Foundations of Faith

hi it's me again.

     your emails are great! man dad that guy was so huge! (Mark Eaton) you looked tiny next to him.  i know that is how i look to these asians.  here in singapore i sometimes see tall white guys.  i do a double take ya know, and i just stare at them.  i'm just thinking what a freak he's so tall.  then as we get closer together i realize that i am taller than them!  ha ha so i must look even more huge than that freaky white guy. sometimes i like it sometimes it is annoying :).  the other day on the train there was a ton of filipino ladies and one was standing near me and the rest were laughing so hard ha ha they were almost crying.  one lady was trying to take a picture of her friend next to me all sneaky like.  they were talking in tagalog so i couldn't understand, but they were definately talking about me.  this is a daily occurence. more so in malaysia though.  i can't believe you are writing a book.  that is so cool.  i would love to read it.  i can imagine it would be great.  how long do you think it would take to write it?  how could you get it published?  would you have to sell a lot of copies before you made any money?  is there any chance of losing money?  interesting.  i'm jealous that mollie got to do baptisms at the st george temple.  i've always wanted to go in there.  your trip sounded fun.  it sounds like dad has had a pretty random sleep pattern for the last week.  ha ha nothing's changed.  yeah i figured out my password.  thanks for that number.  i was looking at something on weber state's page.  president clark says we can so i wanted to see what my next classes needed to be.

     well this past week has actually been going really well.  again we had ton of investigators at church.  we were in the double digits.  that is so sweet.  it is always awesome when random members just bring their friends to church.  it makes our lives so much simpler.  i wanted to tell you about a cool new investigator we met only a few days ago.  i wish i had my journal then i could copy what i wrote that day.  i'll see if i can remember all the details.  well we are still getting a lot of dinner appointments from the expat ward.  every now and then it pays off because after us constantly asking for a referral they eventually have one.  monday night we had a dinner appointment with the clayton's.  they are a young family.  he is the elder's quorum president and they have 3 kids under 6.  she told us that her neighbor was asking a lot about our church.  sister clayton told her that we actually go around and explain our beliefs to people.  so she immediately wanted to meet us.  her name is deborah.  she is from the US  she has 3 boys aged 10 12 and 14.  she is divorced and will move back to america soon because it's too expensive here without a working husband.  we talked with here before during and after dinner for about 2 hours and 15 minutes.  she just had a lot to say.  basically she has been moving around the world on expat assignments so she has consequently learned about a lot of different religions.  she has taken her favorite things from each sect and that is what makes up her core beliefs and standards.  all she really wants is for her boys to grow up as righteous young men.  they are the most well behaved and polite young men ever.  every standard that we told her about, she already tries to teach her boys.  everything doctrinally we said, she agreed with and liked.  every belief she told us, we agreed with.  after her world wide search of happiness she almost ended up with the same teachings as us but not compiled into one religion.  of course the story of joseph smith was new and the book of mormon and the restoration of the priesthood, but she thought it made sense.  she asked a ton of questions mostly aimed at helping her boys like how do you overcome worldly temtations, how do you avoid drugs in today's society, how could you not drink, how can you know this is true,  how do you deal with tough times or rejection, is it worth it, is being in this bubble going to hurt you when you get thrusted back into the real world,  are you more prepared to be an adult,  what stops you from succumbing to temptation when you are all alone in malaysia.  she asked so many things i can't remember them all.  and we and the claytons had great answers for every question.  we could have talked to her all night.  there was never a lull in the conversation, she just wanted to hear more.  before we could invite her, she asked if she could come to church with her boys on sunday.  we were like yeah!  she said is there a limit to how many times i can come to church? ha no!  she was really good and i just hope she follows the spirit as she learns because she is definately ready to recieve these things.  what impressed me most was her love for her boys.  all she wants is for them to be successful in this crazy world.  she wants them to be safe, to have some sort of foundation to rely upon.  i couldn't help but think how grateful i am for a mom and dad that just want the same thing for me.  i am so blessed to be raised in such an environment instead of having to find one.  i guess maybe even then the credit should go to your parents.  tell grandma and grandpa teuscher how glad i am that they taught you those things mom.  they probably don't realize what impact they had many years down the road on me.  i didn't realize how nice i had it until i go out into the world and see broken or struggling families.  if they embrace the gospel then most everything works itself out.  it is so cool.

     one more random thought.  i see tons of people zipping down the roads through the traffic on their motorcycles and scooters.  i had a flashback.  i remember when one night mom helped me with my motorcycle.  i really wanted to ride it right after i got it but the blinkers and the brake light didn't work.  so me and mom took off all of the covers and tried to find where the problem was.  we found some wires that weren't connected so well.  it was getting late and so i thought that i wouldn't get it fixed in time to ride it the next day.  but mom just suggested that we go to the store then.  so we went back and forth a few times to the auto store down by smiths.  it was a school night and the store was almost closing by the last time we went there.  but we eventually got it and we were quite excited to see that our electical work paid off.  the lights all worked.  ha ha i don't know why i remembered it but thanks mom.  that was a lot of fun.  it was pretty nice of you to stop what you were doing that night and help me.

     alright i'm making a request. i need pictures!  i'm not comparing, but elder thomas gets a lot of pictures.  maybe his family has more to take pictures of.  but just send me a few pictures a week.  that would be so cool.  he gets a few pages of printed pictures in the mail like once weekly, but email also can.  i just want to see what you guys look like. 

     k well that's all i've got today.  have a good week.  say hi to everyone.  say hi to uncle clark's family.  they sent me a nice card.  i love you all. 

elder petersen

'SCUSE!!!!!!!!

greetings from asia!

     seriously i have nothing to write this week.  usually i write down a list of things to tell you all but my list is so short this week.  first of all i have a question for jaynanne.  well it is for all but i think jaynanne will have good insights.  there is this fashion trend here in singapore and i want to know if it is a global thing.  the girls here wear super high pants.  i mean high.  usually they are wearing short shorts but then the waist line is way up above the belly button.  they also do this with pants and skirts.  when did hiking your pants way up become trendy?  it's kind of retro i guess cause back in the day people always wore high pants.  well it is weird.  they look goofy.  some people can pull it off kind of but most of them look retarded.  so is this happening in utah as well?  i don't know if utah is usually in on fashion but i thought you might know.  spencer i always think of things to tell you about camp loll.  i can never remember them though.  one is this.  you should get a bigger day bag.  those camel packs we have are just too small.  i would usually bring my full size backpacking pack but of course not fill it up all the way.  as commisioner i would have to bring a rope and bear bag but also like three lunches, tons of extra water, water shoes, towel, etc.  we didn't always use a swimsuit if you know what i'm saying but that too.  i wish i had a medium bag.  for water shoes you should invest in chaco's.  if your feet stopped growing.  they are the ultimate sandal.  you may get blisters at first but then they are reported to be the best footwear out there.  and you get an awesome tan line.  they'll last you 5 years or more.  i wish i had some here to wear on p-day.  i've looked everywhere and they do not sell them here.  how was the camp meeting last week.  who is the nature director?  did you recognize anybody?  i'm jealous.

     i don't know if you remember our one investigator named michelle.  last week we had an awesome lesson with her.  basically her story is this.  one day she was riding the mrt.  she was crying because life was tough.  she might have prayed, i don't know.  an expat member named lindsay hancock comforted her and talked with her for a while.  it turns out they live only a few blocks apart.  lindsay is a young married girl.  i think like 26.  she's a young women's adviser.  so lindsay brought michelle to church.  things really took off since then.  bad news is that the hancocks went to america for a whole month the day after they brought michelle to church.  luckily another young women's leader fellowshipped michelle, julie webb.  sister webb is a mom of five ranging from 15 to 4 or something.  so we had a lot of lessons at the webb's house.  they became really good friends with michelle.  so that was awesome.  the hancocks are back now and we've met with michelle at their house a few times.  so that is the background.  on satuday we had a great lesson.  michelle is so good.  she remembered everything we reviewed.  since learning about the word of wisdom she has dropped alchohol and tea and coffee.  she describes the spirit perfectly without knowing what it is.  for example she says something like i feel a warm peaceful feeling inside,  it is nice, i think that if i keep reading the scriptures and praying that i'll feel this more often, and the more often i feel this i'll know that it's true.  ha ha we're just like yeah!!  she's cool.  bad news is that she left to china on sunday for 10 days.  when she gets back, hoping that she doesn't have a run in with her parents, she will be baptized.  we are really praying that this trip goes well and that she reads a lot fromt the book of mormon she took.  so our lesson saturday was just all around good.  it wasn't any one thing but it was overall great.  we taught the 10 commandments which generally goes over really well.  also at the end of the lesson sister hancock gave us freshly made cinnamon rolls straight from her new oven.  turns out that she has multiple degrees in cooking and is a pro chef.  she competed in an iron chef type competition in the u.s. and took second in the nation.  she's good.  anyways as far as investigators we don't have any as good as michelle.  remember that member that made us stop teaching her maid, last night i got worked up about that whole thing again.  she won't let her maid go to the other ward for 3 weeks because the family is out of town.  it is really screwing up jenny's spiritual progression.  it is just so sad and frustrating. 

     one more story.  this may get lengthy to explain.  on the mrt's people do this thing that aggravates every missionary.  we all compare notes and this is a common annoyance.  before the train is even close to the next stop people are moving into position to exit.  if you are standing in their way they stand right behind you and say 'scuse until you move.  it is so annoying!  a lot of times the train is packed.  if they just wait, chances are that most people in front of the door will also exit.  they have no patience.  for some reason they want to be the first ones off.  it drives us nuts.  so if someone is trying to get me to move i try to ignore them.  it is bad when somebody is telling me to move but i am getting out on the same stop.  i will not budge.  ha ha just want to turn around and yell at them.  the other day i was standing in front of the door right in the center and elder thomas was on the left and this lady was on the right. all three of us were all in front of the door.  they are pretty wide.  well as we were nearing the stop this lady kept telling me to move.  she was already right next to the door and would easily be able to exit after the doors were fully open!!  she just wanted to be in the center.  i was not moving.  she kept saying 'scuse.  i looked at her and scooted over like half an inch.  then she said excuse really loud!  ha ha i was just like whatever!  so i walked away from the door.  ha ha elder thomas was laughing so hard.  this is a daily occurence.  these singaporean aunties are a handful. 

     mom i just read your email.  it was good.  you know, you could translate what i say on google or something.  thanks for the world update.  i love it.  i wish i knew what was going on out there.  your letter made me get teary eyed.  thanks for everything.  thanks for praying for me.  i need it.  i'll tell the members here that you appreciate them.

     well that's all.  send me lots of mail next week.  i love you all.  i can't wait to talk to you on mother's day!  you better have some good stuff to tell me.  have a good week. 

elder petersen

The following is an excerpt from Elder Thomas' letter home.  He is Trevor's companion.


Some people are so frustrating on the MRT (trains). So it gets pretty crowded at times and a lot of people like to be standing right in front of the door when it is their stop, so they always wiggle their way through the crowd to the door. It is annoying. I also hate it when I am standing by the door and they are saying, "excuse me" but I am also getting off at that stop. The doors haven't even opened. And that is another thing, they don't even say "excuse me". It is more like "scuse". I think that is annoying as well. Especially because they just keep repeating it until people move. 
It was pretty funny like a week ago. We were in a crowded train and this guy wiggled his way to the door to get off, but it was the wrong side. The train stopped and the opposite doors opened and he was still standing there. He finally realized that the doors opened on the other side, so he had to squeeze his way through us, plus the people getting on the train, but he didn't make it. The doors shut right before he was able to get off. So he had to wait for the next stop. Well, at the next stop, the doors opened on our side, so he had to wiggle his way back to our side to get off and go back. It was pretty funny. There was another time we were on the train going home. It was like a 30 minute ride. There was this guy that was sitting across from us with his eyes closed and his hands were resting on his knees, but they were open with the palms facing up. He looked like he was in an awkward position. Plus he was sort of smiling. I thought it was pretty funny. So after a few minutes of him like this, I started laughing. He kind of smiled more when I laughed. Anyways, Elder Petersen and I kept staring at him and he was not moving and didn't open his eyes. Everytime we would laugh, he would smile a little wider. We finally decided to take a picture. Elder Petersen took it. I will send it next week if I remember. Then he took a video. So anyways, for 30 minutes he didn't move. It was our stop and we got up to leave and he also got up to get out. We didn't know if he was just messing around with us or what, but it was pretty funny.

Pets for Dinner?

keluargaku!

 

     ha ha dad i like when you ramble.  it is always interesting still.  i remember seeing those pictures of me at a farm but i don't ever remember meeting aunt carolyn.  that's sad.  why are the stowers going to great britain?  ha ha random.  wow i am so jealous jaynanne is going to maui.  that is so cool.  too bad about boston though.  will that change your london plans at all?  hmmm i see the dilema about jaynanne going to utah state.  interesting.  well maybe it's that time jayanne.  start working.  ha ha i will try to put it off as long as i can.  but i am also going to try to get a car soon after i get back.  i'm talking cheap. yeah jaynanne go on a mission!  you'd be awesome.  there are some awesome sister missionaries.  in the wards i'm in a bunch of sisters just got back taiwan and canada and salt lake.  trust me there are plenty of good looking sister missionaries.  but i predict jaynanne will be the next one married.  so maybe not.  ha yeah we're not close at all to japan.  but we have been hearing about it non stop.  it was so tragic.  i saw some footage at an electronics store.  the water was just so powerful.  we are weak.  but yes i'm fine.  thanks for the article.  it was cool.

     well i don't have anything new to write.  this week was low key.  actually this week took a bad turn.  most of our investigators turned south.  but things are looking up.  actually we were supposed to have a baptism last week.  his name is daniel.  he is a student from china here in singapore.  he told us that he talked to his family and they aren't so supportive.  so that bites.  we had this other investigator named jenny.  she was on baptismal date for two weeks from now.  she is filipino and is the maid of a local member. ...if members or investigators are rude or hard to deal with i just try to move on, but you just put so much time into these people and then they give you a slap in the face.

     we had an awesome dinner appointment at the sloan's!!  these are the same new zealanders i told you about last time.  they are so good to us.  they gave us tons of steak, hamburgers, sausages, chicken, potatoes, chips, watermelon, and ice cream.  she is a dang good cook.  then after that we played the nex xbox motion sensor game.  we played boxing, soccer, bowling and track.  it was so cool.  the technology is amazing.  then they gave us 20 lbs of food to take home.  they are too nice.

     hey guess what president clark  and i had an interview and we had a long chat about running.  he said he is running a night race at the end of may and if i'm still in this area i could run with him.  it is a half marathon.  that would be sweet but i think it would take some training.  we will see.

     i was going to tell you a story last week.  here it is.  we have a recent convert named kim.  she is vietnamese.  she is so funny, but not on purpose.  she is always confused why we are laughing so hard.  but she does funny things.  the other day we had dinner and a lesson with her at the larson's house.  the larson's are a young married couple that live close to her.  anthother ysa came.  anyways sister larson is obsessed with cats.  she told us all about her pet cats back in america.  then bro larson told us how he always wanted a pet pig.  he said how cool would that be to have a faithful pet pig running around.  then sis larson said they couldn't have this pig that they could never eat. bro larson said of course they would eat it.  they had a little argument about whether or not they could eat a named pet.  anyways we left that conversation.  a few minutes later out of nowhere kim said, "i once had a pet dog. one day i came home and my mom killed it so we could eat it for dinner..."  ha ha ha ha it was so random and tragic and funny.  elder thomas was laughing so hard.  she wasn't so sad.  she just said it like a fact.  it was so funny.  you'd have to know here to really laugh at this.  so i asked her if she ate any of it.  she said, "yes.  i wanted a peice of it inside of me.."  ha ha ha ha oh man sister larson was laughing so hard.  we were all dying.  it's hilarious.

     one last thing.  ha ha jaynanne thanks for the letters.  i'm lucky i got them.  all but one was addressed to "the singapore mission"  ha ha not to me.  if i wasn't here to claim them they would not know who they went to.  you have to put elder petersen above the address there.  if not, anybody could open them.  i guess technically the office couple or president clark could claim them.  but again, thanks.    

     well that's all folks.  next week may or may not be more eventful.  depending on news we recieve this friday night.  thanks for your support.  i love you all.  we were talking a lot about being grateful recently and i want you all to know that i'm grateful for you.  you are so cool.  i'm lucky to have such a nice family.  keep up the work back home.  i'll be there before long.  i love you.

 

elder petersen

ONE MORE YEAR

hey guys

     wow where to begin.  i don't even know.  dad i loved your email.  way good.  let's see.  atta boy spencer!!!  how many people tried out?  when i made it my sophomore year only one person was cut i think.  is that how it was?  jaynanne go to utah state.  you will not regret it.  if you go to weber state you will regret it.  seriously.  go to utah state.  one more time. go to utah state.  alright dad i like your plans.  you give me options.  i think most likely i will only go to weber state to finish my associates degree.  that should be pretty easy.  i do not think i would really want to get any kind of degree in malay or indonesian.  i think it would be useless.  malaysia is not a happening place.  i would not want to live in malaysia with a family.  but interesting.  my biggest fear is becoming an obnoxious byu fan.  that would be awful.  that is pretty sweet that you met elder thomas' family.  had they heard anything about you?  i remember writing that email.  it was right in the thick of our good times.  i am happy to report that that family is all baptized and active.  they actually sent me a letter recently.  they are so awesome! i'll see if i can send you more experiences like that one.  it's not likely. it's good to see that james is doing well.  his mission is totally different than mine. 

     alrighty well guess what tomorrow is?  my year mark!!!!  oh yeah!  that is so crazy to think about.  one year ago i was set apart.  one year ago abbie was married.  one year ago i was sitting at home with no idea what was coming my way.  one year ago i was in america.  one year ago i was with you guys.  one year ago i was trying not to cry as you left me at the mtc.  oh man the memories.  what a year it has been.  so awesome.  i couldn't have even guessed what i was about to experience.  cool.  so now i'm one year older and wiser too.  i think i'm basically the same though.  i do expect that you all look very different now.  if i have a chance i'll skype you all in may.  do you think you've changed at all in the last year?  maybe oskar spencer and mollie will seem different.  one year is the longest i've been away from you all.  one more year.

     this past weekend was stake conference.  wow it was dang good.  our building has four floors.  the 4th and 2nd floor are chapels.  on sundays four wards meet there.  the adult session was in the 4th floor chapel.  the sunday session was live on the 4th floor and broadcast to the 2nd floor.  it was dang crowded.  there is really no parking space so you can imagine that the car park was also way crowded.  we got there plenty early to wait for investigators.  only a few came early.  the rest were late.  so we saved some seats, even though it was strictly forbidden, for them.  we ended up on the 2nd floor unfortunately  because  that's where our investigators would be.  we had so many come.  i was floored.  it was the most we've had yet in singapore.  i thought we'd have less than usual but we had a lot.  the meeting itself was really really good.  lots of good talks.  president clark spoke breifly.  it was of course probably the best talk.  that man is so comfortable in front of crowds.  he told some awesome mission stories from different elders here.  he told a story about sandakan.  very inspiring.  the stake presidency also gave good talks but not as good.  there was one talk though that beats them all.  we reluctantly decided to go to the adult session and i'm glad we did.  a man named brother bradford from the expat ward spoke.  it was so great.  the congregation was silent.  we were riveted.  the main theme was about families.  he spoke about not missing a single moment with your families.  he talked about those moments everybody loves when you are just so happy and you never want to forget.  he said that we've been promised to remember those moments with perfect clarity in the hereafter.  he told a story about one time when he was living in france with his family and his son really really wanted a basketball stand.  so one day they finally bought one.  when they got home it was too late to put together.  the mom put all the kids to bed.  but then the son asked if they could put it together.  so in the dark quietly with flashlights they put it together without waking up the mom.  when they were finally done they took turns shooting the first shots and catching the ball before it could hit the ground and make any noise.  it was such a good story.  this man could just tell it so well.  well nine years later his son died.  this was one of those awesome memories that he has.  he talked a lot about family vacations too.  i just want to tell you that our family is so awesome.  seriously, i love our family.  we go on the best vacations.  other families don't do that sort of thing.  we get along.  we have fun.  we have so many memories together.  i wouldn't trade any of our family outings for anything.  thank you mom and dad for giving us those chances to go out together.  my best family memories are probably from family trips.  it is one thing that i plan on doing with my future family.  mom and dad you are the bomb.  i just got a letter from jaynanne.  in it she said something like this: 'we are so lucky to have mom.  she is so great.  she does so much for us with almost no payback.  i love her'  i agree jaynanne.  mom is a super hero.

     i wanted to tell you a quick story.  it'll have to wait till next time.  last week we had zone conference.  we had interviews with president clark.  in his office he has pictures of all of the missionaries up with what areas they are in.  i saw one that was off to the side.  it was a new elder coming in.  i took a close look...it was elder brown!! from the mtc. 

     well that's all folks.  i love you.  have a good week.  send me letters.  thanks for your letter jaynanne and friend.  say hi to the stowers.  say hi to the wards.  say hi to grandma and grandpa.  see ya around. hey do you ever translate what i say in malay at the end of my letters?  kamu harus tulis pesanan dalam bahasa melayu kepada saya.

elder petersen

Save Up Treasures

hey hey hey fam!!

     wow loved your emails like usual.  ha many coments. i can't believe byu won.  are they legit? are they going all the way dad? or are they peaking too early.  mwa ha ha maturation eh?  awkward.  at least it's over eh? all six kids.  oskar just seems so young to me.  he's the little kid you know.  it's weird that he's already at that age.  same with spencer.  he seems to little to be in high school.  stowers!  that'd be weird.  do they use the garage?  i remember being excited when dad got home but that phase has sure passed.  jaynanne i feel that you can give me the best summary of the oscars.  how were they?  any good ones win?  that is awesome about bishop.  i'm sure he loved it.  he loves you dad.  jaynanne you don't know what a bushel is?  ha ha wow.  i know what you're saying about elder kersey.  i read that one part of his email you sent me.  he is a good writer.  i don't sound holy do i?  ha ha i feel like my letters are anything but holy.  i never talk about spiritual things. no missionary i know is like that.  they are all more loud and more outspoken than ever before.  i'm interested though, what letters of mine did you read from?  jaynanne's got senioritis?  ha ha i am also trunky. always.  say hi to uncle brian.  i miss that guy.  i can't believe d will is gone.  oh man the jazz are going to collapse.  hopefully it will build up quickly.  cool letters folks.

     alright so this week, like usual, i have nothing to talk about so you should enjoy it.  first of all is spencer still going out for tennis? that's gotta be this week or next week right?  do you remember back on the day i got my call you were all saying that because i went to an exotic place it would be awesome to come pick me up?  was that a joke or something you'd like to do.  or does europe trump asia?  or would we sweep through europe also?  interesting.  jaynanne was talking all about the firework song last week.  still your favorite?  what about a song called grenade by bruno mars?  i heard it recently.  it is pretty good.  alright so camp loll.  wow when you mentioned that last week it made me so trunky.  a few nights ago i could not get to sleep.  it was one of those nights where i was just thinking about a lot of stuff.  i spent a while thinking about loll.  it was so awesome.  spencer will absolutely love it.  i think it is probably the BEST thing spencer can do to prepare for a mission.  you go away from home for a while.  you're on a strict schedule.  there is an order of leadership you have to report to.  you have to obey and do your part.  you have to be likeable.  you make good friends.  you have hard times.  you learn a lot of lessons.  you have experiences you can't really describe.  i feel like my time at loll was like my mission.  i have had so many things happen on my mission that i can't even tell you about because i won't give it justice spiritually.  it's one of those treasures to save up.  same with loll.  when my friends would ask me why i loved it so much i couldn't even begin to tell them because i couldn't tell the hundreds of stories i had and i couldn't relate how i actually felt.  spencer you're going to love it.  i keep thinking about advice for you.  just do what you're told by delose or the nature director.  don't be shy.  pack enough warm clothes.  bring slippers for the lodge.  learn from delose.  make friends with the waterfront staff.  don't get lost on hike day.  have fun.  maybe keep a journal.  take pictures. tell me all about it.

     this week was pretty darn good.  the difference with singapore and malaysia is how often we meet people.  in east malaysia people sit at home all day.  they are very easy to meet.  here everybody works or goes to school.  impossible to meet.  we had a ton of investigators at church last week.  i love it when random members bring their friends.  it is sweet.  this next week is stake conference.  it will be nuts.  there are too many members.  our stake center is 4 floors.  the 2nd and 4th floor each have a chapel.  stake conference will be on the 4th floor and broadcasted to the 2nd floor.  the expat ward itself takes up the whole 4th floor chapel and two overflows.  they will have ushers to pack everybody in.  i think it'll be hot.  i don't know how we'll keep track of all of our investigators that come to church.  we might not be able to.  ha ha it'll be fun.  next week we have a baptism planned.  it is ol daniel boy.  he is the bomb!  it'll be good.

     sorry i emailed late this week.  last night until this morning i was in JB (johor baru) right inside malaysia.  i had to get a chop.  i spent the night with the 6 jb elders.  they are pretty dang funny.  elder tovar, my comp from the mtc, was there.  we celebrated our year mark a week early by burning some stuff.  one more year baby!  we played this variation of 9 cards down.  we played with rook cards and they called it mormon bridge.  it starts at 7 and goes down then back up to 7.  at 1 card you all hold it up to your forehead and then bet without seeing your card.  ha ha very fun.

     recently i've been thinking a lot about the future you know?  i think maybe i served here to open my eyes.  maybe.  i think it would be fun to be an expat.  i've talked to a lot of people about their jobs and their degrees.  it's got me thinking.  what was your game plan for me again dad?  for school?  i'm sort of kind of really leaning towards going to byu in the fall after i return.  don't disown me.  i still don't know.  most members here and missionaries went there.  i guess it'll depend on what i want to study.  time will tell.

     alright have a good week.  i'll talk to you next wednesday.  don't miss me too much.  say hi to the whole gang.  send me some letters.  send me some cool package.  i love you all.  kalau kamu lapar, makan lah!

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