Big News!

dear family,

so i'm not going to tell you my big news for a few paragraphs, just so i can let the suspense build! i'm so excited though. way to step up on the emails this week fam! definitely the best week of emails i've had. chelsie's was especially good. tell her thanks and everything is fantastic! to be honest, i was really disappointed to have missed whitney's recital. that was the last thing i thought i would miss. don't tell anyone this, but mom's description of whitney's solo brought some tears to my eyes... don't think to much of it though. i probably just had something in my eye. she is amazing though. i think josh groban described it best, "even her shadow has grace."

so i gave my first training in district development meeting yesterday. it was a bit helter skelter, but i put a lot of effort into the preparation and i think everybody got something good out of it. this week has been really busy. we've been teaching so many people, we haven't had hardly any time for tracting. we've met a few potentials while traveling to appointments, but this week was pretty full of appointments with our investigators with dates. we have A LOT. it's so awesome. it's too bad things will be changing... wait, what? that's right, Elder Palfreyman is getting transferred to Bintulu! that's pretty poopy because he's such a stud and i love working with him, but i am excited for my new companion. i know what you're thinking, "who could he possibly be?" I have no idea because I'M TRAINING! i'm so pumped! i'm going to be a senior companion! that's so crazy! he'll get to singapore a week from today and i'll pick him up from the airport on friday. looks like i'll be in klang for a little bit longer. that's my big news.

WEEKLY REVELATION: don't ever try to out-monkey a monkey. it's a bit of a long story, but on the way to the bus stop there is sometimes a monkey chained to a tree. it's always a highlight of my day when i get to see him. this last week i was feeling cocky so i decided to taunt him as we passed. i said something that i thought was pretty clever and he responded like a champ. he put his foot under his chin and spanked himself at me! as if this wasn't humiliating enough, as i turned to walk away he jumped on the branch that was above me and shook it so all of the water (it had just rained) fell off the leaves onto my head. i was soaked. elder palfreyman thought it was pretty funny. stupid monkey.

it's good to hear that scott is getting well. by the time i get home that puppy won't be a puppy anymore ( i love puppies. how's kimberly doing with the baby? when is she due again? have they decided on a name yet? i vote for jackson. congrats to michael and his new job. that awesome. he wrote me a pretty funny letter about some of the people that he worked with at the other branch. it was pretty funny. whitney rae! why did you not tell me you had a boyfriend?! you crazy girl.

please continue to pray for me and for the work. i'll need it in the coming months i have a feeling. i really am so excited to train, but it's going to be hard. all of a sudden i'm responsible! i'll whip that greenie into shape. wait, i'm still a greenie! dang it. can you believe i've been out for almost five months?! where does the time go?

anywho, i love you all and pray for you every day. stay safe and all that jazz. pray for missionary experiences. there's nothing better in the world.

elder troxel