Week 7: Butterworth, Malaysia

The Ballad of Butterworth Week Three

Hello everyone! It is so crazy to me that another week has gone by. At times they feel so slow, but then when I think back about the fact that I have been in Malaysia for almost four weeks, it feels incredibly fast. As usual, I have ABSOLUTELY loved hearing from all of you guys. We are such a cool group of people, I love hearing about all of our adventures.

As usual, it has been another splendid week here in Butterworth (I still think it is hilarious that the city is named Butterworth...if I heard "Butterworth", I would never guess it would be a predominantly Chinese city in Malaysia haha). 

On Monday, we did a hike on Penang Island to monkey beach. We went with a senior missionary couple who drove us, but they didn't want to do the hike, so Elder Pack and I did it ourselves. We ended up running up the mountain to a really cool lighthouse. It was so amazing, but we were so sweaty by the end...my whole shirt was a shade darker. And then, we drove home, and by the time we got home it was already really late, so we didn't have time to buy groceries. Sorry that emailing was at such a weird time, I tried to send emails whenever I could, but most of them got to you guys around 3am haha.

Tuesday was a really tough day. Moong Kau, one of the people we are teaching, got into a motorcycle accident and broke his leg, so he has been in the hospital. And then, we taught a man in Chinese, and his Chinese was just so crazy that both Elder Pack and I could not really understand what he was saying. And then, I accidentally shook a Malay woman's hand (which is illegal) and so I felt really bad about that. It was kinda a rough day, but I got through it.

And then, Wednesday was such a great day! We taught lots of people, the Chinese went a lot better, and then it was even raining for most of the day (I love rainstorms so much) which put a big damper on our plans to go biking to an area 40 minutes away but we got lots of stuff done inside. It was a sweet tender mercy to help pick me up from the tough day that I had before.

The rest of the week was also really good! We had a Bible Study on Wednesday, our English Class Friday night, and on Sunday night we went to President Anandan's house for dinner. His wife made char hoey teow (fried noodles with lots of meats and bean sprouts), as well as guava smoothies, fresh mango, pineapple, and ice cream. It was so good...the problem was, we had eaten an hour before with another member of the branch (Brother Ned) and so we were so full. Both of them gave us the leftovers, so we have probably eight kilograms of food in our fridge right now.

I continue to love the craziness of Malaysia. There are so many dogs that run around the streets, and the motos are absolutely crazy; most of them don't even wait for the light to turn green before they go through a stoplight, they just plow through. So many people wave to us because we are so white, which is sometimes fun, sometimes weird. There are so many crazy fruits and crazy animals...one day we were biking and then Elder Pack said "Look over there" and in the river next to the road there was a ten foot lizard just swimming along. I am so impressed by the Malaysian people; most of them work six to seven days a week, 12 hours a day. The students attend class from 7 am to 6:30 pm, and then they have tuition (cram sessions) that go from 6:30 to 9:30. Tuition isn't required, but everyone does them. Also, most people here speak Malay, Mandarin, English, and then some Tamil, Hokkien, or Cantonese. They are very cool people.

This Thursday, we are flying to KL for zone conference, and we get back late Friday night. There are three zone conferences here in the mission (one for Singapore, one for Sarawak [a province in East Malaysia that has its own customs and visa requirements], and then one for all of West Malaysia and Sabah [also East Malaysia]), so I am so excited to see some of the people I met at orientation again. And then, transfers are on the 27th. I don't quite know if I want to stay here in Butterworth or if I want to go somewhere else; I absolutely love Elder Pack and I love Butterworth, but it would also be cool to experience more of the mission. I would guess that I'll stay in West Malaysia (East Malaysia is mostly Malay speaking, and Singapore is mostly reserved for people that get chopped out of Malaysia), so I could be going to Sitiawan, Ipoh, KL, Johor Baruh, or who knows where else? We'll see where the Lord wants me. :)

I love you all so much! I am so grateful for all of your prayers and fasting for me. I miss you all very much, but I am also grateful to be here in Malaysia. It is such an amazing experience that I am savoring every moment of. I hope that all of you guys feel my sincere love for each one of you, and I hope that you have a great week next week.

Best,

Elder Weatherford

The Ballad of Butterworth Week Three Spiritual Experiences

This week has had so many miracles!

As I said in my other email, Tuesday was such a tough day. It was really hard for me to hear that Moong Kau was in the hospital, but it was so amazing that we got to visit him. The hospital was about an hour away, so we biked on the highway (which was really scary), carried our bikes up and down several bridges, and finally made it to see that all of the signs were in Malay, but somehow we got signed in and found who we were looking for. We talked to him for a bit, and he told us something that is really interesting. As you may remember, Moong Kau is working to overcome a 50-year addiction to heroin and tobacco, which I can't even imagine. So, one night this week, when he was having especially difficult withdrawals, he asked God for a way to just have a couple days in the hospital to rest and to not be tempted. And then, shortly after, he had his accident and was hospitalized. It sounds crazy, but I think that him having a motorcycle accident was God's unique way of answering his prayer. Regardless of the reason, his two days of rest in the hospital (where he couldn't take any drugs so he wasn't as tempted) really helped him a lot. Did God allow him to get into an accident? I'm not sure. It was a weird miracle, but definitely a miracle.

Other than that, the days have been filled with little miracles. There were times when Elder Pack and I had no way of getting dinner, and then somebody just gave us a lot of food. When we were at the hospital, we were really lost (because everything was in Malay), but then a Chinese doctor walked by that we could ask around. The Lord puts so many little tender mercies into our days to help us to remember Him, and also to help us with whatever we need help in. If there is anything that my mission has taught me, it is that. 

I love you all so much! I hope that you can see the little tender mercies of God in your own lives, I know they are there!

Best,

Elder Joshie Boy Weatherford

Pictures

1. A picture of me after our hike. I am sorry that I am so sweaty, but that's how it goes!

2. Elder Pack teaching a swell lesson about grocery shopping at English Class!

3. Brother Ned, a super cool member of the ward, who took us out to eat hamburgers. 

4. It is currently Ghost Festival, so lots of Chinese people leave out food on the streets to give to the ghosts of their ancestors. Pretty interesting!

5. A typical meal of nasi lemak (coconut rice) with some curry, chicken, and an egg!

6. Char hoey teow and ais kacang (a desert with ice, milk, corn, mocci balls, and really good strawberry syrup).

I feel bad that so many of the pictures are of food and not of people. I guess I need to adjust what I am focusing on haha.