Week 34

Well, this email is being sent much later than usual, but that is because we just had an excellent preparation day activity in the town of Kapit, a good three-hour boat ride upstream from here closer to the Indonesian border. And I must tell you in advance, there will be no pictures included as I do not have my cord with me right now. :) I don't have a lot of time, since on the way back, I had a flat tire, but here is the week in summary: *KL: We went to KL this week! It was Elder Hanks's New Missionary Training. It was very good. I got to see Elders Cranford and Sutherland, and take night pictures at the Petronas towers. Unfortunately for the Kuching elders, they came late and left early from the 4 hour training in order to make their flights. We had it better, and spent the night there. *Kapit: We left at 4:45am, and pumped four elders to the boat place. People must have been very confused as to what was going on. It was a long boat ride, but while there, we looked around town, visited a long house, and saw a lot of the interior Borneo jungle. It was REALLY cool. The members we visited are really cool. *Floods: This week has had tons of water, that has flooded much of Sibu. It's awesome, because we get pictures, and once we were even in someone's car as we drove through like 2 feet deep water. It was fun. *Miracle #1: We visited the house of one of the members we work closely with, with the purpose of teaching his mother. She was there, along with a crowd of unexpected people, and during the Restoration DVD, we felt like it was a completely un-spiritual environment. However, at the end, she told us that she wanted to join our church. She has seen what a blessing it has been in her child's life, and she says that our members are willing to welcome others more readily. It was awesome! We are very happy to help her in joining our church. *Miracle #2: It was a torrential downpour, and Elder Hanks, who was outside, handed me an umbrella I had to take from him quickly. In order to take it, I had to throw an important piece of paper I had in my hands, and the entire ground was covered in dirt and water. However, the paper landed perfectly on a chair several feet away. Miracle. *Miracle #3: While in KL, our taxi driver asked which airport we were flying out of, which is weird, because KLIA is by far the biggest in KL, but it just so happens that because he asked us, we were able to determine we were going to a different airport. If he hadn't asked us that random question, we would have been very confused. He, a Hindu, also told us of a couple experiences where he felt Jesus Christ had blessed him. We got his information, and hopefully the other elders follow up with him! *Investigator work: is on the rise. We picked up a few this week. There were a couple frustrating lessons, but as a whole, it is a very good thing. *Less active work: is going down. Mostly because they are becoming active, but also because some feel they are too busy to meet. *Switched church times: Now we are at 2pm, which is super late, and makes it hard to have many appointments. Our attendance also went waaay down. But the other two branches had the highest they have had in months. Maybe ever. *I'm a missionary: It's the best! And you can all be missionaries, too. I would encourage you to read the talk from last conference called "Hastening the Lord's Game Plan" and doing those three things. :) That's all for the week! Wo ai ni men! -Elder Earl