Letter #103 - Week of 20 Jan 2010 - Exchanges to stay busy

Hello,

This last week was really fast and it didn't seem like much happened. We went to Sitiawan again on Friday for a baptism interview. Saturday night we had a meeting with President Chong and the other Elders. He wanted to talk about missionary work in the branch. I think the other Elders are really going to do awesome. They found a ton of new investigators last week and immediately clicked with the Chinese speaking members. Sunday night, we went to a Sabahan recent convert named Betty, who is finally healthy again from a surgery she had a month or two ago to remove the fetus that had lodged in her fallopian tube. It was really hard emotionally and physically for her, but she's doing well. Now, with the Mandarin Elders, her family will probably be a lot more interested in learning about the church, because her husband and everyone else they stay with speak chinese. She's super nice and humble. Talking with her made me nostalgic: she speaks malay with such a nice Sabah accent. I know it's a really cliche phrase: but it's like music to my ears. I really mean that. It's so crisp and pleasant to listen to.

Right now I'm on exchanges in Butterworth. I will be here until Friday, while Elder Shipp is in Penang Next week, I'll spend Monday through Thursday in Sitiawan, then the week after Elder Shipp will come here to Butterworth. We thought it would be best to keep us apart as much as is reasonable for these last few weeks. We were getting pretty lazy when we were together. It keeps my mind off of going home quite nicely to be on exchanges.

Speaking of nice malay, last night I got to listen to the malay transalation of general conference, and the familiar voice of Elder Niederhauser (who was my zone leader in Sabah for 8 months) came on. That was cool.

On Monday, we spent a few hours with Brent. It was his birthday. He taught me how to make curry. It was so surprisingly delicious. I really would love to see him baptized before I go home. He's the last person I think I will have a big influence over before I go home.

I have heard a little about the earthquake in Haiti. Is it true that the death toll is above 100,000?

I don't know if you've heard lately about the Christian churches that have been bombed recently. That's pretty crazy. It is really surprising: racial relations are usually pretty peaceful here.

Love,
Elder Muffler