Jordan's Mission Apartments


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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

dear family,

mana kamu belajar bahasa? (where did you learn the language?) that was really weird seeing the title of that email and realizing it wasn't in english. it's good to hear about the games. Stupid BYU. i guess there's always next year. hopefully both byu and tcu get into bowl games. turns out the mountain west is a decent little conference... now we just need to get rid of the scrubbies like san diego state and wyoming. apa freak ini? (what the freak?) i went on exchanges yesterday with our district leader elder barlow. he went to utah. he's going home in three weeks so he was registering for classes and came across the score. at least timpview pulled one out. yeah baby. the only thing i get homesick about is football. if malaysia had real football, it would be amazing. but alas, i'm separated from my love.

so this week has been incredible here. we now have 29 people on date for baptism, we had 37 new investigators last week and twenty investigators came to sacrament meeting. that was the second highest investigators at sacrament meeting in the entire mission. who was first? elder gulbrandsen and elder semana... in the same branch. they had 22. we had a competition to see who could get the most and they just barely beat us. the chinese elders also brought 8 investigators so we had a total of 50 investigators at church this week. it was a mad house. our goal (for elder watkins and i) is to get 30 there this week and beat elder gulbrandsen and elder semana. it's fun to have little competitions like that, but the most important thing is that that is 20 people who are now progressing in the gospel. they're keeping commitments and preparing for baptism. that is amazing. there is nothing better than that.

so in answer to the questions:

1. (Mom wants to know if you were joking about the cobra? Keep us up to date on the other wildlife) yes, i was being serious about the baby cobra.

2. (Is there something that you need besides clothing?) hmmm... i need some delicious american treats. more specifically, at least a few cans of cheddar and bacon easy cheese and some club crackers. i wouldn't mind some more ties, i'm pretty sick of mine already. i don't really need anything though, just send me stuff that is delicious.

3. (We were wondering how soon before we see the next pictures from your camera?) well, i suppose i could try and mail some pictures today. i'm going to try and put them all on a cd, but i might just mail home my sd card again.

ps, did you get the calling cards i sent home? i found the ones you send me in the MTC, but they're only international calling from the US.

4. (One of the boxes that we are considering using for mail is 13x13x6. Will there be any issues with that being too large for the mail there?) that should be just fine.

5. (Who is it this pen pal that you have set your sister up with?) his name is elder semana.

so i think that's it. i'm still alive. i've also been battling a cold this last week mom, so i'm right there with you. everything is going really well, and hopefully i'll have good news that we beat the other elders in investigators at church next week. tell everybody i love them.

love,
elder troxel

ps, i'll probably make my christmas call home christmas morning here (christmas eve there) so hopefully everyone will be there. if there will be a better time, let me know.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Saya Suka Nanas (I like pineapples)

dear family,

apa khabar(what's news)? wow, i can't believe the Holy War is already here again. i remember last year's game. we stood up to leave on that 4th and 25 or whatever it was, when out of no where collie catches the wide open pass for a first down and harvey runs some people over into the end zone. i'll pray for a game like that again this year. so how many wins is that in a row for the t-birds now? who started that streak? they must've been good.

ok, now on to the answers to the questions. i got a postcard from chelsie at the new address, so you can send all the letters and packages straight there. i don't think i'll be leaving in the next few months, so you can send everything there. all the missionaries in the district have their things sent to the couples house and so far there hasn't been any problems.

1. i don't know what else you want to know about elder watkins... but his name is elder watkins, his parent's email is jodywatkins@aol.com and their names are Drew and Jody. he's a really cool guy and we get along really well.

2. the food is definitely NOT as good here as it is in west malaysia. we mostly eat in though, so it's not too bad. there aren't very many restaurants (i don't know if that's how you spell that... malay destroys your english) around, so we usually skip dinner and just have a little something after we plan at night. in the mall near to our house they just opened up a new grocery store that sells pop tarts! oh my heavens, they are fantastic. they're pretty expensive, but i don't care. they're too amazing to pass up. but when we do eat out or at people's houses its usually rice and curry (but not the delicious idian kind, nappy malaysian style).

3. i'm very particular about my water. the mission provides every house with a really nice filter, and then we have this huge pot thing that boils water for you, so i filter it and then boil it. but i have just drank straight from the tap before and nothing happened. what are immune systems for, right?

4. i've only flown on jets here, but elder watkins flew in on a prop plane when he came.

5. in order to get to singapore from here, you have to fly through kucing, which is about 40 minutes, and then from kucing to singapore which is about 90 minutes. my next visa run will be close to the end of the year, but maybe even before christmas. i just got an extension on my visa yesterday and i'm good until the 5th of january. in speaking of that, do you think you could put some more money on my card so i can draw more out when i go there? i've only got 70RM in personal funds right now, and i'm wanting to get some stuff for people's birthdays and christmas and stuff.

6. it's funny that you should mention wildlife. we stayed at the other elders' house last night because they're re-doing our driveway right now and we can't enter or leave. but they were cleaning last night and found a brand new baby cobra! yippee! thanks to my hours of watching the "croc hunter", i knew exactly what to do; i grabbed some chop sticks and picked him up to examine him closer. i didn't know this, but everybody told me that baby snakes are more poisonous than the adults. i was careful though. we don't know where the mother is though. it wasn't best that we found it right before bed last night because i was sleeping on the ground and had the thought in the back of my mind all night that there could be a cobra around somewhere. i love malaysia. other than that though, i haven't seen to much. a couple monkeys, and a baby monitor lizard is pretty much it. we do get chased by nappy dogs all the time though. we usually try and carry a rock or something to throw at them.

7. did they even give me a certificate? (Note from Dad: Jordan needs a copy of his Seminary Graduation certificate)

we've been working in an area that's way out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of iban people. the traditional iban housing is what's called a ruma panjang or a long house. they're just these really long houses (upwards of 100 yards) and tons of people live in them. the ibans used to be head hunters back in the day, and in the longhouse we've been working in they've got real human skulls! it's one of the coolest things i've ever seen. they're just hanging from the roof. i'll try and take some pictures one of these days.

anywho, i'm staying healthy and everything is going really well. make sure and update me next week on the Holy War. i'll be on pins and needles all week.

saya sayang kamu semua. (I love you all)
elder troxel

ps, chels- i just sent you the sweetest tape ever. hopefully it will be there when you get back.

Note from Dad: all translation were via http://dictionary.bhanot.net/ . You can't look up phrases but it will allow you to look up words. I haven't checked but you may be able to convert from english to malay. Impress your friends or favorite missionary with your knowledge!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Baptisms?

dear family,

before i forget to tell you again, i don't know if you realize that you can send packages in boxes... you don't have to just use envelopes. everything gets squished in those.

anywho, the last time i wrote to you, we'd set three baptism dates with investigators. well one week later we have 14 on date for baptism, the first on the 29th of this month. my malay is getting a lot better and things are really starting to roll. i'm super excited.

ok, let me try to answer your questions:

1. i have no idea what the time difference is from here to singapore. but right now it is 1:06pm if that helps at all...

2. sibu happens to have an airport, so i just flew from KL to sibu straight. the airport is barely bigger than a large house, but planes do land there. i was pretty bummed though, i really wanted to go in some kind of crazy boat.

3. my new area is actually quite large, but it's very spread out. we don't really have any dividing lines yet, but come january we will. the one branch we have will be splitting into three, so we will be assigned to the second malay branch. i don't know what the exact boundaries will be, but if you slice sibu in half, i think we pretty much just have the northern half.

4. the food here is horrible. just kidding, it's not bad. but there isn't any real restaurants here like there is in west malaysia. that's a good thing though. with the decrease in food intake and the crazy strenuous biking we do everyday, i'll hopefully lose some fat.

5. it's a lot hotter and a lot more humid here.

6. i'll still have to go back to singapore for visa runs, but i won't go again until the end of january i think. i can get an extension here for two months and my visa doesn't expire until the 25th of this month.

i think i answered everything, but if i didn't, just do another question list like that in the next email. i like that because if you just spread your questions out throughout the email i'll just forget them :). we've been working in an area called Bahagia (which translated means "happiness"). if you look on google earth you should be able to find the road called "Jalan Bahagia." it's pretty far north of where i live. oh yeah, the mall where we go isn't really much of a mall. but it's just west of our house. it takes about two minutes to get there. if you look on the map, just go west on jalan sena and it's right across the street on jalan pedada. that's really cool that you can see where i live. technology these days. oh, but i just looked on the map and the mall wasn't built yet, but it's in that open space right across the street. i'm there right now. and as far as apartment buildings near my house go... nope, there aren't any in sibu. everything is just terrace houses and kompongs.

the work is going very well here. i'm still alive and kicking. tell everybody hello for me. i love you all.

love,
elder troxel
(or as the ibans call me "eller rox" because they can't pronounce multi syllabic names)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Corn Juice?

dear family,

i can't believe that BYU is crapping it up so bad! come on cougs! that's ridiculous. but it's good to hear the the tbirds are still tearing it up. i'm sorry again that i didn't say much last week, but i really didn't have hardly any time.

so about my new area. if you can find on the map Delta Mall on Jalan Pedada, i live really close to that. i live on a street called Jalan Sena 5... but i can't remember the house number... it's a huge house and it's only elder watkins and i living there.

elder watkins is a stud. he reminds me a lot of michael. he's really chill and really good to work with. plus his malay is really good and he can speak iban. i'm sure it would be fine if you got in touch with his parents, but he's on a visa run right now so i can't ask him. right now i'm companions with Elder Semana. he was just made a zone leader in the new Sibu Zone. he's a stud. he's a philipino, but he was born and raised in malaysia. he really wants whitney to write him a letter... so get on it sis =) he came into the field about one week before me.

our area is really crazy. they brought us in because they had this huge area that elders had never worked in. but turns out that this "huge area" isn't really all that huge... in fact, it's tiny. we've already contacted the whole thing. we've found a lot of people and we set two baptism dates though. it's very jungley. i love it.

i've had a lot of very disgusting drinks this week. in malaysia, they have some really weird syrups that they mix with water and make drinks out of it. for instance, corn. it's vile. and rose syrup. gag a maggot! they give you a drink at almost every house. i don't know how much more of it i can take. i'm just going to have to start dumping them out when people aren't looking. the trick is to just down it right at the very end of the appointment, because if you drink any out of the glass, they'll fill it right back up. oh man, it's the worst.

the teaching here is very different. in west malaysia i got really good at the skills in preach my gospel, like asking questions, using scriptures, bible bashing (that's not in preach my gospel, but i must say, i'm quite good)... but most of the people here either can't read indone or just can't read at all, so we can't really use scriptures with them. you just tell them and commit them to pray. it's been an interesting change. i tried to use bible scriptures with this one roman catholic guy a couple days ago because he brought out his bible... it was way to far over his head.

anywho, i'm adjusting just fine here. my malay is improving, but i still have a very long way to go. as far as the packages go, send them to the mission office. i'd feel a lot better about that. and the address i sent was incorrect; it's Jalan Rose, not Jalan Road, and Sibu is on the line with Sarawak. and yes, you should probably put east malaysia on it.

i think that's it... if i forgot anything, let me know and i'll tell you next week.

love,
Elder Troxel

Dear friends and family,

It appears that the correct address for the missionary couple in the area is:

Jordan Troxel (No Elder, just a reminder)
No. 1B lot 1602, Block 4,
Lorong Bunga Rose 3, Jalan Rose
Sibu, Sarawak 96000
East Malaysia

Scott has adjusted the marker to the street that Jordan said his house was on, there are not too many houses on the road so take your pick. I will try to get Jordan to narrow it down by describing it. I would probably still send packages to the mission home until we get a comfirmation from Chelsie that the above address is good. Let us know Chelsie? On Google Earth I used the search string jalan sena 5, sibu sarawak, east malaysia. Thanks for looking.

Mission Field Pictures