Life Is So Precious (Week 28)

Me happy for some dim sum in Singapore during
zone conference last week. Delicious!

I just wanted to start off by saying how precious life really is. An Elder in our mission was riding his bike on Friday night and a car hit him.  He passed away last night. Keep his family in your prayers. I can't believe this. We were good friends and he was a great missionary.  I feel at a loss for words right now and have learned to just never take anything for granted.

[ He also told us it was on the highway. He was crossing the highway and a car T boned him and did not even see him. His companion immediately did CPR. The article in KSL said that he donated his organs to the people of Malaysia, the people that he came to love so much. Clark and I found ourselves physically grieving over a Child of God that we have never even met! So he passed away 2 days after being hit. C.J. told us that they were told that the doctors thought he would make it. He is from Roy and began his mission in October 2012. ]

This past week has been very crazy since I emailed home on Wednesday. You already heard about Zone Conference and everything. This past week I got to do my first baptismal interview! It was an awesome experience!  During the interview I felt the spirit so strong.  I was able to ask questions that the spirit prompted me to ask.  

This past week we were able to place another 12 Book of Mormons!  It’s crazy! We placed them in Hindi, Malay, English, Chinese, Tamil, Igbo, and Urdu! I freaking love this mission so much! Haha! I just love being a missionary!! We weren't really able to do a ton of missionary work this past week.  We did go do service and painted a handicap home. It was a good experience. We were taking a taxi back to the train station after. The taxi driver we got was drunk. He had beer cans everywhere.  So we told him to let us out, but he didn’t respond! So Elder Robinson pulled out his camera to take a picture. The guy slammed on the brakes and called us all four letter words.  He told us he was going to kill us and got out a crowbar.  So we had to go back to the handicap home and try not to get killed! So that was -- no fun!

Hey Dad, So last week I told you we were able to place 22 Book of Mormons! It was great! We have had some follow up appointments but a lot of them are hard to get a hold of and are busy with work and school.  But, the seed has been planted. Ya, I love being a missionary! The teaching is going well.  Every lesson we teach here in the Puchong area is in English.  There is not very many people here that speak Malay, only English. Zone conference was awesome! I was able to see a lot of friends so that was fun! Nope, it was the same as usual even though I’m District Leader.   I love you so much Dad, keep doing good with everything!

My first baptismal interview, with a woman named Helen

Hey Mom, Yes...it is another Monday morning as a missionary in Malaysia! The shirt was perfect send me 9 more just like. The honey mustard wheat thins are amazing!! I can’t find wheat thins here. So those are awesome!! Jerky is great, but you can surprise me with any kind of treats!!  Just send them to the Singapore mission home. Try to send it soon because the Zone Leaders will be there to get packages on September 11th. So it needs to be there before that day in Singapore!  I love you so much and thanks for everything you do! I'm going to be sending a letter home soon. Oh ya, I'm learning some Burmese now!! Go look that up and listen to how it sounds!

Fun times with Elder Robison on our P-Day

Hey Maddie, Happy Birthday on Saturday!! So I guess 2 days ago. Well actually, 1 day ago for you!  No, I didn’t hear about it [concert]. I was only in Singapore for 2 days. It will be good for you to start school. Make sure you work hard so you can go to college! I love and miss you!

Hey Lydia, that is good that you now have lunch with friends and that you got to have peaches!! I really want to eat some normal fruit! Here it’s just strange fruits that you get to eat! I love you so much and don’t worry about volleyball tryouts! You will do great. I know you will! I miss you!

Some members gave us some yummy bacon and some
hash browns from Idaho -- no less! This is what we cooked up!

Hey Hannah, It’s about time you will be the big dog at school! Then when I come home you will be the little dog once again! Haha! Tell your new teacher that he should be a seminary teacher if he went to BYU!! Keep doing good Hannah!! I love you so much and good luck in softball this week!  I miss you!

Hey Brooklyn, I’m so excited for you that school starts tomorrow! I love and miss you! Have fun with all your new friends and your first soccer game!!! I miss you Brooklyn!! I miss driving in the car with you and singing songs loud with the windows down!

Love, Elder Stahle

Biawak, a giant lizard