Selamat Pagi! (Good morning!) Macam mana semua kamu? (How are all of you?)
Well, I've had a pretty amazing week so far! 13 DAYS left! Can you believe that?! It's gone by so fast, but I'm getting pretty anxious to get out of here. I'm ready go to start preaching the gospel for reals. We're all counting down the days, and every day we're like "One day closer!" It's gone by fast.... I SYL 5-6 days a week, so Sunday is like the only day that I speak any English. My favorite word is "mempersembahkan". It means "to offer". Either that or "diputarbelitkan". That means "corrupted" Another fun one is "mempertunggungjawab." That one's "to take responsibility for". Sorry mom, have fun pronouncing those! ;P And I have answers to all of your questions, so here we go! Pergi ke masa!
(Go time.)
So, as for the mubaligh (missionaries) in Brunei, we don't have any proselyting missionaries. It's all humanitarian for there, but I hope that it will open up soon. And as for my missionary plaque, the scripture is 2 Nephi 31: 20-21. It talks about eternal life and then "there is no other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can....." so you can find it. It's not too hard. I love the letters and hearing about the family, but that really is sad about Uncle Richard. It's so weird to think that the last time I saw him was at my Farewell, but he's in a better place, free of pain and stuff. And I've been praying for all of you, so don't worry. And Lauren, it's okay if you feel super sad. Everybody does, but it's just a part of life . If you want to, you can find some scriptures in the Book of Mormon that talk about life after death. Alma 40....? I'm not sure, I'll look some up.
Well, I gave more blessings this week. I helped anoint the oil on a Sister in my district because she was sick, and another Elder was having pretty bad stomach problems so we blessed him in our rooms. Both the Sister and the Elder are doing amazing. No problems whatsoever! Ah! I love it! In other news, I'm the District Leader! Finally! The Branch President came up to me and told me that he was impressed that I be made District Leader, so here I am. I love it and the meetings are always amazing! So I'm busy on Sundays and Tuesdays, but that's about it! Tyson, you're setting up a pretty high standard for me to follow, I have some BIG shoes to fill (that's also really literal, your feet are pretty big....)
Thank you all for all of the cookies, and all of the food and drinks and the letters and thank you for the little cards that you all sent me! It really does mean so much! I keep all of them and I look at them every day! I show all of the Elders in my room your cards and we all laughed at Cooper's because it's so funny and cool! I miss you little man! And looking at my letter, I do not make a habit of wearing hoodies that are too small, so you don't need to worry, mom.
Thanksgiving was freakin' awesome! We went to a fireside and guess who came? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland! Beslah! (Best!) He was so good! His family did a lot of things so we didn't hear him too much, but at the end he got all in our face and was like "This is REAL LIFE! You cannot expect to return home from your mission and become who you used to be! This is going to change your life, and you will never be the same!" It was so cool, he was awesome! And when he walked in we all stood up and he blew a kiss, same when he walked out. 2300 missionaries all standing up for one man--that's an accomplishment. And we did a humanitarian project for a little town call Ouelessebougou (Wee-less-see-boo-goo) in Mali. We put together a ton of different packs for them, education and health packs! We were hauling, it was awesome!
And apparently according to our Branch President, we're going to receive 1400 new missionaries after we leave. The branch is going to shoot up like crazy! So cool! I'm glad that people are going on more missions. Jake Harding's mom wrote to me and told me that she does physicals for girls at the clinic in Spanish Fork, and every week she does 3-5 for girls that are going on missions. It's awesome!
And as for you question, mom, about where I will be serving more, I think I'll be in East Malaysia the most. West Malaysia is so big, and Singapore doesn't have a lot of missionaries in it. But pretty much, I'll be on planes a lot. West Malaysia and Singapore connect by a bridge, but East Malaysia has Sarawak and Sabat, so you need to fly in because it's so far away from all other places. So I'm pretty anxious to get going! I get my flight plan tomorrow, but I'm landing in L.A.X. I think, then we're flying to Hong Kong, and then into Singapore. So I'll try to take some cool pictures when we land in China for a little while. Don't worry, I will probably be able to call at every airport so if you want me to, I can speak some Malay, and then I'm most like Skyping for Christmas! So hooray!
Well, I love you all, and I can't wait to call and see you soon! Love you! Bye!
Jadi, saya sayang kamu semua, dan saya mahu untuk memanggil dan melilhat kamu! Sayang kamu! Selamat tinggal!
Elder Joshua H. Griffin
**Do not be discouraged. You have God and the Lord Jesus Christ on your side. He knows you perfectly, and he will do whatever he can to help you return to him. You have the Being that created all. He loves you and wants you to follow Him. That is what we are doing not only for ourselves. We hold our hands until we are strong enough to reach and take His.**
Sincerely,
Elder Joshua H. Griffin
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