The Ballad of Butterworth Week Seven
Hello everyone! It is crazy to me that another week has gone by! Hopefully everyone is doing great, and I hope you all remember how much I love you!
This week was really special! It rained a ton all week; on Tuesday, we biked to Penang (1 hour away) for District Council; it was REALLY fun to bike so much in the rain, but when we arrived we were absolutely soaked. It also rained a lot on Wednesday, and so we were not able to follow our plans as much, just because we wanted to be safe, and not a lot of people like being outside when it is pouring rain haha. But, this Wednesday was Elder Pack's one year mark on his mission, so we celebrated by making some cute little microwave cakes that his mom sent him. It was a good time!
And then on Thursday, we had a really fun opportunity; we had two lessons planned for the same time, so we went on splits with some of the members. I taught Teh with Brother Ruben (who also served in the Singapore mission) while Elder Pack taught a man named Thomas with Brother Ned (who is really awesome, he takes us out for food a lot). It is a really fun opportunity, but it felt weird to not have a missionary companion for that hour. On Friday, we had a fun English class, and then on Sunday we had a new man named Moses who came to church who only speaks Chinese, so Elder Pack and I got to teach a Gospel Principles class all in Chinese! It was so much fun, I love Chinese so much, it was a great blessing to be able to teach.
Today, after we email for a little bit, I will be flying to Singapore for Zone Conference, and Elder Pack will be flying to KL (he is in the process of applying for a workers permit to Singapore, so he cannot go there because going through immigration while he is applying may cause problems), and I am so excited! I love Singapore so much, and I will get to stay with one of our Zone Leaders who stays in KL. I am going to get some things out of my suitcase (I'm breaking out the crocs!), as well as pick up a couple packages that some of you nice people have apparently sent me :) We will get back on Wednesday, and then we will have a baptism this Sunday, which is so exciting!
Malaysia has SOO many holidays. Because the country has such a weird mix of Indian, Chinese, and Malay culture, it literally seems like every month has seven or eight holidays. Last week, there was merdeka (national independence) day, and then this Sunday through Tuesday is another holiday, and then this Sunday to Tuesday is celebrating when Singapore joined the Malaysian confederation, and then there is the moon cake festival later this month. It is exciting!
This week, I think I finally mostly adjusted to being a missionary. My feelings of discouragement and homesickness decreased a lot this week. I still have so much to learn, but it doesn't scare me quite as much. I still miss you guys, but rather than making me sad, it more makes me happy to see you guys in a few short years.
I love you all so much! I hope that this week went well for all of you, and I hope that you remember how much I love you and how grateful I am for you. I am absolutely loving my experiences here in Butterworth, and I have all of you in my heart to take you with me through them. I can't wait to hear from you all next week! Lots of love!
Best,
Elder Weatherford
Spiritual Experiences
I decided that for this email, I am going to start writing one cool miracle from the week, and then write one thing I have been thinking about a lot. I would love to hear miracles from your lives, as well as things you have been thinking about as well.
This week, we had a really cool miracle. Elder Pack and I met a man named Moses (so cool right?) in the elevator as we were heading up to our apartment on Friday night. We invited him to church, and he came for all three hours. During Gospel Principles class, he shared a really cool experience. He said that a week or so ago, he saw us at a red light somewhere in Butterworth. He said that he felt something spiritual when he saw us, so he decided to pray and ask God more about us, and asked if he could meet us. And then, on Friday, we ran into him in the elevator! It was so cool to me to hear that story...I really feel that God was guiding us to him, and was guiding him to us. I am really excited to meet with him again and share with him more about his Heavenly Father's love for him.
This week, I have been thinking a lot about the hymn "Lead Kindly Light." (I try to sing hymns when I get a pop song stuck in my head haha) I especially like the lyric "Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene - one step enough for me." At times, I wish that I could see the distant scene; I wish I could see far into the future, and see that everything will work out, and see everything that will happen to me, and everything that I will do. But, this week, I have slowly been coming to peace with not being able to know everything. In a way, it is nice to just be able to see that next step. It keeps life interesting, and it makes us realize that we need to rely on God. It is something that I am still learning, but I think that God lets us only see the next step so that we can grow. I think that we grow a lot more by only seeing step by step, rather than seeing the distant scene.
I love you all so much! Have a great week full of tender mercies!
Best,
Elder Joshie Ford
I am about to fly to Singapore. I am actually standing in an airport right now without a companion because Elder Pack is flying domestic and I am flying international haha.
Pictures:
1. Elder Pack, Brother Ruben, Brother Ned and I after splits.
2. Elder Pack and I with Brother Titus, our branch mission leader.
3. A beautiful sunset Elder Pack and I saw from Chai Leng Park, a place we go to a lot.
4. Some chicken rice with ais kacang (the ice with corn and ice cream on top). You didn't think I was going to forget a food picture, did you? :P
5. Some cool clouds one on of the rainy days.
6. The West Malaysia Zone
7. Elder Weatherford in zone meeting Sept 11, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment