Elder Ben Mullins: One Year

Hey Everyone!

I can't believe it, but it's ALREADY been ONE ENTIRE YEAR since I left to the MTC! I can't believe it! I also figured out Christian Kamalu and I should be getting back the same day from our missions! He left 3 weeks after me... That's what happens when you're in the MTC for 3 weeks as opposed to 6 weeks. Anyway, the time is flying, and I love being a missionary! I figured out that Elder Schwemmer (Chinese Elder in Miri) went to Davis High too! So that's cool! He had a lady make a bunch of beaded ties for him, and one has a Davis D on it! I'll send a picture. Also, I forgot my planner this week, so I don't know if I'll be able to remember everything that happened.

I know that on Monday, we picked up Elder Johnson since his companion was in Singapore, and he hung out with us until Wednesday night. But we had nothing to do all day, because our plans to go to the crocodile farm fell through. We just learned how to do magic tricks and stuff all day, then had an appointment with brother Sait and his family that night. Brother Sait is way cool. I like him a lot. His two little boys are the calmest Malaysian little boys I've ever met.

Tuesday, Elder Asah was way sick. He was constipated for a week, and then told us half way through Tuesday. SO. We called the senior couple and got him some laxatives. Pretty awesome. Elder Johnson and I just studied, talked, and he taught me a bunch of magic tricks. So that's cool. I can only remember how to do one though. That night, Elder Asah was feeling better, so we went to our dinner appointment, where we ate PYTHON AND BIAWAK! It was actually pretty good! The python was a bit chewy, but it tasted good. And the biawak was really good except for all the bones. Other than that, not a ton happened.

Before I forget, let me tell you about Elder Asah! He's 19, from a small place near a small village called Mukah, and he's way funny. He speaks English, but sometimes he doesn't know how to say something or doesn't understand something, so we switch to Malay. He's super awesome. I really enjoy being with him. He likes cold hot chocolate. It's cold chocolate, not hot.

Wednesday... I can't even remember. Sorry. I should've brought my planner. WAIT! I just remembered! We woke up, did personal study, and then went to this kampung (kampung means village) that was built on a river. It was WAY cool. We got a really cool potential investigator too. The grandma loves us. The rest of the family is ok with us too. Our appointment on Sunday cancelled, but we should be able to get in with them later. They were eating up that a white person spoke Malay. Haha, it was hilarious.

Thursday was Elder Asah and my year mark! So that was awesome! We burned our worst shirts! I hadn't worn that shirt in 2 or 3 months, so it was whiter than the rest of my shirts, but it had a bunch of stains from food. I didn't wear it because it looked terrible. I can't remember who we met. I think we might've met with our new investigator, Samsul. Elder Mickelson baptized someone 6 months ago named Tingi. He recently moved to Miri, and now we're teaching his nephew, Samsul. He's 10 years old. He's a super cool little kid. He came to church, and I think he enjoyed it! Other than that, I have no idea what we did.

Friday... Wow, I really need to bring my planner next week. This entire week was a blur. I know we met with Cika, but didn't have enough time to teach her, so we just dropped off a letter for her to give to her boss to help get her Sundays off.

Saturday. Hmmmmmmmm. We got some good Indian food for lunch! Oh! I remember! I can't remember if this was Friday or Saturday, but Elder Asah has some CRAZY wisdom teeth. They're in the front of his mouth. Like a vampire. If he let them grow out, he'd totally be a vampire. They were bothering him, so we went to the dentist, and they said he couldn't get them out for another 3ish weeks. Soooo we'll see what happens! There's this place in Indonesia (it might be in Malaysia, but I think it's Indonesia), and it's named vampire in Indonesian. The people there are super pale, and have those wisdom teeth, so they all look like vampires. Pretty awesome, right? I really wanna go there. I don’t see how though, because it's probably a pretty far drive. I definitely won't be able to go during my mission, but maybe after when I come back to Malaysia. We'll see.

Sunday, church was awesome. I love meeting everyone at church. It's just a great time to get to know all the members. So that was good. There's this member from Sabah that always tries to talk to me (she has a little baby named Benjamin. What a cool name, right?), but her accent is way different than all the Ibans, and I can't understand a word she says in Malay. She always has to switch to English. I've gotten to the point where I just smile and nod. Maybe that's not good, but it's what I do. Hahaha, she's really nice though. Her husband is Chinese, so it's kind of weird to see a Chinese guy in the Malay branch, but whatever. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but we cover 2 branches right now, because our mission is lacking Malay speaking Elders. Our area is massive, and we go to 2 sacrament meetings. One branch starts classes first, and one starts sacrament first, then they swap places! It's pretty easy to go to both branches.

That was my week! Sorry I didn't bring my planner! I took a few extra pictures this week! I found Doritos too, so we're good. They were way expensive, but super good. Thanks for all the emails you send! I hope you all have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Ben Mullins