Letter #56 - Week of 25 Feb 2009 - Too excited to sleep

Hello,

Well, I'll tell you how good I'm feeling about the work right now. I woke up early this morning just because I was too excited to sleep.

Gemimi is doing beautifully. Friday night, we had an appointment with her, and she brought her cousin over to learn from us. That was a tough appointment, because we only really had like 30 minutes. I foolishly set the appointment at 8:30, not really thinking about all the consequences. Our problem was we needed to teach the cousin about the restoration, then teach some things Gemimi needs preperation for her baptism this week. The appointment ended up lasting for close to an hour, which I don't really regret, because we got everything done, including setting a baptism date with Ana, the cousin. However, after the appointment, we had to run to get home. Literally. We ran about a mile to the nearest place with a taxi. It was all good. We made it home on time.

Gemimi's mother was sick, so she went back to her village for the weekend and didn't make it to church on sunday, but we met her again last night. That appointment was even better, but even more challenging. Ana brought her 17 year old daughter named Liza and her 15 year old son Kevin. So during that appointment, we had to teach Gemimi and Ralphi about tithing and the law of the fast, and review the baptismal interview questions with her to make sure there are no issues before the actual interview happens. We also needed to teach the children about the restoration, and thought it unwise to make tithing and the baptsimal interview questions their first lesson. So we split up. I sat down in one part of the room with Gemimi and her sons, while Elder Compton and Kelvin, the young man we brought, sat in a different part with Ana and her children. They're all awesome people, and are very excited to learn more, come to church, and be baptized. Gemimi is all set for her baptism, and will try to invite even more people to it and to church. It's so awesome to be with people that embrace the Gospel so quickly. They are obviously some of the elect people we are called to gather as part of the restoration of the house of Israel.

Jeevan is also doing very well, but we have to push his baptism back a couple of weeks so we can teach everything. It should be on the 22nd. He is convinced this is the true church, he loves coming to church on sunday. His wife should be visiting him for a few months soon, and he told us he will be bringing her.
Sunday, we had district conference. The talks from the youth were excellent. Sister Skelton also gave a very great talk, and President Skelton is always a crowd pleaser. He announced who the new mission president is. President Clark is a 52 year old dentist from Washington (Tacoma I think). He'll be starting in July.

I feel so bad for the Morreys right now. Yesterday morning, after we sent Elder Kunioka off to the airport for a visa run, I got a call from Elder Stone, who was also going on a visa run. "Are Elder Troxel and Elder Kunioka there now?" I told him Elder Kunioka already left. "What? Who's picking up Elder Barlow?" Very confused, I asked him what he meant. "No one told you? Does Elder Troxel know about Elder Barlow?" I asked, and he confirmed that he didn't know anything. I just told him to send Elder Barlow on a taxi and we'd figure it out from there. Apparently, somewhere down the line there was a miscommunication, but from what I can determine, the situation is like this: while Elder and Sister Morrey were here for district conference, Sister Morrey's purse was stolen. In that purse was at least her (and maybe his) passport. Being without a passport is a difficult situation, because they can neither get on an airplane to fly home nor to fly to the embassy in Kuala Lumpur. I've got no clue what they're doing now. But with Elder Stone gone for a visa run, his companion Elder Barlow would have been left alone in Sandakan, so they sent him here to stay with us for a few days. That ended up being quite convenient for us, because we can be more flexible when Elder Troxel has a companion.

I finally gave up my habit of cooking american food last week, and from here on out, I'm cooking malaysian style. Now, I have thoroughly enjoyed eating at Malaysian restaurants, but until last Wednesday, I didn't cook for myself anything that could be reasonably construed as Malaysian. So we went down to the open market last week (I want to take some pictures when we go again today), and I got myself some rice and noodles and onions and garlic and chiles and beans and carrots and corn different sauces, and I went wild. The first day I ate salted fish with beans, after that I made black pepper chicken chop, chicken fried rice (the peppers I bought were a little overwhelming; they made my tongue tickle all day, but I don't regret it one bit), then I had a delicious omelette. I want to find some deer or boar or something unique to cook this week later today.

We'll be going bowling later today.

This week, I read in one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon, Jarom. A verse stuck out to me, verse 11. It reads " Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was. And after this manner did they teach them. " It stuck out to me that the teachers did labor diligently to exhort the people to diligence. They practiced what they preached. They were sincere. As missionaries, one of the most powerful tools we have is the ability to bear our testimony, to express clearly and simply what we know to be true. It is powerful because it is the quickest way to help a person feel the Spirit. When a testimony is born, the Spirit confirms that testimony. The more sincere and real the testimony, the stronger the Spirit will be felt. So as a missionary, sincerity is one of the most important attibutes to have. We know how hard it is for people to make it to baptism. We know they must change life-long habits, they leave family members and friends, they are thrust into a new world with a new language, and all of the sudden more is expected of them than has ever been expected before. Is it any wonder, then, that missionaries experience those very same difficulties, such that when their investigators experience challenges, they can say, using first-person present tense verbs "I know that as you rely on the Lord, you will be able to overcome that challenge. I know the value of scripture study and prayer. I know that there are people at church and elsewhere who will give you support, and even more importantly, you are needed to give others support." We can say it and mean it, because we have experienced it. In this, we are not without precedent. The Savior gave us the perfect example of empathy as we learn in Alma 7:11-12 "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." Jesus Christ knows how to succor his people, because he condescended to face what they face. He was provided a way, the Gospel, to follow Him and recieve relief.

Love,
Elder Muffler