Birthdays all around

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! to me

 

     hello all and happy january 26.  i have a quick question.  do i turn 20 on the 28th? because that is in actuality 20 years from the day i was born because it will be the 27th over there in america.  interesting...  well mollie i have to say your email was so awesome.  ha ha i didn't even know it was you until you finally said it was.  ha i thought it was jaynanne or actually mom.  i guess i expected your emails to be like 3 lines of poor english like back when you were in elementary school.  ha no offense.  i would like a rocky road cake of course.  eat an extra big peice for me.  at a girl mollie, getting the good grades.  i am so jealous of that toad's thing.  wow that would be fun.  ha ha ha ha ha ha that is so funny that the kids stole your food.  ha ha ha i can picture you not even noticing and then finally noticing and then being all angry and scratching your head and them all laughing.  ha ha ha.  yeah baby i'm almost an old man.  i love people guessing my age.  most times they guess like 24 or 25 just because i am tall.  i tell them i am 19 and they flip out.  mwa ha ha its cool.  well i hope you all get healthy. i have one birthday request.  there is an approved movie called 'forever strong' about rugby and there is no chance we will find it here in asia so i was wondering if you could send it over.  but if not that is ok because then i will have to carry it around for 14 months.  if you send it, send the cd only, not the case.

     well on to the week.  nothing cool happened... ha ha to me.  actually to tell you the truth this week was the bomb!  we had a bunch of referrals that are turning out great.  i'll tell you about a few.  first is Daniel.  he is from mainland china and is a 22 year old student here in singapore.  last semester he did this exchange thing in canada.  there he met the missionaries and from september to december he had weekly appointments.  we were given his name through the mtc referral center.  he is cool.  and he is smart.  he already knows all of the lessons but we have to teach him again anyways.  he should pan out pretty well.  next is Kim.  she is also a 22 year old student from vietnam.  she was handed over to us by some other elders.  they were teaching her because one of them knew vietnamese.  but he finished his mission a few weeks ago so now we are teaching her because she will go to our ward.  so it is cool.  she is getting bapitzed on saturday.  basically she was already taught everything so it was a free baptism to us.  ha ha but she is really funny and pretty cool.  monday was her birthday so we got her a cupcake and a balloon.  she was so happy because she said nobody here knew it was her birthday and nobody said happy birthday to her but us.  also she said ever since she was a little girl she wanted a birthday balloon but her parents never bought her one so she was so happy.  next is Jenny.  she is a filipino maid of a local member.  the member brought her to church to help take care of her kids and so since then we've been teaching her.  she's cool and very open.  last is Michelle.  she is so so good.  she is also from mainland china and maybe like 23 years old.  i don't have the full story but it goes something like this.  she was really sad one day on the mrt.  and she prayed or something.  then she ran into an expat member that recognized her as her neighbor.  they started talking and then she felt really good and agreed to come to church that week.  unfortuneatly that neighbor went back to america until the end of february.  but luckily another member, the webbs, has really helped us to fellowship her.  she is so good.  she is really open to everything we've taught her.  she has come to church twice already.  last night she went to a RS activity.  sister webb said that she was just talking to all the ladies and was a big help to their chinese new year themed party.  ha ha so  things are looking good for her.  she knows some good members and likes our message.

     so that is our main investigator situation.  the work went really well this last week.  i'm happy because this area is kind of known for its slow work.  one last thing. do you remember me telling you about that one family that we had dinner at their house and they were so awesome and from new zealand.  on saturday we went to their house again for dinner.  they are so cool.  just that day they had bought the new xbox 360 interactive gaming thing that can sense your body movements.  also they bought a tony hawk skateboard game where you actually stand on a skateboard and move it around.  we each got to try it out.  it was a lot of fun.  they are fun people.  the food she cooked was awesome.  she gave us like 30 lbs of food to take home.  so nice.  on the ride home they gave us a $50.00 bill.  we were blown away.  too nice. ha ha

     thank you for everything.  hope you have a good celebration over there.  oh i ate that mac and cheese this week.  whoa too much.  ha ha too rich or something.  i finished it but was kind of overwhelmed.  i can't believe how much butter it takes.  i can't believe i ate so much last year.  ha ha.  let me know when/how much money you put in my account.  don't put too much.  no need really.  ok have a good week.  say high to everybody for me.  say hi to grandma.  tell uncle brian happy birthday.  jangan tidur kalau perlu kencing!

 

elder petersen

G.A.'s are people too :)

what up homie

 

     oh your emails are so interestng.  they make me miss home i tell you what.  i'm glad you enjoy mine as well.  i feel like every week is the same here and its kind of boring to keep telling you what happens.  this week was a little different.  i'm way jealous you saw harry potter.  i see a lot of movie previews here in the city.  there are big screens and posters everywhere.  as much as i hate the harry potter movies, this one looked kind of exciting.  i remember those dreaded ward conference meetings. its good to hear that my little siblings have strong testimonies.  keep it up.  guess what?! last week i passed my 10 month mark.  i might have already said that.  its sweet.  the chickens are birthing?  ha ha wow.  so much for eating the eggs.  i thought that's why you wanted the eggs, not so they could hatch.  jaynanne! i got your letters.  oh it made my day.  now that i'm here i get them as soon as they arrive instead of waiting a few weeks or months.  i didn't procrastinate this time and have already sent you a letter back.  its kind of short though but i did it! send another!

 

     this week was interesting.  i'll start out with last p-day.  after we emailed we went to a lazer tag place.  it was way fun.  there were 13 elders because the elders from Johor Baru came down.  i won't lie, i dominated.  i had the high score baby oh yeah.  my score wasn't even close to anybody else's.  ha ha but i paid the price.  i got a blister on my trigger finger.  they were old guns and i shot so many times that it took its toll on me.  ha ha it was fun. on Thursday, Elder Carl G. Pratt came to singapore.  Every january they have a mission tour where a general authority comes and tours the mission with president clark.  so on thursday the 13 of us plus senior couples met at the stake center to recieve training from president and sister clark and elder and sister pratt.  it was really good.  president clark talked about what you can and cannot take with you when you die.  you would have loved it.  surprisingly you take a lot of stuff with you when you die.  very good talk.  the pratts talked a lot about the spirit.  also good.  when elder pratt was answering questions at the end i got a good impression.  i just felt that this was a normal man.  you know, he is not anybody great but he has been called to a high position.  he's nobody special but he is different.  his authority and the spirit he has makes him different.  i just kind of gained a testimony of our general authorities.  they are all normal guys who have authority and are very in tune with the spirit.  its cool.

     on monday elder dass had to go on a visa run to Johor Baru, right across the straights of singapore there.  for some reason they detained him and kept him in a room for like 2 hours.  finally they only gave him a 1 day chop.  they said he can't just do a u-turn.  so on tuesday he went back to JB.  when he crossed the border this time they told him he would have to stay for at least 2 weeks.  i thought oh man i will just have to be a three some with another singapore companionship.  our area just got a bunch of referrals and investigators so i was pretty worried that it would take a hit during this situation.  tuesday was also the day of transfers.  so a few elders were coming through the office on the way to their new areas.  one elder, elder sugiyanto, was getting transfered to jb.  president decided that he will just be my companion for 2 weeks here in singapore.  so that's the deal.  ha ha oh man he is so funny.  he is from jakarta.  he has been out for 18 months.  actually he served in singapore 1 year ago.  he knows this place.  yesterday was a good day so i think it'll be a fun two weeks. 

     sorry, that's all i really have to say this week.  hey will you send me some american deodorant.  oh that'd be great.  i mean if you are planning on sending me a package soon.  next week is my birthday! i'll no longer be a teenager. sad.  i love ya'll.  have fun watchin movies and playing ball and doing school work.  jangan enkau membunuh orang.

 

elder petersen

I'll take Fries with that?

komo estaka (filipino greeting i don't know how to spell)

 

     we had a baptism this week!  whaaaooooooo!!  her name is Isa. she's pretty cool.  she is from indonesia.  maybe about 32 years old.  its been pretty sweet to be able to teach her in Malay.  every time we go to her house she gives us home cooked food so it is a lot like malaysia.  but oh man i can't understand her.  she talks so fast and with a thick indonesian accent.  ha ha usaully dass does most of the talking.  but its been cool.  it has for sure been a blessing.  she's had a rough past so she was way excited to be baptized.  big life changer for her.  on the day of her baptism she was extremely sick.  she had terrible back pains and stuff.  we weren't sure if the baptism would even happen.  but it did and we are glad.  we had to go with the carpenters and pick her up.  elder dass was the one that baptized her.  she couldn't bend very well because of her back so it was a little difficult.  i had the oppurtunity to confirm her on sunday morning. i got to do it in malay.  so even though i am in the big city surrounded but white people and chinese i still get to use the language.  its sweet.  even though only three people in the chapel understood me i still really felt the spirit.  i just felt peaceful.  it was cool.

     when i got into this area it was pretty dead.  so me and dass have been doing a lot of tracting.  we've met some prety interesting people.  it is very frustrating some times.  we met this lady the other day that was so aggravating.  she kept saying the bible is the only thing we need.  she for sure had a messed up version of the bible because of the things she shared with us.  like she said that the true church would have nobody's name in it, not even Christ.  we were like what?!  and she kept saying, "young men, be careful.."  ha we were like whatever lady.  afterword dass told me to be patient and calm down.  i get worked up with some of these people.  i have no patience with them.  i almost started yelling.  we met a man the other day that claims to be a free thinker. he's all about science.  so annoying.  we had been contacting all day and this man came up to us.  we both thought this is the blessing we've been waiting for.  so he was really friendly and talkative but like i said he was messed up.  he said with all of our technology today we should be able to prove that God exists.  he wanted someone to go to the other side and then return to report.  we talked about Jesus and the bible but he said that happened so long ago that it is irrelevent.  i was fed up.  i testified many times but nothing. he was a waste.  i was mad.  ha ha oh the people of singapore.

     on saturday i did something very stupid.  oh man.  there is this restaraunt called new york new york.  when i first got to singapore the other elders told me about it and said that i must try their challenge.  i was game.  saturday was elder ngo's birthday so we went there to celebrate.  i was kind of roped into doing the challenge.  i had maybe 2 hours notice and was mentally unprepared. ha well the challenge is this.  there is a huge burger and plate of fries.  if  you finish it all within 1 hour it is free and you get a free t-shirt and bragging rights.  if you don't finish it it is 40 dollars.  so i had to sit all alone and sign these waivers and stuff.  i was so nervous.  they brought it out and i knew i was dead.  it was huge!!  well i threw it down. i ate the first quarter in about 7-8 min.  i was finished with half at about 22 min.  the third quarter was tough.  by that point i was full and it no longer tasted good.  it tasted awful actually.  absolutely disgusting.  i slowed down considerably.  i barely finished the 3rd quarter.  i ate the third quarter of fries.  i was not out of time but i was out of space in my stomach and out of appetite.  it was impossible.  i gave up.  i failed.  ha ha oh well.  i was so stuffed i couldn't walk.  some guys told me before hand that they would sponsor me 5 bucks if i failed so i didn't have to pay the full 40.  they had a record board and the top ten ranged from 37 min to 20 min.  that is insane.  it was huge.  needless to say i was full until sunday night.

     well thats what we do in singapore.  it is a lot of fun.  companion is cool. zone is cool.  city is cool.  temperature is not cool.  i'm liking it here.  tomorrow we have mission tour.  elder pratt will tour the mission starting in singapore.  we have to impress him.  it should be good training.  i hope all is well at home. say bye to james for me.  i'm excited for him.  say hi to everyone.  i feel like there's something else i wanted to tell you. oh well.  next week.  

jangan buat bodoh.

 

elder petersen

 

A New Year

hey guys...happy new year!

     it was kind of lonely without you guys ha ha but we had fun.  sabar dulu.  your email was interesting.  all of our ap's served for their last few months so they die as ap.  your schedule was pretty similair to ours.  its interesting.  we don't get out as early as you did. and our meal times are very flexible.  thanks for the camera info mama.  i'm thinking i'll go with the sony one...maybe.  its like 400 sing dollar or something.  maybe less.  i don't know how that compares.  your new years party sounded fun.  

     well to be honest this week had it's ups and downs.  in one day we lost all of our best investigators.  they just texted us and told us that "the mormons" wasn't for them.  so we didn't even get a chance to really talk it out with them which is frustrating.  it was way sad.  very depressing.  ahhhhhh man.  so we had terrible numbers this week.  but it helped motivate us to do better.  seriously we made a resolve to do good this next week.  we just put a 16 year old named Melvin on baptismal date.  so that is good.

     right now we are working on a project commisioned by President Clark.  we are retranslating about 30 primary songs from indo to Malay.  a lot of the indo translations are fine for malay, but a lot of them have changed meanings and have better words in malay.  so me and elder dass are going through and working on that.  when we are done they are going to be sung and recorded to give to every branch in the mission.  its way cool.  i'm glad i get to help.  and i've re-realized that the primary songs are so awesome.  i love them.  i get distracted when we are working because i just start to go off singing them.  on saturday we went to another ward's baptismal service.  for the closing song we sang "i'm trying to be like Jesus".  it was so good.  primary songs are just so simple yet profound.  so simple a primary kid can understand it yet so deep that they explain clearly all gospel principles.  and they are all catchy.  they're great.  i don't know how you can't feel the spirit when singing some of them like "a child's prayer" or "i'm trying to be like jesus" or "he sent his son" or many more.  awesome.

     so on new year's eve we had a lesson at marina bay at 7:00.  after that we were in the heart of the sinapore parties so we went and checked it out.  now singapore had some dirty parties to be sure.  but where we went was open to the public and kind of family driven.



we went to that huge bay where i sent pictures before. there is the merlion and the casino that looks like 3 towers with a boat on top and the singapore flyer and beautiful city skyline.  

in the huge bay there were about 20,000 white inflatable balls floating on the water.  throughout december people could write their wishes for 2011 on them.  they shined lights on all of the buildings and also on these balls that would later coordinate with the fireworks.  we stayed there till about 9:00.  we were seriously considering staying till 12:00.  we hadn't heard that we couldn't





and the show was supposed to be huge.  but we decided it could get crazy and themrtwould be way crowded after so we headed home.  at home we had sparkling cider as a gift from one of the members.  so right before 12:00 you could hear people in their homes saying happy new year! because everyone's watches are different.  but when it was 12:00 on my watch (i did my own countdown) i opened our window and yelled as loud as i could and banged a pot with a big spoon.  ha ha ha you can see many towers of the condo complex and lots of people went to their window to see who was making so much noise.  elder dass was so surprised.  ha i was dang loud.  i guess its not a big thing to yell here.anyways then we went down to our pool and sat on the pool chairs and made a toast to 2011.  we went month by month and said the highlights of 2010.  it was good times. 2010 was such a huge year for me and for our family.  2011 will be 12 solid months on the mission and i want it to be amazing.  i'm looking forward to this year. 

     so thats the news here.  did you get my picture cd from elder garrett? did you ever get a movie from the mission office?  have a happy new year.  what time is church?  say bye to james for me.  jaynanne, give him a kiss from me...ha ha. i emailed him today.  he will be great.  how are the jazz? oskar update me. let me know if anything crazy cool happens.  kalau say mati sebelum kita berjumpa, saya mau kamu membakar semua barang ku.  bye!

elder petersen