A Baptism, Revelation, and a Monkey In a Baby Carrier

Halo Keluargaku,

Things are going really well here in Ipoh. I'm really loving it here. It's funny how no matter how different a new place is, you just start to find the lovable things about it the longer you stay. That's kind of how it was with Singapore and that's how it's turning out to be with Ipoh too. It's funny, I'm starting to feel like I've been here for kind of a long time already when really it's just been about three months. I'm just so used to change in my mission so far that any kind of consistency is a change from the norm. It's great though, I wouldn't change it for anything.

We have another baptism scheduled for tomorrow. Hooray! This one has been a long time in coming so we're really excited to finally getting to it. The sister's name is N ***, and she's a really nice 24 year old Tamil girl. We met her through another member here and have actually been teaching her for a couple of months now. She's definitely ready, so it's super exciting to see her make such an important commitment to the Lord. She'll actually be the first convert I taught entirely in Malay also, so that's kind of fun. It's amazing to think that I can say that now. Who would have thought a year ago I'd be able to teach someone the gospel in Malay. I didn't even know Malay was a language a year ago! But, I've really come to learn in a personal way that the Lord can do his work, and that he qualifies us with everything we need to be a tool in his hands.

I've just finished reading the gospels in my study of the New Testament and it has been a powerful experience for me. I'm a little bit ashamed that I haven't spent much time in the New Testament before, learning about the Savior's life from the only primary sources that we really have, but, it's never too late to repent, right? It's been such a testimony building experience for me, and such a comfort to learn again for myself that anyone who really desires to know the truth and is willing to put in the work for it, can really know! It works for everyone! Your culture, your background, your language, all of those things don't prevent anyone from learning. We can all know, just like the apostles did, that Jesus Christ really was the Son of God. That was one of the interesting things I learned during this study. That the apostles didn't really know Jesus Christ was the Son of God because they saw his miracles or heard his teachings or ate with him or walked with him or any of those things. It was because of revelation. It was because they learned it through the Holy Ghost from God, and that that's still available to all of us! We can know just like they did. Such a cool promise, and hopeful too! Just think about all the things we still have left to learn...

Ok, I love you all so much! I'm doing really well, healthy and working hard. Everything about my mission is better now than ever before and I think it's just an upward slope from here on out.

Love you!

Elder Blissett (Kevin)

P.S. I had an "only in Malaysia" experience the other day. Elder Porter and I had just gotten a drink at a gas station and were taking a short rest before getting back on the bikes. I was kind of just staring around, not really looking at anything when I heard Elder Porter say something like, "Holy cow! Did you just see that?"

"No, what?"

"I just saw a guy riding by on a moto (scooter) with one of those baby carriers slung over his shoulder... but there was a monkey in it!"

Only in Malaysia do people carry monkeys in baby slings on their scooters. Southeast Asia is the best!

Love you all!