FUN WEEK

Dear Family,

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  It was a pretty fun birthday.  We were actually on exchanges with the Elders down in Malacca on thursday to friday, so that was fun.  The Malacca elders were teaching some people in chinese, and I was able to put my few words in.  They're a bunch of great elders down there.  They're teaching a chinese lady who owns a ton of restaurants and boutiques around West Malaysia, and when she asked how old I was, I said, "well, tomorrow I'll be 21!" She got excited and took us all out to one of her restaurants!  It was an organic vegetarian place, but the food was good and plentiful!  and FREE (<- usually determines how good a meal really is).  On my birthday, I woke up early to go on a run through the rice paddy fields, because last time I didn't get a picture, and when I got there, they had already been harvested and now it looked just like a big muddy swamp :/ oh well, had a nice run, and got to see some more of Malacca.  We planned on leaving Malacca at 12:00, but no one informed us that it was also the Sultan of Malacca's birthday, so everyone was off work/school, so we ended up being stuck at the bus depot for most of the day trying to get a bus back.  We got back to KL and had a nice appointment with Padmah.  The Senior Couples (Howells) are making me a pumpkin pie for district meeting on tuesday ^__^

I got a package in the mail from Chelsea, that was filled with fun gifts, but the best was a package full of letters from all my friends back home!  It was great to read all of them.
what else happened.

Speaking of public holidays.... this wednesday is Hari Raya Haji Qurban, so all the Muslims will be offering an animal sacrifice.  There are lots of cows being brought in, and I guess the 10th day of the 10th month of the Muslim Calendar commemorates when the Prophet "Ibrahim" went to sacrifice his son "Ismail" and God provided a ram.  They will sacrifice all the animals, and then make it into Beef Rendang (delicious). Only Muslims can partake of the rendang, so I won't get to eat any :(

It was nice to see part of conference.  We didn't watch it all, but the portions we did see were really good.  It seemed like there was a lot of emphasis placed on members reaching out and doing more.  I also felt like there was emphasis on the basics, especially the Gospel.  I've noticed that with all the things missionaries are supposed to teach/do, sometimes we forget that the most important thing we share is the Jesus Christ's Gospel.  Faith, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  If everyone could understand these principles, I think the world would be a much different place.  I guess that's where we come in!  President Mains invited us all to look for opportunities to repent, especially the mission leaders.  It's funny how after he said that, opportunities seem to come up right and left.  It takes a lot!

It is very exciting to be here on a mission.  I can't believe it's already been a year since Elder Bodhaine was making me breakfast for my birthday in Miri!  I'm really enjoying it, especially the people we get to meet and mix with (missionaries included!)  I've been looking through my journal over the past year and reading about all the experiences and such... good times.  I've been very fortunate/blessed to have had all the experiences that I have had in this life.  The best part is that I still have a lot more to go!!  I've noticed that when you are prepared, doing the right things, and serving others, time isn't such a bad thing, but more like a conveyer belt that brings more interesting things to you. 

Hope you're having a good week.  This week has flown by, and I can't think of what else you might want to hear.

ok Bai
Elder Robinson