January 26th 2010

Halo Keluargaku,

Glad to hear that the house didn't burn down while I was away! I actually didn't remember the microwave catching on fire the last time, but I'm glad to hear it didn't last this time? How's Johnny doing? Still running around crazy?

Well, this was a good week, but just a little bit slower than usual for sure. Elder Hall was actually pretty sick from about Thursday really until Monday, so we spent lots of time inside kind of just recovering. Which was pretty nice, but things just feel slow when you're not out working all the time, you know? On the other hand I suddenly found a whole lot of spare time to brush up on some Malay.

Um... so... what other news this week. Things are still going pretty good with most of our investigators. Lots of people still looking good and making good progress towards baptism. One family in particular (I can't remember if I mentioned them before) are a husband and wife named E.L.  and his wife A ** is especially awesome. A is actually expecting a baby near the end of the year, so they're at kind of a transitioning time in their life, which I think always kinds of help people be prepared to hear the gospel. Best of all though, E.L. is just a sincerely good person striving to do what's right. While I've been out here, I've realized that sometimes that's kind of rare. There are so many people in the world just content to kind of go on living their lives without looking to make anything about them better. Just kind of on cruise control. E.L. though really just seems to be looking for the truth. Such a good guy! We're actually going to go out and do a little shopping with him and another member today. So, looking forward to that.

So, things the last couple of weeks have definitely been looking pretty good, but there have been sadder events too. One family in particular who was scheduled to be baptized last Saturday looks like they've kind of dropped us. The wife was never quite as on board as the husband and son, and I guess the husband went and got some incorrect information about the church from his pastor, and that seems to be just about it for them (at least for now). It's just really sad to see people who were so close to making the best decision of their lives back out at the last second. Satan's just strong sometimes. But, we're going to try and do whatever we can for them and I guess we'll just have to wait and see how everything turns out. People have their agency, right?

Overall though, things are going really well. I'm loving it here in Ipoh. Friendly people, lots of different groups of people, tons of delicious food, good members and the chance to ride a bike, which I've actually come to really love! Strange to be losing my companion though. Elder Hall has been awesome, but he'll be headed home in just a little over a week now. This last week in our district meeting we all made guesses about who would be coming to replace him. Exciting to see!

So, kind of same old, same old. C, our recent convert, is doing really well and making progress everyday. Hopefully now that Elder Hall is healthier we'll be able to get out a little bit more this week. One more advantage of a bunch of free time though is that I discovered journal writing, and have now become a journal writing fiend. So, you can expect to hear everything when I get home!

Ok, I love you so much! So good to hear from you always, and I pray for all you guys all the time! I love you! The church is true. I'm learning all the time that the more involved you get in it, the more you find that out.

Ok! Love you!
-Elder Blissett (Kevin)