Lost and Found

Dear family,

i'm so pumped to hear that TJ and Kim are having a boy! i knew it! that's going to be nuts having a mini TJ running around! i bet he drools too. just kidding... but seriously. how's little aubrey doing? when is she due again? i hope both mandy and kimberly are doing well. tell michael to get cracking.so about the packages... i haven't gotten one from you guys, but i go two from chelsie. the thing about sending them straight here is that unless it fits in our mail box, i'm not quite sure where it goes. but it's bound to be around somewhere. i'll ask the guards about it when we get back and update you about it next week.

as far as visa runs go, they usually try to pair us with somebody else who's visa is expiring around the same time. when we go on visa runs, we have to wear normal clothes and look as touristy as possible. they just changed how we do visa runs actually. in the past, missionaries in this area just travelled by bus there and back (5 hours each way), but they've had a lot of trouble with the visa checks in Johor Baru, so they're bussing us in and flying us out now. quite a tricky situation, but heavenly father blesses his servants, so things will always work out.

this week started with a bang; i got lost for the first time on my mission! Hooray! it was on thursday with elder roberts, because elder palfreyman hadn't gotten back yet. we went to teach a guy named Gopal in the morning and rode our bikes. after the lesson, he told me that he and elder foster usually let gopal ride one of the bikes because he has to go to work right after. separating from your companion is never a good thing, but disobedience seems to be running rampant in the PJ district. there really didn't seem to be any other option though, so i gave in and let gopal ride my bike and i ran. i don't know the area, and all elder roberts told me to do was run up the hill past the round-about. i got about a five minute head start and took off towards what i thought was gopal's workplace. i ran for about ten minutes and still hadn't seen them pass me, so i stopped and waited. after a few more minutes of not seeing them, i came to the conclusion that i'd gone the wrong way and ran back to the round-about. there was another street that had a hill, so i ran about a mile up that street and really felt like this was not a place where i was supposed to be. i said a quick prayer and felt that i needed to go back to where i had been. so i ran back to the round-about and up the first street. i ran to the point where i had stopped the first time, and there sat elder roberts. i was glad to have found him, but i wasn't a very happy camper and i was extremely thirsty. the moral of the story is always speak up for what you know is right. this experience could have easily been prevented if i'd of just spoken up and told all 6'5" 225 pounds of elder roberts that he was wrong. but hey, it makes for a good story.

there is a couple in our district named the Shaws. they're from australia and they are hilarious! they say the funniest things. and it's not that they're even that funny, it's just that the words they use are so weird! for instance, sister Shaw threatened to give elder roberts a "cripple nipple" the other day. in english, that translates into a "titty twister" or "purple nurple." i thought that was so funny, so i thought i'd tell you. cripple nipple.

WEEKLY REVELATION: pass-along cards are better in the hands of investigators than in the pocket of your white shirt in the washing machine... there are many mysteries about washing clothes that i have come to know since i've been on my mission, and i'm sure there will be more.

this week wasn't as successful as our last few weeks. people just didn't seem to be interested. it's been a good lesson in patience though. last night we were tracting, and i was testifying about the book of mormon to this budist guy, and he started laughing right in the middle of it. i was so angry. i'm pretty sure i started foaming at the mouth, but luckily for that guy, elder palfreyman stepped in and let me cool off. it's been good for us to struggle a bit though. how can we know the good if we don't know the bad? things will get better as long as we keep working hard.

in the next package you send me, if you could throw some cotton socks in there, i would greatly appreciate it. that australian guy at mr. mac had no idea what he was talking about. wool socks in malaysia? moron. just kidding, but they're falling apart.

anywho, i hope all is well. i love you all! thanks for the prayers. the people of malaysia REALLY need them.

Elder Troxel