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