Hello Mom/Dad,

Another good week in Miri!  I can't remember anything to write now!  erghh.

hmm

Yesterday was Fast Sunday, which is really hard because we sweat so much biking to church.  We had a break the fast at the Senior Couple's house.  We had spaghetti with meat (not sure what kind.... all of it here in Malaysia is a little funky), and "I usually don't like spaghetti, but I'll eat this!" sound familiar?  It was very good.  And we all ate a ton of it.  Sister Hodder made her pineapple cake, which is SO GOOD.  I may have her email the recipe to you.  She might make it for my birthday.  My companion's birthday is on Friday, and Elder Martin (another senior couple)'s birthday is on friday too.  We may have quite the celebration.  She also bought a bunch of local fruit, which we tried which was good.

Chumpedak: Big green and spiky, when it was opened, it smelled a little like dead animal.  Inside looks like what I assume the inside of an Alien looks like.  Strings, juices, bulbs, blobs, etc.  It tasted a little like papaya (the bulb part) and had a little bit of a gamey after taste.

DURIAN!!!!  We tried durian!  I actually liked it.  It smells like rotten onions, and depending on the bite, tastes a little like that.  It is expensive, but the texture is like pudding.  It is very rich and creamy.  I kind of liked it.  Sister Hodder took one bite, started crying, spit it out on her plate, and scraped her tongue with her knife.  It was so funny.  They got it on video.

Jack Fruit: remember when Eric made us get that in Hawaii??  It was a lot better than ours there.  It is sweet, and it reminded me a lot of the texture of sweet peas.  Hard to describe the flavor.

Rambutan:  this is pretty much just laichee, but everyone claims it is actually different..... I don't think so..... 

what else....

We have a zone conference in Singapore next week for 3 days, so I'm excited for that.  I told myself I would treat myself to a good birthday meal there ^___^  Everyone from Miri, Bintulu, and Sabah are going to be there.  So I will see elder mayo again!  We're excited, and already planning what we're going to do!  

I have the street address to the house:

2919 Jalan Berembang 2, Pujut 7, Miri, Sarawak, 98000 Malaysia

you can ship stuff here!  as well as letters too.  There have been rumors of stuff getting lost in the mail.... but I'm willing to take the risk!  Actually, I guess you guys would be since you're mailing the stuff.

The missionary work is coming along here.  One of our investigators, who we met since I've been here, came to church for the first time yesterday.  It was cool to see a Malaysian fast and testimony meeting.  I understood a lot, when they spoke Malay....I hope he understood what it was.  We're meeting with him tomorrow.  There are soo many baptized members here, but only a few come to church.  It reminds me of the parable of the sower.  A lot of seeds are thrown onto the grown, but some of them are in rocky soil.  Yes, some roots do take up, and the seed will sprout.  The problem is, when the sun comes up, and the heat gets turned up, these sprouts wither away.  It is the same thing here. I really wonder how much of the missionary work here has been on helping them get a desire to become like Christ, and not just a hangout on sunday afternoons.  That is something that I have been trying to get at in our lessons, no matter how much it bugs my companion.  I like to ask them questions about the 'whys' and 'hows', and although it may halt the lesson a bit, it shows that they really don't understand it.  THe cool thing is that there are several members here who really understand the gospel.  The live it and show it in there church service and lives.  I wish the other members would see it, and try to put it into practice.  Once we show our investigators how important the gospel is, and how it can truly change lives, then it is up to them to want to continue learning, to want to be baptized, and to want to endure to the end.  If they don't want it, it doesn't happen.

These people really want the purpose of gospel, you can just tell.  THey come home from work, and just rest, only to go to work again tomorrow.  Living is just a means of survival.  The church has given them reasons to live.  Reasons to work everyday.  Reasons to care for there children, and steer them towards success and progress.  I hope the people here will soon realize that they have great purpose in their lives, and they have an even greater potential than they could ever realize.  

^^^^ A lot easier said than done.....

I almost forgot.  On Saturday, we went to the Mid-Autumn Festival at the house of the Chinese Group leader.  We ate moon cakes, and a bunch of yummy chinese food.  We lit candles and lanterns (one caught fire and made a little bit of a scene) and enjoyed all the other cultural aspects of it.  Not a fan of the Chicken gizzard, however......  

The Chinese group is very small, but they are so nice and smart.  Even though we couldn't communicate really well, they were so happy and made that clear, that they were able to give the missionaries something.

We went to a new part of our area called Taman Tungku, and found a bunch of people willing to listen, and willing to let us return.  It is really far away from our house, but it is so worth it to have people actually talk to us.  A strong member lives out there, and gave us horlicks (like a malt drink, that is so good).  

I am jealous about all the fall weather you guys are experiencing.  according to weather reports, it always feels like 100 degrees here.  You can tell which days are more humid than others by whether you are sweating when you reach the end of the drive way, or when you open the door.  It's a good thing we drink tons of water.  OH, and we drink tons of Soy milk.  There is no dairy here really, so everything is soy.  I've learned to love soy milk, and buy several boxes every week.  

I don't know what else to include in this...

That's crazy to here about the new missionary age.  I was going to ask what Eric thought about it.  I think it would be cool to go right out of high school.  I probably won't remember anything I learned in my classes.  If you're ready to go, just go.  If not, get ready.

I don't think we'll get conference for atleast a couple more weeks.  They get DVD's in the mail... so whenever that comes.  I wonder how many people will come to the church and watch them.........

Make sure Dad gets a good car, and not some yucky one.  

I filled out that absentee ballot, but I'm not sure how that's going to work.  I assume I need to do that fairly soon, right?  Considering its in a month.....

I haven't opened the birthday cards yet, so I will have somehting on my birthday.  Eat lots of pumpkin pie!!!!!  That sounds soo good right now.  

Ok, that's all I have for now, I may send another email in a second.

KK sampai nanti

Elder Robinson