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| Baptism in Ipoh, Malaysia |
This week was awesome, but guess who got a keyboard without the letters again! This guy! This week was enough as far as numbers go, but it was also full of miracles.
We had the honor of teaching a prepared investigator named Jo**. The sister missionaries met him at the bus stop the other day and invited him to our baptism on Wednesday. When he came he smelled of alcohol and was clearly drunk, but he sat through the meeting reverently. After the baptism, he was blown away and said that the elder who performed the baptism was like John the Baptist. He was nearly in tears as he talked about John the Baptist! I don't know if it is because he felt something, or if it was because he was drunk.
He had a lot of questions from the Bible, so the other missionaries asked me to answer his questions. Realizing he had a LOT of hard Bible questions, the sisters decided to pass him off to Elder Li and I. We taught him the next day and were blown away by how well he understood the Restoration. Never in my life have I seen someone so on the edge of their seat in a lesson. He had the best questions, and he really gets it. That never happens here! He said he will read and pray about the Book of Mormon. This guy really seems like someone who has been kept from the truth only because he didn't know where to find it. That was the highlight of my week!
Now, to answer Mom's questions:
1. For our missionary mom's dinner this week, we are celebrating all our kids' birthdays. If you could eat anything for your birthday, what would it be?
ANY meat without bones in it!
2. Is your apartment air conditioned? I just looked up the weather for Ipoh, and it said the high will be 90 and it will rain everyday for the next week!!
We have a little air conditioners in our apartment we can turn on. It feels like Heaven after a day in the heat!
3. Are you just soaked all day, every day? What do you do?!!
Yes, I'm soaked everyday. I don't even worry about bringing a poncho along because I sweat so much that I'm always soaked, no matter what.
4. I'm super concerned about you losing so much weight! Is there anything you can eat that goes down easy on your stomach but satisfies you? Is there anything I can send, or that I can add money to your account for you to buy?
I have plenty of food and I am digesting everything much better. I love the naan and curry here. That always goes down well. Mom, you'd seriously love the food here.
5. When are transfers? Do you think you'll stay in Ipoh for the full 12 weeks of training?
I find out about transfers next week. Anything could happen, really.
6. What is the weirdest or grossest thing you've eaten so far?
I can't stand the gelatin here. Neither can Elder Li. Everyone feeds it to us it because they have heard Americans like Jell-o, but it's not the same.
7. What is the weirdest thing you've seen or done?
There is a lot....even to sum up.
8. What is your favorite part of your mission so far?
Seeing my investigators at church!!
9. What are the guys in your apartment like? Where are they from? How long have they been out? Etc.?
Elder Lallemant, 22 years old, from Quebec, and is hilarious. He's our district leader, and has been out for over a year. Elder Stanford from Utah, 19 years old, and he loves basketball. He is like Alec Johnson's twin. He has been out since July. Elder Li (my companion) is from California, always has a serious face, but is hilarious and awesome. He is 19 and has been out 5 months.
Love you all!
Elder Josh Avery
The REAL Banana Leaf (January 12, 2015)
Transfer News (January 26, 2015)
