July 7, 2014

 

HI FAMILY!!! <3

 

How is everyone?! I'm officially in Malaysia! It’s a complete 180 from Singapore! It's hot, not as humid, really dirty, and busy city life!! It's amazing though! So many beautiful mosques and temples, and the people are really humble! I'm in a Branch and my area is called Petaling Jaya (P.J) for short! And it's the BEST!!! We have a lot of expats (people from other countries America, UK, etc.) and so it's cool to see the mix of people! We have an AWEZOME branch President! He is from America and is such a laid back dude! Reminds me so much of pops! Anyway! I love our branch! They are the most beautiful people! <3 we have about 50-80 active members, so it's small, but we are getting there! We are hoping to get a stake in Malaysia!!! :) so last Monday in Singapore we had a big BR (book of remembrance) signing at East coast Park which was wayyy fun and sad to say goodbye to so many of the missionaries!!!! It’s crazy! The elders who had a year left when I arrived here are home now! It’s weird how fast time goes by sometimes! Anyway! I ate more Durian and LIKED IT!!!! Brother W. took us to get some, and he bought us TONS! haha so we ate a lot of durian, and our house smelt terrible! (Don’t worry Mom and Dad, when you come you'll try it ;)) We found an AWESOME new investigator, K. in Ang Mo Kio and he is SOLID!!! He was really opening up to us saying how he knows he has different problems and addictions and he wants to get rid of them; so it was an amazing opportunity to testify to him that this gospel can really bless his life! We went to visit the A. family and they are the CUTEST!!! The boys showed us the Gangnam style dance! It was the best thing of my life! I’m really going to miss AMK a lot! On Wednesday we went to lunch with P, Indian food, my FAV! We talked with her a lot about faith, set a baptism date with her and said we would fast and pray with her! It was really cool!!! She is AMAZING and I love her a lot! She works so hard for her boys and has a lot of faith! We also got to visit S, K and M! They are the best!!! We read 3 Nephi ch. 11 with them and really focused on Jesus Christ, it was such an amazing lesson! This is one of our goals with Sister Hillier and I, to use the BOM a lot and make sure we center EVERYTHING on Jesus Christ, because he is the center of absolutely EVERTHING!! :) SOTC we had a farewell party, it was really sweet! I love Ang Mo Kio and I learned so much from the members, recent converts, investigators, and a lot from my companions!

NOW!!!! I’m here in Malaysia with Sister Hillier the funniest, most sarcastic, hardworking, British person ever! I love her! I have had so much fun with her! We have set several visions and our scripture for this transfer is Jacob 1: 7 :) we are really excited to just build up PJ! :) We serve with the CUTEST senior couple the Thatcher’s and they have a HUGE family of 10 kids! They feed us soup and always take care of us! I love them so much! They are like my family away from home! :) And are from Logan Utah!

 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY <3 it was weird to celebrate it in a house with no Americans hahaha!!! I live with Sister Chan (also a Brit) and half Chinese :) and Sister Asanuma (from Japan, cutest human being ALIVE!) and it's so much fun! They are all AMAZING sisters! So obedient, and they work hard! We went to A&W for lunch to get a root beer float to celebrate! It was really fun! I was shocked they had one here, but it was a blast! We were able to visit the cutest family, P. and his wife H. from India and they just had a baby boy N, 3 months ago. They were giving him a traditional Indian Bath and it was SOOO cool!!! The culture differences here are so interesting! They first put oil, and milk all over him and then rub some type of good smelling powder to exfoliate and then wash him with soapy water! Next they take a clay pot and burn this smoky incense stuff to dry him! It was the most interesting thing I have ever seen, but really cool! They are a beautiful family!!

 

My favorite part of this week was going to do a service project for refugee children from Myanmar! We gave them little kits, goodies and served them dinner! This is the month of Hari Raya (a Muslim holiday) and they fast from morning till sunset! It’s really cool! So we were able to learn about this culture and provide service! It was amazing! I fell in love with all of them! Some of them are orphans and some of them are so far from family! It’s so sad! I feel so grateful to have so much! Coming here has been a HUGE wake up call for me! Church on Sunday was such a different experience because the branch is so small! But! The faith that these wonderful saints have is so inspiring!!! I’m very grateful to serve alongside them! WE are really excited to get the members fired up, and the buildup this area! We have already seen miracles! Our investigators are all very successful working women, so it's hard to meet with them! BUT! We are really excited to get them hooked to the book!!! :) It's been a little bit of an adjustment, but I’m really starting to love it here! I am just trying to immerse myself in the culture and most importantly LOVE THE PEOPLE!!! I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for everything and I’m grateful to always be given experiences that help me grow and become more like my Savior Jesus Christ! I'm grateful that I have the Gospel, and I’m able to share the truth with the beautiful people of Malaysia! I know that through Jesus Christ’s Atonement we too can be perfect one day… even as he is perfect! And as we strive to be as he is, we will one day see him as he his and become ever more Pure!

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!! <3

<3

Love

Eternally

Sister Waldvogel

OWLE FOREVER <3