Hi Family,
Well, I can see why some say Ipoh
translates to "The Promised Land." I have only been here five
days, but I'm already having a great time, and I'm feeling great about
missionary work. I think it's mostly because there are so many members
here that are also excited about missionary work. There are a small
handful of missionaries from Ipoh serving in Taiwan and the United States
currently. Do you remember Elder Loke, from KL? Well, while he
served his mission, his family moved to Ipoh! When I talked with Sister Loke
yesterday, she became ecstatic to see me. I couldn't believe how much she
had heard about me from Elder Loke, and some of the things she said made me
wonder if she had actually mistaken me for one of his other companions. I
never thought that Elder Loke would have said I was one of his most
fun, adept, and hardworking companions. I've certainly tried my
best to meet the Lord's expectations in every area of my mission, but I seem to
remember my Johor Bahru self as less confident, discontented, and generally
less cheerful. Well, that was just very nice to hear from Sister Loke,
and it boosted my spirits so much!
My transfer went a little bit like
this: I packed Monday and Tuesday nights. On Wednesday, I got up at
4:30 to see Elder South off to Singapore, where he picked up his new trainee
(!) Then, I began to worry a bit about my own travel, because
I knew I would have to take my bike with me every step of the
way. I had taken it apart and packed it into a dilapidated box
which I wrapped in a not-very-reassuring amount of tape. Later
in the morning, Elder Bodell helped me get my bike and suitcases out to the
Sibu airport. Luckily, they gave me no problems at the luggage counter
(miracle #1!) and my bike made it onto the same plane as I did. I retrieved
my bike from the Kuala Lumpur airport on my arrival, and was pleased to find
that the box was still intact. Then, another tender mercy followed: I
didn't have to take my bike through the immigration office. (whew!) After
that, many prayers were answered with even more miracles as I managed, with the
help of several very kind people along the way, to get all my things through
the KL airport, onto the train to the train station, then off that train and
onto the train to Ipoh, then again off of the train, through the station, and
into a taxi to the apartment. I really felt God's help and knew that He
was watching over me as I did this. I believe he put special people in my
path, whose hearts were softened enough to help me out. I was also able
to remember a surprising amount of Malay at the times that I needed it
most. I'm extremely grateful for Heavenly Father's constant care for me!!
I testify that what Elder Li
said is true: "Ipoh is a place to get fat." I've already
been showered with groceries, fruit, burgers, cake, and invitations to Chinese
dinners from members here. I'm afraid I'm going to have to intensify my
morning workout to keep up with them! In addition, we live very close to
a little place with fantastic Indian food like Nasi Bryanni and Naan bread.
Yum!
Oh, Elder Li. (pronounced
Lee). Elder Li is a great missionary. He's pretty quiet, but an
adept teacher and great at sharing the truths of the gospel. He's very
different from any companion I've had before, but I already love working with
him! His parents are from China, so he already speaks the language.
This is a big help to our ability to teach in unity, to contact people, and to
translate sacrament meeting for non-English speakers. I don't have any
pictures of us yet, but I'm sure I will have many Ipoh-tunities to take
fabulous pictures of everything and send them to you. (ugh, that was
probably worse than the I-pun you sent to me earlier.)
To describe the place, Ipoh is
bigger than Sibu, and less foresty. The population is much more racially,
culturally, and religiously diverse. (does that even make sense?) The city is
surrounded by mountains - the kind that you see in Chinese brush-painted
pictures, that jut straight up from the ground and have round, tree-topped
summits and caves. I still can't get over how cool mountains are.
That's one of the things I miss most about living in Cache Valley. I
somehow always seemed to take strength from pausing to just look out at the
mountains. Probably because they pointed my thoughts heavenward, and made
me think about the beauty of God's creations, and the purpose of my life on
Earth. Thinking of it, I believe that the moments I took to gaze
out at the valley and the mountains of Utah were times that I took great
confidence in knowing that God is over all things. Those solitary moments
were times that I remembered that I am a son of Heavenly Father, and I have a
divine potential - a clear view of my often rather hazy eternal
perspective. I hope that you will always remember that no matter what happens
in life, whether it's what we expect or not, it is ultimately and
lovingly designed by God, for our welfare.
I love you all very much!
Love,
Brennan
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