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