The Ballad of Butterworth Week 5
Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a great week! This week went by so slowly, it was the longest week ever but really good!
I have some exciting news about transfers to share! I found out that...transfers are actually going to be next week so I am still not sure haha. Because of the times that new missionaries are coming in, this transfer is going to be seven weeks, and the next one will be five only. There are also a lot of new missionaries coming in, so I think that a lot of people are going to be training, and maybe some new areas will be opening up again! Woo hoo!
On Tuesday, we biked to Penang for our District Council. It was really fun, and I got to try banana leaf curry! It is pretty much just curry, but instead of a plate, you get a massive banana leaf! Penang has a lot more foreigners than Butterworth, and it always surprises me. I always tell Elder Pack "Hey look, there are foreigners, that's so weird" and then he kindly reminds me that that is what everyone says about us.
Wednesday, we had a fun dinner with the Elders' Quorum president and his son who was visiting from JB (close to Singapore) after our Bible Study class. The members of the branch here are so awesome!
Sunday, we planned a lot of fun activities for Christmas and New Years Eve with the branch president. It was really fun to talk about, but it made me realize how far away the end of the year is...it made me feel a little discouraged. Two years is a long time, but I need to remember to just take it one day at a time. We also had a potluck after church...the branch feeds us so well, it is amazing.
Moong Kau is doing great! He is out of the hospital, and he hasn't taken in a few weeks, so if he continues to hold out strong, we are going to give him a baptismal date this week. He may even be baptized on October 6th, which would be so amazing! We will see though, it might still change. We also have Teh who is going to be baptized on the 15th of September, and Emy in mid September, as well as Deric on 22 September. It is going to be an exciting month, we'll see if I stay here to see it happen!
Moong Kau is doing great! He is out of the hospital, and he hasn't taken in a few weeks, so if he continues to hold out strong, we are going to give him a baptismal date this week. He may even be baptized on October 6th, which would be so amazing! We will see though, it might still change. We also have Teh who is going to be baptized on the 15th of September, and Emy in mid September, as well as Deric on 22 September. It is going to be an exciting month, we'll see if I stay here to see it happen!
Other than those special events, the rest of the week was pretty normal. It was full of biking a lot, sweating a lot, talking to a lot of people, and studying a lot.
Also, I thought I would send you a schedule of a typical day so that we can compare and you can tell me if what you did is the same. Typically, we wake up at 7AM and go and work out, shower, and then eat breakfast. We generally eat oatmeal, or eggs. Then, we have our daily planning session where we come up with places to go and what we are going to teach at appointments. Then, we have an hour of personal study. After that, we get ready, and then leave the house at 10:30 AM. We generally go to either Chai Leng Park or Ong Yi How here in Butterworth, because they have lots of hawker centers (sketchy chinese restaurants) and we try to sit down with someone for lunch and teach them a lesson on the spot. After that, we go to cafes and do companion study, language study, and extra companion study (which we do because I am still in my first three months, so I am still being trained). We go to cafes because those are the busiest places during the dead hours of the afternoon. After that, we go get some dinner, talk to a lot of people, and then we have a lot of appointments most nights. After that, we send some texts and lesson reviews to the people we taught, and then bike home. The days are really long, but they also go by pretty quickly.
Also, I thought I would send you a schedule of a typical day so that we can compare and you can tell me if what you did is the same. Typically, we wake up at 7AM and go and work out, shower, and then eat breakfast. We generally eat oatmeal, or eggs. Then, we have our daily planning session where we come up with places to go and what we are going to teach at appointments. Then, we have an hour of personal study. After that, we get ready, and then leave the house at 10:30 AM. We generally go to either Chai Leng Park or Ong Yi How here in Butterworth, because they have lots of hawker centers (sketchy chinese restaurants) and we try to sit down with someone for lunch and teach them a lesson on the spot. After that, we go to cafes and do companion study, language study, and extra companion study (which we do because I am still in my first three months, so I am still being trained). We go to cafes because those are the busiest places during the dead hours of the afternoon. After that, we go get some dinner, talk to a lot of people, and then we have a lot of appointments most nights. After that, we send some texts and lesson reviews to the people we taught, and then bike home. The days are really long, but they also go by pretty quickly.
There were a couple crazy stories from this week. One was that this whole month has been the "Hungry Ghost Festival" for the Chinese, so lots of people have been burning paper along the side of the road and sacrificing food to ancestors. This Saturday was the one day of the year where they believe that ancestors can come out of hell and visit people, so it was interesting to talk to people about that.
The other story still makes me shiver. Elder Pack and I were at this one mall, and I heard Elder Pack say something, but I didn't hear what because I was talking to this nice man. When the man left, Elder Pack told me not to move and then swiped at my leg. Apparently a massive cockroach had scuttled out of a restaurant, and crawled up my leg while I was talking. So gross, so funny, and so Malaysia.
I love you all so much! I hope that this week was great for all of you, and I can't wait to hear from you! I hope you know how much I love each one of you and I hope you can feel my prayers for you. I miss you like crazy!
Thank you so much for congratulating me on the two months mark! I can't believe that it's already been two months...it feels like it has gone by really slowly, but it is also crazy to me that that means that almost 10% of my mission is over. It is also crazy to think that if I had not been fast tracked in the MTC, I would be leaving for Singapore today. That is so crazy. I feel pretty homesick and discouraged at times (just because there is so much to learn), but things are getting better and better. I am happy with my progress, and I am enjoying my mission a lot.
Thank you so much for congratulating me on the two months mark! I can't believe that it's already been two months...it feels like it has gone by really slowly, but it is also crazy to me that that means that almost 10% of my mission is over. It is also crazy to think that if I had not been fast tracked in the MTC, I would be leaving for Singapore today. That is so crazy. I feel pretty homesick and discouraged at times (just because there is so much to learn), but things are getting better and better. I am happy with my progress, and I am enjoying my mission a lot.
Also, sorry that this email is kinda late, I am guessing that most of you are sleeping by now, so you won't be able to respond! Sorry about that, but I love you so much!
Best,
Elder Weatherford
Spiritual Experiences
This week has had a lot of spiritual experiences!
I'm not exactly sure why, but this week I felt especially down at times, more than I had before. At times it was really hard, but it really led me to have a lot of touching moments. Whenever I felt down, I tried to say a prayer and just ask for help. And it amazed me that every time I prayed, I always felt better. I have thought a lot about the lyrics to the song "Secret Prayer" (pg. 144 in the Hymnbook). It says "When sailing on life's stormy sea, 'mid billows of despair, 'tis solace to my soul to know God hears my secret prayer." This week, my testimony has really been deepened that God really does hear all the prayers that we have. He is so willing to help us, even if it just to get over a little bit of the blues.
I love you all so much! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here in Butterworth and to learn so much more about myself and about God. I hope that you guys feel that God hears your secret prayers, because He really does.
Best,
Joshie Weatherford
Pictures:
1. Banana leaf curry!
2. Some of the members of the branch at Bible Study (the one who took the selfie is Brother Ruben, who served in Singapore a couple of years ago.
3. A picture of Butterworth with some really cool clouds (it rained quite a bit, it was so awesome!)
4. Elder Pack and I with our biking uniforms and really sweaty, sorry that I look so bad haha.
5. A picture of our apartment, in case you were interested haha.
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