Bathroom Finding

These last few days have been pretty difficult as far as finding new people goes. When you live in an area where 90% of the people are Muslim it makes it really difficult.  And because Malaysian law says that it is illegal to approach or teach Muslims, our pool of potential investigators is small.  We go knocking, we ask people where Christians live, we see people in Pasars and try to talk to them, but most of the time it just doesn't work.  So yesterday my companion and I heard of this brand new way of meeting people.  So revolutionary and so effective that it would work anywhere, even here in Sandakan.  The method is called bathroom finding. It involves, the missionary, me, needing to use the bathroom but having no public restrooms.  We find a nice looking neighborhood and knock on the first promising door.  What happens after than is i make a very pained expression and say "Maaf gangu tapi saya perlu guna tandas! Boleh kah saya gunu tandas mu skejap sajah?"  They look at you like what are you doing, but you keep on talking before they can say no.  You quickly say, "skajap sajah, saya dari Amerika and tak tahu di mana ada tandas, minta!"  Then they say, OK.  You go use their restroom while your companion has a prime time to talk to them.  You take your time take a look around the house to make sure they arn't Muslim and then make your way back to the front door.  If they aren't Muslim its a thumbs up and you continue talking to them for as long as they will let you.  This does work!  We were able to talk to these two ladies for over 30 minutes, and they were Christian!

Gawai and 1 year!

So I thought I would give you a little preview of what my life is going to be like this next week.  This next week is going to be the biggest holiday of the year for the native Iban people.  And because 90% of Bintulu is Iban, everyone is going to be celebrating Gawai.  What does this mean for me?  It means that no one is going to be out of down, and everyone who stays at home is going to be drunk out of their mind.  Everyone in Sarawak has a "kampung" house, which means they ALL have a second house in the jungle.  They are called long houses, the longer, the more prestige.  If  you have time, Google long house in Sarawak and see what comes up.  These houses are just amazing and they are just huge!  Anyway, every year people make their pilgrimage back to the long house to celebrate Gawai.  So it looks like I might be out of a job for the next week or two   I love all you guys!

ps. I almost forgot this Friday marks 1 year out on my mission!  Wow, time flies

May Day

Yesterday in celebration of May Day we had a big BBQ party, it was amazing.  It had rained in the morning so it was a little over cast making it not too hot for a beach outing.  The water was too warm but luckily there was a stream that fed into the ocean with cold water!  

A good turn out

The Beach

It was bring your own rice BBQ, no rice for us, just meat

 Me with Sister Rammy, one of the sweetest ladies you could ever meet 

Trying to keep the sun off  

Me after the Beach, i was so sunburnt!  And so sandy and wet after the water fight. 

Changes

So today I thought I would talk a little about how things have changed since I have been on my mission.  The first would have to be that I actually love bananas.  Anyone who is truly my friend knows that this is an incredible feat because I have never been able to eat a banana without inducing vomiting.  I was absolutely out of my comfort zone when people here just started feeding my bananas and I couldn't just refuse without being really rude.  So I ate banana after banana until one day I actually started liking them.  This same thing has actually happened with mangoes as well.  I am convinced that the mangoes that grow in Malaysia are the best in the world.  They aren't fibery and but instead so smooth and easy to eat, and incredibly cheap!  The second thing that has changed would have to be my definition of cleanliness.  Yes, again to all who know me, I hate dirty things, my OCD is too strong.  But now my eyes have been opened to the fact that a little dirt here and there is not going to kill me.  When you have seen a little girl pee her pants on the floor and then see a man take his shirt off to clean the mess, it changes you.  Today was my 11 month mark with 13 months left to go.  I can only imagine what else could change when so much already has! 

New Companion and Giant insects

So it’s time I gave you all an update.  I just got a new companion that I will be training.  This last week I got to go to Singapore for a few days to pick him up and show him around.  This is the first time in my mission that I actually had time to go see Singapore and take in all the beautiful urban scenery.  It truly is the cleanest city in the world, no trash, no gum on the sidewalks, gorgeous buildings and all the art that is scattered throughout the city.  Just the other day I counted all the plane rides iv had to take on my mission and it turned out to be 21 plane rides and 8 long bus rides.  With the mission so scattered and will cities so isolated, some sort of traveling is needed nearly every month.  I love it and I love my mission even more.  Second best to preaching the gospel in Malaysia is the opportunity to meet new people and experience culture in a way that is impossible for a tourist.  I cherish every moment of culture shock that I have experienced since being here.  I thought I would share a coupe funny moments of the past few weeks.

1. While Elder Teh and I were contacting we met a man and his name of Rapin John, I kid you not, he even spelled it out for me.  The more I got to know this man the more I thought maybe the name is appropriate for him, after all he did marry his wife at a very young age... she was 14.  Regardless of this he was very nice and we have made plans to teach him and his wife :)

2. There are these giant flying insects called Ninyets, they terrify me.  Even more so they terrify my companion, so the little kids will catch them and terrorize him until he promises to buy them candy.  Because he is so scared of them I don’t get bothered very often :)  They also like to fry the insect up and eat them, mmmm we already received a few dinner invites... we'll see

I love you all, especially my family.  A special shout out to Grandma and Grandpa they are so supportive. I wish you guys the happiest week this fine month of April.  If you can't wait till summer, count your many blessings that you have seasons... cold ones.  Cherish the cold months and pray they last long.

New Companion

So I’m at the Singapore airport right now and I will be heading to Kuching and then on to Bintulu.  It has been a really fun last couple of days here.  I ate Carls Junior, had amazing ice cream and Subway, what more could I ask for right now.  I just got a new companion his name is Elder Tyler, he is very tall and seems to be a cool guy.  I love you!

Niah Caves

So yesterday all the missionaries in Bintulu went to Niah Caves, a cave system near our house.  It was a way cool experience, it was about a 1 hour hike in the jungle to get to the entrance of the caves and then a 40 minute hike in the cave to get to the other entrance of it.  It smelled like bat guano, so not a nice smell.  And, there were these giant crickets the size of mice, that was freaky, not to mention bats, everywhere!  It  was one of the sweatiest hike of my life and absolutely enjoyable.  I managed not to get any mosquito bites, and then we got back to base camp and I got bit twice!  Anyway, here are some pictures of the day.

The cave entrance 

BBQ party the night before the hike 

BBQ party the night before the hike 

The crocodile infested river we had to cross 

The boat ride... 1 minute long 

Hiking through the jungle 

Us on the big rock 

Beginning the DECENT 

The Exit