Monday, January 28, 2013




Best Week Ever #290348

Dear Family, 

Once again, this was the best week ever.  i don't know how I'm going to write half of it, but here goes nothing.  

I'll start with last Pday.  We got a random call from Elder Crum who said he was in KL, so of course we flew over there.  It turned out that he got to spend the day in KL on his way back from Singapore (he got transferred to Singapore this week, and is now living in a house with Elder Bodhaine-- very jealous, that would be the most fun house in the mission).  Anyways, we picked them up from the LRT and (once again) went to China town.  After a while, his companion wanted to see the National Mosque, so we decided to go over since it was so close.  It was a very cool experience.  We were able to walk around the giant mosque, and see al the stuff with it.  It was the first place in Malaysia I've felt comfortable walking with my shoes off.  After a little while of walking around, a man comes up to us and addresses us as missionaries.  It turns out this guy is some head guy of the Malaysian mosques, but used to live in Australia and went to stake dances (random).  Well, we start talking, and this guy gives us the private tour of the whole place.  It was really cool because we were able to openly ask him questions about the religion- questions and issues that we confront everyday- and he was really willing to give us straight answers.  I learned a lot about their church.  I feel like I better understand the majority of the population now.  He also gave us 234752 pamphletes about islam and us each our own English version of the Qur'an (which I'm not even sure if the mission allows us to have those..... oh well, cool souvenir).  Although I learned a lot from him, the more I learned, the more disappointed I was with the whole thing.  From the government, to the teachings, it just was disappointing.  I don't know how one can go in with an open mind, and not find it disappointing.  We then walked over to Merdeka Square and took pictures.  ( I posted a bunch of pictures on the home server)

Speaking of Islam, the Sultan of Selangor just issued a decree that the word "Allah" is now illegal to be used in any other faith in Malaysia except Islam.  We didn't think anything of it, until we went to the service center in KL and spoke with some of the office staff there.  They said that all church materials are going to be fined because of it now.  The Indonesian Book of Mormon uses Allah, so they're going to have to make sure the new Malay one uses "Tuhan" instead, which translates to "Lord".  The kind of obnoxious thing about this all is that Allah just means God.  Everyone here uses it.  Not exclusively Islam.  There was an incident that made national headlines a couple weeks ago of some Muslim college students in Penang receiving a bible.  National Headlines for that?  An ongoing investigation for that?  Wow.  

We spent a lot of the week worrying about the new building here, and getting it ready.  Pretty much all saturday night was spent cleaning the chapel.  All of the chairs the church bought had to be completely unscrewed to get the plastic off, so Elder Trotter and I spent a lot of time doing that with some of the members.  The chapel is in a 1200 sq. ft. shop lot, behind a gas station, sandwiched between 2 chinese restaurants.  You can smell fried rice in the building.  Plain white walls, blue carpets, a pulpit, and chairs.  We were so nervous about the whole thing.  We knew something was going to go wrong, we just couldn't figure out what it was going to be. 

So yesterday morning came, and it could not have been better!  We had 38 people show up!  For a GROUP!  19 (half of the congregation) only spoke Bahasa!  In Semenanjung, that is unheard of.  8 of those 19 were investigators.  There is a little bit of a miracle story for each one of those.  It was such a nice, humble meeting.  Elder Trotter and I blessed the Sacrament in Bahasa, one of the speakers was in English, and Elder Trotter did the other in Bahasa.  We then split into an English sunday school, and a Bahasa one, where Elder Trotter and I taught.  Everyone talked about how much they felt comfortable and at home at church.  Most of the bahasa speakers have felt uncomfortable traveling so far to go to church, in a language they don't understand, and with so many people that dont' really try to relate to them.  That's not the case in Klang.  We got the dream team as far as members are concerned.  The few members that we have here are some of the strongest in Malaysia, and that's why we got a group out here in the first place.  The first counselor in the Mission Presidency, President Chan, is in the group.  We have Dennis and Joanna ( a Chinese and Filipino couple) who are so great, graduated from BYUH, and literally built the chapel.  the Wongs, who are awesome.  And the Ramas as well.  We are all such a mix.  Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Penan, Sarawak, Sabahan, and the two white elders.  Even with all of the language confusion, EVERYONE was so willing to work together so that everybody could understand.  I don't think I've ever seen a church work so well together.  We have the english speakers wanting to help teach english, and wanting even more to learn Bahasa (also unheard of in Semenanjung).  

I really do think this group is going to get big quick.  Elder Trotter and I were talking about how this area is quite literally the best area in the mission.  We get to use Bahasa, we get to open a new area, we have smarter investigators (Semenanjung investigators), we are close to KL without being in it, we have (although a small group) the strongest members in Malaysia willing to help out at every turn, good food, and tons of cool cultural stuff to see.  We are so lucky.  In the missionary hand book is says that you are specifically assigned to serve in your respective areas.  I love it.  

I have written so much about it in my journal, and to President Mains, that I'm kind of burned out thinking about it as of right now.  Sorry this email is kind of dull.  

We only get half a pday today.  We have a service project later today, and spent the other half of our pday on saturday.  The whole KL district went to Batu Caves as saw the Thaipusam festival.  It was really cool, bizarre, and at points disturbing.  I posted a few pictures.  

I wish I could convey how happy we have felt that past 24 hours.  Although this place is the best, it is also a lot of work.  Finding the people is so hard, and finding the ones that will really last is even harder.  It seems like we will meet golden people, only to find that they are not truly prepared to receive it.  I think we come into the field thinking everyone will be just lining up to hear about this message, when the reality is that people are really prepared to hear and accept it.  I know I probably shouldn't write this, but after seeing a lot of the Islamic religious aspects on Monday, and the Hindu on Saturday, I am so thankful to know what I know.  I guarantee you someone somewhere will read this and accuse me of being some narrowminded, uncultured swine, but it is really true.  We are spoiled having this beautiful information laid before us.  It would be wasteful not to learn everything we can about it.  Don't believe me, try it out for yourself.  

Sorry this has been so scattered, hope you all have a good week!  
Elder Robinson

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Dear Family,

Before I  say anything, when I left the apartment this morning, there was a COOL BREEZE.  It shocked elder trotter and I.  We stood there for a while just to feel it.  Start to a good day.


Sounds like everybody had a fun week.  I don't have as much exciting news.  I am currently uploading some pictures from Singapore and ones that I have taken in Kuala Lumpur.  This is the first time we've had a computer where the USB drive works -______-

Last P-day we went into the city.  There is a big china town at a place called Pasar Seni, and we shopped around there for a bit.  They have really good fake everything.  So good, to the point where they had oakleys like mine and I could find NO difference between them.  Even down to the polarized lenses.... the only difference was that they were only 100RM.  I would not be surprised if it was stolen straight from the factory.  There was also a stand with hard rock cafe shirts, and since we kinda collect those I thought, "eh, I haven't purchased anything for myself" so I decided to get one.  I talked the guy down to a really cheap price (10RM) and buy it.  I take it home, and realize that this shirt might have fit me when I was in 5th Grade.  HOW I managed to overlook that was beyond me.  In Malaysia, they have a thing called "free size" which is their version of "one size fits all".... which they use to get white people to buy shirts that are too small for them... oh well, I can give it to someone when I get back.  We also went to the city center, took the cliche photos in front of the Petronas Towers (which all turned out horrible, but still fun), and got giant Pina Coladas at the KL Chilis (yes vicki, I am going to Chilis over here!) It was a fun day, but very strange seeing all of the white people.  We had a guy come up to us and ask us when the new revelation was coming....?  We gave him a pamphlete....  I think today we might be going to the KL zoo.  We might have our pday switched next week to saturday so that we can see the hindu thaipusm festival at Batu Caves.

Oh, another.... interesting.... thing happened this week.  It was that time again where we missionaries needed hair cuts, so we were looking for places to go, and a member told us about this Indian place.  I had never had an "indian" hair cut before.... He didn't speak any english, and very little malay.  He had a poster from the 1990's of different trendy hair cuts, and motioned for me to point to which one I wanted...... I went for the most conservative one there was...  So he starts going at it.  He used a straight blade for the whole thing!  I thought he was going to go sweeney todd on me at parts, because you could feel how sharp the knife was when he did the sides.  After he finished cutting, and there was very little hair left on my head, he got a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and sprayed it all over my head and face several times, then gave me a "massage"  (which was just him slapping my face, poking my temples, and jabbing his thumbs into my cheeks)  Then they grab your head a jerk it to crack your neck (I thought it was going to break my neck).  I left that barber shop sweating/anxious/and heart racing......

I got a letter from my friend Brandon Sonnenfeld a while ago, but I lost his address.  Can you send that to me?  He is on a mission in Brazil.

We have exciting news in that the Klang group will be opening this Sunday!  It has been a long time coming and everyone is so excited for it!  There are a lot of people that we are teaching out here that say they would like to come to church, but going all the way to Petaling Jaya is too far for them.  I completely understand.  We had a very frustrating saturday/sunday because we had a lot of investigators wanting to come to church, so we tried to get rides from the members.  You know, we try so hard to find people, to teach them and convince them of the value of the gospel, to convince them to come to church, even though it is in english, even though it is 3 hours (not to mention travel), with people they've never met, and after all of that, when all that has been done, we still get resistance from the members.  It was so frustrating.  Excuses.  Finally, we figure out a ride situation, and then some of the investigators have an emergency that won't allow them to come to church. oof.  

Even with that, it was an awesome day at church yesterday.  There was a speaker, his name is Bro. Moore, and he is in the district presidency (lives in the KL branch), and he gave an awesome talk.  He used DC 97:9, how God has planted a tree near a stream of pure water to bring forth precious fruit.  He told a little about himself.  He is a big wig for Conoco-Philips, and has lived in London, Madrid, Dubai, Jakarta, and now in Kuala Lumpur on business with his family (not to mention a multi-million dollar apartment in downtown KL...)  He says that every time he has moved, he has come to know that wherever we are planted, we can find that stream of pure water and bring forth precious fruit.  He made a bigger point that Heavenly Father has specifically planted us where we are.  I think about myself, and how lucky I am to be planted where I was/am.  The best family, the best upbringing, the best place.  and Then, I was blessed enough to be planted in Malaysia where (although I detest the government, toilets, and sweat) I am having the time of my life.  I really know that I have been planted here for a reason, and it helps me be so grateful for all of the little moments in my life here.  It also motivates me to make sure I am making the best of the situation God has given me.  Making sure that I am learning all that I can, making sure tha tI am working as hard as I can, and making sure that I am being the best that I can.  You know, it sounds cool to all of you guys back home that I am in Malaysia, but the people here too face the same issue.  It is easy to forget that we are planted in a specific place for a reason and that the stream of pure life is always so close.  Whether you are a business men in KL, a construction worker in the jungle, or just your average person in SLC, Heavenly Father has planted you there for a very specific reason, in the optimal circumstances for your growth and development.  I guess it is up to us to figure out how we can best make use of it.  I really liked that talk. 

I also had a good talk with President Dass yesterday at church.  He is the district president of the Kuala Lumpur district, and his fam kinda runs the show.  I think they are a punjabi/tamil mix.  Anyways, he was telling me that there is talk about Malaysia getting it's first stake here in KL.  He says he can't describe how excited he is for it.  He told me that Salt Lake has bought land and everything.  I remember in the MTC there was an animation where it showed the history of stakes in the church by showing a map with a dot appearing for every stake.  All the malay missionaries sat and watched as no dot appeared on Malaysia.  I remembered thinking how lucky we were to be a part of this pioneering effort.  THis was rekindled yesterday as Prez. Dass talked about it.  I think that would be so cool to see and be a part of.

We had one of our strong investigator families come to church yesterday, and they made so many friends there, and everyone was so nice.  

Side note: we have 0 food in the house, so when Sunday's come.... it always looks bleak.  BUT, every 3rd sunday everyone brings food for a social after church... thank goodness.  I realized the other day that I spend 2x as much RM on eating out here than i did in Miri.  THe food is so much better here.  Even if you don't get to eat as much, it is still worth it.  

I am super excited to get that package, hopefully there's some good stuff in it!

Bai
Elder RObinson


Saturday, January 19, 2013

Best Week Ever

Dear Family,

As you can tell by the title of this email, this week was the best week ever.  SO much crazy stuff happened.  So much so, that I'm not sure if I will have time to write it all.  I don't even know where to start.

Cool story about Beh.  He had to leave for Sarawak to do some electrical work over there.  We were way disappointed that we were not going to be able to teach him, but at least he was going to be coming back in a week.  Anyways, he comes back this week, and we ask him about going to church this week.  He told us, that while he was in Bintulu, he found the church and the elders, and asked them to continue teaching him.  At first we were very nervous about what church he went to.... but after calling the Bintulu elders, we found out that it really was the church that he found!  We didn't even think of telling him about finding the church in Bintulu, but yet he still went out of his way to find it.  He is very eager about learning more.  We're meeting with him later today.

On Monday, after pday stuff, we decided to go to these flats/apartments and go contacting, because we literally had nothing else to do.  Literally every other door had Muslim prayers on them, and the doors that we did end up knocking, were all muslim.  We spent hours trying to go through this place, because someone told us there was a christian in here.  After almost 3 hours of contacting like this, we came to the very last door (of course) and knocked it.  A woman answered the door, and in perfect english asked us to come in.  It turns out that this lady lived with her mom, who is 1/2 Iban, 1/2 French.  and her Dad was 1/2 British 1/2 Indian.  You cannot tell what race she is by looking at her.  Anyways, we taught a lesson in Bahasa (so that her Mom could understand) and secured a return appointment.  The funny thing is, when we asked where she went to church, she started describing the area..... well... the more she described the area, we finally realized it was 8 floors beneath us in OUR apartment building... again, of course it is.  We are meeting with her family again tomorrow.  

Speaking of our apartment.  Our bikes finally came from Miri.  The bikes have really helped the work here.  Klang is literally exploding because of all the work we've been able to do on our bikes. But that is for later.  Our apartment security guards will NOT open the gate for us when we come on our bikes.  They want us to come through this tiny entrance.  We went all the way up through the management, to the point where we are meeting with the board of directors for the place, JUST SO THEY CAN OPEN THE GATE FOR US.  #malaysiaproblems.  Apparently it is a huge deal to open this little gate, which can be done with the touch of a button, for a bicycle.  

On tuesday, we had very similar experience where we tracted all day and pretty much only found muslim people.  We don't know the city all that well yet, so we are still trying to figure out where we are going to find the Christians.  Well, we spent all night trying to find SOMEBODY.  Well, after a while, we decided to come home (this is before the bikes got here).  It takes us about an hour to walk back to our house.  Well, as we are walking, we suddenly hear "elders!  Elders!"  THis NEVER happens.  Especially in Klang.  We were both super surprised.  We looked and saw two men walking out of a bar.  One was so drunk, that he was about to fall over, and the other one was helping him towards us.  The man who was not drunk, came up to us and asked if we knew Elder Black.  Of course, we had no idea what he was talking about.  He went on to tell us that he was baptized in the 70's in Singapore, but has been inactive since the 90's.  He was very honest with us, and said, "look at me now, I just walked out of a bar."  We talked briefly, and then mentioned that the church was being opened in Klang (still not yet, hopefully by the end of the month).  He was so excited.  He wants us to meet with his wife and daughter (who are not baptized).  He gave us his number, address, and told us to contact him when he gets back next week from traveling.  (this whole time, his drunk friend is giving us hi fives and hugging us repeatedly).  He then got into his car, and drove off.  The rest of the walk home, I couldn't get over the fact that we ran into him.  Of all the possible things we could have done that night, of all the possible routes we took, of all the possible time we could have used, we managed to run into that 15 second window from when he left the bar to when he entered his car.  15 seconds.  It really made me think.  I thought about how Heavenly Father never forgot about this man.  Although he has been away from the church for almost 20 years, Heavenly Father still kept a close watch on him.  Our meeting is evidence of that.  It became so clear that we are never forgotten, no matter how long it seems we are on our own.  He will always prepare a way for us, but we have to be ready and willing to see and accept it.  I have high hopes for this family.  

Wednesday night.  After a long day of teaching and contacting, we were starving, so we decided to take a break from the malay and indian food, and go to a chinese hokker stand.  We decided to pick one (out of the 290384273u098 in Klang), and ordered some wan tan mee.  There were about 7 people there, and one of them walks up to us and asks where we were from.  We said AMerica.  He then freaked out, and said he had never met someone from America before.  He pulled up a chair, and everyone else there decided to join in on the conversation.  After we started talking a bit, he says, "Don't touch your money, I'm buying dinner"  we were happy about that!  But then, the waiters start bringing out tons of food and 100plus (malaysian soft drink).  After a while, we had wan tan mee, 3 cans of 100+ each, several pao, fried bean curd, sausage, thai satay stingray, and some other fried fish.  It was so good.  He then bought us curry mee and had it packaged so that we could have food the next day.  It was crazy.  We started talking to him about his life, and he told us that his wife had died not so long ago, and now he didn't have anything.  We gave him a plan of salvation pamphlete in Mandarin.  We was really interested (unusual for a chinese middle aged man).  He wanted to meet again, so we have an appointment for tonight.  

President Mains came to Kuala Lumpur the other day for interviews.  It went well.  He was very upset that we didn't have a church to meet in Klang yet.  He was told it was going to be done in November.  It's like 500 sq. ft., i don't understand what is taking so long.... ANyways, because he was here, Elder Crum and his companion had to take a bus to KL and spend the night.  He, of course, came out to Klang and we had the most fun night!  Again, waayyyyy too much pillow talk.  But it was so worth it.  He is spending the week in Singapore to see if they can fix his visa.  When we picked up Elder Crum from the KTM stop in Klang, we had  a member call us and ask if she could take us all to dinner.  Of course, we said yes.  She bought us a nice chinese dinner, where we had the best stingray (lots of stingray this week).  She also bought us the best mango I have ever eaten.  SHe is the same one who was in SLC.  The Tings are so awesome.  At church yesterday, she comes up to us and opens her bag to give us oreos, granola bars, and nectarines, because she "knows the missionaries are always hungry".  She also called last night at 10:00 and said "I made a lot of food, and wanted to know if I could give you some"  Of course, we said yes.  She spoils us.  They are thinking of buying a second home in Salt Lake, and she told me she expects us to show her around and be good to her there! haha.  

I'm running out of time.  

We also met a Penan/Chinese family that were uber excited to see us, and asked us (before we said anything) if we would be willing to come back and teach about Christianity.  Can.  We told her that we used to live in Miri, and she too was from Miri.  In fact, she went back two days ago, and while there we had her meet up with the Elders there.  They went to the hospital with her and blessed one of her relatives.  I'm excited for her to come back.  

Possibly the coolest story:  we were contacting one day, and knocked on a door with a picture of Jesus.  A smaller indian lady opened it, and seemed pretty freaked out to see two white guys there.  She almost slammed the door, when we started spurting out why were here.  She listened for a bit, and then said, "maybe when my husband gets home, we will talk about taking you two out for dinner"  That never happens on a door contact.  Well, sure enough, she texted back and asked if saturday night was ok.  We met them at the mall across the street from our house.  It was the coolest night.  THe husband is sooooo cool.  He speaks perfect English, and has the humor of an American.  THe jokes he made were highly politically incorrect = hilarious.  Anyways, he bought us a nice dinner, and the first question he asked was, "Elders, I want to know how you came to know God"  It was a really neat opportunity to share our testimony with him, especially in our own language, using whatever words we wanted.  After that, we asked him the same question.  For about an hour, he explained how he came to know God.  It was probably the most interesting story I have heard on my mission.  I wrote it all down in my journal.  Anyways, this man has spent years searching all types of world religions.  He has gone through phases of judaism, buddhism, islam, hinduism, but had a really powerful story about how he came to know God as Christians know it.  Probably the most interesting thing was the vocabulary he used.  Several times, he explained he had felt a "still, small voice, that he didn't heed to at once, but that cut him to the very center".  He talked about how, in his eyes, there were only 2 churches.  The church of God, or the church of the devil.  one or the other.  Has he already read 1 Nephi 13/14???  He talked about testimonies, and used the word testimonies.  If i hadn't known any better, I would have thought he had already received the lessons.  He also pointed out how blessed we are to have families, and how important families are in the eyes of God.  He talked about how he didn't attend any church, because all that he had tried, he "went into the churches, but Jesus was not there".  We had a great time, and a spiritual time with this family.  He wanted to know more, and asked if we could meet tomorrow (yesterday).  
We were at another appointment, when we got a text from him saying "we are at McDonald's by your apartment.  You can come now".  We raced over there on our bikes.  Elder Trotter and I were so nervous.  We were almost shaking.  We were nervous because this guy is really smart.  He knows the bible, and he knows his stuff.  We were so afraid of not saying the right things. Before we went into McDonald's, we said a prayer together, that we would be calm, and asked to be led as to what to say.  We were teaching the Restoration, which we knew would either go really well, or terribly.  It turns out, that for this family, it turned out perfectly.  We were teaching so well together, and he was asking such great questions.  The whole family was intently listening.  When we told him about the actual restoration, and Joseph Smith, he was not as surprised as we thought he would be.  We made it very clear that it wasn't us who he needed to believe, but that he needed to find that out for himself. He agreed whole heartedly.  We didn't fully explain the BOok of Mormon, and he said, "I don't want the book of mormon until you have explained it to me, so that I can have everything I need to know to fully test its truthfulness"  We were shocked.  I wish I had more time to tell you some of the funny stuff he said.  He is excited to learn more.

So, I've now used almost all my time.  If anything, I am so grateful for this week, and that heavenly father has not forgotten me, nor his children in this corner of the vineyard.  It is so loud in KL, so easy to get distracted, so hard to listen to what we really need to hear.  I guess that is the same in all the world today.  I'm trying to listen.  I'm trying to figure out where I need to go, and what I need to do.  It is so interesting how there is a plan for me, and that it is perfectly catered to help me learn and grow.  I absolutely love it here.  The people are so great, the food is so great, and the gospel is so great (what else do you need... really?)  

We're going into Kuala Lumpur CIty center today to see some sights.  Hopefully I have enough battery to take some pics

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Untuk Dia

Hello Family,

I hope everybody had a good new years.  We didn't end up going to KLCC because we would have been out WAY past curfew without anyway of getting back home (unless we wanted to pay for a 200RM taxi ride....)  We visited a family in Klang from Sabah, and then came back for the night.  I was surprised at how many fireworks there were, even out in Klang.  We live on the 9th floor of our apartment building, so we could look out into the valley and see some of them.  The only unfortunate thing was that there is a pretty deserted mall across the street from us, but EVERYONE decided to show up on new years and have a loud karaoke party out front.  So, all night long we heard Malaysians singing American and Asian pop songs.  That lasted until 3 almost.  Next day = very tired.  

We had another very tiring night this week.  BEcause the missionaries in Penang have until the 17th before they're kicked out of Malaysia, the mission is trying every trick in the book to get their passports cleared.  So, they did an experiment with an Elder (who is from cottonwood) where they sent him alone to Indonesia, and then brought him through the Kuala Lumpur Immigration, hoping they would give him the usual 3 month chop.  Well that didn't work.  So they still have until the 17th.  The whole point of that story was that we were the ones who picked him up from teh airport, and had him stay at our house until he could get a bus back up to penang.  Pillow talk way too late.  But it was cool hearing his experiences and he brought us souvenirs from Indo!  

The work is keeping us busy.  The transportation is such an issue here.  We ordered our bikes to be shipped from Sarawak weeks ago, and they just barely spent them.  We have been riding the buses, which backtrack a ton, are expensive, and take a long time.  We did the math, and found out it takes just as long to walk, and saves us the money.  So we have been walking to our appointments.  The past 3 nights, we have found ourselves over an hours walk away from our apartment.  On thursday, we tried contacting in an area called Taman Chi Liung, and ended up just spending several hours getting doors slammed in our faces.  At least it was overcast.  Our lesson after that went later than normal, and again, we were so far away from home.  There was no way we were going to be back at our house by 10:00PM.  Anyways, we started walking and after a while, all of a sudden, this tiny car pulls up next to us.  Two indian guys leaned out the window and asked if we wanted a ride.  Of course we jumped on that one!  They were very nice, and although it sounds weird, they offered us cigarettes (I thought it was pretty nice, even though we had zero interest in taking one).  So that was nice, and we got home relatively on time.  

OH.  COOL STORY!  So, I was at church yesterday (which we had to wake up early to get to, because we are over an hour away and the new church time for Subang Jaya is 9:00AM) and there was a family (who live in Klang) that I had never met before.  They start talking to me, because I'm the new missionary in their area, and they asked me where I was from.  I said salt lake, and they responded, "OH, we just got back from there, we were there for most of December!"  I guess the Ting family has some money.  Their teenage daughter starts showing me pictures, and then SHE STARTS SHOWING ME PICTURES OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!  I started getting really excited, and then she showed a picture of Vicki's house (from little ensign above it), and said she really liked this one.  I had a minor melt down after this.  I wish I had known them before so I could have them bring stuff back from you guys!  I guess they have a son who lives in Salt Lake.  

Elder Trotter and I are getting along fine.  We are completely different, but he keeps me entertained and abides by my rules :)  He is also really good at the language because he spent a lot of time in Sabah.  We teach a lot of Sabahans (Katazans and Dusins) because a lot of them immigrate from there to work here.  We have been trying to explore new areas for new investigators.  We stumbled upon this huge area of flats, and we have been contacting those a lot.  It is so nice because the people have NEVER seen the missionaries, so they are pretty nice about letting us in (unless they're chinese or indian usually).  Even the Malay people have been nice, like giving us food and pointing out which houses are Christian.  We will go through a whole building and find maybe 1-2 christian people.  Even though we're allowed to teach everyone but Muslims, it boils down to we pretty much only get to meet with Christians.  Other than our investigator Beh, who was previously Buddhist.  (we haven't seen him or his family this week, because he is out working in Sarawak for the week).    

Another thing with it out here in Klang is that everyone knows the best type of investigators are those that are referrals.  In our small Klang Group (which is supposed to open on the 20th), we have some really solid members.  The problem is, they're super busy and have become so into the routine of church that it seems like any hope of getting referrals out of them is hopeless.  We will try anyways.  See if you can help the missionaries out in Salt Lake at all, I'm sure they could use it.  Oh, I so I am 100% sure that our area is 2384723x bigger than those in SLC, but they get cars!  -______-

We had a cool experience contacting.  Everyone in Malaysia puts something on their door (ok, like 85% of the time) that tells you what race/religion they are.  The other day, we saw the little woven straw thing that Ibans use.  So we tried knocking, and they wouldn't answer.  We then started saying words in Iban (that we knew) and finally a lady answered the door.  We set up an appointment to meet wiht her family.  We came back and met with them, and they were all very interested.  It is nice finding the one family, after spending all day getting rejected.  We were SO close to getting them to come to church, but the fact that it would have taken them an hour and a half each way was a little too much for them.  Understandable, especially since they've met us 2x.  Next week I think they will want to come.  

I also got letters from Singapore.  One from Grandma, Annalyn, and President Fitts.  Tell them all thank you.  I'm trying to write some letters, but I can't find my address book..... so all my mail is temporarily put on hold....

If you are thinking of sending a package, can you buy one of the church issued picture books?  I think it is made for missionaries.  It has all the pictures of the old prophets, restoration, life of Jesus, modern day prophets, etc.  We use it a lot in teaching, and Elder Trotters' is really old and nappy.  Try the cookie spread again too, we'll see if Malaysian customs are less strict than Singapores...  and again, anything that is quick and easy to cook!

Elder Gee met Elder Haparai Hansen in france the other day!  

THat's all I have, 
Bai
Elder Robinson

PS, if you want to know the Pop culture scene in Malaysia, check out girls generation "bring the boys out", "untuk dia" najwa latif & sleeq, and Gangnam Style.   Every where we go we hear about these guys.  

PS (again) Dad got the new car??  I want to see pictures