A Little Break!!

Mom!

     This week we got a well needed break! We went to Singapore for zone conference and it was amazing!! I ate Hardee's and shhh--don't tell dad--but I bought a Monster drink just for old times sake. (Don't worry Elder, your secret is safe with me! - Martha)  But don't worry mom, I totally am not addicted.  That was my first Monster drink in like. . .awhile.  Zone Conference was really great!  I loved seeing all my friends. My companion gave his "dying testimony"-- his last testimony in ZC before going home. He's sooo ready to leave!! 

     We didn't have transfers this week.  I had the dates wrong because transfers are still a week and a half  away.  Since Sabbah (East Malaysia is divided into two parts Sarawak and Sabbah--I am in Sarawak) is having major terrorist problems, they denied entrance to every single white person trying to get back into Sabbah.  So now we can only send local missionaries into Sabbah.  That will probably mean that there will be a lot more transfers coming up in Miri.  

     Even though we kind of had a week off, we were still able to get in a couple of days of good work! One of the member's drains on the outside of his house was clogged.  It was probably clogged due to the twenty yards of dirt blocking his drain!!   So we put on our flip-flops--every Malaysian does work in flip-flops, there is no such thing as work boots--and went to work. We spent two separate weekends with picks destroying the land and then shoveling the dirt into a wheelbarrow.  We then wheelbarrowed the dirt to his neighbor's house who wants to use the dirt for something. Every time that I  wheelbarrowed the dirt over to the neighbor, he would greet me with a coconut in his left hand and a huge machete in his right.  He'd cut off the top of a coconut, give it to me, and say rehat  (rest); so, I would sit there and drink the air kelapa (coconut water).  By the end of the day, I was so sick! I think that I drank and ate like 6 coconuts! But I also realized that day how Malaysian I really am.  I was sitting there covered in mud and dirt, wearing my flip-flops, and drinking a fresh coconut that had just been cut.  I was like "Wow, I am pretty much a local now!" 

     This week, we also taught our part-member family (the husband who is being baptized at the end of the month and has the sons that are in jail).  We taught them about tithing and fast offerings. We told them that when you pay tithing and fast offerings, God will open up the windows of heaven, just like it says in the scriptures. Their youngest son--who is 13, but looks like he is 5--is just hilarious! The next day, we had a meeting with the Branch President and we were discussing the branch goals (baptisms, church attendance, etc).   The youngest son came running in the room, gave the Branch President his tithing, and then ran back outside. I think he took the "open the windows of heaven" a little too literally!  Lets see...oh, and I ate Stingray this week...not bad, not bad at all.


     You're already working on my birthday box?  I can get a lot of stuff over here, but here is my list so far...Insanity, candy (no gum), teeth whiting strips (my teeth are still beautiful, but their tooth paste here is mediocre at best), Cholulu Hot Sauce, popcorn, and a framed picture of the family! That's all that I can think of now!! 

     I miss you guys!!  I miss my bedroom sooo much!! I miss nice comfortable carpet!! The don't have carpet in Malaysia, it's all tile, concrete, or dirt!  I have yet to step foot on carpet!!  Love you momma! It is only like a month and some change left before we get to Skype!!!

Elder Madsen