to an end, and my mission loomed before me, the Book of Mormon became a source of enlightening doctrine. When I came on that mission, and realized I didn't have answers to the questions that really matter, the questions that deal with what the Lord wants me to do today, the Book of Mormon has provided me the answers I need. I love the Book of Mormon, know of its truth, and have seen and know that anyone who reads it consistently, no matter how slowly or little they understand at first, will see tremendous blessings come into their lives.

Actually, I didn't notice you made a mistake by writing Rowley instead of Rausch. I used to get their names mixed up all the time.

I didn't get to use my lifeguard skills yet. The week Elder Hall got to start swimming, the pool was closed for maintenance. I'd be a useless lifeguard anyway. I told him he better stay where it's shallow, cause if anything happens, I ain't going in after him, not cause I'm not allowed to swim, but cause I can't.

That email from Elder Bearnson is funny. If you could pass a message onto him from me, tell him to relax and enjoy the time.

Elder Caywood sure sounds fiery. I loved reading his email. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again. I think he will be so different from the kid I knew in high school. He's very inspiring.

Next week, Elder Dhillon comes home here to Ipoh. We're planning on going with the branch to meet him at the airport a week from today. The week after that, well, there'll be all sorts of crazy changes in the mission. 16 new missionaries are coming in one week. I think the most they ever had before this was my group. We had 7. I'm sure Elder Hall and I won't be companions after that. One of us is going.

We got a new couple, Elder and Sister Dabels, today. We helped them move some furniture around and take their suitcases to their apartment this morning. They are really nice. Sister Dabels makes awesome bread.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #80 - Week of 12 Aug 2009 - Missionary that gets to Swim!!

Hello,
Mr. Rausch's AP Gov class is awesome. It's hard work, but it can be a lot of fun .

Sorry to hear about Elder Bearnson's grandfather. He'll be in my prayers.

The past few days have been kind of hectic.

On Sunday, Elder Ip, an Elder from Hong Kong, came to stay with us because his companion Elder Pulver was going to Singapore for a visa. That was really convenient because then I had a companion while Elder Hall was gone (Monday, Tuesday, and part of today). Apparently Elder Hall's problem is just an ongoing strained muscle from too much exertion on that region of his leg. President Clark approved the doctor's suggestion to go swimming, so I'll have to spend some time watching my companion swim every morning.

It was fun to be with Elder Ip, especially when contacting Chinese people, because nearly all the Chinese in Ipoh speak Cantonese, which is Elder Ip's dialect.

Elder and Sister Spanos are getting transferred. They are needed in Sibu, East Malaysia, where one branch was recently split into three. They found out last Tuesday, and were asked to leave as soon as possible. Like they said, every time they think they have things figured out, something changes. I know they're in for a lot of surprises.

Cathleene continues to inch along. Another problem has come to our attention: she is involved with some sort of witch doctor. Hopefully we get that out of her life quickly. Anything that drives the Spirit away like that can really hamper all the work we've done for her.

I finally took a few pictures. First ones in a long time. I know I should take a lot more, I just don't. I'll try to send them in a minute.

I had a nice little lesson in the importance of heeding what the Book of Mormon teaches on Monday. As I studied Monday morning, I read Mosiah 10:1,4,5 "And it came to pass that we again began to establish the kingdom and we again began to possess the land in peace. And I caused that there should be aweapons of war made of every kind, that thereby I might have weapons for my people against the time the Lamanites should come up again to war against my people 4 And I did cause that the men should till the ground, and raise all manner of agrain and all manner of fruit of every kind. 5 And I did cause that the women should spin, and toil, and work, and work all manner of fine linen, yea, and acloth of every kind, that we might clothe our nakedness; and thus we did prosper in the land—thus we did have continual peace in the land for the space of twenty and two years."

I was thinking about the word cause. Although the people were good people, and surely hard workers, it was really up to their leader to cause these things to happen. If the king hadn't caused these things to happen, they would not happen. It's that simple. Through his coordination and direction, he had the power to cause great things to happen. I suppose that I, as a district leader, as a missionary, as a priesthood holder, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, also have the great potential to see things happen, but I need to cause them to happen.

On Monday, this message was vivid in my head, but far from my heart. I didn't know very far in advance that Elder Ip would be here, so I had to make last minute plans. I neglected calling a few people I desired to meet that night, figuring that one of them would surely be home. I don't need to tell you what happened, because it's obvious. I did not cause those people to be home by calling them and telling them we would be coming. So they weren't home. And because of that, I took poor Elder Ip (he'd never ridden a bike before last Monday) all over town seeing if different people were home.

A mission is a great place to learn important lessons. Think about the lessons you could learn from that one simple experience that made up just a couple hours of my 2 years. You could learn that Heavenly Father has things to tell us through the Book of Mormon. You could learn that a little effort to prepare for an event will save a lot of effort during the event, and things will turn out better anyway. You could learn that a Spiritual prompting should be heeded and not forgotten. And it may be that I learn later that due to my mistake, I was not able to help somebody I otherwise could have made a difference to.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #79 - Week of 5 Aug 2009 - "I don't think anyone knows what goes on in Relief Society"

Hello,

Things are picking up nicely here in Ipoh. We just had to be patient. This last Sunday was wild. We met lots of interested people, one after another.

I love that picture of Ben rafting. Everyone in the raft is leaning in and holding on to their lives, and Ben looks like he's telling a joke or preaching a sermon or something. One hand on the paddle and the other hand making a point.

Cathleene is still facing stiff opposition, but she is doing well. She is determined to be baptized despite difficult work circumstances and lots of family and friends telling her otherwise. We had a fun lesson last night, talking about the prophet. She hasn't been to sunday school or relief society yet, so we tried to persuade her to come. I told her what happens in sunday school, then when it came to relief society, I said "Then the men and women split up, and the men have a class where they talk about using the priesthood properly, and the women have their own class where they ... well, I don't think anyone really knows what goes on in Relief Society".

One of these days, Elder Hall will have to go to Singapore for some testing. He has been having pain consistently in his leg. Four doctors haven't been able to diagnose anything, but the last two suspect there's a hernia. That didn't make much sense to me, because they didn't act like there was anything he could do to prevent further damage. I hope they can get him treated. I'll probably follow him when he goes.

That is fantastic to hear Elder LeBaron will be giving it another go. I really hope he makes it.

I don't have a whole lot else to say, but if I think about it, I'll probably send another email.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #78 - Week of 29 Jul 2009 - Just for the record, I won at Chinese Chess

Hello,

Things are still kind of rough here in Ipoh, but it's all pretty good.

Zone Conference was excellent. I think that, start to finish, it was the best one I've been to yet. The rest of Thursday was awesome. During my interview with President Clark, we talked about the problem of finding new investigators in our area now. He gave some really good advice that I've thought a lot about and surely will use over and over and over again. As soon as I told him we were trying really hard and not finding new investigators, he asked "Are you obedient? Waking up on time? Exercising? How are your personal studies? Your companion studies? Language studies? Are you getting out on time? Are you praying together before you go out?
Are you praying frequently throughout the day? Are you being smart and deliberate in your finding efforts? Are you feeling the inspiration of the Lord? If you are doing your best at those things, you will recieve the blessings of the Lord, and just need to keep working."

It was just an excellent diagnosis pattern:
Are you worthy? (the basic principles of the Gospel) Are you obedient? (the other instructions/advice you recieve) Are you following the Spirit? If you can answer yes honestly to those three questions, you just need to work and wait.

President Clark didn't mention when I would be transferred, although Sister Clark did mention that between September and October we will be getting 23 new missionaries. That's one new missionary for every non zone leader area right now, so there will be lots of changes then.

The trainings of zone conference were perfect, exactly what we all needed to hear. President Clark is an awesome mission president. He already has a complete handle on things.

He has a lot of interesting stories. He lives a really active lifestyle. I think if we had a mission-wide 5K race, he would win. He was telling about some of the things he has done, like water skied the entire length of the Columbia River.

For this week's district meeting I prepared a training about enduring affliction cheerfully and waiting for the blessings of the Lord to be fulfilled. During district meeting, I found out that Elder and Sister Spanos were in similar discouraging experiences like we are now, so it was cool to know I had been inspired in my training subject.

Cathleene didn't come to church this Sunday (nor did any of other investigators). She is really facing a lot of opposition from her family and friends in the methodist church. We had an awesome, very powerful lesson with her last night when she brought up all the things that we had suspected. Elder Hall tearfully told of a recent convert in Singapore that had gone through the same things and faced the same questions. We exhorted her to pray about it all, and we'll see where she goes from here.

That's really nice to hear about the trek. Stake youth gatherings are powerful. It was at a stake youth conference that I first knew I had a testimony. I don't know if some of the adults in the church know how much those things affect us. President Hinckley said something to the effect that "Every good thing in my life can be traced back to my days as a missionary." I suppose that will be the case for me also, and I can tell you that many of the good decisions I have made as a missionary have been highly influenced by the firesides and youth conferences and trek and aaron's camp and other youth functions I was a part of. I'm very thankful for all the people who made those possible for me and who still work to help the youth.

Elder Stone taught me how to play Chinese Chess. It was so fun to learn.
It's deceptively similar to our chess. Chinese Chess has a river down the middle of the board, and only some pieces can cross the river. Also, some of the pieces are quite different. There's one piece, the cannon, that moves like a rook, but can capture pieces by jumping over another piece.
It's dangerous. There is also a box that the king and two guard pieces cannot leave. It is way fun. Unlike western chess, you need a defense and an offense.
Just for the record, I won.

I thought I was just about done with my culinary adventures, but I found a whole new world yesterday. Indian sweets. Amazing.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #77 - Week of 22 Jul 2009 - Zone Conference in KL

Hello,

I'm writing from KL this week. There was a surprise change in zone conference schedule, so here we are. It's been really fun so far. We rode a train from Ipoh here. It was a nice experience. I've never been on a real train before, unless you count the underground in Singapore. I really liked it. It was nicer and much more relaxed than taking a bus, and cost only about 3 US dollars to come what would be a 3 hour car ride. After we got in, we played the loudest game of uno I've ever been a part of. Tonight, I'm looking forward to learning how to play Chinese chess, and maybe some other games.

This last week was kind of similar to the previous week.. Lots of hard work and few visible results.

I've realized that the best way I can tell I'm working hard is when I meet people that are crazy or have crazy stories, the kind of people you write about in your journal or tell the other missionaries when you see them. Like, this week, we met a man who had to move to Ipoh to stay with his brother because a broken leg prevented him from working. So I asked, "How did you break your leg?"
"A crash."
"A crash! Were you riding a moto or in a car?"
"No, no, no. Not a crash. A clash. I was too slow with my weapon."
"...Okay ... Hope to see you at church."
Crazy guy.

We had a few investigators come to sacrament meeting unexpectedly. One of them is named Soosay. That's the Indian form of Joseph. He's a Roman Catholic man, about 60 years old, who after years of going to church has begun to question the truthfulness or completeness of what he has been hearing. Specifically, he is concerned with the cases of child abuse by priests, as also the empty feeling he gets at church and the apparant emphasis on worldly wealth by the members of the church. However, he has been tetering on the edge between the comfortable zone of investigating without personal commitment and the opportunities for growth that await his exercise of faith. We told him very plainly that for us to continue to teach him, he needed to go further, and for him to go further, he needed to come to church. Then he did. It was a beautiful thing.

Also, there was a young man named Chris who we met a couple of weeks ago while knocking gates in the rain. He was a pleasant young man, but wouldn't agree to anything. After a couple of follow-up calls, he finally agreed to come to church if someone would take him. We asked two young men (who are recent converts themselves) and their non-member father if they would take him to church, which they gladly agreed to. Chris came and was really enjoying sacrament meeting (he absolutely loves Christian music). Actually, Chris is a Buddhist who has never before been to a Christian church in his life. As the sacrament was being passed, Chris interupted the quiet of the occasion by asking me urgently "What's the name of the street this church is on? " I showed him the map on our name card, and he left the room for 10 minutes, after which he came back in with a girl his age. I didn't get to talk to her much, but I know her name is Tammy and she goes to the same school as one of the young men in the branch. We went to the youth sunday school class and saw them do wonders in welcoming our investigators. We expect they'll come next week, perhaps with even more friends.

On Sunday night, I had a dream about having a flat tire. I mentioned it to Elder Hall at the beginning of the day, but didn't think much of it, until we were coming home at 9:30 PM. My tire was getting low, so I quickly filled it up. After riding for 30 more seconds it was completely flat. We didn't have anything to change it with, so we had to leave the bikes, find someone with a phone, and beg the Spanos's to take us home. We locked the bikes, but I didn't really feel comfortable leaving them overnight in that area of town. Thankfully, they made it to the morning when we could get them fixed.

Elder Hall has been having more medical problems that cause him a lot of pain in his upper leg in the middle of the day. We went to a couple of different doctors, and they couldn't really tell, but they suspect it's either tendinitis or an impending hernia. The only thing he can really do now is grin and bear it. We did change his bike seat, though. We got him a huge, super comfortable seat that he likes a lot.

It sounds like there's been an exciting week at home. If you see Spencer, tell him it's my turn to write, but I'm just more lazy than ever.

I had kind of a rude awakening today. I talked to Sister Russel, who was in the MTC together with me. She is going home in 2 weeks. Weird.

Love,
Elder Muffler

Letter #76 - Week of 15 Jul 2009 - Chinese woman with a southern accent

Hello,
Well, this last week was a very fun week. Tiring but fun.
We haven't found a lot of new investigators but we'll continue to look. I'm sure the Lord will lead them to us or us to them.

On Saturday night, we found this Chinese lady who spoke english with a southern accent. Further inquiries revealed she had spent 20 years in Alabama, and has been back in Malaysia for the past two years. She was extremely nice, and invited us in so she could get us a drink and talk with us some more. We ended up staying for dinner and meeting her husband and daughter. She's Baptist, absolutely loves the Bible and country music. She spent a couple of years in New York, where at one point she took some cake decorating classes from some place called Culinard. She showed pictures of her cakes. They were the fanciest cakes I had ever seen. While extremely nice, she is not yet totally interested in learning about the Gospel, but hopefully that'll change.

Cathleene is still working her way toward baptism. She came to church on sunday, and we'll be going with a few branch members and the Spanos's to have a family home evening this Friday.

That's exciting to hear about the missionary work back home.

Elder Stone is now my zone leader. It'll be fun to work with him again. I'll get to go on exchanges with him after we have been companions for a third time. That seems to be kind of a rare opportunity.

Love,
Elder Muffler