Hello,
I did get the package with the cd, ties, and shaving cream. I appreciate it all a lot. For future reference, I have been buying shaving cream here. The ties are excellent. I figure mom must have bought them, because they aren't only nice ties, but they are the kind of ties I would choose myself. No offense dad. Just saying. If dad did buy them, I guess you pay more attention than I thought.
You are probably the 6th person that tells me they think I'm not eating enough. The Morreys, the Douglas's, and a few young missionaries at the mission tour all mentioned it. I was confused, because my belly has been getting bigger since I came. Then I hopped on a scale. I'm down to 165 pounds. If the scale in Sandakan was accurate (which I doubt), I have lost about 10 pounds since coming here. I have lost about an inch off my waste. I think it's just because I've been lifting weights and my body is adjusting to that right now. No worries, though, I'm eating much more than I did in Sandakan. Especially the last couple of days. On monday night, a member named Sister Alicia had us over for family home evening and dinner. She is a good cook. She fed us once before. This monday we had spaghetti. It was excellent. The sauce really surprised me. It was very tasty, but I don't think she I used a single ingredient I would ever use in a spaghetti sauce, including tomatoes. She used bell peppers as the base, and added ground chicken and carrots. It was excellent.
Sister Alicia's family is excellent. I wish I would have remembered my camera. I'll get a picture of them to you some time. We challenged her, as well as her son Artobelly, to have a friend for us to teach when we go back in two weeks. She told us about several people she will try to talk to. The son Artobelly is a very fun young man. He's probably 6'3", 220#. He is an absolute giant for his age in Malaysia. He is very bright. Everything about him suggests he is older than he is except his identity card.
We saw some awesome progress from Reboni and Bong this week.
Bong was the Filipino man that was drunk when we first met him. Last week, we finished teaching him about the plan of salvation. Along with that, we taught him about the word of wisdom, that in order to go to the Celestial Kingdom, you must give up addictions to alcohol and tobacco. When we finished, we asked him where he wanted to go forever. "I want to go here", he said while pointing to our depiction of the celestial kingdom, "But right now, I'm going here." and pointed to the terrestrial. That made me laugh. Very insightful. Bong ended up coming to church on sunday. On monday, we went back again to teach a little more and talk about how church went. When we approached his house and saw him, his countenance was totally different. There was a bit of a glow around him. After praying, we asked him about his progress in stopping drinking. Last week, he said he was downing 10 bottles of beer a night. He said that since Friday when we taught him the word of wisdom, the only time he drank was when he caved in at a friend's wedding and drank a bottle on Sunday night. While that could have probably been avoided, I can't deny he is making fantastic progress, and may very well be set for his baptism on the 21st next month.
Reboni also is doing awesome. He mentioned some time last week that he was facing oppostion from his family, who are opposed to him changing churches. Well on Saturday night, we were fortunate to bring with us a young man from the branch named Kelvin. Kelvin is a recent convert, about 20 years old, baptized early 2008. He was introduced to the church through a school mate, Ian, who is the branch Elders Quorum president. When Kelvin told his parents he had been learning about the Church, and that he was thinking about being baptized, the parents told him that if he did make such a decision, he could no longer consider himself their son. Against that, he decided to be baptized (he is now living with Ian). You could imagine the power of testimony Kelvin took to Reboni. He essentially said "Look. Do you know the Book of Mormon is true? (Reboni assented). If that's true, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church on the earth, and it is imperative that you follow it. There is a reason we are coming to you. You are the one chosen from your family to introduce your family to this Church. God has sent us to you. It is up to you to make the decision."
Of course, Reboni was at church on Sunday. He told us it was very different than his church. He had never studied in sunday school like that. But he said he learned a lot and absolutely wants to come back. He's going to have a very busy week at work this week. Apparently, Chinese new year is a pretty big deal here in KK. He has a full week off of work (he told us that before because he wanted to be baptized during that week, but that's a little impractical), and so he'll be working lots of overtime to make up for that. I believe he works as a mechanic, but I can't remember.
Speaking of Chinese New year, I think it'll be a good time. Next year is the year of the ox. I don't know what that signifies, other than the decorations on Chinese people's doors will change from Mickey Mouse to baby oxes. I've eaten a lot of mandarin oranges the past couple of weeks. They're everywhere.
Elder Compton is a really excellent companion. He is a very hard worker, optimistic, and humble.
We'll be heading to the central market in KK today for souvenirs. That's why I took out money last week and this week. I'm thinking of maybe trying to send something home through post. I've heard customs can be very expensive if you bring too much home in your suit case, so it is much cheaper to send it through post by boat. I want to see how long it takes, so I might send a shirt or something.
Oh, how big are Ben's shoes?
Elder Allen sent me a Christmas card. It was excellent.
KK is a very fun area. Church attendance is around 90 every week.
Gong Xi Fah Cai (I think I got that right: Happy Chinese New Year),
Elder Muffler
Whats been going on?
11 years ago
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