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
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