Thursday, August 11, 2011

Eternity is for Families


dearest family,

     this week was great!  sounds like your week was good too.  i remember when dad and mollie flipped over on the alpine slide.  that is rough.  i would be scarred too.  jaynanne you have a mission.  take a picture of that plaque and send it to me so i can just see it for myself.  i can't believe anybody reads the blog.  that is awesome but i just don't want people to see anything embarassing or offensive on there.  you never said how oskar did on the soccer games.  i take it he lost then?  ha ha oh yeah i was reading back through my journal and i can't believe carter. looking back he was dang obedient.  i would hate to be companions right now with my old self.  i would drive me nuts.  ha ha let's just say i'm more relaxed now.  so are all of those greenies from last week.  they are all pretty cool.  i testify dad you are an aggresive tourist when it comes to guided tours.  ha ha you are the big group commentor.  ha ha somebody has to be.  i bet your reunion was fun.  i don't think i told you but elder parrish is the ap right now.  you know his dad right?  he is way cool.  best ap in a long time.  ah yeah i remember kez.  she is pretty cute.  is she single?  ha ha remember i'm going to need referrals when i get home.  i've heard about some of this crazy world news.  it's a mess.  oh well i don't have to worry about it right now.
     alright so right now is ramadan.  it is not as cool as last year in sandakan.  the muslim percentage here isn't as high.  but there are still a ton of them.  they fast every day from 5:30 am to 7:30 pm for 1 month.  dang that would be hard.  so throughout the afternoon they sell food really cheap so that they can buy it to eat as soon as they break the fast.  i've reaped the benifits of this.  the food is good.  mcdonalds also has a buka puasa special.  so we're eating well right now.  i wanted to tell you a funny story.  we went tracting with a member.  he's a young man about 18.  he's kind of inactive but lately he's given us a lot of referrals.  he is really cool.  so maughan and reeves split from me and him for about 45 min.  we were at opposite ends of the same neighborhood.  well i wasn't planning on him really saying anything but he said to me "ok you talk first a few times so that i can see how it's done."  ok.  so i did the first few.  we were knocking on gates about 20 feet away from the front doors.  i said the next one's yours.  he was ready.  so the lady came to the door and i said hello and then turned to him.  she was indian and he didn't know if he should try english or malay.  so he was stuttering.  ha ha then he said in malay "...we....book of mormon!.."  ha ha that's all.  so then i took back over.  it was so funny but i didn't laugh in front of him.  it was later when i told the other elders that we had a good chuckle. 
     mollie i got a letter from you!!  it was big.  it was also old.  there was like 3 letters and 2 awesome pictures.  actually your pictures made me miss you guys pretty bad.  they brought back such good memories.  the first was us playing cards at mt rushmore.  ha ha i was pulling a funny face.  that was so fun there.  that was a cool trip.  the 2nd picture was all of us at paradise bakery before going to the Utah football game.  we were all decked out in red and everyone was making a funny face.  ha ha that was also so fun!  i got that on saturday.  so saturday and sunday i kept thinking about that.  president clark has asked us to bear our testimonies on every fast and testimony meeting.  i decided to talk about you guys.  so i just said how i got these awesome pictures.  i said how much i missed you guys.  but i don't miss you that bad because i'll see you again soon.  throughout this last week we've taught the plan of salvation many times.  i said that i've only been gone from you guys for a few months and i miss you, i can't imagine being alone for eternity.  that would be so sad.  i'm grateful for the plan of salvation because i know that i can be with you again.  i almost got teary eyed.  i controlled myself.  but i do miss you guys.  i'm glad we've had so many fun times together.  i can't wait to see you guys again.
     sunday was also a big day for another reason.  one year ago on sunday was my first baptism.  it was Ning's family.  oh man the memories came flooding back.  i miss those guys so much.  they are awesome.  i called them up on sunday night.  the fruit remains!  they are still going to church.  ronny, rayne, rainah, and rinijah all bore their testimonies at church.  that is so awesome.  the youngest guy jasli turns 12 soon and will become a deacon.  they've brought so many relatives to church.  they've found a lot of friends there too.  it is pretty sad though that the father doesn't go to church. i don't think he's been there since i've been there.  that disappoints me.  i hope he goes back soon.  i think he will.  he's a great dad though and a good leader to his children.  they also all miss me.  whenever i talk to them they tell me to come back.  ha ha i wish i had a say in where i was going,  i'd go back in a heart beat.  i miss sandakan so bad.  it's been such a big year.  also this past saturday a guy named benjamin in singapore was baptized.  he is someone me and thomas started teaching back in april.  he came to church every week.  he's from main land china.  that is sweet that he got baptized.  i'm proud.  i hope he can help the church grow in china. 
     it was a fun week.  we worked hard.  our numbers and results were lower than the week before but i feel like we had a way better week.  we saw a lot of people and helped people get closer to baptism.  i hope this next week ends well too.  elder reeves says some funny things.  i noted a few.  he says 'hey' a lot.  almost at the end of every sentence.  like "he is cool hey"  ha ha.  he said "play sport"  like they played sport.  he said i was "very crack up" to mean very funny.  and he says "guttered" if something went bad like "oh that guttered."  ha ha these are a few.  he's cool.
     well i hope you all have a good week.  let me know how the registration goes and how loll is.  ask spencer if he got my letter.  go to church. pray.  you know the drill.  i love you all.  don't forget it.  did you send a package?  if you did not yet, send some printed pictures so that i can show people here pictures of you.  get a good one of ben lomond.  alright talk to you next week.
elder petersen

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