last email. hmm weird. i remember sitting in the mtc two years ago pounding out an email in the short time they gave me. so long ago. so much has happened since then. well i don't have a whole lot to say. my time is short. this week flew by. i'm scared ha ha. it is kind of sad that pretty soon i'm going to wake up and not be in malaysia. i can't even imagine it.
well i just want to share one thing really. last saturday and sunday was district conference. it was so fun. a lot of members from sandakan and tawau came and all of the elders as well. ning's family from sandakan, minus ning, was all there as well as joshua and kimberly who we also taught and baptized. i was so happy to see everyone. the saturday night adult session was extremely moving for some reason. it's hard to describe. i can't put into words what i actually felt so i don't know if it's worth it to tell you ha ha. but the meeting started out pretty good. after the first few speakers was a musical number. it was done by the sandakan choir. torch tabiar was on the piano and all of the youth were lined up all dressed in white. they sang "how great thou art". it just hit me hard. rayne ning started out by singing the first verse and everyone joined in on the chorus. then jackson tabiar sang solo the second verse with everyone joining again on the chorus. the third verse was sang by ebee with everyone on the chorus and the fourth was all three of them with everyone on the chorus. it was just way way pretty. each verse got louder and more powerful. it was just really touching to see 7 of my converts standing there singing this beautiful song. they sang it so good and the words are so moving. after they all sat down and i snapped out of it is when i started to get emotional. i just couldn't stop crying for very long ha ha. all of the speakers talked about when they met the missionaries and i just thought about all my converts from sandakan and when we first started teaching them and their families. i am so thankful for the experiences i had there. i really feel like that is one place where i made a huge difference. i feel like the people i met there really changed me as well. i just hope they can stay strong in the gospel. i always pray for it. i hope that they really mean the words that they sang in that choir. in malay it says "aku memuji kebesaran mu, Juruselamat ya Allah ku, aku memuji kebesaran Mu, betapa agung nama Mu".
like i said i'm extremely thankful for the experiences that i've had out here. the mission has been hard, but i've had some of the most spiritual experiences out here of my life. i've learned so much. the greatest thing has been mostly the people. i've met some high quality people. that is irreplaceable. thanks for everything. i love you guys so much. after thinking about all of the people i've met on my mission and how much i love them my thoughts turned to you guys. it's going to be crazy to meet you. i really miss you guys and i'm glad that you are all strong in the gospel. that's what brings me the most joy of anything on my mission, meeting families that all stay strong in the gospel. i just can't imagine what it is going to be like to meet these people again. and i promise you i will meet them again. it will be glorious.
well that's all. if you want to know anything else just wait till next wednesday. i fly into singapore on monday, and wednesday morning i fly out. so i'll have some time there. tuesday i might email so if you email me, email me a day early. so i guess this isn't yet my last email because i will send something out next week. alright well have a good week. enjoy conference. i'm so jealous. say hi to everyone!
elder petersen
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