Letter #58 - Week of 11 Mar 2009 - Beverly Hills (not 90210)

Hello,

Well, I think the best thing that happened this week was that Jemimi's cousin Ana and her two children came to church. That was quite unexpected. Apparently, they had someone talking bad about the church to them, and they were kind of phased by that, but whatever it was, it didn't have too strong of an effect on them. The daughter, Jessica, was very happy to be at church. We talked to someone later that said Jessica was a really good example of enthusiasm during class to the rest of the youth. I didn't get the chance to say much to them, though. We should be seeing them tonight. Jemimi said they wanted to come to the sports night at church.

After talking it over with the other Elders, it was decided we would get a new area to work in, with some less active members in it. It's a place called Beverly Hills, a gigantic complex of flats. We went yesterday, and it was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. There are at least six phases, and each phase has buildings labeled with letters. Of the 2 phases we went to, one had letters A-Q, and the other had A-X. The point is, there are a ton of people there. We didn't get to meet any of the members there yet. We did talk to two, who were busy at the time but should be available to meet on Friday. (See map of Beverly Hills: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.9364511&lon=116.1031938&z=16&l=0&m=h&v=2)

I'm not feeling too hot today. I think I'm becoming Malaysian. For the first part of my mission, when we'd get rained on, it didn't bother me much. If we weren't wet from rain, we'd be wet from sweat anyway. But now, when it rains, I just get cold. We got rained on two days in a row, so now I'm a little sick. It'll be all right today, though. I'll have some time to lay low.

We met a very interesting less active member on Friday. His name is Chai You Xin. When we visited him, he brought out a personal history prepared by the previous couple. It was fascinating to read. The story started with his Chinese family facing persecution during the Japanese occupation of World War II. The Japanese were very cruel during the war, but Brother Chai's father somehow got a job as a chef for the military leaders, and they secured a Japanese flag to drape over their house during bombing raids. Their association with the Japanese led to problems with the locals, but everything turned out all right. After the war, Brother Chai got a job at the new Jesselton hotel at the age of 17, the place where he still works today, over 50 years later. He actually works as a bartender, and is quite a famous bartender around southeast Asia. He showed a picture of him in a Hong Kong newspaper's travel section. Also, flipping through his pictures, we saw Brother Chai serving Mohammed Ali. Well, Brother Chai came to church on Sunday, first time in quite a while.

I am so envious of Ben playing volleyball. I was just talking to Elder Compton about how I wish I would have done what it took to play volleyball during high school. That's awesome. I want to see pictures.

Next week will be kind of hectic. Elder Compton and Elder Troxel need to go on visa runs, and Elder Troxel and Elder Kunioka need to go on exchanges in Sandakan, and Singapore is swamped with too many people in on visa runs, so they can't take everyone at the normal time, so I will probably spend at least day with Elder Kunioka and one day with the Douglas's.

Jeevan's still looking good for his baptism in two weeks. I'm not sure he understands everything, but that is not a prerequisite for baptism. He has the desire. It is evident from his works that he has repented and has a desire to serve to the end. He fulfills the Lord's requirements.
Jeevan's friend, Naresh, called to apologize for not coming to church due to work responsibilities.

BYU basketball. Good stuff. I can't believe it's March already.

I have been addicted to Chinese food this last week. I can't have anything else. I've realized I've gone through phases on my mission. At first, I didn't really want anything, then I started kind of liking whatever. After that, I was in Indian food mode. After Indian came malay, and for the past week and a half or so, Chinese food has been most appealing to me. I've eaten noodles every day. Steamed food is just so appealing to me now.

In closing, I'd like to share a beautiful verse from the Book of Mormon. It comes from Mosiah 18:26 "And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to recieve the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God." As we all work in our callings and responsibilities in the church, we will not be rewarded with treasures on earth, or being known and respected. Rather, we will recieve the grace of God, and the greatest gift from God on this earth, the gift of the Holy Ghost. We will feel good about what we do, and what more could be asked for?

Love,
Elder Muffler