Dear Family,

Nothing too exciting happened this week.  Last week for Pday we went into KL and I found this fancy shop where a man from Terenganu hand makes fancy Songkets and Songkoks, as well as sarungs.  That probably means nothing to you, but they are traditional malay clothes.  Everyone wears them on fridays, which is the Hari Jumaat (their worship day).  Anyway, usually you can buy cheap, not so good looking ones.  But this guy is different.  He had some that were over 20,000RM!  His family is known for theirs, and they make them for several of the Malay sultans.  So..... I have to buy one.  A cheaper one, of course.  I'm telling myself it is ok because I haven't gotten myself any other souvenirs.  And I tried it on and it looked so cool!  

We had a lot of meetings this week.  We had zone meeting... which took all tuesday.  It went so late that we had to cancel an appointment.... but, something cool happened because of that.  As we were waiting by the bus stop to Klang, I noticed a girl laughing at us (we were sweating pretty good).  We started to talk to her, and asked where she was going.  We talked with her all the way back to Klang.  It turns out that she works in the PJ Hilton Hotel, as a pastry chef.  We gave her a card with our number, and told her to visit mormon.org.  We kind of forgot about her.   Then, on Thursday, President Mains came to KL for New Missionary training (elder stahle.  I'll talk about that later)  THat also went late, and as we were getting ready to go back, we got an SMS from an unknown number.  It turns out, that it was from that girl, and she was asking if we were heading out to Klang.  We ran to the bus stop (way more sweaty than the first time she saw us) and talked with her the rest of the way. We gave her a book of mormon, and set up a return appointment.  It was nice, we met her with her two other friends in Klang.  They're around our age, so we had to make sure our purpose was very clear.  I was amazed that they completely understood that, and they were legitimately interested in the message.  We'll see how it goes.

So yes, President Mains came to KL.  It was a great training, and always good to have President around.  He is a good example.  And he always stresses obedience.  His insight always seems to blow me away.  Anyway, we learned again that obedience goes way beyond missionary life.  Good day.

Our week just seemed to be very slow.  Everyone seemed to fall through. 

We had an investigator ask what the difference was between Karma and Grace, because, according to him, that is the biggest difference between Buddhism and Christianity.  I have spent quite some time thinking about it, and I have learned a lot.  I think we take for granted what it really means when we say that through Jesus Christ, we can be saved.  I bet most of the people in the Christian world who profess that don't have half the idea of what they are saying.  It's really interesting to put the Atonement in a "karma" context.  I like President Packer's story of the debtor.  I think about it, and that to every action there is a reaction.  To every choice, a consequence.  It's like when we burn a log, the log doesn't disappear, not one particle is destroyed or unaccounted for.  It's the same with us.  The more I think about it, the more significant the idea of a savior becomes.  In true to the faith, it states that one does not realize they desire food until they feel hungry. that's why it's typically only those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit that will truly be able to gain access to this 'grace'.  I don't know if that made any sense, but it has helped me.

By the way, Elder Chan's picture is in the Ensign!  Elder Stahle's mom sent one, and I was reading it.... and then i saw it!  What are the odds?  

I don't have much else to say....

Every Sunday night I have to do reporting with all the missionaries in my district.  It usually takes almost an hour an a half, but I really like it.  It's nice to talk to the missionaries in the district.  They've been out longer than me, and have some great insight and advice.  Plus they're fun to talk to.  So that was a good part about yesterday.  

I'm realizing that my time in KL is probably not going to be much longer.... which makes me said.  I realize there is a lot of stuff I need to get done here before I go, with regards to missionary work, stuff for the next elders, food, etc.  Time to crack down... again...

Ok that's all 

Elder Robinson

ssllloooowwww week

Dear Family,

probably the slowest week of my life.  Last weekend, Elder Stahle was feeling sick.  After living with Eric for almost 18 years, I didn't believe him.  We were out to dinner with an investigator and some members, when he just looked terrible, and was coughing up a lung.  So, on Tuesday, he asked if we could stay in.  I admit, I was annoyed, but he did look pretty bad.  Well, it didn't get any better on Wednesday, and he kept asking me if I would take him to a doctor.  First off, I have no idea where to find a doctor here.  After a while of calling/searching, we find a private hospital and take him there.  Turns out he has some type of internal infection, high white blood count, fever, sores in his throat, ridiculously bad cough, and a bunch of other symptoms.  So....... needless to say, this entire week has been helping him get better..... 

That translates into.... I stayed inside the apartment all week.  I don't know if I've ever been as close to going insane.  It's slightly funny that this month, President has asked us to really study from chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel, which is: How to use time wisely?

It was neat for me to learn how to do just that.... use my time wisely.  This week was definitely a curveball, especially because pretty much all missionary work was put on hold.  Yet, we still have the commandment to use time wisely.  The theme of that chapter is to always focus on our purpose as a missionary, and to use our time accordingly to make this purpose come to pass.  I learned how to be creative, and explore new options of using time wisely.  I took dad's challenge of learning a lot of new words every day, so my vocabulary has increased a lot this week!  I also have almost read 1/4 of the new testament in Indonesian.  Lots of time for journal writing, calling investigators, etc.  

Just when I thought we were giong to leave the house to get food, Sis. Sophie comes to save the day by bringing us delicious take out.... for 5 days.  Blessing?  Curse?  I'll stick with blessing.  She is like our mom here for sure.  I think we're going to do something for her for mother's day.

ALso, for next week, we will probably try to skype around 11:00AM on Monday, May 13th, Kuala Lumpur time.  I don't know exactly what time that is for you guys, I think around 9:00PM on Sunday night?  

I really don't have a lot to say... because not a lot happened.  OH wait!

So yesterday was the elections for Prime Minister (Perdana Menteri) in Malaysia.  I guess the BN (barisan nasional) has been in power since malaysia began, and this election is forcasted to overthrow the BN.  So it has been very heated.  So much so that missionaries were not allowed to leave the house yesterday, except for church, and all missionaries in Selangor (that includes me o.O) are not supposed to leave the house today.... I didn't get that memo until I came to the email place.  I guess BN 'won', but everyone knows it was a fraud, so apparently people are getting ready to fight back.  It happened in the 1960's, and the govt. brought tanks in and shot anyone in the streets after dark.  Needless to say, all the ward members don't want us outside.  It looks like an average day to me though.... we'll probably head back to the house and stay put.  

Church was really good yesterady.  We usually have fast sundays with the SUbang Jaya branch in PJ, but we had it in Klang this week.  It was nice to hear the testimonies from our little group (there were 17 people there yesterday, including investigators).  Elder Chan told us the story of how he got called to be an Area Seventy.  He is the first general authority EVER in Malaysian history.  And it was while I was here, in my group ^___^  He is awesome.  He has a son in the mission who I know pretty well.  ANd his wife made Elder Stahle and I a carrot cake yesterday :)

a bunch of missionaries are leaving this thursday.  Almost a quarter of our mission!  A lot of fun Elders leaving.  

Anyway, that's all I have for today.  Hopefully this week is more exciting/productive!  I'll talk to you all next week

Elder Robinson