Week 55

This week's email will start out with a maybe more clear explanation of the area and missionaries I serve with. There are three branches in this zone: Masai, JB, and Melaka. Masai and JB are in the JB District, and Melaka is in the KL District. Masai is the other side of JB, where a bunch of Ibans from Sarawak live, and Melaka is a few hours north. It's a very touristy city. I live with the other elders in the JB branch. My companion, Elder Fabiano is from Florida. He is part Italian, part Samoan, and more. He's cool, and goes home soon. Elder Smith and Elder McCarthy are the English elders. Elder Smith is from Utah Valley, and Elder McCarthy is from New Zealand. As part of our duty as zone leaders, we get to visit all the districts every few weeks. And so this week, we spent a day in Melaka. It was really nice, in part because the bus ride provides an excellent napping opportunity, and in part because Melaka and the elders there are very cool. In Melaka, I got to bike more than I have since Sarawak. And for a good 30 minutes of that biking, we were going up and down the touristy part of Melaka, past churches, shops, museums, and all kinds of cultural places. Probably the best bike ride I've had on my mission. As far as our area is concerned, we are over all Chinese people in the JB area. This week, we had some good lessons and good contacts. We're excited for the future. Our branch is extremely strong! I love the members and the missionaries I work with. Another theme of the week is that I somehow ended up eating roti or naan like 10 times. And I broke my record of 11 roti canais. It is now 12. I thoroughly enjoy the food here. English class this week wasn't the best, unfortunately. Hoping we can get it going better in future weeks. I love you all! -Elder Earl