Raining...Praise

hello one and all

     wow it sounds like abbie was down and out.  i hope everything is ok now.  you sold my bike?! and didn't tell me?!  and you want to get a car instead?!  tsk tsk i still want a bike but mom is right it does have it's disadvantages.  i got my phone right after bartlett, i was a junior.  mollie there really is no need for one.  you'll just have to start paying money to "the man" earlier than needed.  waste.  sounds cool about joe.  he is dang lucky to serve a day and a half from the temple.  don't worry i will not be a hugger.  well maybe ha ha.  i don't see how a mission can change that.  you are kind of limited to who you can hug.  darren is good.  it was hard to explain the situation.  it is weird mom, but he introduced us to his family.  he's got some real potential.  don't worry though we're not stupid.  i wish i was learning how to cook.  i don't even know how to cook rice.  everyone uses a rice cooker.  how do you cook it in a pot anyways?  i make pretty good instant noodles though i must say.

     this week was pretty good.  it didn't look too good on paper but in the end everything turned out alright.  i ate way too much this week.  the johnson's took us out to dinner at this delicious seafood restaraunt.  i'll send you a picture of the beautiful sunset there.  they also feed us at their house two times a week guaranteed but usually more.  it's killing me.  on monday we ate at a super member's house named bro ananda.  his mom was in town and she helped make her special mutton.  his wife is an amazing cook.  she stuffed us with tons of rice and chicken curry and fried chicken and curry puffs and fruit and veggies.  i couldn't move after i was done eating.  it's pretty sweet.  we have to be diligent in our exercises though that's for sure. 

     on friday the assistants came up.  elder evanson went to penang and parrish came and stayed with us.  he was with us all friday and saturday and left after church sunday.  it was fun.  he is a really cool guy and a really good missionary.  unfortunately we didn't have many appointments for him but he is a pro contacter.  we took some pointers.  

BB with the locals

after tracting all day saturday we saw a bunch of chinese kids playing basketball.  parrish really wanted to play so we ended up challenging them to a game.  they were pretty apprehensive mostly because we were tall but we finally talked them into it.  we played three on three.  we dominated them.  ha ha if i held it above my head there was no way they could reach it.  but they were good shooters.  we won the first game easily.  so we said they could play four on three.  so they changed out players and got the four best.  we had a good lead but they closed the lead.  don't worry though we still dominated.  it was a lot of fun.  elder kelley almost blew it.  he's not the best at basketball but he did rattle in two good shots.  it was mostly parrish.  he's good. 

     it rained all week.  wow we got soaked.  three nights out of a four day period we came home soaked to the bone.  it was seriously as if we jumped in a pool.  just imagine biking in a huge rain storm.  crazy.  everyone thought we were going to get sick.  ha ha we're not malaysian.  they are so scared of the rain.  it is still hot here and during the day we do dry off pretty well.  it must officially be the rainy season now. 

     ever since day one here we've been receiving praise.  the johnson's have just been saying to everyone how good we are.  they say, "now these are hard working elders" we're no different then your average elder.  but on sunday our branch president called us in to his office and said "i want to thank you guys for working so hard." he said "you guys are out working hard every day despite the weather and everyone likes you"  ha ha so maybe we do appear to be diligent.  also can.  i think just their praise alone makes me be more diligent because i want to prove them right.  i'd say we do work a lot.  this area is definitely struggling but we are trying our best to turn it around and we have big hopes for it.

     monday was a landmark day.  in sandakan the weilands organized a temple trip. about 10 young women went and it was all their first time ever.  they've been trying to raise money for a while and i guess they got their goal.  included was rayne, rainah, rinijah, and their mom from the ning family.  that is so awesome.  it is bittersweet though because i wish it was their whole family.  they were baptized just over one year ago and they should be getting sealed.  the dad is inactive now.  i called up president weiland and we had a good chat.  he said that the family is as solid as ever.  that makes me so happy.  the little boy jasli is almost 12 and will recieve the priesthood soon.  pres said that now he can read malay.  last year he did not know how to read.  he is reading the book of mormon to learn.  awesome!

     zone conference is tomorrow.  on monday night i got in a bus and rode down to singapore for a visa run.  wow that was one of the worst experiences of my mission.  ha ha it was awful.  the bus was really crappy and cold and it took 14 hours to get there.  5 more than i expected.  i'll have to tell you about it later.  in singapore i went to the airport with everyone to greet elder schone.  if you remember he was critically injured last november and went home.  well he's back now.  he's had a bunch of surgeries and is still on meds i think.  but he's doing good.  president had kidney stones last weekend and had the possibility of surgery but luckily he didn't need.  singapore just felt like home.  seriously it felt good.  so clean, efficient buses, lots of cool elders, and good food.  it just seemed so familiar.  i didn't really get to do much though.  i got your package!!  thanks for the food.  thanks for the letter jaynanne.  the journals are awesome.  they are really nice.  thanks a lot.  i don't know if i can fill two more though.  i'll have to continue after my mission. 

Elder Rathnayake

i saw elder rathnayake for probably the last time.  he is a really nice elder from sri lanka.  i replaced him when i went to sandakan.  he can't stay in malaysia for very long so he's been in singapore for the last 15 months.  he was there all six months i was there.  i really like him.  he is like 27 i think.  he is the only member of the church in his family.  actually his family doesn't know he's on a mission.  actually his family doesn't know he is a christian.  ha ha.  he is an inspiration.  he is really nice and a really hard worker.  i hope one day i can meet him again.  


now i am in KL.  like i said tomorrow is zone conference.  elder gong from the 70 and someone from the young men general presidency is coming.   it should be pretty good. 

     well sorry this letter is so long and random.  i feel like i rambled a lot.  hope you followed it.  i checked out the old blog.  it looks awesome!  good work mom.  can you email me the password so i can add some stuff?  i love you all.  thanks for your support and prayers.  say hi to everyone.  i'll report on what profound things president tells us at zone conference.  until next week!

     elder petersen