"Yay, I have worms!"

So as most of you know I just moved to Kuching, previously being in Bintulu.  Bintulu was a wonderful place, but one of the poorest in all of Malaysia.  As a result, most of the drinks that people offered us were made with non-filtered water.  This wasn't too big a deal until I started losing weight, quite a bit of weight.  So I consulted with the mission doctor and I will be taking de-worming medicine!  Yay, I have worms!  Maybe now I can get fat and not have stomach problems all the time :)  For all you in America that want to lose weight, I’d be more than happy to send you unfiltered water from Malaysia.  I’m sure it will work wonders, as it did with me.  I'll be getting the medicine sometime next week, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.  I will now be taking bets as to how many worms and how long... just kidding, but really, if you want to.

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From another missionary serving with Micah who wrote this home:

"We were sad that Elder Putnam got transferred but he is happy because he was made a zone leader in Kuching (bigger city in E. Malaysia) AND he is happy to be leaving the house they have lived in because it's had problems (like when heavy rains come, sewage water back up into their bath and sometimes kitchen) and they couldn't find another house that the mission could afford. The houses behind them look better than they really are.  He and elder Teh both leaving for Kuching, the other 2 elders stay put."

Zone Leader and Transfer

I am officially a zone leader now!  I just got the call and I will now be transferring to Kuching, the capitol of Sarawak, East Malaysia.  There will be like 14 people in my zone I think.  I am really excited to move there but really sad at the same time because I have so many recent converts that I would have like to spend more time with.  But, it is kind of exciting to be a zone leader.  More of a chance to go to Singapore, monthly travel to Sibu, and apparently my area is way good.  We have this member that lives in the house right behind ours and she cooks for us every day, no lie.  The elders before had to run away from her because it was TOO much food.

I leave on Monday on a 12 hour bus ride to get there!  Ugh.

Wish me luck, I will let you know how things went next Wednesday.

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!