Thank you for resolving the school issue. I thought that had previously been worked out- my companion told me he talked to President and that I was already taken care of.... -________-
This was the longest week of the mission I think. It was so hectic. It was fantastic though. Too much to write. I have a bunch of pictures.
On Monday we went downtown and visited the Singapore National Museum- it was def in the top 5 Pday activities I've done on my mission. I've been determined on going for a long time, and a bunch missionaries were following us... so I dragged them all there. There were free audio visual guides, and I recommended that all the ELders/Sisters get them... only a few listened... The entire museum revolved around the electronic guides, so we had a trail of whining elders for several hours. I was content though. Hopefully they got some culture out of it. We live in the coolest place. Singapore has such a cool history and background, honestly the coolest place.
The following morning we flew to Kuala Lumpur with the Mains to give a New Missionary Training. It went really well, and I felt very uplifted afterwards. We were able to have lunch with the Mains and chat for a long time, which was nice- something we rarely get. Immediately after the training ended (6:00PM) we had to race over to the airport. Whenever we go on exchanges, we end up running a courier service for all the mail/parcels that come into Singapore, so we were trying to run through trainstations with giant heavy bags... bad idea. Our flight ended up being delayed (go figure). We didn't land in Kota Kinabalu until 12:00, and didn't make it to the Zone Leaders house until around 12:45- they were already all asleep. When the alarm went off at 7:00, the elders told me we only had 10 minutes before we needed to leave for a funeral, so I frantically put myself together... The senior couple (Allens) picked us up, and we went to a members house (the member told us to be there by 8, without telling us the funeral didn't start until 10:00....) This member is hilarious, and had prepared breakfast for us. It was kind of bland Bubur (rice porridge) so I asked if she had some sambal (malaysian spicy sauce they use in everything). She handed me some homemade kind, which I took a small spoonful of... she freaked out and said, "too much too much! You won't be able to handle it!" I pulled a Dad and thought I knew better.... I instantly began sweating and was hot the rest of the day. She kept bringing strange food out of the kitchen, one was Sego Worm... an east malaysian delicacy.... I'll attach the picture. They're giant larvae... you're supposed to eat them alive, but I had to kill mine first before I put it into my mouth... The funeral was interesting. It was a cowboy themed funeral...? of a member's father. They sang several spirituals set to the tune of home on the range and amazing grace... hehe.... Nice service... very hot.
I spent the day with two younger Elders, and had a great time. They're so diligent and it showed in all the success they're having. It was fun to teach people, and help the missionaries see the importance of strong commitments. I was so tired throughout all the day though, I felt bad! The next day we trained the Zone Leaders and spent some time checking houses. Around 5:00PM we headed to the KK airport, and found that the taxi driver remembered who I was. He was a nice muslim man that we used to use when I served there. Our flight was delayed... so we spent some time reading in the airport for a while. We flew from KK to KL, and on the flight I sat next to a man named Muhammed Arif Hakimi... we started talking and he then went on to give me a lesson in writing Jawi (classic written malay using Arab characters) I got pretty good at writing my name! We almost missed our flight from KL to Penang, so we were those guys running through the airport.... We landed on Penang Island around 11:00PM, where a member picked us up and drove us to the Zone Leaders house. Elder Ung stayed in the same room with me in the MTC, he's great. They were so hospitable. THey made us brownies and pancakes for breakfast the following day! It was Elder Toney's turn to follow the Zone Leaders, so early that morning I took a taxi to Georgetown to catch a ferry to meet the other elders. On my way to the fairy, I passed a sign saying "Khoo Kongsi House: 400m" (I recently saw a picture saying it was a must see/UNESCO world heritage site) so without thinking I told the taxi to turn. The driver left the meter running while I sprinted through this awesome Chinese Clan house and tried to take as many pictures as I could. Supposedly it compares with the Imperial Palace in China. Penang is the coolest place. I want to finish my mission there. I love the people and the whole area... so cool! I then took the ferry across the strait to meet up with Elder Mayo, who is serving in Butterworth. He is so funny and a great example. He works so well with the members and makes everyone around him happy. He's also amazing at singing (I forgot that, until I heard him again!) It was fun to ride bikes around with him, teach some great people. I learned a lot. It's a great experience to go with other missionaries from our MTC group and see how they've changed, and also to see what skills/experiences they've picked up along the way. We ended up pillow talking late... great to catch up! The following morning, I took the ferry back to Penang Island where a member picked me up and drove me to where my comp and the ZLs were eating lunch. Supposedly Penang was voted the top place for food in the world... I believe it. We went to the world famous Cendol place, ate Penang Laksa, and then went to Fatty Loh's, which is supposed to be the best chicken rice in malaysia (i agree). Afterwards, we had our Zone Leader Training which went really well. It's interesting to see how different all the Zone Leaders are, and how each one of them have such good ideas on so many different things. I realized that our job is less of coming up with new ideas, but rather piecing together the mission's and working with President to make them happen. We flew back to Singapore on Saturday late afternoon, and had to race over to a members home for a dinner appointment. Such a nice family- they had wanted to introduce us to their housemates, but they left last minute, so we ended up sharing the message with them and having fillippino food with them.
Yesterday was a nice Sunday. SHeila couldn't come to the 12:00 service, so we went to the 9:00 Toa Payoh Ward sacrament meeting... for some reason, a bunch of 3rd Ward members were there, so it worked out perfectly! Sheila is doing well, and is excited towards her baptism preparation. She is having a lot of problems with her son, and it's taking a toll on her. Miraculously enough, there was a fireside for parenting/family at the Singapore Stake Center put on by the Eyres (member family, been on the Today SHow, Oprah, GMA, NYTimes best sellers) for working with families. She came to that, sat with the filippino members, and had a good time. It was incredibly well done. We had to leave early to make it to another appointment, which was also very nice.
I feel like I gave more of an itinerary for what last week was as opposed to anything spiritual/what I gained from it all. I'm so tired. And this week is Zone Conference, so we have all the missionaries from the whole mission coming into Singapore in 3 different groups spread throughout the week. I don't think we'll be getting much of a pday today.
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