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.