Elder Jordan Troxel

Home again, All

2010-03-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Notes from Dad:

My attempts to keep you all informed on our progress was thwarted by the lack of technology. Once we left Kuching we continued our trip to Sibu, Bintulu, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong. Each of the nights spent in these other areas were met with frustration with our laptop and a lack of compatibility with the available internet connections. Our only other alternative was to go to an internet cafe and try to spend time updating the blog. This was not possible as we did not have time to spend in the internet cafe. Now that it is a week after our return home we are sifting through our picture and trying to decide which to post. I hope in the next couple of weeks we will be able to wrap up the blog with some final thoughts from Jordan.

The trip to pick him up was well worth the time and effort. The country and people of Malaysia are delightful and very hospitable. I felt very welcomed and will have fond memories of my time in that part of the world.

Goodbyes in Kuching

2010-03-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

Notes From Dad:

I have to apologize for the lack of name of the people we are visiting, but since I type most of this while Jordan is sleeping we will have to do some final editing when we get home. The schedule is very full and the only time I have to add some thoughts is at the beginning of each day while Jordan is sleeping. I am usually up between 5:30-6:00 AM and the mission here does not get up until 7 AM.

Our second and last day in Kuching was a combination of wonderful visits with people that Jordan baptized and something like a split with the Sis Missionaries (split is not the right word) to visits to great cultural sites. In the morning Pres Teo took us to his kampung (village). It is located several miles to the north in pretty thick jungle. We were hoping to go to the orangutan sanctuary but we missed the feeding time. So we continue onto the kampung. The roads are very narrow and winding and Pres Teo is like Mario Andretti.

There are six different distinct tribes or groups in Malaysia and each use a form of long house, but each are very different. We went to a Malaysian cultural village in the afternoon that had examples of each kind of housing. The following pictures are from Pres Teo's kampung.

Long house court yard

Walkways between buildings

Jordan does not quite fit

Not all tribes are head hunters but all keep the heads of their enemies as a warning

After visiting Pres Teo's compone we went to the Malaysian Cultural Center. It is very similar to the Polynesian Center in Hawaii that is put on by the Church. There were different villages to visit and a show with many of the dances of the different tribes. Jordan was selected to participate in the finale. I have videos of all of the dances in their entirety and when I get time I will load a dance or two.

Jordan dancing like a native

We ended the day with a visit to a family that Jordan taught the Beliang's. While we were there the Sis Missionaries brought by a couple of investigators to watch a church video on the restoration, Sis Seve and Sis Wing. It was cool to watch Jordan participate in the discussion with the Sisters. The interesting part was seeing the change of body language as the lesson continued. The one brother was very guarded until Bro Beliang participated by sharing his testimony and I watched as the Brother went from guarded to intently listening. It was a great example of the impact the local church members have on the work.

Lesson at the Beliang Family home.

Today we fly out of Kuching to Sibu.

On to East Malaysia

2010-03-10T13:03:00.001-08:00

Notes from Dad:

We left the Senior couple housing at about 7:30 AM. It was raining bad enough that we needed to find a taxi to get to the subway that would take us to the airport. The subway also known as the MRT was a great ride. It was a little crowded as the morning commuters were out in force. The crowd grew as we headed for the center of town and dwindled as we started out towards the airport. We will do the same when we return on Wednesday from KL.

We flew Asia Air and that is where I started to see the first effects of Malaysia. On the flight the service cart came up the isles and I asked for some ice water. The flight attendant looked at me a little funny and then poured me the water and added several cubes of ice, each piece individually with very small tongs. When the cup was handed to me I realized that the water had been scalding hot. The only cold water from here on out is what we will put in the refrigerator in bottles. Jordan had warned me that the only drinks served from here on out would be scalding hot or sweet corn flavored mixtures. We arrived in Kuching after a one hour and twenty minute flight,

We were met at the airport by the Branch President and taken to our hotel. The weather continued to look very threatening and by the time we arrived at the hotel it had started to rain here as well. We had time to check out the hotel internet connection and soon hooked up with Scott, and later TJ, Kimberly and Whitney. You have to love Google video chat. The cool part was taking the computer to the window and scanning the horizon so they could see what we were seeing.

Jordan had set up appointments to meet with families each day that he had been involved in teaching. So everyday we will have a little time for site seeing and then to visit with the people in their homes. We had a little time to check out the waterfront part of town. The rain was coming down but Jordan hoped that it would abate a little as rain storms tend to be short. The shops across the water front look like something out of Casa Blanca. The walkways in front of the store are brick or concrete or covered by tin roof or tarps. I can see that this is necessary in this part of the world or there would be no way or going from one store to the other without getting soaked.

The rain did not abate and instead grew in intensity, but it was ok as the only time we were exposed were while crossing an alleys or streets. Then it was a mad dash. I can tell Jordan has climatized as he was complaining that with the rain it felt a little cool. I felt like I was in a warm shower and found it quite comfortable. It was a drenching rain and we had to change or iron things to dry out. The shops run along both sides of most streets with the exception of where they front the river. They seem to go on for ever and there was no way to get to them all.

Our first appointment was at 6:00 PM. Jordan warned me that there was a chance that we would be fed at each appointment. He had mentioned this before and so I had only had a Mcgriddle at the airport before flying out (yes in Singapore there are most comforts of home). This was the home of one of the counselors of the branch presidency that he worked with. The food was great, Malaysian chicken curry, rice, cooked veggies and a salad like mixture of cooked shrimp, mushrooms, and beans. It was great to find cold soft drinks, as that seems to be more the exception than the rule.

Jordan taught them in Malay from 2 Nep 32 about enduring to the end. It was interesting to watch him changing from Malay and then to English to explain to me what was being discussed. The Malaysian people read their scriptures in the Indonesian language and are looking forward to having them in Malay soon. I was not sure how well Jordan was acquainted with the language as he had been sent on an English speaking mission. He was sent to East Malaysia after 7 months and had to learn the language while in country. You can see how the Lord blesses his servants. He told me that he is not always aware when he changes from English to Malay. The highlight of the visit was when they sang "God be with you till we meet again" in English as a going away present.

The next family was of much more humble means. The compone or village is upscale by local standards as the roads are paved. The houses were simple, built on stilts, with no interior sheeting on the walls, exposed wiring and a single light bulb for the room. We sat on the floor which was only covered in a material similar to shelving paper/covering. It was plastic in nature but very thin and appeared to be stuck to the plywood underneath. The roof was simple framing with a tin cover. Again no interior sheeting. In this weather it is good for keeping out rain but must be like living in an oven during the day and a speaker box in the rain. The father of the home is quite a singer and guitar player. He played a number and sang for Jordan and then Jordan reciprocated.

The last family was a lady that Jordan baptized and said that she cried when she found out that he was being transferred. They had food prepared and we ate again. A meal of fried chicken and pork with fried rice and a spicy sauce that looked a lot like teriyaki but with a much more potent kick. The drink was something called Milo, and is like hot chocolate, served scalding. At each meeting Jordan taught them the importance of enduring to the end and committed them to continue in the gospel.

My impression are of a humble people who can be just as distracted by the world as any other. It does not matter where you live, or how much money you make, each of us has to decide whether or not we are going to be obedient. We each can be distracted by trivial matters. The people in this part of the world have to guard against complacency just like we do. I also saw a great love of the people for those that serve them and of the love that missionaries have for them. It is hard to describe the feelings that I observed, but can only put them in the category of sacred.

The Exit Interview

2010-03-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Notes from Dad:

I was not there so I am not going to tell you what was said, but Tuesday was mostly waiting in the office for Jordan's exit interview. Pres Clark was delayed with other matters so I tried to make myself useful by helping the Elder and Sis Carpenter move luggage and mattresses from one apartment to either the storage area or the senior couple quarters. There are 7 newbies, as they are called here, scheduled to arrive Wednesday at 1:30 PM. So as was quoted by three dead missionaries all day that it is taking 7 to replace the 3 (Oh the glory of the mind). It is an odd feeling to be around as the three missionaries prepare to leave, signing each every ones journals, and giving last hugs and saying goodbyes.

We were then treated to a going away dinner and devotional at Pres and Sis Clark's residence. It is a beautiful condo and the food was prepared by some of the missionaries (some of the best food I have ever eaten). It was a traditional Indian meal that was followed by a devotional and testimony meeting. I could see the emotion of the Clark's as they said their goodbyes and bore their testimonies and allowed the missionaries to do the same. There was talk of doing the same thing the next night for the seven new missionaries only this time it will be a welcome dinner and an opportunity to learn to love seven new young men. It was interesting to be able to be there and witness the cycle of a missionary's lives. Sending them home and then starting all over with someone new.

I was impressed with the love and devotion of the Pres and Sis Clark and it somewhat reminded me of home and serving with BYU students. They come to school, you get to know them and then they move on. I would say the the Clark's experience is a little more intense, but I could empathize with them. Goodbyes and hugs took sometime with just the three of them, I imagine that it takes all night with a group of 6-8. I will leave to Jordan to share his thoughts about going through the cycle, I only offer my observations. I can say "what a group of good men" serve in this part of the world, and it is repeated many times more in other missions. This cycle goes on week after week all over the world, and I have only seen a glimpse of it.

The Joyous Reunion

2010-03-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

Notes from Dad:

The weather in Singapore starts out hot and humid and gets hotter and more humid as the day goes on. The day started with a 2-3 mile walk before sunrise. It was 80 degrees and the moisture is everywhere. Oh, so you are not reading this blog for the weather report. If you need that it is located to the right along with the current time.

At about 9:00 AM, I went with Elder and Sis Carpenter to the Mission Office. I have not seen a picture of this building and I don[t think that Jordan had sent one home. The Carpenters made a call upstairs and told Jordan that they had a package to large for them to handle and requested his help carrying it upstairs. I don't think Jordan was fooled but he came down with many other missionaries who wanted to see a father and sun hug. I think that all missionaries get a little thrill watching a family reunion and think to their time and turn. Non the less there are no pictures of the moment only memories of that first hug. Yes, LuAnn I gave him an extra squeeze for you.

We then went upstairs to meet with the rest of the office help and that is where Pres. Clark took the first pictures. I was introduce to several elders and Sis Clark who also sends her best wishes to the mother of a great missionary. There were more missionaries than usual in the office due to transfers and visa runs.

Jordan and a proud pappy

While Jordan has not been released we did get to go around and visit several places in Singapore. Jordan finished up some travel plans for KL and then we went to little India. There are location in Singapore that are primarily one ethnic group. Jordan wanted to do some shopping. We then met up with the Pres Clark and Sis Clark for lunch. Many of the office Elders came along and the restaurant is one of their favorites. Any guesses why? Of course it is a buffet. In this case a seafood buffet and Jordan was in his element.

Jordan has been concerned in his letters home that he has become fat and weak. While he has lost some of his football upper body he looked to be in pretty good health. I think that he has grown an inch or two. My guess is that he is pretty close to 6'3" in his shoes as you can tell from the above photo, he was not quite that tall when he left.

Welcome lunch

We spent the rest of the day going to places that Jordan had not been able to go to before or wanted to see again. We first went to the Singapore National Museum. It is a beautiful colonial building with many different exhibits. We went to the portion about Singapore's history. I wish there had been more about the pirate history, but from the official record it appears that was pretty short lived, and there was no information about Jack Sparrow.

We then finished our day at the Singapore Zoo. They have a very unique zoo attraction called the Night Safari. It is completely dark with only some minor path lighting. It is a cool way to see the zoo including sugar glider, flying squires, tigers, bats and many other animals, most who are nocturnal anyways.

I did shoot many videos but I may have to wait until I get home to get them loaded. The processor on the laptop is struggling with the HD format. So I will try to shoot stills along with the video from here on. We finished the day at his apartment. It is used for the stay over place for those on transfers, visa runs and dead missionaries. Needless to say there was quite a crowd there last night. My impression of the apartment was that it was quite large and probably was not inspected by Elder Nelson when he was in town (hint hint). I was thirsty and was offered a drink from a clean bowl.

Today is Jordan's exit interview. That will happen around 10:00 AM and then we are off to see some more of Singapore. Singapore is very modern, clean and pretty easy to get around. There is a tube transport called the MRT that makes it very quick to get from one station to another. There is every convenience known to man and most conveyances also. If the weather was a little more moderate it would be a paradise, but that is left to Hawaii.

I am looking towards meeting up with Jordan again and from here on out we will be companions. He will not be going back to his apartment again, unless he forgot to pack something, and that is a pretty big likelihood.

The Beginning of the End

2010-03-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

Notes from Dad:

Yesterday was a travel day. I know that other family members have travelled great distances before but this was my first trip outside the United States, except for a couple of trips into Canada years ago, and that used to be like traveling to another State. I left Salt Lake City after work on Friday at 7:10 PM to fly to San Fransisco to catch a red eye to Hong Kong. I arrived in Hong Kong at about 4:00 PM Saturday Salt Lake time. I then caught a connecting flight to Singapore and arrive about 4 hours later.

Since it was Elder Troxel's last official day of split and missionary work he was not able to meet with me. He had given me instructions on how to get to the senior missionary quarters and I took a taxi. The building is a combined church and missionary housing. there is a photo of the building already on the blog. It is the one with Jordan sticking out his back side in front of a colonial white building (I mean British colonial). I met Elder and Sis Carpenter and two other senior missionary couples. They shared a meal with me and we chatted about children and families until my eyes started to fall out of my head, which was about 6:00 PM Sunday Singapore time and 3:00 AM Sunday morning Salt Lake time.

All together other than some short cat naps on the plane I had been up for about 46 hours with out a good rest. I have stayed up for marathons like this before with my police work and I am used to switching my sleep around because of working graves. After a good nights rest I feel ready to tackle the day and meet up with Jordan. I talked to him on the phone and he was having to do the hardest thing for a missionary and that is "packing day". Missionaries think about going home, but it is not real to them until they have to pack. The realization was hitting Jordan last evening.

This morning, Monday, at about 9:00 AM, I will get to meet with Jordan and he will still be a missionary, but he will not have any official duties left. We will spend the next two days traveling around Singapore as tourist. On Wednesday we will travel to Kuching, Friday to Sibu, Saturday to Bintulu where we will attend church and Sunday afternoon to Kuala Lumpur. We will stay in KL until Wednesday morning when we fly back to Singapore and then onto Hong Kong. We will stay in Hong Kong until Thursday evening so we can attend the Hong Kong Temple Thursday morning. Due to the international date line we will be back in Salt Lake City on Thursday evening.

Thoughts on the flight: The flight was smooth from San Fransisco to Hong Kong, about 15 hours. Economy class was very cramped. I flew on a 747 and it was the first plane that I had been on where the seat does not recline, but the seat portion slides forward cutting into your leg, especially your knee room. I was not able to get an isle seat which would have been a big help. It was it was a pain to have to ask two people to move so I could get up and walk around, so all I could do was flex in my seat. By the time I went to bed last evening, my ankles were twice their normal size. I had not noticed until I took a shower. After sleeping all night they are back to normal. I am going to try to get an isle seat on the way back.

View from the Hong Kong airport of the Harbor looking Northwest

Thanks for the Memories

2010-03-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

Keluargaku yang kukasihi,

This is it. The next contact I'll have with you is when I see Dad in Singapore. It really hasn't hit me yet. Right now I'm in Bintulu on an exchange. It was a good idea to schedule exchanges this week, because if I was just sitting in Singapore I'd have a lot more time to think about it. I won't get back to Singapore until Saturday afternoon, and by that time I'll need to start packing and getting things together.

I got to go to KK for the last time on Saturday and we stayed for church on Sunday. That was so sad. I had to say goodbye to a lot of people because we're not going to have a chance to go there when I go around with Dad. Angelo (formerly Elder Semana) met me at church on Sunday and then he came out with us teaching that night. It ripped my heart out to have to say goodbye to him. He's been with me pretty much my entire mission. Dad mentioned doing the "interview" with him, but we're unfortunately not going to get a chance to meet him ;(

The whole trip is pretty much planned out. I've made reservations and set up all of our travel in all the areas (except for KL, but I'll do that on Saturday when I get back). It's going to be SO sweet. I'm pumped... but I'm kinda dreading it at the same time because I know how hard it's going to be to leave.

When you get to Singapore, you should probably take a taxi to the Church/Carpenter's abode on 233 Pasir Panjang Road (next to the Redwood Condominium). I'm probably not going to be able to meet you till Monday morning, but that will work out nicely because you'll be able to just come into the office with the Carpenters Monday morning. I'm likely not going to be able to email again before I get back to Singapore, and by that time you'll already be in the air, but you have the office number and here is my cell number in case you get lost in between the airport and the Carpenters: +65 9837 3063.

I think that's pretty much it. It's been an awesome 25 months. I'm super nervous to go home. Will I be an awkward RM? Only time will tell...but probably.

Thank you all so much for the love, support, and prayers. You have made all the difference.

I love you all,
Elder Troxel (for the last time)

Note from Dad: We would like to thank all of you who have been following along. We have had fun posting Jordan's letters and experiences. While this may be Jordan's last official letter home, we are looking forward to having him post some last thoughts once he gets home. We will also use the blog to post some of our comments and thoughts while I am there in Singapore and Malaysia with him. We have loved sharing this experience with all of you. It has been a great blessing for our family to share our Missionaries experiences over the years. We are doubly sad that this part of our lives may be coming to a close for a while.

Over the last ten years we have enjoyed having our sons serve in Salvador Brazil, Guatemala City Guatemala, Washington D. C., and now Singapore/Malaysia. We have all grown through the examples set by our children, and we wouldn't change a minute of their time in the mission field for all of the gold in the earth. We are excited that Jordan is coming home, but we are also sad at the realization that this great opportunity is drawing to a close. My testimony of Jesus Christ has been strengthen by hearing from my sons as they have shared the gospel with the people of the earth. I am a better person for their efforts, and all I can say is "Thank You and I Love You" to each of them.

All the Small Things

2010-02-24T05:10:00.000-08:00

Dear family,

Yeah, this week was pretty normal. Not much really happened. I did some missionary stuff, rode on some airplanes, hung out with an Apostle, ya know, the usual. WOW. Words really cannot express how amazing this week has been. I'll try to recreate it, but I definitely will not be able to do justice to the experience.

President and Sister Clark, Elder Stone and I flew to Miri on Thursday afternoon to make sure everything was in for Elder Nelson's visit. Elder and Sister Nelson along with Elder and Sister Watson were going to arrive on Friday afternoon, but we weren't going to get to see them until Saturday. Anywho, President Clark (bless him) invited us to the airport on Friday to meet them and there wasn't any way on this earth that I was going to pass up an invitation like that, so we went.

There to greet him was the Miri District President and his first counselor and their wives, Elder McKellar (the senior couple in Miri), President and Sister Clark, and the two of us. We were there pretty early, so we waited for what seemed like ages for the plane to arrive and the passengers to come out. We stood in the arrival hall, looking through the glass doors down the hallway where all the passengers were coming from. All of the passengers came out and left the hall all but empty.

Then, all of a sudden something hit me (I came to find out late that it wasn't only me that felt it) that felt almost like a wave. The inside of me burned, and I knew that something of great significance was about to happen. That was when they came around the corner and we saw the first Apostle to ever set foot on the island of Borneo (at least in this dispensation). That feeling hasn't left me for the last 6 days. I got to briefly meet and shake hands with Elder and Sister Nelson, and then they went to their hotel for some rest.

The next day started the Miri District conference. President Clark (bless him) asked if we could sit in on the meetings with the District Presidency and Elder Nelson allowed us to do so. I have never felt so small in my life. There I sat, in a room no bigger than our living room, with an Apostle, a 70, a mission president, the second counselor in the mission presidency, and the district presidency... and then there was Elder Stone and me. What and incredible opportunity.

Later that evening was the Priesthood leadership session (which was excellent) and then the Saturday night adult session. It was cool because I got to see quite a few members from Bintulu there, and it was equally as cool that we got to sit right behind Elder and Sister Nelson on the stand. I could go on and on about what happened in Miri because it was so amazing, but the highlight of the experience happened in the Missionary meeting on Monday.

Elder Nelson, near the end of his address to us, told us all that he wanted us to write down the numbers of the District as they are right now (total membership, Melchizedek PH, etc.) so that we could show them to our children and grandchildren and they would laugh to think that the church in Miri was ever that small. He then went on to say that there will be Stakes (in the plural) in Miri, and that we should "take it as prophecy."

AH! I heard a prophet prophesy! He has also left an Apostolic blessing on the people and the missionaries in every place that we have travelled and visited. I won't go into any more of the specific things that he said, but I have heard things in the last week that I will never forget. It's been a life changing experience.

We went from Miri to KL, and left KL this morning for Singapore. We just barely finished our missionary meeting here in Singapore, and we're getting ready to go to the member meeting tonight. Elder and Sister Nelson will leave tomorrow for Indonesia.

Sister Nelson is such a sweetheart. She is also pretty mind blowing. She pulled me off to the side in KL with Elder Nelson and asked me if my Mom's name was LuAnn. I said yes, and then she got excited and asked if they could get a picture with me so she could send it to her sister that works with Mom. That was pretty cool. Thanks Mom, you're famous! She said that she emailed you and that you responded. Wow! How cool is that?!

I did get to make a make an official two year extension request to the Asia area President (Elder Perkins) and Elder Nelson today if they would send me to Kalimantan, which is the Indonesian part of Borneo that isn't opened yet. They rejected it, but Elder Nelson did imply that I would get another chance to serve in this part of the world at a different time. I don't know when that will be, but I hope it's before I'm too old to do anything.

So when I got back to Singapore, the first thing that was said to me was, "I can't believe you only have 12 days left Elder Troxel." Join the club, I didn't know it was that short. I'll only be in Singapore for 3 of those days, because I'm going back to Malaysia on Saturday for my last week of Zone Leader exchanges. It'll keep me busy for the last little bit.

So Dad, did the hotel info help at all? Do you want me to book them, or did you already do that? If you could let me know before Saturday, then I can do whatever I need to do. I'm way excited. Malaysia is the greatest place in the world, and I'm pumped for you to get to experience it.

I love you all! Only one more email!

Love,
Elder Troxel

The Weeks at the Mission Office are Tough

2010-02-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Don't feel bad about the email being short Mom (even though it wasn't), because mine is also going to be short. Not so much because of lack of time, but mostly because not much happened this week. We had an entire week in Singapore! Those are always horrible. From the first few days that I had in the office, I knew that by the time I finished my time I would be ready to leave it. I love the mission and what I'm doing so much, but the office kills me sometimes.

Most of what I've been doing for the last week or so has been preparations for the mission tour and taking care of a lot of other small things that we haven't had time to deal with for the last 3 months. I'm super pumped about Elder Nelson. We leave for Miri tomorrow and we'll meet him on Friday! It'll be awesome. Anywho, since I don't really have that much to share about this last week, I'll fill some space with some awesome pictures.

Dang, I've already forgotten the order that I attached them, but I'm pretty sure the first one is of me, Elder Pace, and Elder Stone right before Elder Pace died last month. May he rest in peace. (He's really not dead, he's just Bro. Pace somewhere else).

I think the second one was a picture of me with Elder and Sister Watson when they came on their mission tour last month. They are so awesome.

The third one is how they serve chicken in this part of the world. Mmmm... get ready Dad. That is actually a really nice place, so it's not even bad looking. But don't you worry, we'll be eating A LOT of crazy stuff in a few weeks.

The fourth one is a picture of me with a chicken. I couldn't believe this. The chickens were on sale for only 8 Ringgit! That's a little over 2 dollars! If it weren't a mission rule that we can't have pets, I totally would have bought one.

That's just a few pictures. I've got some way awesome ones, and Dad and I will get some pretty stellar ones too, I'm sure. Anywho, I'm alive and still kickin'. Elder Stone even said to me last night that he hasn't sensed any "negative trunkiness" in me. Awww, thanks Stoney!

I took a look at some hotels and stuff Dad. The ones in Kuching that are looking the best are the Harbour View Hotel or the Four Points Hotel. In Sibu it's either the RH Hotel or the Premier Hotel. Park City Hotel in Bintulu is pretty nice, but I didn't really look into Bintulu at all yet. In KL we can stay pretty much anywhere because there are tons of hotels. Just book something that's not too expensive.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! See you soon.

Love,

Elder Troxel

"Nice to stop saying goodbyes and saying hellos"

2010-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

So there I was, sitting in a sacrament meeting hall as a bunch of frazzled looking missionaries filed in and sat down. The last few moments with my family and my girlfriend ran through my mind as I thought to myself, "Wow, two years is going to be a long time." Now here I am, officially more than two years later thinking to myself, "wow, where did the time go?" and also "how did I get so fat?"

Anywho, this last week was pretty cool. We got back from our tour on Saturday afternoon and we've spent the last few days getting together our training for the Zone Leader Council that will go down tomorrow. We just barely put the finishing touches on our powerpoint this morning. That means that I don't have to prepare any more on my mission! YES! We'll give the training tomorrow, and that will what be last training I'll give. I feel like I did the month before I came on my mission. I'm starting to get into the "lasts". The last time I'll give a training, the last time I'll go to Miri, the last time I'll be sick on my mission (which I am right now).

Six of the Elders in my group came into Singapore yesterday. Elders Shipp, Muffler, Hall, Semana, Etable, and Limpahan. They all had their exit interviews today and we'll have the going out dinner tonight with all of them at President's house. It's pretty dang weird, I'm not gunna lie. It hasn't really hit me yet. The strangest part of the whole deal is Elder Semana dying (leaving the mission). I can't believe that. It's going to be pretty tough for me I think. Who knows when I'll be able to see the native missionaries again? But I'm hangin in there.

One of the strangest moments of my mission happened on Sunday. Elder Stone and I were in our office working on our training, when Elder Chua knocks on the door and tells me that I've got a visitor. I opened it and saw a bald guy with a goatee standing in the office lobby. I knew that I knew him from somewhere, but I could not for the life of me remember who he was.

As he walked closer, I remembered that I was somehow related to him, and when we shook hands, it all came back to me. "UNCLE WAYNE!" I was so surprised. Biggest shock I've had in a long time. I couldn't believe it. We talked for 15 or so minutes, and made a breakfast appointment for the next morning because he didn't have any other time when we could meet up. So I got to have breakfast with Uncle Wayne yesterday! And I've got the picture to prove it :)

Well, I've gotta run. I love you all! See you soon!

-Elder Troxel

728 Days

2010-02-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

I'm now sitting in a familiar internet cafe in KL! We're now on the second half of our training tour around the mission, and we've only have 3 more stops until we finish! That will be a relief. It's been really fun so far and we've had a really good response from the training, but I have never been so exhausted in my entire life. I know how you feel, Mom.

We got back from East Malaysia last week on Wednesday night and spent the rest of the week preparing our training for the upcoming zone leader council. We spent ALL DAY on Friday in our little 8x12 office trying to get it finished. I wanted to kill myself by the end of the day. I could never have a career working all day in an office like that. It destroys my soul. But the good news is that we almost got it finished and what we didn't finish we'll have some time on Sunday and Monday to get it done.

On Monday we got to sit in on the Mission Presidency meeting. It was really cool to see. Being an Assistant has a lot of Pros and Cons, but one of the big pros is the awesome training that we get from being able to be around President all the time. I do like that part of it.

We had to leave the meeting early though because we took off to Johor Bahru for exchanges and to give our training. It's just across the border from Singapore, so we just taxied there, but when we were nearly to the border, Elder Stone realized that he had forgotten his passport, so we had to go back, then we had to taxi out again, go through the immigration checkpoints, and do all that nonsense. By the time we met up with the JB Elders, it was 7:30... yeah, we were supposed to be there at 4:00. Ouch.

But the exchange went well, as did the training and then we flew out to KL yesterday. We taxied to the PJ Elders' house from the airport, and when we got up to their apartment, I realized that I didn't have my wallet! I hate that panicky feeling when you know you've lost something important. But I fortunately had the taxi driver's phone number and he was able to return it to me. Talk about TENDER MERCIES! Oh man, that was scary.

We just finished giving our training to the Elders and Sisters serving in the KL/PJ area, and from here we'll jump on a bus that will take us to Melaka. Tomorrow we'll bus to Ipoh, then to Butterworth, and we'll fly back to Singapore on Saturday.

It's strange to me that my two year mark is on Friday... it's pretty funny though that my two year mark will come and go, and yet I still remain. Everyone else in my group (except for Elder Ogden who also extended) are in their last week. Were I just sitting around in the office all day, it would be a little bit tough, but I don't really have time to think about it while I'm out and about. I'm very glad that I extended though. When else will I get a chance in my life to do this? Maybe never again. Definitely not in the same capacity, so it is worth it.

Anywho, I'm still alive and kickin'. The mission is doing awesome right now! I'm way excited about it. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Troxel

Chelsie Rose

2010-01-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

I really can't believe that January is already nearly finished. This last week and a half FLEW by. We started off on a training tour last Tuesday that took us through yesterday. We went first to Kuching where we did some fun exchanges and had a really awesome training. All of the exchanges we got to do this time were way fun because we usually will only go on exchanges with the zone leaders, but this time we picked out some specific Elders that we wanted to see work. I thought it was excellent because it really helped us to see much better what is going on in the mission.

We went from Kuching to Sibu, where I spent my birthday. I got to go over to the awesome recent converts' house (known around Sibu as "The Big House") and they threw me a party. It was incredible! It's actually the same place where I spent my birthday last year! I've attached a picture of Chelsie Rose. She has gotten so big in the past year! She's now about 13 months old. The other picture that's attached is the family. Best birthday ever.

Chelsie Rose

Chelsie Rose and her family

From Sibu we took off to give our training and do exchanges in Bintulu, Miri, Tawau, KK, and Sandakan. Wow, it was a very exhausting trip. I still haven't quite recovered. In speaking of KK, I found out this week that Kelvin got his mission call to the London South Mission! He's way nervous because he feels that his English isn't good enough, but he'll be amazing.

Next week we'll be leaving Monday evening to go all through West Malaysia for another week-long tour. It'll be fun. I feel kinda like a zombie though and I don't know if I'll ever really be able to catch up on the amount of sleep I've lost since I've been in the office. I'm thinking that I might not want to go to school in the Spring after all so that I can just hibernate over the summer and start in the fall. Just kidding.

But about this whole school thing, February 1st has really snuck up on me and I haven't even really thought about what classes I want to take. Chelsie offered to help, and because she's been at it for awhile and knows what professors are good and which ones aren't, I'm thinking I'll just let her take care of most of it.

Awesome story of the week... So while we were in Miri, I was on exchanges with an Elder named Elder Pingle. He's a stud and it was a way fun exchange, but unfortunately as an Assistant I get the opportunity to ride all of the worst spare bikes in the mission for exchanges. Miri's spare was an awesome old Sister's bike. I looked pretty funny, but that's not really part of the story.

Anywho, we were riding down the street, and I was just jabbering away, not really paying attention to what was in front of me, when all of a sudden a spider-web gets me in the face. As a pedaled a few more times, I realized that it wasn't a spider-web, but some kind of string stretched across the road because it kept getting tighter and tighter as I pedaled. Turns out, there was a kid's kite that was stuck in the tree, and he was standing across the street trying to pull it out of the tree. I hit the string (which was actually fishing line) with my face, but as I kept going, it got tighter and tighter and kept pulling me farther and farther backwards. Then it slipped around my neck and I thought "wrugh ough!", so I busted out this sweet matrix move on my bike and the line finally broke free of my face, but it did leave a nice little gash on my neck. The moral of this story is that if you don't like looking stupid, a mission is not the place for you.

I'll be in touch over the next few days because I'm getting the list of hotels from Sister Carpenter tomorrow. I'll also see if we can get a morning flight to Sibu on that day when we were going to take the boat. You're right dad, the boat would take way too long, but I'm not exactly sure if there's a better flight.

Welp, I've gotta run, but I hope everybody is hanging in there. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Troxel

21 is the age you said I could buy a motorcycle, right?

2010-01-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

Note from Dad: sorry this is so late, We have been busy with remodeling the family room, before Jordan gets home. I will not let it happen again.

Dear Family,

This last week has been one of the rare weeks when I've spent all my time in Singapore. We're taking off for Malaysia later this morning and we'll be on the run for 10 days without coming back. I'm pretty much a nomad. I have no home. But it's really fun to get out and see everybody (I miss Elder Chua). I say that because I know that he reads the blog.

We're going around everywhere to give my last training! Dun dun dun! It's a good one though. We've already given it to the Singapore zone and I hope it was motivating for them. I don't know when/if I'll have time to email in the next ten days, but this might be it until then.

I've attached a calendar of all my activities up through March. In the month of March I've gone through and laid out some rough plans of what we'll do for that week. I've included flight numbers, but here is a more detailed list:

March 10: Singapore to Kuching- Air Asia flight AK 6674 at 10:40am. Cost = 78.00 SGD (USD 59.00)
March 12: Express boat from Kuching to Sibu at 8:30am (we'll buy tickets there)
March 13: Sibu to Bintulu- Malaysia Airlines flight MH3240 at 8:15am. Cost = MYR 270.00 (USD 80.92)
March 14: Bintulu to KL- Malaysia Airlines flight MH2743 at 2:30pm. Cost = MYR 724.00 (USD 216.00)
March 17: KL to Singapore- Malaysia Airlines flight MH611 at 9:25am. Cost = MYR 396.00 (USD 118.68)

Dad will need to get on to the Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia websites to reserve and pay for those tickets. If that won't work, let me know and we can figure something else out... And if Dad doesn't want to take the 4 hour express boat (which would be AWESOME) then we can fly to Sibu.

On the Malaysia Airlines website it'll probably have a spot to type in an "Enrich" number. It's for frequent flier miles. I don't really know what to do with the miles that I've racked up (it's not all that many) but maybe it can get us some discounts or something.

When we get to KL, I'd like to go to this place called Genting Highlands. It's a big theme park. I've never been there, but it sounds pretty sweet. You can check it out online and see if you're interested. As far as hotels go, I totally forgot about those. I'm not going to have time to get that worked out until the latter part of next week, but if we need it done ASAP you can probably just call Sister Carpenter.

It's going to be a blast. I'm really excited for Dad to get to see everything and everybody. Oh yeah, Kelvin got his mission call, but he's out of town so he hasn't opened it yet. I hope he comes to this mission, but the other two guys that just got their mission calls from his branch are both going out of the country. In fact, one of them is going to Washington DC. But it's south, not north. He's going to the Provo MTC in May, so I'm going to meet up with him when he gets into Salt Lake before he goes into the MTC.

The mission is doing extremely well right now. It's really exciting and I'm grateful to be able to see it and play a small role in this stellar work. It's epic.
Anywho, I've gotta run. Tell everybody that they're in my prayers (especially TJ and Kimberly). I love you all!

Love,
Elder Troxel

Woah Eye Knee

2010-01-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

What a week! It's been stellar! I believe the last time I wrote you we had just begun our mission tour with Elder Watson. That was EPIC! It was so cool to be able to be around him pretty much 24/7 for five or so days. Being around a General Authority just makes you realize how far away you are from perfection.

They live in Hong Kong though, so I told them I was going to be going there to the temple in March, and Sister Watson gave me some good information on Hotels and stuff. They couldn't remember off the top of their heads if they were going to be in town or not at that time, but if they are we might be able to see them. She's going to email the hotel info to Sister Clark, but she also said that you could email her. Just say that you are Elder Troxel's parents and you are wondering if had any tips on places to stay in Hong Kong.

On the tour, we had training meetings here is Singapore, KL, Sibu, and Miri. All of them were excellent, but Sibu's especially because we got to be there for the first ever Sibu district conference. Just on my mission, Sibu has gone from 1 branch to a district with 3 branches and 2 groups. That's so sweet. The church is growing so fast in East Malaysia! The conference that we had in Miri was with Sarawak North and Sabah zones. Both of those are close to my heart because I was a zone leader in both of them.

We have a tradition in our mission that all of the missionaries bear a "last testimony" at the end of their last zone conference. Well, I had mine there. It's funny, because every time you see somebody bear their last testimony, you think "man, that day will never come for me." But mine has come and past. It was cool, because I got to see all the missionaries who came out with me bear their last testimonies too as we went around.

In speaking of the church growing like crazy, the branch in Miri just split from one branch to two with a Chinese speaking group. I didn't even think to ask President Clark about the new leadership, but I just got an email from a man named Edwin telling me that he was called to be the new Branch President. I taught and baptized that guy about 8 months ago in Kuching! That's so sweet! Wow, I never would've thunk that he'd be a Branch President by now. That's such good news though.

He and I have a bet that I can't remember if I told you about or not; he has a goal to get sealed in the temple to his wife as soon as possible after he hits his one year mark, so I bet him that I would get married in the temple before he did. If I lose, then I owe him a package from America. I don't think I'm going to win this one, but you never know right?

Before I forget, Dad had some questions:

1. No, I don't have any adapters anymore... I haven't the foggiest as to where mine went, but you'll probably need to bring one.

2. You might want to bring a small amount of something like that, because the chances of getting the "cirit-birit" (diarrhea) are fairly high. It might get taken away by Malaysian customs though, but I'm not sure.

So yeah, looks like I'm going to BYU! I'm pretty pumped. I'd love to take a class with both Whitney and Chelsie, but I'm afraid they are both way to intelligent for my level. I was planning on starting slow with something like "Cursive 101" or "Times Tables for Dummies" classes. I haven't really looked closely at the details, but I hear that you can start registering for classes the first of February. Should I do it from here? I don't know, I'm new to this College nonsense.

Anywho, I've gotta run, but I love you all!

Love,
Elder Troxel

Warp Speed

2010-01-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Dear family of mine,

I will apologize now because this email is going to be really short. I'm now entering a time warp that will bring me to the end of my mission. For the last 4 days we have worked tirelessly (just kidding, I'm really tired) to try and get mission tour all organized.

Elder Watson got here today and we'll have the first training meeting tomorrow in Singapore, then to KL on Friday, Sibu on Saturday, then Miri on Monday. Then next week we'll have a couple days to finish our other training before Elder Stone and I take off for our two week training tour.

When that's all over, we've got another training that we'll have to give at the zone leader counsel the second week of February. That gives us just enough time to prepare for our visiting authorities tour. AH! Then I'm done.

It's been a strange week for me. I got to go on exchanges will my MTC companion Elder Shipp. He is a funny guy. We were with him for new years, which actually turned out to be pretty wild.

We got to that area at about 2:30 in the morning of Dec 31st. We went to the zone leaders' apartment at 3am. When we got there, Elder Stone realized that he left his luggage on the bus! the next day, he called the driver, and the driver told him that it was still on the bus, but that he wouldn't be back in town until 2:30 the next morning! So we stayed up all night, celebrating the new year and reminiscing, then we took the ferry across the river to get his baggage at the bus station. Pretty crazy.

Elder Pace, a very close friend of mine from the MTC, went home today. He decided to go home a month early for school, and I'm extending a month, so now we've got a two month gap. It was weird though. He's gone! Another one bites the dust!

Thanks for all of your prayers. I'll need them for the next couple months. I'm in a sprint to the finish, however, if you recall, I've never been a strong finisher in a race... Lets just hope that's just a problem with physical stamina and that I'll be able to push through to the finish line.

I love you all.

-Elder Troxel

Banglaseshi Messes

2009-12-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it was awesome to get to see and talk to everybody. Whitney has matured a lot, and Seth can talk! It was fun. It didn't feel like I haven't talked to yall in 7 months. This Christmas was killer. I loved it. Hopefully I'll be there next year with at least my fiance (don't know if that's spelled correctly)... just kidding Mom. Kinda.

So there was some wild stuff that went down this week. I can't really tell you all the details, but it had to do with 5 men from Bangladesh who all really wanted to be baptized before they went back. Their story is that they've had the Book of Mormon for about 10 years now and finally are here to be baptized. Yeah, we've done some research about one of them and it's pretty fishy. In fact it reeks... I'll tell you all about it in a few months.

Right now I'm sitting in KL on an exchange. I lived in the apartment here for the first 6 days of my mission. Since that time, I've only been back to that apartment once, and that was when I got transferred from Klang to Sibu last October. Being there brings back a lot of feelings and memories. I'd forgotten how it felt to be a brand new missionary, but being back in that same environment now has brought some of those sensations back.

I don't miss that first month or so. The combination of culture shock, not knowing anyone around you (including your companion), and being completely lost halfway around the world is not a very pleasant thing to experience for the first little bit. I got over it fairly quickly, but for some it is really difficult. As my mission is getting closer to the end, I'm realizing that it's going to be much of the same sensations when I go home, just in reverse. I don't especially like change.

Highlights of the week:

1. Our mission has a goal to have 1000 baptisms a year. We shoot for 20 baptisms a week throughout the mission, but of course some weeks are better than others. For the first 8 months of this year, I don't know what happened but the mission was taking a beating and there were many weeks that were below 10. However, since President Clark has been here (especially in the last 3 months) things have lit back on fire. We averaged more than 100 baptisms per month for the last 3 months and this last week was the biggest highlight because we had 52 baptisms in the mission! That is crazy! Things are really rolling now, but the challenge is to keep things rolling.

2. We're going to be going around giving a training in the next month to try and keep everybody fired up and working their hardest while doing it effectively.
On Wednesday night we'll be going up to Penang to do exchanges there, and then we'll be back in Singapore for almost a week before Elder Kent D. Watson of the Seventy comes on his tour of the mission. That will last for about a week, and then Elder Stone and I will be going around the mission again giving a training which will be about 2 weeks. Directly following that is Elder Nelson's mission tour, so we're going to be pretty swamped for the next 3 months or so.

Dad asked about my language study. I've never been very good at studying it. The way I learned Malay was 80% just trying to speak it and if I didn't understand a word, I would write it down and figure it out later. Grammar books and language learning books never really did it for me, so my "language study" time in the mornings wasn't ever very effective. I feel like that is the better way to learn it anyway.

There are very few things that bother me more about missionary work than missionaries who focus too much on what words they are using and trying to have perfect grammar instead of the message they're sharing and how sincere they are. The language of the spirit is far more important than anything else you can use, and some missionaries get too distracted by other things, like trying to use deep profound language that is completely unnecessary. Simplicity is many times much more powerful. Maybe I just say that because I don't know very many big words (even in English), but that's how I feel.

Did I mention that I'm uber-excited for this trip Dad? It is going to blow your mind! I'm happy that you've got something to record it on now. It will be sweet! I hope that I'll have time to work all of it out though... no worries, I'll get it done.

Anywho, yall are the bomb. Thanks for all of the support and prayers.

I love you all,

Elder Troxel

Exchanges with the Easties

2009-12-16T04:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Right now I sit in a very familiar internet cafe in Bintulu. We are on an exchange cycle this week with the zone leaders in East Malaysia. It's been really fun. We started on Friday last week in Kuching. We went there with President and Sister Clark for the District Conference there. It was AWESOME. Elder Perkins of the Seventy and President of the Asia Area presidency was the presiding authority. We got to go out with him, President Clark, and the district president. That was crazy sweet. I was pretty nervous, but Elder Perkins was extremely nice and it was a good experience to be around him for a couple of days. It made it even better that I got to see a few more recent converts sustained to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. SWEET!

After the conference on Sunday, we flew to Sibu. I got to go on exchanges there with Elder Pace. He is a hoot. The highlight of that trip was helping this family move. The final two things that they needed moved were a fridge and a washing machine. their car was too small to bring any of them, and they were only moving down the street (about 100 yards), so Elder Pace and I just decided to carry them.

He grabbed the washing machine, and I had a second guy help me load the fridge onto my shoulders and I took that one. Well, I got about 30 yards and realized that wow, this thing is pretty darn heavy. However, there wasn't going to be any letting that thing down easy, so I quickly surveyed the surroundings and saw that off to my right was a narrow strip of grass between the road the the flooding river. I used what strength I had left to lunge in that direction. I landed the fridge on the grass, and when it almost tipped over into the river I had to dig my knees (as I was kneeling) into the muddy ground and stop it. PS, it was pouring rain. I rested for a few seconds, and then I decided that it was only because I had a bad grip on it that I had to set it down.

So, I got a better grip with one hand on the bottom and one on the side and began, once again to carry that beast down the street. Well, the bottom of that fridge had a fairly sharp edge on it, and I quickly realized that this wasn't going to work either because I could feel it starting to break skin. Finally, Elder Pace came to the rescue and we got it down the street the rest of the way. It's ok though, the bruises on my shoulder from the immense weight, not the cuts on my fingers hurt as much as my pride from not being able to carry the thing down the street.

Right now we're in Bintulu. We did our exchange yesterday and we'll be taking off to KK today. Anywho, in answer to your questions:

1. (Do you want us to scan the letter from R.D.?) To be perfectly honest, I don't really want it (sorry to be brutal)... However, if you've got any of Chelsie's letters hanging around, I wouldn't mind :) Whitney can read it if she wants, but no need to send it here.

2. (Can we talk about Elder Nelson coming?) Yes, the secrets out. You can tell people.

3. (What should Dad plan on bringing to wear while he's there?) Well, he'll want at least a short-sleeve white shirt, slacks and a tie for church and my outgoing dinner perhaps, but other than that he can wear anything (shorts are perfectly fine)

4. (What are the plans for our Christmas phone call?) I like that plan. I will skype you from Sister Clark's computer (hopefully, but I haven't asked her yet) at 9 my time which according to your estimate would be 6 at night Christmas eve there.

5. (How does Elder Stone remember you?) He's got a pretty good memory. He remembered holding my blocks once while I was in my speed-suit.

6. (Where is Elder Watkins from & is he coming to school here?) Elder Watkins (Cody now) is from Layton. He's not going to BYU yet, but I think he eventually wants to. He'll be going to Weber State for at least a semester though. I don't exactly know how you could get a hold of him, but I'm sure he'd like to meet you. oh yeah, here is his email address: codywatkins1@gmail.com .

Things are going great here. I'm staying busy (and trunky). Just kidding about the trunky part though...ish. At least I'm honest though, right?

Anywho, I love you all. Have a wonderful day!

Love,
Elder Troxel

Jordan's current release date is March 8, 2010. With our planning to travel with him in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, that puts him home on March 18, 2010.

The Black Parade

2009-12-09T04:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

This week has been exciting, but sad at the same time. We went to KK on Monday for our second-to-last zone conference stop. That was way fun because I got to see a ton of people who I developed very strong friendships with, even though I was only there for a month. I was greeted there with amazing news: Kelvin's mission papers are officially in! Him, and two others in that branch will be leaving (hopefully) in March. I'll just miss him, but he is going to be one heck of a missionary.

You asked about how to help him, and I would say that the best way would probably be just to make donations to the general missionary fund. I'm not exactly sure how all of that works out, but I'm sure President and the mission will take care of it.

On Wednesday we took off for KL, which was also way sweet because I got to see quite a few of my recent converts. In fact, two of them got sustained in the district conference on Sunday to get the Melchezidek priesthood! I have no idea why on earth it has taken this long but they will finally after more than a year of activity be getting it. That was pretty sweet to see.

The bad part about that trip was that Elder Gulbrandsen didn't come back with us. His parents picked him up there and I came back with my new companion, Elder Stone. It's extremely sad to lose Elder Gul, he's been a real asset to the mission. I'm excited to be with Elder Stone though. He's a really nice guy. He's from Salem, UT and went to Spanish Fork high school. His mom just had her 11th child this last week! WOW!

The really sad part of this last week happened yesterday. Elder Watkins had his going out dinner last night and flew out this morning. He's in the air as I type. That's sad for me, mostly because I was good friends with him and we were companions for 7 months, but a little bit because it reminds me how short I have. I think there's only 7 more missionaries that go home before me left in the mission.

Anywho, as far as the coming home business goes, I am for sure going home on March 10th. Not February 10th, not February 24th, not March 8th, but March 10th. Officially. Finally. No more changes, that is when I will finish.

I got an email from Scott that included pictures of his house and the kids. My heavens! Seth is HUGE! As is Aubrey! Man, when I left, Seth couldn't really even speak yet! That's funny.

Well, I'm super hungry, and seeing as I have the freedom to go eat whenever I want, I'm going now.

I love you all!
Elder Troxel

Bliss

2009-12-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

The coolest part by far about being an assistant is that you get to travel around to all the different parts of the mission. Right now we're in my old area, Kota Kinabalu. I love this place so much. I was only here for a couple of months, but it was one of my favorite areas. We left singapore yesterday at around noon and got here at 5:15 after a short lay-over in Kuching.

We have the all-day P-day today and tomorrow is the actual conference. We did the whole interview thing this morning at the church where I also got to meet up with some good friends that I haven't seen for awhile. We then went to eat at my favorite food-court and just got finished bowling. I LOVE THIS PLACE! But you know what I love more? Teaching! It's a bit tough being in the office, because you don't really get a chance to go out while you're there. It's been really fun to give trainings though, because it's still teaching, but instead of investigators, we just teach the teachers. It's pretty cool.

This week is Elder Gulbrandsen's last. We will go from here to KL tomorrow for zone conference there, and his parents will meet him there on Friday. My new companion's name is Elder Stone. He's really awesome. He used to be in my zone when I was here in KK. I can't remember where he's from, but I ran against him in track. He remembers that well, because he had the unfortunate opportunity to hold my blocks when I was wearing my speed suit. It will be fun to be his companion.

I'm a little bit nervous (a lot a bit actually) about becoming the senior assistant because I've only had a month to learn the ropes and now I'm pretty much in the driver's seat. I do appreciate your support and prayers though. You have no idea how much of a strength they are to me. Thank you.

I'm sorry to say, but I'm still not exactly sure of the day that I'm going to finish. It still hasn't been confirmed, so we'll just have to wait and see. Best case scenario is that my last tour will be on February 20 as expected, we travel until Wednesday the 24th and Dad meets me in Singapore that same day. That would be awesome, but I'm waiting for everything to be confirmed before I talk with President about going home on the 24th. I'd be going home by myself and he doesn't really like to do that, but I may be able to sway him. We'll see. If not, I'll be finishing on March 10. Still ok, but I'd rather get home as soon as possible. That is the absolute latest I can stay without getting approval from the missionary committee. That's the look of things for right now, but I will shoot you an email as soon as we know that it's really going to happen.

I totally forgot that BYU and Utah were playing this week until Sunday. In the ward I'm in now, most of the people graduated from BYU and are huge fans. A few of them got to watch the first half before church and recorded the second half to watch after. We had Sister Clark look up the final score after church. The most surprising thing about the whole game was Max Hall's comment at the end. Wow, no class. That made me wish that BYU had lost. He's not a good enough quarterback to be talking smack like that. I'm still glad we won though.

Cool story. I don't know if you remember or not, maybe I never mentioned it, but when I was still training in Klang, we taught a guy named Eddy. We had some of the most powerful lessons I ever have been involved in with him, and yet, he still chose to reject even though he knew that he'd felt the spirit testify to him that it was true. However, the wonderful news that I just heard yesterday, is that after almost 2years he met up with the Elders there again and now he is on date to be baptized! I could not believe it! It may have been the happiest that I have ever felt. I still am on cloud nine knowing that he's gotten a second chance and is willing to accept in now. YES! I'm so happy!

Anywho, we'll be gone this entire week and then we get back to Singapore on Sunday night. We'll be there for a couple weeks with no interruptions and then we start our exchange cycle and will be gone for a couple more weeks. Then mission tour comes around and then (hopefully) I'll go home! As long as I can get past the next two weeks when we don't have anything, I'm home free.

I love you all! And I'll inform you as soon as I know what's going on.

Love,
Elder Troxel

This email is lame!

2009-11-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

Dear family,

Another week gone. I thought time would go a lot slower once I got to the office, but I was wrong. I've been here for almost a month already. Ayoh. The last two weeks have been filled with traveling to and from zone conferences, giving trainings, and quite a bit of futsol. We've got this week off (not really, but we don't have any zone conferences) and we finish off this ZC cycle next week. Elder Gulbrandsen will be finishing his mission on Friday of next week, and then I will get my final companion.

Anywho, good to hear that Timpview is still rolling. I was a bit worried earlier this season when you told me that they'd already lost two games. This week will be a trial for me because I would give just about anything to be at that BYU-Utah game this week. It's ok though, I guess I can survive until next season.
I got an email from Beau today! I was pretty excited.

Um... Everything is going well here. I'm working hard and hanging in there. Sorry that this email is really lame, but they probably aren't going to get much better. But hey, I love you all. Have a wonderful day!

love,
Elder Troxel

ps- I haven't received any packages yet, but I'll tell you when I do.

Ayoh!

2009-11-19T04:24:00.000-08:00

dear family,

i'm sorry that my emails have been a little bit sporadic lately, but for the rest of my mission i'll be in the office for a total of maybe 3 weeks and the rest of the time i'll be out and about, which means who knows when i'll get chances to email. right now we're in sibu and just halfway through this zone conference cycle. last week was singapore and sarawak north zone conferences, and this week was kuching and sibu zone conferences. it's pretty intense, but it's really fun. i got to see some very close friends from kuching while we were there. i'm going to go see a lot of people here in sibu on friday. life is crazy!

i had president fill out my ecclesiastical thing the other day and i mailed it on tuesday from kuching. all i have to do is finish the other part and my application is done.

i had a dirty trick played on me the other day. we went into the office in the morning, and there on my desk was a flight ticket. who put it there? sister carpenter, the office couple! she did it just to get me trunky! which it did for a bit. i don't know exactly what trunkiness means, but if it means being excited to get on with your life, i think i fall into that category. i've still got a solid 3 months of work left in me though. my work is different now though, i'm more of a coach than a player. i tell people what to do, but i don't get to do it myself. it's fun though, and a good experience.

beau came over! that is crazy. i don't think he would have ever just come over by himself before his mission! i was hoping to have an email or something from him... but nope. last i heard, his girlfriend was still around and waiting patiently for his return. that was about 6 months ago though, so i don't know. i just hope he waits until we can all be roommates together for at least a year before he gets married.

i've got a free week this next week, so i'll try and get some travel arrangements made. i think i only want to go to obviously singapore, but kuching, sibu, bintulu, and KL. i'll try and find some hotels and make travel arrangements if possible. i don't know how much flights cost, but i'll try and remember to find out for you. or you can just call the mission office and ask sister carpenter yourself. either way is fine. i'll ask her about it too.

well, i think that's pretty much it. i get zero time to do any kind of work outs, so i'm getting pretty scrawny, but i'm hoping it will come back fast. by the way, i'm thinking that i may want to go to medical school, but if this socialized medicine poop passes i'll be saying goodbye to that dream.

anywho, i love you all.

love,
elder troxel

No Time

2009-11-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

dear family,

i'm writing this letter on tuesday night because tomorrow at noon we're flying to miri for zone conference. this week has been pretty sweet. really different, but way fun at the same time. when i last emailed you, i was trying to get versed in the "new missionary orientation," because we had 10 new missionaries come in on thursday. that was really fun. we went to pick them up at the airport with president and sister clark. their plane was more than an hour late, but they finally arrived.

i was especially excited for this group because i knew that there was an elder from timpview coming in. his name is elder christensen. i didn't know him all that well, but i knew his sister sarah. yeah, he's grown a lot. when i last saw him, i swear he was only maybe 5'10" and probably could have sung high tenor, but he's about 6'5" now and is a solid bass. it was fun to see him though. we brought the greenies to do some fun stuff, like eat indian food off banana leaf and other things that i can't really recall. but on friday we put them through orientation and watched a movie with them at night.

we sent them off on saturday and turned our attentions towards other fun things like branch splits. i can't tell you anything about it though, because last time i said something about secret information, i was quoted on "LDS statistics.com", and it hadn't even happened yet. it's fun stuff though.

we had our first zone conference in this cycle yesterday and today. we got to play some awesome futsol. we gave our training this afternoon. it was a bit sketchy because i didn't write really any of this training, it was already done before i got in. it stinks to have to give someone elses training, but it wasn't too bad. what is really strange is that i only have one more zone conference before i go home!
i can't really give you a regular day schedule because it changes every day. we're usually in the office, but we're always doing different things.

i got the picture of the back yard! i didn't think that would ever happen! it actually looks like a yard! apuh! i'm going to write my essays this week mom, and i will ask president clark to do my ecclesiastical thing. sorry it taken so long, but i really have no free time from 8:00 in the morning to 9:30 at night (except for right now).

tell beau hello for me and slap him for not ever emailing me.

love,
elder troxel

I'm Going to Get Fat...

2009-11-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

dear family,

so there i was on wednesday night after planning, just talking with elder watkins, when we get a phone call. i answered and said, "hello, this is elder troxel." i didn't hear anybody, so i said it again. this time i got the response, "hello elder troxel, this is president clark." after some short chit-chat, he told me the reason for which he was calling. "i've been looking at your weekly report, and you checked the box that said your area book isn't updated." (i'm horrible at keeping the area book updated). i responded with, "yeah, we've just got a couple records we haven't created yet, but will get on it." he then said, "well, try and get it updated quickly because you'll be coming in as the next assistant on sunday."

so here i am in the mission office. i got here on sunday night with elder watkins. there was a zone leader conference in singapore on monday, and then i just stayed here. i must admit that i feel very out of place here. i've gone from riding my bike through sweet jungle villages every day, to sitting in a nice air-conditioned office all day. i was eating rice for every meal, and yesterday i ate carl's jr for lunch and had fajitas for dinner. yeah, it's a little bit different than what i'm used to. but it's been fun.

yesterday we did all of our reporting with the zone leaders and eventually reported with president. then last night we went to a farewell dinner for some missionaries going home. i won't have very many chances to do much teaching anymore though, which is really sad, but i'm excited to serve in this new capacity and i hope that the lord will help me to know what i'm doing... because right now i don't :)

my last few days in bintulu were pretty normal. i tried to make the transition as smooth as possible for elder watkins, so i just kinda slipped out the back door. nobody really knew (meaning members) that i was leaving until sunday at church.

thanks for getting everything ready for my application mom. i'll try to get my essays done in these next couple weeks.

so... i go home in three months... i don't know if anybody realized that.

i don't really have much else to say. if you have any questions, just let me know. thanks for all your prayers and support.

Love, Elder Troxel

Two Whole Years

2009-10-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

dear family,

this week has been pretty intense. one of the highlights was definitely being able to watch conference. it takes a little bit longer to get them here, and even longer when people get confused and send us the wrong dvd's. that was a bit frustrating, but it was worth the wait. i would have to agree with dad and his favorite talks. the one that blew me away was Jeffrey R. Holland's talk. i know how he feels. here we face a lot of anties, and i've had the chance many times to be able to testify more or less the same way that i know that the book of mormon is true. I may not do it in front of as many bodies, but i once read a quote that when we testify, there is a lot more people there watching than you can see. i really felt like i related to that talk.

i heard about the walloping that BYU took. i was hoping that harvey at least had a good game, which it sounds like he did. i was also happy to hear that timpview continues to pound provo. it will be a sad sad day when they eventually lose.

it's really a toss up right now if i'll be emailing you next week from bintulu or not. there are a lot of new people coming in this next week, and there is a zone leader and an assistant going home, which means that there will be some shifts in zone leaders. word on the street is that i'm leaving, but it's not confirmed yet. who knows where i could be next week. the pity is that i'll probably find out tomorrow, and then have to wait a week before i can tell you. oh well, patience is a virtue, right?

whoa, two whole years since i opened my mission call... thinking about it, it actually seems like a lot longer than that. time flies, but when i think about before my mission, it's like trying to remember the pre-earth life. i can't really remember much. sometimes i'll see or smell something and have a weird flash back though. for instance, i smelled perfume the other day (it's not a common occurrence here) and it must've been the same perfume that chelsie wore... yeah, that was my trunky moment for the week :)

if possible mom, i think i would like to try and go to byu in the spring. i still haven't written my essay, but just tell me when you need me to do it, and i'll write it up in a jiffy. in speaking of things that i need, i think i'll need one more shipment of deodorant. you don't have to send three of them, because one more would probably be enough to finish off the mish.

ah! Beau comes home on the 11th! freak, i miss that guy. i used to email him all the time, but he never would answer my emails! when you see him, send him my regards.

we were hoping to be able to have 6 baptisms this week, but two do or die ones didn't come to church that would have be eligible had they come, but we'll still have 4 this week. as a zone we should have 19! yippee! kita berpesta! oh man, i'll miss this area so much if i get transferred next week :(

i think that's pretty much it... it was good to hear from michael again. i hope everybody is healthy and happy. thank you for all your prayers and support.

love,
elder troxel

We are the Champions!!

2009-10-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

you have no idea how much i wish i could have played in that flag football game. rack up another championship. it's also good to hear that BYU is still ranked and that timpview is doing well. i'm just sad that i will miss this entire season and have to wait 7 or eight more months to see anymore football. oh well, life goes on i suppose.

i got a super funny email from whitney. it was all about how she's being tracked by an RM. i don't know if she's told everybody about it, but if she hasn't, she should because it is hilarious.

this week in the work has been excellent. we did end up having 17 baptisms in the zone! that is phenomenal. everybody is working really hard and things are rolling. i can't remember if i told you or not, but elder watkins and i designed some zone shirts for everybody and we just barely got them last night. they're pretty sweet.

anywho, cool experience. a few weeks ago, elder watkins and i were leaving the couple's house, and when we got to the end of the street (where we would usually turn left) we decided that we should turn right and just see what was down there. we rode down the street as far as it went, and on the last street, elder watkins saw an iban woman walking. he rode over there and taught her. anywho, turns out she's the aunt of a member and she's gold! not only is she epic, but her husband has been waiting for us for a long time. we taught the husband for the second time on monday and he very willingly accepted a baptism date. when we told them we wanted to come back on thursday, his response was something to the affect of "why can't you come back earlier?" i hope i can see them baptized.

we just got back from exchanges in Miri. it was a fun exchange. one of my recent converts named edwin moved from kuching to miri and he was able to help us teach some investigators yesterday. the best news was that he was able to receive the melchezidek priesthood a few weeks ago and is counting down the months until he can take his wife to the temple. i can't remember if i told you or not, but we made a bet (edwin and i) that if i get married in the temple before he does, then he has to send me a package of malaysian goodies, but if he gets married first, i have to send him a package of american goodies. he only has about 7 months left until he's eligible to go though, and i'm thinking that four months home is not enough time to find a girl who would be willing to date me, much less marry me. i love that guy though, he's such a stud. he'll be a branch president one day for sure.

i haven't really heard anything about michael lately. what's he up to?i still can not believe that whitney is in college. apa hal? welp, i thing that is really all that i have to say. i'm doing well and i've lost a lot of weight (i'm down to 174!). i hope all is well at home. i'll see you in just over 3 months!

love,
elder troxel

Bomo

2009-10-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i forgot to tell dad happy birthday last week, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! wow, 50 years old... you are officially over the hill! it's ok, that just means your that much closer to exaltation than the rest of us. the glider ride sounded way fun, but i was thinking sky diving when i get back... how does that sound?

this last week was a really good one, but there has been some wild stuff happening around here. i remember Scott once telling a story about his mission and casting out an evil spirit, and i always wondered what that would be like... well i found out this last week. not once, but TWICE. i won't tell you what exactly happened, but it was pretty wild... and scary. i learned a lot, and i don't have any desire to ever do it again.

along with that, we had 12 baptisms as a zone, and elder watkins and i had 2. we'll have 4 this week, and the zone should have a whopping 17 all together. the four that are getting baptized from our area are all so awesome. we've only known 3 of them for 3 weeks. we met them on a saturday, they came to church the next day, and now three weeks later they are getting baptized. yeah, they were ready for the gospel. i wish it was that easy with everybody. after this week, we'll be over thirty baptisms as a zone for this month (more than twice the number of baptisms that we had in all of september) and well on our way towards reaching our goal of 50 for the month. it's so fun when things are going well. i've seen a lot of changes in this area and this zone in my time here. the Lord has truly answered our prayers and helped us to turn things around.

i talked to sister carpenter in the office about dad coming to pick me up, and she told me quite a few options. unfortunately, i can't really remember anything she said because i didn't write any of it down, but i'll be going to singapore at the first of november and she'll help me when i get there. she also said that she would email you and tell you what you need to do and who to talk to.

i'm pumped for dad to get to see borneo! it will blow his mind. there is no place more beautiful on this earth, i am convinced (given i haven't been everywhere on this earth, but i can't imagine any place being better). i think the celestial kingdom will just be borneo.

i don't really have any other really big news updates, except for the fact that i'm down under 175! holy moley! i'm a shrimp now. i've been running every morningish and not eating after eight o clock, and i'm starting to not be fat! but i still am, just not as fat as before.

i think that's it though. i'm alive. time flies. "yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why it's called the present."

i love you all,
elder troxel

Nadai (Nothing)

2009-10-07T04:31:00.000-07:00

keluargaku yang kukasihi (family that I love),

aku ka' jalai ba' tandas laban aku bisi cirit-birit (something to do with having bowel troubles). it was good to hear from everyone, even scott (almost), this week. in answer to your question, no, i didn't feel the earthquake. it was pretty big news here too. if any news about anything makes it to us here in bintulu, it has to be pretty big news. but we're ok, and the only thing close to a natural disaster that we face here is bad diarrhea (i bet dad can't wait). just kidding, i haven't had to deal with that for a long time... i'm pretty well adjusted to the food here.

this last week was another good week. our zone is doing quite well and we are expecting 13 baptisms this week (as a zone). we were supposed to have 18, but we found out that one of the families in Miri is still drinking tea, so they'll have to wait. we've got a goal to have 50 baptisms as a zone this month. that would be huge, because the most that this zone has had this year has be 39. elder watkins and i should have about 10ish, and if everyone else could pull in about the same we would have well over 50. i hope that we can make it.

so what's the deal with max hall? i've heard that he is leading the nation in interceptions? get Covey in there man! Elder Budge (the senior couple in our area) used to be a professor at Utah State, so he was pretty sad to hear that the Aggies couldn't pull it off. if we'd have lost to Utah State, i think i would have disowned BYU all together though.

i got a really nice email from grandma and grandpa Owen. tell them hello for me and that i appreciate it a lot.

i don't really have much new news... i'm healthy and just lovin' life... oh yeah, i got a package this last week! elder semana brought it back from singapore. i got it on thursday... the twinkies were the first to go, followed by the kitkats, then the jerky, and all that is left are some of the M&M's. they were delicious though. thank you so much!that's really all i've got to say today... keep on keepin' on.

i love you all,
Elder Troxel

Wake Up Time!

2009-09-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

dear family,

the song "wake me up when september ends" describes how fast time is flying; it all just seems like a dream. oh man, what to do? i decided that i was going to try and do some sprint workouts, and i tried it for the first time on monday. it's now wednesday and i can still hardly walk. but hopefully i will have the will power to keep it up and by the time i get back, who knows, perhaps i'll be able to run a 40 in under 10 minutes.

as you know, i spent all of last week in Miri on exchanges. the exchange was really fun. elder hart pulled through and we were able to do some good work there. i also got to meet the new chinese speaking elder who has just gotten into the field and is now serving with elder Lam in Miri. his name is elder Ngo and he went to school at Harvard. yeah, he's pretty smart. anywho, i got back from exchanges on saturday morning and we were able to meet a few new people that elder watkins contacted while i was gone.

we had planned to have a baptism at 7:30, but as we were on our way to the church at about 7:00, we realized that we had forgotten to fill up the font! that is a huge problem, since it takes about 5-6 hours to fill completely. we put two hoses into the font, and had all the other faucets running with buckets under them. when 7:30 roled around, we only had a couple of inches of water in the bottom, and realized that the baptism probably wasn't going to happen that night. i got on the phone to call the guy getting baptized (Amus), and the bugger was asleep! i guess it's a good thing we forgot to fill up the font.

church was good. elder watkins and i had 13 investigators come. that's a start, but we're hoping to have 17-20 this week. things are finally starting to move a little bit. we've got a lot of really solid people who will be baptized in the next month or so, i just hope i'll be here to see some of them get dunked... draw your own conclusions as to what that means :)

about the letter mom, if you are trying to find a seminary teacher to write one for me, brother Martin, Sister Anthony, or Sister Kunz would all be willing to probably... none of the other ones would probably remember me. just let me know what i need to do. when should i write my essay? i can't remember if you already answered that question or not, but just tell me when i i'll whip one up lickidy split.

sounds like things for the trip are coming along nicely. i remember scott saying that he wanted to come. is that still a possibility?

dang, i'm almost out of time, but thank you all for your support. tell aunt Lezlie and all of the Wright family that they're in my prayers, and to remember D&C 122:5-8.

i love you all,
elder troxel

Broken Harts

2009-09-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

dear family,

Selamat Hari Raya! Hari Raya is the holiday that they celebrate at the end of the muslim fasting month of Ramadan. it's three days long and it ends today (i think). it hasn't been a huge deal, but it's been pretty fun. our islamic neighbors are awesome and they invited us over for a meal yesterday... unfortunately, i wasn't able to attend because i'm on a week long exchange in Miri, but i'll tell you all about that later. the holiday started on sunday night and we were invited by our branch president to go with him to some of his muslim relatives' houses and celebrate. most people just make tons of food and open their doors for anyone who wants to come. it was really fun, and everyone was very hospitable.

here i am in Miri on exchanges with elder Hart. i hopped on a bus early yesterday morning and made the 3 and a half hour trip here. unfortunately, when i arrived here i found elder hart deathly ill in bed. we got the couple to take him to the doctor and i went out with another elder for the afternoon. he's feeling a little better today, so i'm hoping that we can get some work done in his area tonight. i'll be here until saturday morning, when i'll go back to bintulu just in time for the baptism (in theory).

we had zone conference last week. it was really good. my interview with president was interesting. he said that he appreciates my leadership and that he wants to try and "wear me out." Oh boy. i don't know what that means, but i guess that's why i'm here, to be worn out. i can take whatever he throws at me... but i don't think my clothes will be able to take any more wearing out.

i never really get to think about how long i've been out or how close i am to going home until i email. in two weeks i'll be over my 20 month mark! it was just a couple months ago when i was super stoked that i had less than 20 months left i thought! i don't know where september is running off to. i don't think my watch is right, i'm sure that it's skipping days. president clark says that it won't ever slow down either, even after the mission. aduh.

as far as dad's travel plans go, i was thinking basically the same thing. i will finish my mission on wednesday, but they always fly us in on monday and give us a couple days to do what we need to do before we head home on wednesday, so if you want to come in on monday or tuesday, that would also be fine. from there we can go to Kuching on thursday, sibu thurday night or friday morning, bintulu on saturday, and then if you want we can even go to KK (which i would love for you to see). we could even do church there. if we do KL on monday or tuesday that would give us plenty of time there, and we could be off. i can get ahold of some people who can make some arrangements for some really fun things to do. i think the hong kong temple would be incredible. i'm all for it. i haven't been to the temple in an uber-long time, so the sooner the better. i'm pumped!

it was good to hear a chelsie update. i haven't heard anything about her for awhile. she dropped me a short email a couple weeks ago, but with the new hour limit, i really only have time to write to the fam. i figured she was super busy with school or marriage or something... but i'm glad that it's not the latter.

i hope everyone is doing well. i agree that michael should be singing professionally. just look at david archeletta man! he's an amature compared to you. anywho, take care, be good, choose wisely!

love,
elder troxel

Short on Time

2009-09-16T05:38:00.000-07:00

dear family,

this week i'm running a little bit short on time, so this might be a little short. man, this new one hour rule is killing me! plus we have to email president during that hour for our weekly report, so it really cuts us back.

anywho... go cougs! oh man, and craig knocks some people and gets a pick! yeah, it's too bad that i won't be there to see any of this season... but it's ok. i'm not trunky...today is the zone conference all day p-day! we played football this morning, because we've got our interviews tonight. it was a blast, as always. and we even got elder semana and elder kumar (our two natives) to play with us! it was hilarious. i didn't want to stop, but everybody else bummed out on me.

this last week was pretty good, but we had some difficulties too. we were able to get our members going a little bit and we contacted 11 member referrals and pulled in 18 new investigators. our teaching pool was getting pretty stale, so it is nice to get some really good new people, and i have no doubt that all of those referrals will be baptized. the work is super easy when you don't have to do the finding. i hope that i'm going to be a sweet member when i get home and give lots of referrals with the missionaries. the bad news is that we had all 11 of those referrals poop out on us at church.

we still managed to get a couple of other investigators there, but it was a disappointing day. that is another thing i am looking forward to when i get home. nice, restful sabbath days when i don't have to stress out about how many investigators, recent converts, and less active members are there. it will be nice.

well, i've now been with elder watkins for nearly a quarter of my mission. he's hilarious. it's nice to have a good companion who makes the work fun. i've been fortunate to have a lot of excellent companions... some of whom i wouldn't ever want to live with again, but i'll still be good friends with them for a long time.

so time is just about up. sorry that this email is kinda lame, but you should write a complaint letter to president clark so he'll change the rule back and i can have more time to write better emails.

love,
elder troxel

Bat Guano

2009-09-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

right now i'm sitting in an internet cafe. i'm super sweaty, i stink to high heaven, and i'm covered in dirt and bat guano from head to toe. why? because i just had the sweetest p-day of my mission, that's why. i'll tell you all about it a bit later in the email. first things first.

i received a phone call from elder Gulbrandsen on sunday night. he, if you remember, is serving as the assistant in singapore. he said to me, "there are benefits to being in the expat ward" (basically the ward for foreign workers in singapore). he then told me some of the most amazing news i've heard in a long time. that the Cougs upset #3 Oklahoma 14-13! i won't lie, i was pretty trunky for a few minutes there. i called Elder Budge (the senior missionary in our branch) and had him print me out the article so i could read it on p-day. it sounded like quite the game.

there were a few amazing things that happened on sunday, football being only the second incredible. we've been working with a big family for about a month now (i think i told you about them last week), and this last week was their do or die week. elder watkins and i put a lot of prayer and preparation into the three lessons we had with them. anywho, it all came down to saturday night. up till that point, they'd still been a bit wishy washy on whether or not they were actually going to come to church or not. we brought our branch president along and he did wonders! the wife and kids had committed already to be baptized, but it wasn't a very solid commitment if we didn't have the dad. after talking with President Mambang, he committed to be baptized along with the rest of his family and they all came to church on sunday! it was great.

so on to today. for the last few weeks, elder watkins and i have been planning out a zone activity. it's nearly impossible to do, because our zone is in two different cities that are about 3 hours apart. however, there are some caves right in between the two called Niah Caves, and they are rumored to be some of the biggest caves in the world. president skelton wouldn't let missionaries go there, but we got president clark to approve them. we got everything worked out with transport, and all the missionaries met at the caves at about 9:00 this morning. the walk from the parking lot to the caves is probably about 3 miles, but it's on a really cool board walk through the jungle, so it's not a very grueling walk. when we finally came around the corner and saw the entrance to the caves, i could not believe how ginormous it was. i've never seen anything like it. we got to go into some really cool caverns and some places where we got to crawl around on our bellies and get all dirty. it was mind blowing! i think i want to bring dad there when he comes. i also got some excellent pictures, but i forgot to bring my camera chord, so i'll send some next week. i loved it!

so whitney is done with dance? that is kinda weird, but it's ok. there is a time and a season for everything, and that season has ended. now it's time to get on with your life and do all that fun stuff. i'm proud of you girl, you're awesome.

i think that's just everyting. time is going way to fast. i'm under 5 months left now. apuh! thanks for all of your support and prayers. i can't express how much i appreciate it.

love,
elder troxel
ps- go cougs!

Here is a link for the caves that Jordan was talking about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niah_Cave

Thirty-three Double-go Zero

2009-09-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

this week was fantastic. we left for singapore last thursday morning, and didn't get back until saturday night. it was an excellent trip though. the zone leader conference was awesome. president clark is really shaking things up and changing a lot of stuff. it's all good though, and i think it will really help the work. the last six months or so, the mission has really slowed down a ton, but everybody is really excited about the changes and i think it will really help.

not too long ago, we got a referral from a member in a different branch for a family of seven. we met them for the first time about three weeks ago on a friday, and they all came to church the first sunday. however, after that they kind of backed off and i was really worried that we were going to lose them, especially with all the time that we've been spending out of our area. when we got home on saturday night, we jumped on our bikes and made the ride out there to try and get one last push and get them to church. we had a member meet us there so that she could help us teach and bear testimony to try and give this family the best possible chance we could.

one of the big problems is that the dad in this family is always working, and it's super hard to meet with him, but he happened to be there that night, even though he told us he wouldn't be. we sat down with them and started to teach them about the gospel. we taught about faith and repentance, and then i felt like we should throw out the church invitation then, so we did, and they said that they couldn't come. we talked for awhile longer and finally got down to what his real concern was- he is afraid to leave his old church because he converted most of his family into that church, and it would be hard to leave. then, out of nowhere, our member slaps them in the face with an amazing testimony and her conversion story. he still wouldn't budge, but we went back on monday night to teach them again, and brought the same member and her daughter.

it was so awesome. the dad hadn't read the chapter we gave him from the book of mormon (3 nephi 27), so we threw out the original lesson plan and read that chapter with them. after we read it together, the conversation split into three different parts. our member (Ulat) started talking with the mom in the family, i started trying to resolve the dads concerns more, and elder watkins talked with the kids. i didn't make too much progress with the dad, but he budged a bit. the mom was completely won over by sister Ulat, and when we got up to leave, she told us to sit down so she could talk more with Ulat. it was awesome. we tried to set and appointment for friday, but they requested that we come back sooner than that, so we're going back there tonight. yeah, they're baptized...

while i was in singapore, i got a chance to talk a bit with president clark about what i should do with the end of my mission. i told him that i've felt for awhile like i wanted to extend a month, but that i also really wanted to try and walk on and play football. i asked him for advice, and he told me that i should look at the pros and cons. first off, he told me that i'm under no obligation to extend my mission. in fact, if i made the decision that i wanted to play football, i would even be able to come home a couple weeks early. then he talked to me about what could happen. what happens if i make a huge effort to go home (possibly even early) and get back in shape, and then don't make the team? what a waste, especially when i could have had more time serving the Lord. Or, what if i do make it, and then i just get injured? that could screw up a lot of things for a long time.

then he asked me, "will playing football be helping you in your career path?"... not really, no. he also asked me, "who would you be playing for- you, or the Lord?" of course, me. football would not help me at all in getting back to the celestial kingdom. he also threw in there, "is that the kind of environment and friends you want to be around?" typically no, but at BYU i think it would be a lot better. anywho, he really made me think about a lot of things. if i were to try and play, it wouldn't be bad, but there are a lot better things that i could be doing.

does that mean that i don't want to play anymore? absolutely not, i still really want to play football, but it does mean that i'll be finishing my mission on February 10th, no earlier, and no later. then dad and i can jalan-jalan for a few days, and i'll be back. with enough time, if i really want it, to get into as good of shape as possible before i try-out... but just in case i do, i've already gotten in touch with coach clark and asked him to help me with a work out program that i can do in the mornings and at nights to try and come home in some kind of decent shape =)

by the way, happy birthday to Jackson, Mandy, and TJ! or, as they say in Malay, "selamat hari jadi"

good luck in college whitney. tell me how it is.

oh yeah, i did draw out money from my account a couple weeks ago while i was in singapore last time. you may want to check the dates. i think i did the withdrawals on the 11th and 13th of august, or around there. if it happened just in the last couple days, it wasn't me. i haven't touched it since the 13th.

i think that's everything. things are starting to get moving in our area, and things in the zone are going really well. thank you for your support and prayers.

love you all,
elder Troxel

Note from Dad: Jordan sent a few pictures home in this email. There was no explanation or description in the letter on when or where the picture were taken. It appears that Jordan has been taking lessons from Michael on how to pose for pictures.

This is Trunking Me Out of My Mind!

2009-08-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

dear family,

oh my heavens! i'm so pumped for football i can't stand it! that's so awesome to hear about Craig and how well he is doing. starting against Oklahoma?! geez louise! i played with that guy! i'm sure the fire will die down, but right now i want to go back and play so bad. we'll just give it a week or so, and see how getting up and running every morning feels. i've been trying to get back into some sort of shape, and i've formulated an awesome workout plan, including diet, which (in theory) if done the right way, would help me to at least get a head start for when i get back. but it's nearly impossible to diet here, and it's just as difficult to stay motivated every day to get up early and do an intense enough work-out to actually help get in shape, rather than just keep the fat from overtaking me. we'll see though. that email gave me a good vision. i want to play.

so back to the missionary work. this last week, to be completely honest, was horrific. i won't go into details why, but it will suffice to say that this is the hardest area i've been in yet. fortunately, i've got elder watkins as my companion, and for whatever reason, we work fantastically together. we were able to see amazing things happen while we were together in sibu (which, for your information, has gone from being one branch when i first got there to just becoming it's own district. incredible), and we're starting to see some good things happen here.

it makes it even more difficult that we've got all of our zone leader duties that we have to take care of on top of having a hard area. for instance, we're going to singapore again tomorrow for a zone leader conference and will be out of our area for 3 days. aduh, that is the last thing we need right now. but i have high hopes, and i know that this area has the same amount of potential that sibu had. the people of bintulu just really need a lot of prayers. PLEASE pray for them.

we did have a few baptisms this last week though. Tony, Ledis Stella, and Wiwik all got baptized on saturday. i love them. all three of them are top notch. our next baptism won't be until next week, but we should have at least a few more.

as far as my health goes, i'm holding up pretty well (which is more than i can say for any of my clothes). bintulu is NOT a sanitary place, and a lot of missionaries get really sick here. i'm just a little sick right now, but i still have yet to be sick enough to stay inside. we try our best to take care of ourselves, so don't worry. malaysia does begin to wear on ones body after two years though.

jackson is already one?! oh man, i don't even know him! how are my other anakbuah-anakbuah (nephews and nieces)? has michael had any kids yet? so about this extension, i'm still not sure if i'm going to do it. if you could try and find out for me when walk-ons are, that would be easier to make a decision. maybe you could get me coach wong's email and i could email him about it. if i decide that i am going to play football, i'll be coming home in february, but if i decide to pass it up, then i'll extend. i'll pray about it, and i'll talk to president clark while i'm in singapore this week.

oh yeah, is it pretty sure that dad is coming? because i've already told most of my recent converts that i'll be coming to visit them with my dad in february or march...when do you want me to write the essay for my BYU application?

anywho, i think that's it. thank you for all of your support and all the prayers... and keep them coming!

love,
elder troxel

Back in Nam...

2009-08-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

keluargaku,

whoa, this is the first week i can remember that I've only gotten one email! that just means that there is no more missionary forwards to send because they are all home! apuh! that makes me feel really weird. is Andrew any fatter? i hope so... i don't want to be the only obese one when i get home. just kidding, i can't imagine Andrew being fat.

so Whitney finally got a job! that is fantastic! when does BYU start? is Whitney just going to live at home for the first while? what is she studying? oh man, she'll have to help me out a lot with school and stuff. just tell her to stay away from returned missionaries... they are bahaya (dangerous). in speaking of schools, I'd also like to apply to UVU probably, just in case i can't get into BYU, and i still have a lot of interest in going to a military academy. I'll hold off on trying to do that until after i get home though. i don't know what other schools to apply to... i don't think i could get in really anywhere but BYU or UVU. if i want to play football (which i really want to do right now, but it might be too time consuming), i will try and walk on at the Y. I've thought about Snow or SUU, but I'm not going to do that. maybe U of U...

anywho, this week has been really busy as always. we got back from Singapore on Thursday night. we got a couple of good days of work in and managed to bring a decent amount of investigators to church. my goal before the time i leave here is to consistently have 20 investigators at church. anyway, we had to get our zone training done by Monday, because we went down to Miri to do it there yesterday. it went really well, so hopefully we'll be able to see some improvements in how things are going there.

i got to go on exchanges with elder lam and my son elder kartchner yesterday. it was a really fun exchange for a few reasons:

1. i got to see my son who i haven't seen in almost a year.

2. i got to ride this awesome girls bike the whole day. it was super small and my knees pretty much hit my chest every time i pedaled.

3. i got to eat a ton of super delicious Vietnamese food!

that's actually a really cool story. elder lam is an American born Vietnamese elder. he speaks Vietnamese fluently, so he was really surprised when he got called to this mission Chinese speaking. of course, he accepted the call gladly, but he always felt a strong desire to teach vietnamese people. anywho, he's in Miri Sarawak (which is just about the last place in the world you would ever think to find anyone from really anywhere) when one day they get a flat tire at night. they didn't want to just go home, so they decided to knock on some doors near their apartment. they knocked on a wealthier house and started to have a nice little chat with this man. he wasn't really interested at all... until elder lam asked where he was from. I'm sure that elder lam wet himself when the guy said he was from Vietnam. they invited him back another day for a traditional Vietnamese meal, and i got to go! i didn't understand anything that was going on, but i ate a TON.

during the appointment (i didn't understand what was being said) but elder lam asked some question, and when the guy answered, elder lam got super excited. it was pretty funny, so i asked him what had been said. i guess the guy had just told elder lam that there was 5 other Vietnamese families in the area that would be interested in meeting him and learning. it was really fun to see.

well, i had a lot of things that i wanted to tell you, but i can't remember all of them. i hate it when that happens. i hope everybody is still healthy and happy. keep on keepin' on.

love,
elder troxel

Note from Dad: Jordan sent the following images home. I believe them to be from his last visa run to Singapore, but there was no explanation attached to the email. We always like pictures, they are a real treat no matter when they were taken.

Double Western Bacon Burger

2009-08-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

prayers answered! whitney got some interviews! hopefully she gets one of the jobs... and i cannot believe that progress has been made in the back yard! all i imagine when i think about our backyard is dirt and weeds. i didn't think anything would actually come of it. it'll be fun to come back and see.

so right now i am on a visa run in singapore. it's been fun so far for a few reasons. i'm here with some really awesome missionaries. elder watkins is with me, along with elder pace (who was with me in the MTC and in sibu), elder campbell (who i always have a lot to talk about with because he replaced me in sibu), elder bickmore (who i'm just good friends with) and elder Parker (who is a stud and was with me in sibu). i've gotten to meet a couple new missionaries that i haven't met before. it's funny, because more and more new missionaries, when they meet me ask, "hey, are you the one with the blog?" that was a pretty good idea.

anywho, the way visa runs usually work is that you will go and do splits with one of the other missionaries serving there, but there have been some pretty big changes lately. they've taken almost all of the missionaries out of singapore, so when you get a big group of visa runners that come in now, there aren't enough missionaries serving there to split with. so the new policy is that we just get an all day p-day. so the day is ours to do whatever we want in singapore, and you know what the first thing i'm going to do is??? get myself a Double Western Bacon burger at Carl's Jr! oh baby, it has been 5 long months since i've had one of those!

i'm really excited about our area though, so this visa run is really more of just an unneeded disruption (except it is kinda needed, otherwise my visa would have expired). it's been a little bit rough the last few weeks. when i got there, the area had just had a lot of baptisms, and was on the end of the wave, with not really very many others to work with. so elder Gulbrandsen and i worked extremely hard with the members to get them giving us more referrals, but while i was with him, we didn't get to see many results from it. however, we are seeing them now. we have gotten some really excellent referrals in the last week, including a couple absolutely golden families (knock on wood). the i'm a tad bit concerned about us being gone out of our area for these three days, because there is a huge problem in bintulu with people getting anti-ed. we've had so many golden referrals go down the drain because their poopy anti neighbors got to them before we could sit down and help them build their testimonies. it's hard to help someone get answers to prayers when they won't let you in. the reason everybody is anti is that they've heard about the word of wisdom, and drinking is a HUGE part of Iban culture...but i really hope these "golden investigators" won't have lost any luster by the time we see them again.

so andrew should be home now... wow. i cannot believe it. i don't believe it actually. i'm still only 3 months out! nick morely will be home soon also! then beau, then rittmanic! then everybody will be married. oh no! why do we have to get old?

you mentioned about applying to BYU. yeah, i guess we could start doing that sometime soon. if you could get most of the stuff ready, that would be great... and i wouldn't complain if mom wrote the little essay thing at the end either... i'm not exactly 100% sure about what's going to happen when i get back (i'm actually not even probably 10% sure), but when i get to the point of being only about 4 months left, i will start to think and pray about it. but like dad said, i still have a LOT of time left, so no worries.

i will definitely remember Lincoln in my fast. as far a mission fast goes, we really aren't supposed to involve a lot of other missionaries in fasts for things back home, just like we're not supposed to involve you in our fasts for people here, but i will talk with the people in my district and we might be able to do something like that. i'm sure they would be happy to do anything to help. in the mean time, tell him hello for me. tell him not to worry and that he's not doing this alone. there are a lot of people praying for him, and as much pain and sorrow he might go through, he's not doing it alone. if i recall, someone has already "born our griefs, carried our sorrows, and with HIS stripes, we are healed." just tell him to hang in there.

i'm still toying with the idea of extending. i can't really see any reason not to. i won't make a definite decision until probably octoberish, but if there's any big reasons not to, let me know. i don't think it's a big deal though, it's only a month after all.

anywho, say hello to everybody for me. i hope everybody is healthy and happy. keep the commandments and have a wonderful week!

love,
elder troxel

I'm All Out of Snazzy Subject Lines!

2009-08-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

dear family,

whoa, dad is retired! that is crazy. but, at the same time, really awesome. now you can go after all those other dreams like getting your pilots licence or the new corvette... good work though dad, i'm proud of you. you've always been such a good example for me.

so this week was pretty exciting. i'm companions with elder watkins again! it's pretty fun. usually when you get a new companion it's kinda awkward for awhile before you get used to each other, but when elder watkins got in on monday, we just picked right up where we left off without a hitch. i love elder watkins, he's a stud. anywho, we had zone conference this last week. it was president clark's first, so nobody really knew what to expect. it was phenomenal! his training was amazing and it was exactly what everybody needed to hear. the mission has been doing really well lately, but after president's training, things will explode for sure.

one of the fun things about being out for this long is you get to know a lot of people really well. i've now been companions with both of the current assistants, so i get to talk to them a lot about all kinds of things. one of the coolest things that i learned from talking with them over this last zone conference is that there are going to be two new cities opened up to missionaries here in east malaysia! there has been whispers of a place called Sri Aman opening up since i've been in the mission, and it's finally happening! that's so exciting! i would kill someone for the chance to open up an area like that. there is also another city called Muka that will be opening very soon. wonderful things are happening.

so i'm not sure, but there is a slight possibility that i might be extending a month. nothing is for sure yet, and i probably won't find out for a few more months, but just so you are aware. hopefully that won't mess up any travel plans or anything.

well lets see... mom asked me for some specifics on how the work is going here. when i was getting ready to leave, i had the impression in my mind that my mission would be more of a service mission and not very much teaching. that's what i had heard, and what with malaysia being a muslim country, it made sense. but my mission has turned out to be completely different from what i thought it would be. our mission right now only has about 80 missionaries, but we had more than 1000 baptisms last year as a mission. the work is EXPLODING here! it's such an adventure, because we're on the last frontier of the church.

there are tons of people being baptized, but the big problem we run into here is leadership- there just isn't enough experienced melchezedek priesthood holders to fill all of the leadership positions. anywho, i don't really think that was what mom was looking for, but i've grown a lot too. i don't think i've changed at all, just grown a lot (unfortunately, mostly my girth). i don't really know what you want me to say though... probably the biggest difference is that i used to just think that i knew, but now i know that i know.

the shoes fit great! they gave me some wicked blisters the first couple times that i wore them, but now they're really nice. i've still got some twinkies left, but all of the ding dongs are gone. i'm not going to lie, i finished most of the stuff pretty fast.

so do you know when andrew gets home? he's been on his mission for more that two years! oh man, what happened?anywho, i think that's it. i hope you all have a wonderful week!

love,
elder troxel

Walk the Line

2009-07-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

dear family,

thank you for the email. that is pretty ridiculous to hear about dad's job. but dad is right not to worry, you have always strived to follow the commandments, so the Lord will provide. hakuna matata.

right now I'm sitting here in the internet cafe, sippin' some "air sejuk" in my brand new eccos! yay! i got three packages today! today and tomorrow is zone conference, so that's why you are getting this email a day late (sorry about that). when the assistants came from Singapore, they brought both shoe packages AND my Easter package! it's been a solid year at least since i have seen a twinkie, so those were a blessed sight. the shoes are really nice. not quite as nice as the other ones were when i bought them, but it's ok. you should see those shoes now. I've continued to wear them, and they are completely thrashed now! I'm excited for you to get to see them in February. thank you very much for getting that together for me, they were desperately needed.

wow Whitney... reno? that's crazy. ya know, i once shot a man in reno, just to watch him die...

so Liz is married, huh? that's pretty wild. if you see her, wish her the best from me... and tell her to tell her husband that if he doesn't take her to the temple, he had better jaga diri. I'm happy for her though. i remember back in the day when we used to always tell everybody that we were brother and sister. good times, good times.

there are some pretty wild things going on here. we found out for sure this last week that elder gulbrandsen is going to the office as assistant on Sunday... and elder Watkins is going to be my companion again! that'll be so fun. i love elder watkins. it's going to be nuts, because i've actually only had about seven days to work in my area, because we've been so busy with exchanges and zone conference and stuff. but it'll be really good. elder watkins and i had a ton of success together, so i have no doubt that we will be able to turn it on again in this area.

i got to burn a pair of pants last night for my 18 month mark. i actually haven't quite gotten there yet, but elder sederholm and elder hart just hit one year, and since they were here for zone conference, we just did our burning together last night. we're into the home stretch! 4th quarter! bahagian keempat!

i got a really nice letter from Chelsie yesterday. have you heard anything from her? is she back from her trip in Europe yet? if you do get to see her, tell her i'm uber sorry that i haven't written in such a long time, but i will without a doubt write her next week. we've just been so crazy busy lately that i never even have a chance to sit-down. it's just huru-hara here.

anywho, since it's zone conference, football is calling my name... and i must obey.

i love you all.
elder troxel

Tears in Heaven

2009-07-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

dear family,

this week has been so crazy! i can't believe it's already wednesday. with trying to get to know our investigators, members, area, and going on exchanges, my brain is pretty fried... but it's a blast and i love it. we just barely got back from doing exchanges in Miri, which is a 3 and a half hour bus ride from here. we've gotten up at 5:15 for the last two days! i'm grateful that i was able to sleep on the bus.

first of all though, it's good to hear that everything is good to go with dad's new job at the county. what will you be doing exactly? what does a deputy sheriff do? and i like the car, but it's kinda soccer-mom-ish don't you think? i thought you were going to get a corvette after you retired... what happened to that plan?

tell whitney not to worry, things will work out. cobaan saja. search like it all depends on you, and pray like it all depends on the Lord. it'll happen.

so mahonri isn't Elder Stewart's brother, he's actually his uncle. he told me that mayor stewart was his dad, but he's actually his grandpa. my bad, still the same family though.

anywho, you asked about my area. it's not the biggest area i've had, but it's pretty big. we have a place called RPR, which is just a ton of what they call rumah batu's. they are the more upper scale housing for poor people. then there is a giant kampung called sebatang. it is awesome. it's just hundreds and hundreds of little wooden shacks in the jungle. that is my favorite part about our area. there isn't electricity there, so they either have to use generators, or when it gets dark just candles. it's pretty awesome to teach someone at night by candle light in the middle of the jungle. we've been working with some really good members to give us referrals, and it's been paying off. we contacted six member referrals last week, and we received a lot more.

things are looking promising here. it's awesome to be with elder gulbrandsen. i've learned a lot from him. he and i are a lot alike. he's been blessed with the gift of gab in abundance. me, not so much, but i can keep up.

like i said, we just got back from exchanges in miri. i got to go with elder watkins! oh man, he is so funny. it was a good exchange. plus, i got to see what's going on with the work there and what can and needs to be done. this zone consists of two cities- bintulu and miri. bintulu has been doing really well lately, but miri is still lagging a bit. they've got 633 members in that city, but the activity is less than 25% there. we gave them some pointers on how they can improve, and we left there feeling confident that things are going to start to change there.

in speaking of changes, i probably won't be with elder gulbrandsen for too much longer. he'll for sure be the next assistant, and he should be leaving in just a couple of weeks. i think they'll actually move elder watkins here to replace him, but none of that is for sure yet... just 98% right now :)

i got an email from elder kunioka today saying that he was going back to SUU for school. he'll be playing baseball there. but he has a lot of family in the provo-orem area, so he will occasionally go up there. you should write him an email and see when he'll get a chance to come up so you can invite him over for dinner or something. he's a stud.

i've discovered that i'm an old missionary. when we went to get on the bus to go to miri, i set my bag down on the seat, and as i did that, i heard a tear. all the seams on the left shoulder of my shirt just decided to explode. i guess they'd had enough. as if i didn't already look raggedy enough, as i stood up, my pants hooked on something and once again, burst about 4 inches of seam. it was a rough bus ride. every time i get a hole, i sew it up, and then another one pops up. i can't wait for you to see how awesome my sewing jobs are.

welp, i think that's pretty much it. this is my address here:

no. 44 taman bamboo
Bintulu 97000
sarawak, east malaysia

think i'll probably be here until november or so... but it's never sure. i hopefully will get some packages brought to me at zone conference next week. i'm crossing my fingers that there will be some shoes in there :)

anywho, i love you all.
love, elder troxel

I Love MyLDSMail!

2009-07-15T01:54:00.000-07:00

dear family,

myldsmail leaves me speechless. anywho, i did get to read your email before it kicked me out, so i was lucky today. oh man, i have a lot to tell you. you asked a lot about president clark. well, apparently some time ago he decided that he wanted to go around and meet all the elders in his first week, but because it's nearly impossible to get to every place in the mission, the assistants planned for him just to go to the big cities, and to bring all the elders to him. i guess he didn't like that idea at all, and so he for all of week travelled to every single missionary house in the mission! i don't think president skelton ever saw most of the missionary apartments the whole time he was here.

he also met with the leadership of every single branch and district in the mission. he got to Kuching on thursday night, and met with all of the leadership in the district here. that won him some HUGE brownie points. then he came and met with each missionary in their apartment on friday morning. he is really cool and a lot more up beat than president skelton was. we didn't get much time to talk with him because he had to catch a flight to sibu, but i quite enjoyed the visit with him. i think dad was right though, there will probably be some pretty big changes.

in speaking of changes, we found out some crazy news. elder palfreyman's group goes home today, and there was an elder named elder Romney who was serving here in kuching that is going home as well. we were excited to hear who would be replacing him. we always find out about transfers on thursdays, so when the assistants called on thursday morning, i knew what it was about. we did our mid-week reporting with them, and then they told us that they had some news. this is how the conversation went:

elder richards: "...we've got some transfer news for your zone. elder Wall will be coming to replace elder romney."

i was really excited to hear that, because i'm pretty tight with elder Wall and i haven't seen him forever...

but then he continued, "elder griffin will also be leaving kuching 3rd branch."

"oh really?" i said. "where to?"

"He'll be replacing you, because you are going to Bintulu on monday."

ADUH! transferred again. i now sit in an Internet cafe in Bintulu, Sarawak. i guess they really like me here in east malaysia. honestly though, after the shock of hearing that i was leaving again after not even 3 months, i was really excited to come to bintulu for many reasons. first, i'm companions with elder Gulbrandsen. i don't know if you remember me ever mentioning him, but he's probably the most successful (numbers wise) missionary in the mission. he really knows how to get things done. plus, we're good friends, which makes things even more fun. second, bintulu is famous for being the craziest jungley place in the mission. and it's true! i fell like i'm in the jungle book right now. it's so awesome! third, i freaking love ibans! fourth, i'm back in the same house with elder semana! i love that guy!

oh yeah, that reminds me... apa hal lah?! how come he got whitney's senior picture before me? no, but it's super fun being back together with all of these elders. elder semana is now training an elder named elder Stewart. apparently his dad used to be mayor of provo or something... i dont' know, that's what he said. he's really green (really green), but he's also pretty cool. the only bad news about all of these changes is that elder gulbrandsen is going to be leaving in august to be assistant (SHHH, don't tell him. he doesn't know), so i'll have to learn the ins and outs of the area pretty fast.

it's good to hear that everybody is doing well. i got to read beau's email to his family. he sounds like he's doing really well. do you know when andrew gets home?

so, i haven't gotten any packages since christmas i think. oh, just kidding, i did get the deodorant one in kuching (thank heavens). i think it's only because i've gotten moved around so much. i hear that a couple of them have arrived in singapore from other areas though, so i think that one day i might get them. it may be when i go home, but i guess that's better than nothing...
i cant' really think of much else. i'm doing well here in my new area, i'm still fat (but i did go running yesterday), and i still love borneo. i think that's it. i love you all!

love,
elder troxel

Good News, I Saw a Dog Today

2009-07-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

dear family,

it was great to hear from you once again. your emails are great. it's good to hear that the backyard might actually have grass when i get home. actually, i'm hoping that there will be a lot of snow on top of that grass in february. but your right mom, that will be really beautiful when it's done, i'm sure. it's a bummer that whitney doesn't have a job yet, but i told her not to give up hope, because something will come along soon, i can feel it.

i'm happy/surprised to hear that i got that announcement from Robert (fromerly Elder) Houston. i love that guy! i remember telling you a little bit about him. i lived with him the first week of my mission in KL. he was my zone leader when i got there. he was later the assistant. i'd heard that he was getting married, but he's only been home from his mission since december. to be honest though, i'm surprised it took him so long. what a stud.

oh man, i'm so excited to hear about the new shoes! i'm definitely going to keep these ones though, just so that i can remember.

this week in Kuching has been really good. we had a baptism on saturday for a sister named Lussy. she's 22, and she's the wife of one of our other recent converts (of only 3 weeks) Meringai. the baptism was amazing. Lussy was the 10th member baptized in her immediate family alone! it was really special, because you could just feel that those two are going to make it to the temple. it's been incredible to see the change in them both. when i first met Meringai, he was the biggest bum. he was a good guy, and i saw a lot of potential in him, but he was from a Bahai religious background, and i've never had much success with them. Bahai's believe everything is true, and therefore really don't believe in anything. but he was always just a disruption in our lessons (and lussy wasn't any better)... until one day, elder tuckfield and i felt prompted to teach a lesson about eternal families to that family.

we got there, and Meringai came and sat down along with everybody else (lussy wasn't there at this time). as we started to teach, we were prompted to turn the lesson towards Meringai. we had just taught about the sealing power, and so i asked him if he loved his wife. he answered very sincerely, "more than anything" (roughly translated). i then asked him if he wanted to live with her forever. you could see the spirit work as he sat there silent for a moment. he looked up and answered, "Mahu" (which means 'want'). anywho, the rest was history, and he got baptized three weeks ago. Lussy saw the changes in him, and decided that she wanted to get serious too, and finally entered the waters on saturday. meringai, after his baptism was told to cut his hair by the branch president so that he could receive a calling. meringai had hair down past his shoulders and he loved it. it was really hard for him, and he kept putting it off. i didn't think he was going to do it, but he showed up to Lussy's baptism clean cut. it was great. Oh man, i love it here so much. there are literally hundreds of stories i could tell you just like that, but that will have to wait for another time.

so, elder ogden and i hit our 17 month mark a couple of days ago... what? how on earth? i don't know, but less than one month from now we're into the forth quarter. it's a good thing that i've been so well conditioned by coach clark, because i feel like i'm still just in the first. i'm good to go for another four if they would let me.

it's so good to hear that greg is turning in his papers. if you see him, tell him i'm proud of him. when you think about football compared to the salvation that could come to somebody because of his sacrifice, it's worth it. anywho, i'm pretty healthy now, and things are going great. tell everybody hello for me. stay safe ya'll.

love,
elder troxel

Take Luck!

2009-06-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

dear family,

the emails were really good this week, thank you. michaels was so funny. oh man, it's true, it is almost time that i need to be thinking about applications and things! i actually have thought a little bit about what i want to do with the rest of my life, but i'm not really sure. and i was thinking of going somewhere else other than BYU, but with 50% off tuition, i think that makes the decision for me. i really have no idea what i want to do anymore, but when i get to only 6 months left, i'll start making it more of a matter of prayer.

so i think i'm almost over whatever bug i had. it didn't keep me in at all, but it wasn't very much fun. i still wake up not feeling so well, but my cough is gone and i feel a lot better... except for the fact that i didn't do any exercise (running, push ups, sit-ups, you know) in the mornings or evenings for an entire week, so i am feeling pretty chubby. i'm back up to almost 190, and it's not muscle. that's a bummer that TJ's sick too. tell him to stop it.

so what're all of your plans for the 4th? i guess by the time you write back, it will have already happened... so what did you do for the 4th? we're planning another barbeque. it should be really good because we've got 2 elders in our zone who are pandai masak (rough translation: really good at cooking); one is from alabama, so he makes good pies and southern food and stuff, and the other is a sri lankan (from australia) and i've never had better indian food than his. so we'll have a malaysian 4th of july with a little bit of an indian twist. i freaking love curry.

so president skelton is officially released from his calling today, and president clark is the new mission president. today also marks 2009 being half way over! lots of crazy things are happening. there's been a lot of rumors flying around about what is going to happen in august when a huge group of elders goes home, including 4 zone leaders and an assistant, but we'll just have to wait and see. i'm sure president clark will change a lot of things.

this last week was pretty good. we had a baptism for a really awesome couple whose names are Anthoney and Emalice. they are so good. they LOVE to feed us. but their baptism was great and Emalice bore a really sincere testimony. things like that make all the getting drenched in the rain, sweat, dogs, and having to deal with drunk ibans, and ridiculous missionaries, all worth it.

we're having our fifth straight week with a baptism this week. it would be cool if we could keep it going the whole time i'm here, but that is very unimportant. the important thing is that each one of these numbers is actually a life that is changed. it would kill me to find out that any of these people some day down the road goes inactive. we just have to prepare them well for the promise they make. our teaching pool took a bit of a punch in the face last week, but i'm sure that the Lord will place more people in our path who are ready. He always does.

so any news on the shoes yet? i can probably go a couple more months on these ones, but not much longer than that.

tell chelsie not to worry, i wasn't worried... just a bit concerned ;) main-main sahaja (just kidding). but thanks for passing on that message mom.

i'm still plugging along, slowly but surely. take care ya'll.

love,
elder troxel

Jadilah Babi Yang Bijak

2009-06-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

Note from Dad: I was able to translate the word for the title but it must be a common phrase or expression, because the translated word don't make sense in English as far as I can tell it means "the pig who was made smart/intelligent". Not all things translate well.

dear keluarga,

whoa, disneyland sounds like it was a blast! next to the temple, it really is the happiest place on earth i think. i hope there is disneyland in the celestial kingdom... but i'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves. we'll have to go again when i get home.

this week in malaysia has been a sick one... literally, i've been sick all week. not enough to keep me in, but it's just really annoying because i have a really persistent cough. we had some plans to go see some of elder ogden's recent converts today that live pretty far away, but i really just need to rest and get over this whateveritis so i can be 100 percent again. but despite being sick, we still had a good week. we had the most investigators at sacrament meeting this last week since i've been here, and there was a ton more who promised to come, but for whatever reason couldn't make it. so we should have more this week. my goal before i leave this area is to have an average of 20 investigators attending sacrament meeting every week. it's very possible, and we're getting there, but it'll take a lot of work. i'm really pumped to have elder ogden here. we're a lot more on the same page than other companions i've had. but we had a chance to talk about our goals for the area and what we wanted to see happen.

we decided that we needed to meet with our branch president and get him really excited about the vision that we have. it worked and he held another meeting last night with other leaders in the branch to get things moving. i won't tell you all of what we're planning on doing, because it's quite extensive, but if it works it will be so good for the work here in kuching. we'll be doing a lot of things to promote missionary work in the branch, but the end goal of all the things we'll be doing is to have 220 people attending sacrament meeting before the end of the year, and to have 90 convert baptisms (elder ogden and i originally set the goal at 60 convert baptisms, but our branch president didn't think that was very optimistic, so he changed it to 90. i love that man).

anywho, i hope jackson is ok. did aubrey and seth have the swine flu? what is the deal with this thing? i thought it wasn't a very big deal, but everyone here is under the impression that it's worse than the black plague. i hope everybody recovers though. i'm sure everybody will be fine.

well, i'm sorry this email is really lame sauce, but i can't really think of anything else important to say. i do want to thank everyone for all of their support and prayers. i can't express how much i appreciate and need them. you all are also in my prayers also. keep on truckin' yal.

love,
elder troxel

Happy Birthday!!

2009-06-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

dear family,

so this week has been pretty intense, but i think things will start to get back to normal this week, now that the transfer is almost over. i'm sitting here with my new companion... and my old companion. elder tuckfield will be leaving for singapore this afternoon, and then it will just be me and... elder Ogden! I got news that elder ogden was coming here last thursday, and he got here on monday. just in case you don't remember me ever talking about elder Ogden, he is Beau's cousin who i roomed with in the MTC. we were good friends in the MTC and i'm way excited to be companions with him. the two pictures i attached are him and me in the internet cafe. I hadn't seen him for almost 16 months before he got here on monday. it's interesting to see how people change. he's still the same, but he's a lot more mature now. i hope i've gotten more mature... but i doubt it :)

anywho, there was a big hubbub this week with the chinese elders in our zone (who we happened to live with). the church owns 3 apartments in the condo where we live; one was an old couple's apartment, one is really big and nice and had four elders in it, and the one in which i live is really small and nasty and also had four elders in it (us and the chinese elders). anywho, a couple weeks ago, they took one of the companionship's out of the zone and closed their area, which meant that there were only two companionship's living in that really big luxurious apartment, and there was four in ours. now, obviously the smartest thing to do is to move one of the companionship's from ours to the other one. anywho, i wanted to move to the other apartment, but the assistants insisted that the chinese elders move. we told them they had to move to the other one, but they were not happy and wanted to talk to president themselves about it. anywho, they stalled and stalled for almost two weeks without doing anything, until elder tuckfield and i just had to tell that they had to move the next day because elder ogden was coming and there was going to be 5 people in this tiny apartment with only two in the huge one. anywho, to make and even longer story short, they threw a huge fit and they still aren't very happy with us. apa boleh buat? (what can you do?) sometimes missionaries can be extremely ridiculous.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WHITNEY! whoa, you are 18 years old! how does it feel? you can buy dry ice now! yippee! i'm happy to hear that your recital went well. i wish i could've been there. so what did you do for your birthday? was the alfredo delicious? what did you get?

we also went on exchanges twice this last week. i got to go with my grandson! his name is elder johnson. he is my grandson because he was trained by my trainee (elder Kartchner). i took him to the house of these investigators who were supposed to be getting baptized this week and they fed us a ton of curry and rice. i guess it didn't really agree with his stomach, because the whole next day he stayed in sick. we started the exchange at 4:30 on thursday and finished at about 4:30 on friday, but i had to stay in with him until we switched back on friday. oh man, i was going crazy. that was the longest i've ever had to stay in my house on my mission. i was SO antsy! i hope i never get sick, because i wouldn't be able to stand it. i did manage to sew some things though.

anywho, i love you all. i hope everything is still going well. stay safe and don't get swine flu.

love,elder troxel

The Winds of Change!

2009-06-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

dear family,

thank you for the emails this week. sorry that i don't put in any translations when i write in a different language. half of the time i don't even know what language i'm speaking anyway. it's exciting that whitney will be doing her recital soon! how does she feel about this being her last one? is she glad, or sad, or mad, or wearing plaid...? or is it just kind of a mix of everything together?

oh man, that was awesome to hear from beau. i got both of the letters. i don't know why he doesn't just send them to me here. i know i've given him my address at least twice. but it was good to hear from him. sounds like he's also speaking a language that they also didn't teach him in the MTC. I don't know if he actually speaks Twi, but he at least knows a few phrases. it's always good to hear from those guys. i got an email from rittmanic today too! he sounds like he's doing well. the only one that i haven't heard from in a long time is andrew. but he's practically dead, so he can just email me when he gets home! man, i'm too young to have my friends coming home from missions.

this week was good, as always. we got news that they're having to close one of the areas in our zone because of a lack of missionaries (and the fact that they weren't doing very much). we have a goal to get 30 baptisms in July, so that's going to make it a little bit more difficult, but from the way things are shaping up right now, we should have about half of that just with our area. things are really going well here. we also got the news that elder tuckfield flies out sunday morning for singapore. i still haven't heard who my new companion will be, but there is a lot of speculation going on. i think it will probably be elder Ogden (beau's cousin who i roomed with in the MTC), but i'm fine with anybody really. but next week i'll have a new companion. i also heard rumors that i might be leaving around the middle of august, but that's a long way away we'll have a new mission president by then, so it's really impossible to say how much longer i'll be here. i'd like to finish my mission in either KL or KK though. i told elder tuckfield to use all of the influence he has to try and make it happen. we'll see.

that's sad to hear about Mike Wear. i've been really fortunate with my health since i've been out. i'm hoping that my luck will last and that i'll never have to see a malaysian doctor. however, there have been a few missionaries lately that have gotten pretty sick (not with the same things though) who will probably have to go home early. i would die.

if you do get a chance to go to Miss Provo, make sure you send me some pictures.

there will be a lot of changes in this zone pretty soon. elder tuckfield leaves sunday, then two weeks later the elder that has been the thorn in my side my entire mission goes home, then a big group of missionaries (including elder palfreyman, but he's not in my zone) goes home july 15. in between all that, president skelton goes home, and president clark will come. by the time that all happens, i'll be dangerously close to the home stretch.

well everybody, i don't think i have much more to say. i love you all. be smart and all that jazz. good luck with the recital whitney!

love,
Elder Troxel

...gayu guru geria nyamai! (No idea what it means-Dad)

2009-06-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

dear family,

selamat hari Gawai! gawai is the biggest Dayak holiday of the year, and it started on monday (Dayak is what they call all of the indigenous tribes in malaysian borneo). i'm not exactly sure when it ends... probably just when people get really sick of being drunk 24/7. it's crazy though! dad mentioned in his email about how he ate too much. you have no idea what i've been through the last two days dad. in order to understand what we've been doing the last two days, you have to understand a bit about what gawai is. from the time i first got to east malaysia (sibu), i was hearing about how big gawai was. that was in october last year, and it has just been building up to this week. during gawai, everything shuts down, and everyone goes back to their villages. the only people left in kuching pretty much are the chinese (and even some of them choose to go on vacation). gawai is the celebration of the rice harvest i think, or at least some kind of harvest. anywho, everybody gets drunk. unfortunately, even some of the members get hammered. but since everyone is in their kampungs (villages), there really is no work for us to do. so what the missionaries have done in the past, and what we chose to do, is to go around and visit members all day. it's good, because you can meet a lot of non-members in their families, and you can help strengthen them so that they won't drink or do something stupid. it started on sunday, which is gawai eve. for about a month now, the branch leadership in all the branches here have been announcing during sacrament meeting that there would still be church on gawai eve, and that it was still a commandment to come. elder tuckfield and i usually go to at least two of the branches (because we have some investigators that can only come in the morning, and some that can only come in the afternoon), so we got to see what the damage was. the third branch, which usually has 100-130 people every week, had maybe 30 people at the most... and six of those were missionaries! our branch did a bit better, but still much less than normal. on monday, we rented a taxi van and went to one of the bigger tourist kampungs called annahries and brought all of the missionaries down there. that's when the torture all started. we met up with our branch president down there, and he took us to his grandparent's house. they brought out a ton of cookies and cakes and things. i had a lot. then he took us on a tour of the long house in the village. i got some good videos, so you'll be able to see what it was like, but as we were touring this long house, we got invited to eat twice! by the time we finished the second time, i was pretty darn full... and then president Teo (the branch president) informed us that we were going back to his grandparents for lunch. oh man, i didn't think i was going to be able to handle it... and it was only 12:00! then all of the other elders took the van back while we went with president teo to go and visit all the rest of the members. we did that ALL DAY! and every house we went to had a meal prepared for us. now, don't get me wrong, i love curry and rice, but when you have eight meals of curry and rice in one day, it gets a little bit gross. fortunately though, they mixed up the meat. on monday alone, i ate chicken, beef, flying squirrel, cat, fish, wild boar, and goat. i weighed myself the on sunday morning, at i weighed in at 179. when i weighed myself on monday night after returning home, i weighed 190! oh my heavens! it was unbelievable how much i packed down. and i didn't even throw up! tuesday was pretty much the same as monday, but we got a few lessons in, and i only ate 4 or 5 times.

apart from the gawai madness, we also had a baptism! her name is catherine and she is awesome. she lives with her husband's family, who are really strong members too, so she's got a really strong support system. her husband is a bit of a bum though, even though he's got a baptism date. on the way home from the baptism, i was riding elder romney's bike, because mine is a heck of a lot better than his, and he had to ride a lot farther than me that day, so i swapped him. anywho, on the ride home (it was about 9:25), the bike all but fell apart. it was kind of ridable though, so i was just taking it easy, trying to get home before 9:30, when all of a sudden, i heard a bunch of barking and dog paws moving quickly on asphalt. i looked behind me, and in the darkness saw a black dog dart behind my back tire. i turned and looked down just as the little bugger took a bite for my foot. i managed to dodge him the first time, but then he came in again. i tried to go faster, but my bike just wouldn't let me. as he opened his mouth and went for my leg again, i gave him what i thought would be a well place kick in the jaws. i don't know how he did it, because i was sure that i was going to get him, but he somehow did this crazy jump dodge, whipped his head around, and clamped down on my leg. don't worry though, he only tore my pants pretty bad, but i wasn't injured. talk about tender mercies! after that, he gave up on me and went for elder tuckfield. i think he was tired though, so he didn't put up much of a fight with him. but now i've got a huge hole in my best pair of slacks! poop.

we've got two baptisms this week, both of which will be great leaders in the church in a few years, im sure. and we're having the baptism on the beach! i love malaysia.

it's good to hear that everything went well with whitney's graduation. i hope she enjoyed it. i can't really remember mine, but i remember the all night party was a blast. how was yours, whitney? email me and tell me about everything.

well, i think that's pretty much it. thanks for checking up on the shoes for me. i really appreciate it. stay safe now, ya hear? i love you all.

love,
elder troxel

ps- i got an email from Kelvin today (the one who i'm giving the scriptures to) and he's sending in his papers next week! that's so awesome!

Surprise!

2009-05-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

dear family,

don't worry, i'm not being apostate. since myldsmail was down for the last two days, we get to come read our emails today. i sent you an email on wednesday, so this one won't be very long...

i can't believe whitney graduates today! oh man. but don't worry sis, things after high school are SO much better and more fun. trust me. even though old friends and other people might move on, you'll meet a ton of new people. i'm proud of you girl! keep a stiff upper lip and don't be afraid. you've got a lot of big decisions ahead of you, but don't worry about anything. just make everything you do a matter of prayer. remember what it says in D&C 6:36 (and also on my missionary plaque), "look unto me in every thought. doubt not, fear not." you have got so much potential whitney! oh, the places you'll go! you're awesome. have a wonderful graduation and pardy hardy!

anywho, you had some questions that i would love to answer:

1. (Do you get reimbursed for all the money you spend?) not yet... but i'm really hoping that will happen soon. the new office couple is a little bit slow at getting things done, because they're still trying to get their feet under them. i think it will be this week though.

2. (You mentioned that you thought your companion will be an assistant soon. Has that happened yet?) once again, not yet. he won't go there until june 15 (but i'm not supposed to know that). i'm excited to know who my new companion will be. this summer will be nuts because there is a ton of leadership going home, and i'll then be one of the oldest zone leaders. it'll be fun to see what happens.

3. (How are things going with your zone? Are they catching the vision of what is truly possible?) things with the zone are ok. we came up with a sweet thing called the "July Jihad." a jihad is a religious war, or a crusade. we talked with our district leaders, and had them set district standards or goals for the next six weeks, leading up to july. if we accomplish all of the short term goals that we set, july will have an explosion of baptisms. the highest amount that this zone has had in one month for this year is 15. that's ok... not particularly good... but the goal is to at the very least double that number. we've only got 5 companionship's, so everyone is going to have to work really hard. but i'm excited for it.

so, everything is still going really well here. i hope everyone is still doing well. take pictures of whitney's graduation for me. i want to see her.

i love you all.
elder troxel

Hey, Hey, Hey

2009-05-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog followers,

We are sorry about the delay in Jordan's email, but we did not realize that he sent this to a different account. We knew he was having trouble with his ldsmail account as it looked like he hadn't open any of his emails. We found his email today and feel much better that he is safe and sound.

Mom and Dad Troxel

dear family,

i'm writing this on gmail right now because myldsmail is down (what are the odds?). anywho, i haven't gotten to read your emails yet, but i'll keep trying to get on to myldsmail. but i hope everything is going well. i've had an excellent week. oh yeah, before i forget again, i need to ask you something... i've heard that the shoe brand "Ecco" has two year warranties on all of their shoes. do you think you could check on that for me? because my eccos are pretty shot. both soles are split right in half and their pretty torn up from the bikes, but if the rumors are true, then they should just be able to send a brand new pair. i've heard of missionaries doing that before, and i'm not sure if either pair of my shoes are going to last much more that 3 more months, so if you could check on that i would be very grateful.

this week has been a good one, at least for elder tuckfield and i. we were able to come out of zone conference and do some really good work the rest of the week. i wasn't very pleased with some of the other companionship's in the zone, however. elder tuckfield and i have talked about it though and we've got some good ideas on how to try and motivate the zone and get things going again though. we've got some elders who are getting really close to going home, and they've all but stopped doing missionary work all together. if nothing else though, it's a good example for me of what not to do when i get to that point...

i told you when i talked to you on the phone about how i struggle staying focused in my language study, but i've found something that has snapped me back into focus... i'm learning Jawi! jawi is the traditional written language of malay. it's not used very much, but it's way cool looking because it uses a lot of the arabic alphabet. so the last few days i've spent learning how to read and write the jawi alphabet. i'm planning on writing a letter to chelsie today, and i'll write some jawi words in there so that you can see what it looks like. it's awesome. i'm super pumped about it.

so we've got some really excellent investigators right now. we'll be having a baptism for a lady named Catherine this saturday. she's married and pregnant with her second child. she's 17 years old! ibans are crazy! i don't know if i ever told you, but i baptized an iban sister in sibu who was married when she was 12 and had her first child at 13! that is just gross. but that's what they're all about here. anywho, catherine is really good. she's been taught for along time, but is just now getting baptized. she's got a really good testimony though and she's going to be a good member. we were supposed to have a baptism for another guy named lawrence this week, but he's had trouble stopping smoking, so we've had to push him back a bit. we met with him yesterday and had him write down all the reasons that make him want to smoke. then we had him write down what he needs to do to avoid all of those things. i think it really helped him to see that is possible. the most important thing that we stressed with him was about prayer. he's been smoking for 8 years, and he's only 20. how crazy is that? when i was 12, i don't think i'd ever even seen someone smoking! geez.

anywho, our area is doing great, and the weeks keep flying by. it's a good thing, because i still can't get into myldsmail and it's looking like i'll have to wait a week to read the emails. andrew is probably coming close to having single digits in weeks left! and whoa, whitney is all but graduated! let me know how college is, sis.

anywho, i'm still healthy and happy. everything is great. i hope everyone is good back home. i love you all.

-elder troxel

The Packages Arrive!!

2009-05-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

dear family,

whoa, so whitney is graduating from seminary is she? did i ever graduate from seminary? i don't remember it ever happening. i hope so. so whitney is coming up on her last week in high school, right? i'm with you mom, when did i get so old? good work though whitney.

so this week has been really busy with zone stuff. today and tomorrow are zone conference, and tonight we're having a mondo-Barbecue. it's going to be awesome, but it's been a pain in the bum to put together. mostly the pain in my bum is coming from ripping so much money out of my wallet to pay for things i think. it'll be awesome though.

so guess what! all of the packages arrived! i got the deodorant package last friday. then i got a call from someone in singapore that my package arrived there... THEN i got a call from KK saying that my easter package finally arrived there! i'll be lucky if that one ever reaches me, but it's good to know that it's feeding missionaries and that it arrived! so i think we're still at 100%. thank you very much for the deodorant and the beef jerky. it was delicious. the beef jerky... not the deodorant.

you said that whitney made a dress! apa hal-bah? since when could she make sweet stuff like that?! that's awesome! i want some pictures. i've recently learned how to make a hammock, and i'm three rows into 60 rows of an awesome king sized hammock. it'll be so sweet when i finish.

so, kind of funny story. we were teaching a family last night, and after we finished the lesson, we were just drinking some Milo with them and chatting it up, trying to get to know them better. anywho, somehow we got on the topic of who was going to get married first. they picked me, because they said that i was more handsome. haha, people here are so ruthlessly honest. if you're fat, they'll just come straight out and ask you why you are/how did you become so fat. so if i'm like that when i get home, forgive me, it's just my culture. they said that i wasn't sentimental though. apa hal? i'm sentimental, right?

anywho, i don't really have anymore updates. the work is awesome as always. the zone is doing well. thanks again for the packages. you're all awesome. i love you all.

love,
elder troxel

Selamat Hari Ibu! (Safe/Happy Mother's Day!)

2009-05-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i don't really have all that much to say, because we just talked a couple of days ago... but i'm still truckin. it was awesome to get to talk to you all. everybody sounds like they're doing great. everybody sounded pretty much the same. did i sound the same? it was fun.

so i just got an email from Owey! apparently he's playing ball up at the U! oh man, that's awesome. that really makes me want to play again. but he sounds like he's doing well. i can't believe he's been home for 4 months! geez. anywho, the week thus far has been really good. we've set a few more baptism dates, and had some really good appointments. we're really busy these days, and it's getting to the point where we're having to go on splits to see everybody who wants to learn, which is a very good thing. thank you for your prayers and support. um, i haven't checked the mail since i talked to you, so i don't know if i've gotten the package yet or not. i should probably do that soon.

we've got zone conference coming up next week, so we're really busy trying to get that ready. it's a lot bigger here than in KK, so there's more to do. i'm way excited though, because we're playing football for our activity! i love that game. we're also going to be having a big barbecue which is going to be awesome, but it's pretty time consuming to get everything together for it.

oh, about those pictures... i don't think i even had pictures 203-242 on that disk. i made the CD, and then i continued to take pictures with that card, so i made DVD with all of the pictures on that card before i deleted it. i've got backup CDs of all my pictures that i keep, along with sending them to you, so hopefully somewhere i've still got all of the pictures. it'll be fun for dad to come and see all of that stuff in person.

anywho, i don't have much more to say... i'll tell you my awesome almost pooping pants story some other time. maybe in february.

love,
elder troxel

Mother's Day Conversation

2009-05-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

We are happy to report that we were able to talk to Jordan on Mother's Day. The exciting thing was we were able to use Skype and it was a free call. The senior couple in the area, had Skype on their computer and let Jordan use it. It allowed us to see Jordan, but since he was not suppose to use the video chat he could not see us. So, for us, it was the best of both worlds. Both grand parents were on the phone and could listen to the call. We are happy to report that Jordan is doing well in all aspects. He is happy and healthy. We do miss him!

Happy 15 Month Mark!!

2009-05-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i'm a bit disappointed with the email this week, i must admit... only because you didn't tell me what's white and red and golden brown all over!!! come on, what is it? now i'm going to be thinking about that all week. what could possibly fit that description? a toasted marshmallow with strawberry sauce? a candy cane that has been accidentally dropped in the toilet? i don't know... michael's wedding colors???!!! if you could let me know next week, i'd much appreciate it.

anywho, i really did quite enjoy the email actually. it's crazy that you told me that Mark Erckebrack got baptized! i was actually thinking about that this week! i figured he would eventually, he's a good guy. and let me know if you hear from jackson.

this week was pretty good. elder tuckfield had to go to singapore on monday to be interviewed for a work permit there. it was kind of a surprise to me, but i guess he knew that he was getting one already. they don't get you a work permit unless you're going to be in singapore for an extended amount of time, and seeing as he was just transferred from singapore a couple of months ago, all evidence points towards him becoming assistant pretty soon. that's all just speculation though, but it's pretty obvious that is what's going to happen, it's just a matter of when. anywho, he left on monday morning, and that left me here alone, so i went out with elder young. it was really fun. the youngs are one of my favorite senior couples... and i didn't even have to ride a bike because he has a car! we went to a few appointments, and ran some errands that i needed to do, and even had a stop a pizza hut. oh man, it was delicious. elder tuckfield got back yesterday though, so it's back to business.

you asked about elder tuckfield though, so here is his bio:

Elder Bradford Tuckfield is from Austin Texas. He's about 6'3" and probably 215 or 220. he'd of been one heck of a defensive end, but not very coordinated the poor fellow. what he lacks in physical stamina he makes up for in brains and just all around awesomeness. he and i get along really well, so i'm pretty bummed that this is going to be another uber-short companionship. our personalities are pretty much the same; we both like to laugh about movies and talk about crazy deep doctrinal questions. he's big into broadway plays and so we get a kick out of singing showtunes and what not. his malay is uber good and mine is getting there. but yeah, i can't really think of anything else that you'd like to know about him... he snores like a mad man! i try to keep him up at night with as much pointless conversation as possible so that i can fall asleep before him because if i don't, it's always a long night. he's a stud though, and we're tearing it up here.

in reporting on monday, i talked with the elders mostly about setting baptism dates, because the number of people that are on date for baptism here is uber low, and a most of the elders here haven't set one with anybody for a couple of weeks. oh man, it's been crazy! i don't know what happened, but it's like a switch just flipped! everyone has set more, and some companionship's have doubled the number of investigators they have on date for baptism! i was so excited! and it's only wednesday! it looks and feels like things are starting to turn around, and everybody is getting a lot more excited. it's just fun to be a part of it.

so the work is going really well. we'll (elder tuckfield and I) will have our first baptism this friday. there will be two baptisms, one for a girl named Anastasia and also for a guy named Edwin. both are incredible and will be excellent members.

wait a minute... what was whitney doing downstairs ALONE with Taylor?! and who is this Taylor? i don't like him. Whitney, you're too young for that. that's something that i would do! well, not now of course, but before. ok, i'm putting my foot down. whitney is not allowed to date anyone until i get home and can give him my stamp of approval. sorry sis, but it has to be done. ;)

so i guess the call for next week is all worked out already. 9:30 in the morning here. this will be the 3rd time! can you believe that?! that means that the next call will just be to tell you things like what i want my first meal home to be, or what the first movie i want to watch is! (it's batman by the way, i already know). that means that i can call myself an old missionary after this call :)well, i think that's pretty much everything. i hope everyone is healthy and strong. keep reading your scriptures every day. don't get lazy. after all, it is a commandment. i love you all.

love,
Elder Jordan Troxel

Dust in the Wind

2009-04-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

dear family,

thank you for the emails, i enjoyed them a lot. it's bad news that whitney is sick though. we've been hearing a ton about something called "swine flu" or "slime flu" or something like that. everyone keeps saying that it's a huge deal in the states, so i hope it's nothing to do with that. that wouldn't be any fun, especially if the name really is "slime flu." i can only imagine what that would entail. i sincerely hope it isn't mono, but if it is... GOOD WORK WHITNEY! just kidding, it had better not be. you just tell those creeps to keep their bibir jauh dari kamu!

work this week has been good, as always. Elder Tuckfield had been working on a training for awhile, and finally got to give it yesterday. it was about faith. i pretty much gave the same training when i was in sibu, but this one was tailored to fit the concerns here in kuching. mostly, the moral of the training was that we need to have more faith in what is possible in our areas. i thought it went extremely well, and i'm hoping we'll start to see some things change.

the crazy part of the week happened on monday. i live in an apartment with 3 other missionaries: my companion and the chinese elders- Elder Roberts and Elder Bickmore. Elder Bickmore has been having some health problems that probably shouldn't be mentioned in this email, seeing as there has always been a lack of editing before my emails are pasted on the blog... but needless to say, i do not envy him. he'd been to the doctor, and they'd given him some medicine that was supposed to take care of the problem. doctors in malaysia are just about as good as the mail service in malaysia, so it's no surprise that the medicine didn't have any effect. anywho, he called president on monday to talk with him about it. president told him not to worry about it, that he'd think it over and give him a call back later that night. well, i got a call from the assistants about 15 minutes later and they told me that they would be shipping him to singapore the next morning! he gave us a call last night and told us that he's 98% sure that he's going home for surgery! poor guy. you could tell that he was nervous to be getting the surgery, but he's excited to get to see his family and stuff. there's actually been 3 or four missionaries that have had to go home for similar reasons, but they always come back out after they recover, so i'm sure we'll see him again in a couple months. it was pretty wild though, in less than 24 hours, he went from being in kuching to having to go home! i don't know if i would be able to handle that. it would be extremely difficult. let's just hope i stay healthy! however, for about a week or more now, i've been having some pain in my shoulder, and it's slowly getting worse. it feels like it may be an issue with my rotator cuff, but i don't know. maybe i've just slept on it wrong every night for the last week. if it continues to get worse though, i may have to see somebody about it. i hope it isn't the slime flu. i don't know what the symptoms are.

mike christensen is getting married?! that is crazy lah! why do people do such things?

thank you Dad, Whitney, and Scott for devouring some spaghetti with clam sauce in my behalf. i won't soon forget it.

so sarah christensen's brother mike is coming here, is he? i actually used to be pretty good friends with him back in the day. that will be fun. September seems so far away, but what the freak, it's going to be May in two days! i don't even know what to think anymore. that is probably the most discouraging thing for me. it just goes too fast. Frost is home, and andrew will be going home in like 3 months! Jackson is already home, and Houston should be home soon if he isn't already. in speaking of Jackson, have you heard anything about him? he should have gotten home in january.

about SKYPE... we asked the assistants about it, and they asked president. SKYPE by itself is ok, but no webcams. that's a bummer, but if you can do it for free, i say we do it! i wouldn't do it in an internet cafe, because all you would hear would be crazy chinese kids playing warcraft shouting profanity in the background. the couples have it though, and they offered to let us use it. i'll tell Elder Young to do a search for you, and then you can just try and do a test call straight to them. that would be way cool, because then i could talk with everybody! (ps, have you asked chelsie if she wants to come?) i had an interesting bit of revelation as to what i may go into as a career. i won't tell you though, because i know mom probably wouldn't like it, but we'll just have to see how things work out if that's really what the Lord wants me to do. but it would be AWESOME!

yeah mom, you were right. there are a lot of things i don't tell you. A LOT. but man do i have some sweet stories to tell you when i get home! yippee!

i'm not surprised that the address i gave you didn't bring anything up on the map, but it will most definitely get the package here. we modified it a bit to make it more specific. i know it'll work because the other elders use the one that i gave you and they get packages all the time. if you look on the map for "Four Points Hotel" in kuching, it's near to there. or maybe you can just try "Village Grove Apartments" or perhaps "BDC" and look for some apartment buildings close to there.

um... i think that's it. i don't really have much more to say. but i love you all. tell everyone that i say hello.

love,elder troxel

Abs and Orangutans

2009-04-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

first off, i would like to extend my sincerest of apologies for the lack email last week. i knew that mom would be freaking out, but the Lord always finds ways to test us and help us to grow mom; just think of it as an opportunity to improve the Christ-like attribute of patience :)

ok, so i'll start from wednesday two weeks ago. elder kunioka and i were really starting to light things on fire in KK. the very next day after my last email to you, we went out and set 11 baptism dates! it was crazy! needless to say, we were really excited; elder kunioka was finishing his mission with a bang, we were getting along great, and everything was just peachy... until friday rolled around (two fridays ago). we had a tele-conference scheduled with all the zone leaders, president skelton, and the assistants. it was pretty boring, but at the very end the assistants announced that they were going to tell us some transfer news. now, i don't know how it is in other missions, but transfers are the most talked about thing here, so everyone was really excited to hear about it. this is how the conversation went:

"ok, the first transfer is Elder Wright is going to KL to be zone leader with Elder Ogden. that means that Elder Grant will be leaving KL and going to KK to be with Elder Kunioka (i thought for sure they just made a mistake, and that they meant to say my name. i mean honestly, he only had one week left). Elder Neil will also be going to KK to be in a three some with Elders Kunioka and Grant (this is when i pooped a bit i think). Elder Troxel will be going to Kuching to be with Elder Tuckfield."

both elder kunioka and i flipped out. the only person who was angrier than i was about this was elder Kunioka. but, after we hung up and got to shout about it for awhile, we cooled off and had a good last couple of days together. it was extremely difficult to leave KK though. even though it's been my shortest area, i got closer to the people there than in any other place where i've served. it was like when i left on my mission, but worse in a lot of ways. i knew when i left home that i would be coming back one day, but it wasn't the same this time. i don't know if i'll ever get to see those people again in this life. it was sad, but the Lord needs me in Kuching... which brings us to this week.

kuching is a cool place, and my new companion, Elder Tuckfield, is equally as good. he's uber-smart. he's only like six months older than me, but he has already finished 2 years at BYU because he graduated from high school when he was 16! yeah, his ACT score was 35... i feel like a moron. but it's good and i'll learn a lot from him. i was a bit surprised when i got here though. historically, Sarawak has been a missionaries dream. the work flies here, and just like in Sibu, people just practically beg to be baptized. Kuching used to be the same way, but much to my surprise, it's not the same way now. having been here for a little over a week now and having talked with the other missionaries, i think i've diagnosed the issue; the missionaries in this zone just have lost their vision of what is possible. i mean that for whatever reason, this whole zone has just become perfectly satisfied with mediocrity. i'll give you an example:

i was reporting with some of the leaders in the districts here, discussing the weekly numbers of the companionship's in this zone. i expressed my concerns and offered one possible way to help motivate the elders for work smarter. i said that i would be willing to take any companionship out to dinner at the restaurant of their choosing if they managed to get 20 member present lessons in one week. when i said this, the other two elders just stared blankly at me for a few moments, and then after some throat clearing said, "wow, that's a bit lofty, don't you think?" i totally felt like that coach in the movie "miracle". but i'm praying that elder tuckfield and i will be able to help turn things around over the next couple months and help Kuching become even more successful than it used to be. just pray for us :)

anywho, you had some questions last week:

1. easter isn't really celebrated in malaysia, not because it's a muslim country, but because the christian population decided that they would rather have a 3 day weekend and chose to make good friday the celebrated holiday. good friday was huge here, but i didn't hear a single mention of easter from anybody. malaysia is such a funny place.

2. well, the hot weather starts around january and lasts until the end of december... with occasional rain.

3. i'm so happy you got the quad for kelvin. he won't even know how to react. sending it to the mission office in singapore would be the best thing, i think. you can get really anything there. but if you could send the package of deodorant to me in kuching ASAP, i would be very grateful. this is my new address:

6E6 Villiage Grove Condominiums
Lorong F BDC Stampin
93200 Kuching, Sarawak
Malaysia

4. no, i haven't gotten it ;( but i'll give the KK elders a call and see if it's gotten there yet.

that's crazy that you had to do a rescue on andrew. i love that kid so much. but what was he thinking? i don't know if you ever met his older brother Ben Martin, but i was pretty good friends with him. he was the seminary president my senior year and is currently serving in London. if you get a chance to see andrew again though, tell him high for me.

oh yeah, do you know what SKYPE is? apparently it's a webcam thing that is pretty cool. i ask because it may be a possibility here... only a possibility though, because we haven't asked president skelton yet. i wouldn't count on anything, but it would be awesome if we could do that. i'm not exactly sure when i'll get to call, but it will probably have to be the same kind of situation as Christmas. i'll most likely call the morning after mothers day here, and mothers day evening there. we'll see though. i'll let you know for sure next week.

that is crazy that you got 8 inches of snow there! apa freak ini, it's april! whoa, it's april! time is flying. i don't know where either february or march went. now april is almost done, and i'm feeling like it's still january. why couldn't time go this fast in high school?!

so i live in a house with two companionships. the other two elders names are Elder Bickmore and Elder Roberts. we were all just chatting last night about how fat we've gotten, and decided that we would have a contest over the next month to see who can get the best abs. no doubt i will win! by the time May 22nd comes around, i'll be sittin' pretty with a six pack.

this morning was way cool. everyone in the zone went to this way cool Orangutan reserve. we went in the morning so that we'd be sure to see some because that's when they feed them. it was so cool! i was like 6 feet from this huge mother Orangutan! but my dang camera ran out of batteries! no worries, i'll just have one of the other elders print me off some pictures.

i think that's just about it... i hope all is well in provo. i hope you payed attention in conference, because it was phenomenal! be sure and read all of the talks again when the ensign comes out. don't just be a hearer of the word, but a doer. i love you all.

love,
elder troxel

Cat Calls

2009-04-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

dear family,

well, i've spent the last 45 minutes trying to save the best email i've written yet from being deleted on a frozen computer, but alas, i've failed. i'll try and sum it all up:

i got transferred. i'm now in kuching with elder tuckfield. the computers in malaysia are the worst, and the guy who works at this internet cafe is probably about as computer savvy as great grandma dorcheus. i'm still pluggin along. go ahead and send the quad to the mission home. i haven't gotten any packages since before christmas, and if you sent the easter one to KK, i'll be lucky to get it by next christmas.

i love you all, and i'm sorry for the computer being dumb. blame malaysia, and the ridiculous clerk.

love,
elder troxel

Note from Dad: We were sorry that Jordan's letter was not able to make it through. There is some very interesting information about Kuching available on Wikipedia. The following link will take you to the sight were you can get more details on Jordan's new location. Kuching is the largest city in Eastern Malaysia and the fourth largest in Malaysia overall with a population of nearly 600,000. The link to the Wikipedia sight is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuching

Kuching City Skyline from Across the Sarawak River

Crushed Dreams and Ruined Surprises

2009-04-08T00:11:00.000-07:00

keluargaku,

when i read the title of your email "3 down 1 to go," many things ran through my mind as i waited for what seemed like an eternity for the uber-slow internet to open the page... some of the things that ran through my head were, "oh man, michael's gotta be engaged!" (that would mean that 3 of the boys were married, and only 1 to go) or "what does '3 1 down to go' mean?" (dyslexia strikes again)... but alas, neither were true. but don't worry michael, keep hanging in there. it's coming soon, i can feel it.

i'm glad you all enjoyed conference... we don't get to see it for another two weeks, because it's not even broadcast here. they send the dvd's and it takes a couple of weeks. but thanks for ruining the surprise! just kidding, i already knew. i totally predicted that. another fun fact is that elder halstrom just got called to the presidency of the 70! he used to be in the asia area presidency. he's the one that came and did our mission tour in january. yeah, i've met him.

this week has been another fantastic one in the lords service. we've had some excellent appointments, one baptism last week, and we'll have two this saturday. PLUS, i just had some delicious indian food and it's sitting pretty in my huge gut right now :)

so i was sitting on the bus the other day. i'd been chatting with the person next to me (turns out he was muslim, so i couldn't even teach him anything), when i heard a strange sort of clucking noise. i thought it might have just been my imagination, or some sort of mechanical problem with the bus, so i just disregarded it. but then i heard it again, and even louder, so i decided i would try and figure out what it was. i turned around in my seat, and saw a man holding what looked like just an ordinary bag of rice sitting in one of the seats behind me. i looked at him, then back at the bag. then i saw something move in the bag, and looked back at the man to ask him what was in there. as we made eye contact, he smiled a mischievous smile and mouthed the word "ayam" (chicken) to me. i lost it. i thought it was so funny.

then last night we were on splits with two guys in our branch. when we were walking back to marina court to meet elder kunioka and the other member, kelvin and came to a place in the road where there was a ton of debris strewn across the road. we were both wondering what could have happened, when we looked up and saw a completely destroyed suv about 20 yards in front of us. we stood there for a few moments in shock, until we saw some people moving inside of it. we went over to see if everything was ok. the front end of the car was smashed in, and the passenger side was pretty hammered too. the driver's door was open, and he was standing outside and apparently uninjured. the guy in the passenger seat wasn't quite as lucky. his head was all bloody, and he had cuts all down his arm and hand. as we were trying to help him open his door, one of the three guys sitting in the back seat leaned forward and said in a slurred drunken voice, "ada alcohol sikit" which roughly translated means that they were drunk out of their minds. the driver, who seemed to be the least drunk said that they'd already called an ambulance and that they didn't need any help. we asked again, and it was evident that they really didn't want us to help, so we just kept on our way. they're just lucky that they only smashed a cement wall instead of someone else's car. morons.

anywho, you had some questions:

1. (I know the time is pretty much off, but do you get to see any of the conference sessions live? The priesthood session would be from 8-10AM Sunday morning your time.) no, i haven't gotten to see any of the sessions yet.

2. (Did you get a chance to watch the green bean video?) i just barely watched it. it didn't have any sound, but it was still hilarious.

3. (What does selama-lamanya mean?) selama-lamanya means forever

4. (Have you looked at your blog lately?) yeah, i'll usually take a look at it every week. it's so sweet. when you do a search for singapore mission, it must bring up the blog site, because there's been quite a few elders who have told me that their friends or family have seen the blog. but thank you scott for keeping it going.

i think that's everything... except for one more request. if at all possible, could you buy a new quad and have the name "Kelvin Alexsius" put in gold on the front. you can just take some money out of my account to buy it and ship it. the reason i want it is because this guy kelvin (who is amazing. i'll tell you his conversion story another time) helps us almost every day and is getting ready to go on a mission. he wants an english quad, but to order them from here they are about 200 ringgit. it would rock his world to get one, especially with his name on it. if you could do that for me, i would be eternally grateful, and i'm sure he would be also.

i love you all,
elder troxel

The Holy Hand Grenade

2009-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

if you are really worried about michael being skinny, i have acquired quite a bit of beef since being in malaysia (especially around the nether regions) and i'm sure we could arrange some sort of swap...anywho, we got some bad news this week in zone conference. the missionary department has put an end to the use of public gyms! NO!!! there goes any of my hopes of coming hope looking anything like i did before. it's ok, i've come to grips now that i'll just be hodoh dan gempal selama-lamanya.

in speaking of zone conference this last week, it was excellent! my interview with president was really good. he told me that i need to use more of an iron fist with my zone, rather than the velvet glove. maksudnya (meaning) that we need to kick our zone in the rear and get it going. elder kunioka and i also got to give a leadership training to all of the district leaders in our zone. i thought it went fantastic. we did it on commitments and how to be more bold. it tied in perfectly with the assistant's training the next day which was also on committing people. good stuff.

oh, before i forget, if you could send me some more Red Zone, i would much appreciate it. i'm down to my last one.

futsol was also a hit. and not to brag or anything, but 'yours truly' had quite a few goals and tore apart the defense. but i was so sore i could barely walk the next day. i took quite a few kicks to the shins and knees... well, i guess i'll answer your questions:

1. (Mom asked about sending the Conference Report, Would you get it any quicker that way?) we usually do get a conference report, but it's a hit or miss type thing and we only get one for the whole apartment, so if you could sent one, that would be great! thanks. i'm so pumped for conference. it gets better every time!

2. (What the heck does assalamwailekum mean?) assalamwailekum is the greeting that muslims say to each other. as an orang putih (white person), it's not very good to say it to a muslim... but i often do it anyway.

3. (Any additional help on the tree house picture?) i'm not exactly sure what picture you're talking about, but i think it's probably at a place called Taman Jubli in Sibu. it's the only hill in all of sibu, but it's pretty sweet because they built that big old look out tower and you can see all of sibu. we did that my last p-day there. i don't know if i sent it to you, but that's really close to the same place where i got the pictures with the head hunter skulls... if you haven't seen those, ask chelsie. i sent some to her. and i'll be sending my SD card home soon because it's full.

Note from Dad: Whitney received these pictures from her pen pal, Elder Semana, who is featured in both pictures (holding the skulls from the head hunters in the Isle of Borneo, Sibu). So we tried to describe them to Jordan to get some info.

4. (Shot list, do you have it?) i don't know if i do, but i'll dig through my documents and see what i can find. i know i had to get tb and i took the typhoid pills.

5. (Are there any Micronesians in your area and do any of your natives drink Kava?) the only micronesian here is elder kunioka. he's only about 5'8" and he too likes to beat up on his companion... just kidding, i could take him. but the ibans do have a drink that they call "air tua(EYE-EAR TOO-AH)" which is rice whine. they get hammered on that stuff and do really stupid things... like give each other tattoos. whenever you see an iban with stick figure tattoos or some other dumb picture that looks like a 3 year old drew it, he's been getting down with the Tua.

oh yeah, i don't know if i ever told you this, but Orangutan is actually malay. but it's not pronounced like americans say it. Orang means person, and utan is short for hutan which means jungle. Jungle person! i was so pumped when i figured that out.

so, it's april already. i definitely didn't see that coming. that means that E. Kunioka only has 3 weeks left! it hasn't really hit him yet, which is good, because our area is on fire at the moment and the last thing we need is a trunky missionary. but he'll stick it out. i don't know if his parents emailed you back yet, but he said they did get your email. well, our hopes of elder palfreyman finishing here in KK aren't looking good. he was just made zone leader in singapore, and his companion goes home with e.Kunioka, so he probably isn't getting transferred. bummer, but it'll be exciting to see who my new companion will be.

anywho, the work is going really well and we'll have a baptism this week! right now we've got people set on date for every week in april. there's a lot a amazing things going on here. the Lord blesses you when you're willing to work.

i love you all,
elder troxel

Biasanya (ordinary, usually)

2009-03-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

keluargaku (family),

selamat pagi (good morning)! assalamwailekum! thank you for the emails this week. they were good. it's good to hear that everyone is doing well. today and tomorrow is zone conference here, so we've got all the missionaries from sabah staying in our house today and tomorrow. i'm way pumped, because right after this, we're going to go play futsol as our zone activity. i'm sure that we all remember how talented i am at soccer... the last time i think i was on a soccer field was when i was walking off with a shattered, bloody face. i'm hoping for some better luck today... (but lets also remember that i had two goals in that game!)

this week is, once again, pretty crazy what with zone conference and all. but thus far it's been really good. we're on pace to have our best week of teaching yet (as far as numbers go), even with the two days not being able to have any appointments. we went on splits yesterday with some prospective missionaries and had a lot of fantastic lessons.

we also had a couple baptisms, and one was for a future Melchizedek priesthood holder! the branch here is really hurting for priesthood.

so in answer to your questions:

1. (Is Elder Palfreyman working in the office or were your visa runs at the same time?) yes, elder palfreyman has been in the office for quite awhile now. almost 4 months i think... maybe not quite that long. he's been a really good office elder, but rumor has it that he's leaving soon. i'm not sure what the exact responsibilities of an office elder are, but they have a lot to do, especially lately because the office couple is going home soon, so they've been having to learn how to do all the things that the couple does.

2. (Can you check to see if your companions parents received our email?) yes, i can.

sorry, i don't really have all that much to say this week. i'm still alive, busy, and loving the work. tell everyone that i send my love!

love,
elder troxel

Robbie's package!

2009-03-18T00:11:00.000-07:00

Keluargaku (family),

apa khabar? (what's happening) whoa, what a crazy week it seems that you've all had. so, dan is finally getting hitched... and to family, no less. good good. when is he getting married? you may want to ask him if he's willing to wait until next february... just kidding, but i wish i could be there for it. tell him congratulations for me. in speaking of christensens, what is ariel up to? is she married too? i got a list of girls from elder morley today of all the girls that he knew were engaged/married. he said that Brianna Reynolds (i don't know if you know her, but she's a way awesome girl) is engaged to Matt Reynolds! you've gotta love Timpview marriages. how is michael's pursuit going by the way? it was good to hear a few weeks back that he'd been on a few dates.

don't feel bad dad, i've also come to the realization that my movie quoting abilities aren't quite up to par. they've atrophied quite a bit, along with my upper body actually. but i've improved in a lot of other areas- such as my scriptural knowledge, and i even managed to beat elder palfreyman in a game of scripture golf this morning! baby! oh yeah, i'm in singapore right now. i really don't like coming here, but it's been a lot more enjoyable this time because i've gotten to go out with elder palfreyman. it's crazy that he dies in four months! and after him, my days are also limited... it's sad business.

this last week was a good one as far as the work goes, except we suffered a few set backs- we should be having 6 or 7 baptisms this saturday, but the two couples have only been to church twice and aren't ready anyway, and we just barely found out that one of the other girls who was set on date for this week's IC (identification card) says "muslim" on it. NO!!!!!!!!! that is the worst!that would've been helpful to know about a month and a half ago. it's really sad, because she's gold, but laws are laws. she is going to try and get it changed, but that can take years to do. but we'll still have two on saturday, which will be really good. and one of them will be a priesthood holder! that's what this branch is really hurting for- more priesthood. i'm really excited for our area. there's a lot of really good things going on right now. in the not too distant future, we'll be back in the groove of have baptisms every week. good stuff.

so, since you didn't have any questions for me, i've got a few of my own:

1. what's going on with "the office?"

2. do we have a nintendo Wii yet?

3. is there any other way to send me that video clip? because youtube is definitely not approved...

i think that's all of them. oh, i did draw out 200 sing dollars from my checking account today. i don't know how much that is in USD, but i think it's like 100 or so. probably more. but i received an epic package from elder Wobbie Larson yesterday! he sent me a weird t-shirt, but it was pretty awesome. i've been wanting to write to him, but i haven't had his address.

welp, i'm pretty sure i've run out of things to say. i'm still healthy and happy... and fat. i love you all. stay safe.

love,
elder troxel

Sibuk Bah!

2009-03-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

dear family,

well, this week has been fantastic. my first baptism in KK! we had a baptism for a girl named Erna on sunday. we had a member perform the baptism (which is good) and it took him 7 TRIES to get her all the way under (which isn't so good)! but it was funny after all was said and done. the most besides times i've seen besides that was 3 tries. eventually he did get her all the way under and she was able to be confirmed in sacrament meeting.

we just barely got back from doing exchanges in tawau. we left yesterday morning and got back this morning at about 11:30. but the next three weeks are going to be crazy. because of exchanges, we've got a shortened week this week. zone conference isn't for two more weeks, but we'll have to get everything done and ready for zone conference this week, because i fly out for singapore on tuesday, get back on thursday night, and friday morning we fly to sandakan to do a training and exchanges. then the next week will be zone conference, so it will be quite awhile before we can just have a nice normal week of teaching. by the time we get another normal week, it will be just a few weeks until elder kunioka goes home. CRAZY!

i got an exciting call from elder palfreyman this last week. apparently in his interview with president skelton, president asked him if there was anything that he especially wanted in his last 4 months in the mission; he wanted to request that we be made companions agian, but he wussed out. anywho, president asked him if he would be willing to fulfill a leadership position, to which he of course responded yes, and president told him that he would be out of the office in about a month. the next change in leadership is when elder kunioka goes home, so it's possible that elder palfreyman and i could be companions again for his last few months. that would be sweet. but who knows, it's all just speculation.

i got an email from chelsie today, and she told me she has been getting over a concussion! heavens to betsy, what happened?! she didn't tell me, but i'm sure that there is probably a humorous story behind that... but it was good to hear from her.

i've heard through the grape vine that almost everybody is married or engaged back home. nick wrote me and was bummed that everyone we knew is going to probably have kids by the time we get home. no worries, i've already made up my mind that i'm not going home :) but at least i've got a LONG time before i have to deal with those stresses.
anywho, mom had a couple of questions:

1. dang it! i totally forgot to get a picture of the outside of the house. i kept telling myself i needed to take one, but i always forgot. i'll give E. watkins a call and tell him to take one and send it to me.

2. i'm not exactly sure what you mean, but there was an elder (neiderhauser) who was going home in mid-february. he had been here in KK for quite awhile, and they needed to get someone familiar with the area, so they transferred elder Gulbrandsen here is December. i don't know why, but president decided that he wanted e.gul in bintulu the week before e.ni went home. then they transferred e.kuni here, because he'd already been here and knows the branch and the area. that's why it was only a half whitewash, because even though we both came in at almost the same time, elder kunioka already knew the area and the members, just not the investigators.

i hope that all made sense. but the work continues here in KK. this last week we really were able to do some good work. we've got quite a few people on date for baptism, our teaching pool is really strong, and the members trust us. but just when things are looking so good, we have all this traveling and everything else has to go on the back-burners for awhile. it's fun though. by the time my mission is over, i should have been on well over 100 airplane flights. i love being a missionary so much! holy moley, rittmanic hits his year mark this month! and andrew is practically dead! whoa. the only time it hits me how fast time is going is on wednesdays when i hear from everybody.

thank you everyone for the emails this week. they were really good. i especially liked the great race theme in mom and dad's email. and dad's mustache quote almost made me bust a gut. good form. i love you all

love,
elder troxel

now this grinder of yours... is it a real grinder, or some sort of metaphor?

2009-03-04T05:36:00.000-08:00

dear family,

i know how mom feels; i don't know what happened to february, but i think i missed it. i cannot believe it's already march. elder Kunioka goes home next month! he's in the same group as elder Crofts, who is my grandfather. after they go home, it's only 3 months until elder palfreyman goes home, and by that time i've only got 6 months to go. when you start to realize that one day you're actually going to go home, it makes you want to work a lot harder, and then the harder you work, the faster the time goes... maybe i should try not working as hard.

sabah is still great. we're going to have our first baptism here this sunday, and then we should have one every week until elder kunioka goes home. i don't know if i told you, but his parents are coming here to pick him up, so they might be the ones you should talk to about costs of flights and things, because i haven't the foggiest. here is their info:

Kevin and Lisa Kunioka
kunioka@hawaii.rr.com

i guess they've already met and had dinner with the parents of some of his other companions, so i'm sure they'd love to meet you. you will actually probably be able to meet elder kunioka in not too long. crazy.but anywho, this week was good. we ended up not having to fly out to sandakan, because the Morrey's got their passports back. but i did get to do two other interviews this week. i was kinda nervous, because i'd never done one before, but they both were really good and it was fun.

elder kunioka and i will be flying out to tawau next week on tuesday and to sandakan the week after that to do exchanges and give some trainings. we did a training yesterday with the other elders and the douglas's. it was pretty much about D&C 33:7-9 and alma 26:5. i really enjoy giving trainings. i learn so much preparing them.

so here's the answers to your questions:

1. i'm not sure the cost, but i'll try and find out. if you can get in touch with elder kunioka's parents though, they'll probably know. if do end up coming, i'd either want you to go to KL or here to KK. probably here, because it is gorgeous here, but there's a lot more things to do in KL... we'll see.

2. yeah, you can take buses from singapore to KL, but that may not be the path you want... it's like 6 hours i think. if you do though, there's plenty of buses that go that way.

it's good to hear that michael is out and dating. PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED! just continue to work it bro. be bold. as he would say, "keeps doin yo thang, you know, yo thug thizzle out there."that's pretty much all i can think of... oh yeah, if you could email me another copy of my line of authority, that would be great. i ordained a guy last week and i'd really like to give him one.

i love you all.
elder troxel
KK, Sabah, Borneo

Presidents and Passports

2009-02-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Dear family,

this week has been phenomenal. i freaking love KK! everything about it. there's been some pretty crazy things that have happened though. Sunday was district conference. the branches from sandakan and Tawau came to KK, along with the senior couples from both of those areas, president skelton, and Elder and Sister Jones from Sibu (they came because Elder Jones is the first counselor in the mission presidency. it was good to see them, seeing as i've been away from sibu for so long ;). anywho, the couple from sandakan's name is the Morreys. apparently on their way back to sandakan, somewhere between the hotel and the airport, sister morrey's purse was stolen. what makes things really poopy is that both of the morrey's passports were in there :( bad news. so they were going to try and go to KL to the embassy there and get things worked out. one of the elders from sandakan, elder stone, was going to go on a visa run with elder kunioka this week and his companion was going to stay with the morreys, but because all of this happened, elder stone's companion, elder Barlow, is with me now. i'll probably be flying to sandakan on friday to do a baptism interview there. we don't usually go there, because elder morrey will usually do the interviews. it's too much of a bother to fly there whenever we need to do an interview, but i guess we'll just have to do it until the morreys can get back, which who knows how long that will be.

we got some exciting news though. a new mission president has been called! he will report in singapore July 1, 2009. his name is President Clark. he's a dentist from TACOMA, WASHINGTON! i bet grandma and grandpa probably know him, or at least know of him. i thought that was pretty cool. it's going to be really sad losing president skelton though. i really like the way he runs things.

anywho, on to the questions:

1. (Are the attached photos your building?) yep, that's marina court and that sunset is what i get to see every day. not from the apartment though, because by the time we get home at night, it's already dark. but the pool is a little bit different now. i don't know when that picture was taken, but they've changed it a little bit. not that it matters, we can't swim in it anyway ;(

2. (Can you confirm your address?) the address that you wrote down is right. you don't need to put "api api center", but it doesn't matter, you can. you just add on "block D, room 701" you can send things straight here.

3. (Michael would like pictures of the mongs?) that question was a declaratory statement. i don't know how to answer that.

4. (Have you regained your composure from eating 4 meals in one evening?) i don't think i'll ever recover from that. i have been making good use of the gym though. i'm still gemuk, but hopefully soon we'll start to see it hilang...

5. (Mom's questions: So how is your new area? Are you able to do much teaching now with all your new responsibilities, or do you just go on splits and help teach the other elders' investigators?) my area is so awesome. we've got a ton of referrals we need to contact, and we have at least 2 members follow us everywhere all day every day. and we do just as much teaching as i've done in my other areas. we only have to do exchanges once every six weeks with each district leader, so it's not too bad. i'm assuming we'll be pretty busy around zone conference time, but we still do get a lot of teaching in. our first baptism will be the seventh of march.

michael buble is playing in the email place right now. i haven't heard him in more that a year... weird.

so i haven't heard anything from TJ, Michael, or Scott since Christmas... tell them that i'm not going to bring them home any sweet treasures from the island of Borneo if i don't start getting some dang emails.

um, i think that's everything. i love you all.

love,
elder troxel

PS. Jordan's address will be as follows:

Jordan Troxel (no title of Elder please)
Block D, Room 701
Marina Court Resort Condominium,
Api-Api Centre, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
East Malaysia, Malaysia

What Accomodations!!

2009-02-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

After looking at these picture, my other sons will weep. They were struggling with how nice some of the places that Jordan has stayed, but this takes the cake.

If you would like more info on this luxury condo complex click on this link... http://www.marinacourt-sabah.com/ prices and availability vary depending on the owner.

Kota Kinabalu (KK)

2009-02-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

so, this week was pretty crazy. my last few days in sibu were filled with visiting recent converts, dinner appointments, and getting things ready for this transfer. sunday was really good. when i arrived at church, i had no intention (nor did i have any desire) to speak in sacrament meeting. but thanks to elder paul, i got dragged into it. if it were in english, i'd have no problem, but i was really nervous to do it in malay. my malay is decent, i can teach and talk to people, but in a more formal setting i wasn't sure how i would do. thank heavens for the gift of tongues. it turned out alright and i survived. sunday night was out of control though. we had not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR dinner appointments in a row. GOO! by the time we finished, i just wanted to curl up and cry. unfortunately though, i couldn't curl up... i couldn't even bend down. i just had to lay there and weep. i got some cool gifts and stuff. i'll send some of them home for you.

so, i'd heard that KK was a beautiful place. i had no idea. it was like entering the celestial kingdom! we stay in a place called Marina Court. they are right on the ocean and our balcony view is gorgeous. i love our study room. words can't even describe our apartment. i'll just have to sent you pictures so you can see for yourself. the gym isn't the most amazing, but heck, it's a gym! my pecks are so sore that it's even hard to type... and i am loving it.

anywho, i could go on for hours, but i'll just answer your questions i guess.

1. (Are you a zone leader?) yes

2. (Is the picture of a beautiful chapel on your blog the real deal?) yes

well, that was easy this week :) no, but i didn't even know what chapel that was because i haven't been to ours yet, but elder Kunioka has confirmed it, that really is our chapel. the first chapel in malaysia was built here. i'm really excited. i've heard that the branch is way good. i'm met five or six members, and they are fantastic. i think the problem in this area in the past is just that missionaries haven't been using them. but we've got some really good investigators right now and we'll have some baptisms coming up next week, so i'm pretty excited.

so funny story: we were teaching an older chinese lady (by older i mean older than me. she's like 35 i think), but she had some pretty big issues and couldn't be baptized until some things changed, so we pretty much dropped her temporarily until she worked some things out. but she got word that was my last sunday, so she came to church. not only did she come, but she brought me a present. i was really surprised, but after saying my goodbyes to her, i opened it. i thought for sure it was going to be some kind of sweet iban stuff, because it was wrapped in iban paper and all of her friends are way good at making iban things. it wasn't cool iban stuff. i tore off the paper, and found 3 pairs of bikini style underwear staring me in the face. not just whitie tighties, but the real deal Mongs. thank you sister Nancy (not really her name).

i've seen like 5 white people since i've been here and it's really freaking me out.

um, i think that's pretty much it... i can't really think of anything else. sorry if i missed something. just continue to ask me and eventually i'll remember. i love you all.

love,
Elder Troxel

It's a Bugs Life!

2009-02-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

In addition to receiving Jordan's email, this week we also received his memory card from his camera. There were many videos on the card, but this had to be one of the more interesting. This one is for all of you entomologists out there! What the heck is it?

The Island of Borneo: Land of the Head Hunters

2009-02-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

dear family,

i can't believe whitney's senior piece is over! the event that she has talked about for as long as i can remember has come and gone. it sounds like it almost didn't take off, but she turned it into something amazing. that, i've found, is a huge test of character, to take a situation that seems to be the pits, not at all the way you want it to be, and turn it into something to be proud of. it's a difficult thing to do, but i am extremely proud of her. i find myself in the same situation at the moment actually. i'll explain...when i left Klang, i was ready to leave. i felt like i had done what i had been sent there to do and it was time to move on. then they whitewashed us into Sibu (that means that both you and your companion come in at the same time and start with nothing), and we have had a lot of success. now just at the time when things are up and rolling, they take me out of beautiful Sibu and put me into Kota Kinabalu! yes, yes, it's true. transferred again! not only will i be going into my third area, but i will be whitewashing my third area. heavens to betsy! is there no end to the madness! oh man, i love being on a mission. but leaving Sibu is really hard. i've met some amazing people and made a lot of really close friends.

i found out about this whole thing on monday afternoon. i will be leaving next monday, and my new companion will be Elder Kunioka from Hawaii. it's funny, but i actually got to go on exchanges with him this week. now i'm going to be his companion. he's way cool, but i'll only be with him for a maximum of 2 months, which is when he goes home. Elder Watkins will be staying here and training a new elder from Australia. there are a lot of cool things about going to KK though. for instance, apparently the zone leader apartment is really nice. it is right on the beach and it has a gym! oh, i cannot even tell you how much i need a gym. Elder Semana's family is in KK and another family that was in Klang Branch while i was there, so i already know some people. I'll get to go on exchanges all over sabah, including Sandakan which is where the Orangutans are. hopefully i'll get to see some. everyone's malay is supposed to be really good in Sabah, so i'll be able to improve my malay a lot there. but the down sides are that i'll be leaving the most amazing place in the world, the most amazing branch in the world, and the most amazing people in the world. there aren't any Ibans in Sabah :( i'll be whitewashing for the third time, but i've got a lot of experience now doing it, and this is elder Kunioka's 2nd time in KK, so at least he knows the members.

(note from Scott: I found this picture of the Chapel in KK on Google Earth. Some diligent missionary apparently has documented his mission. If you're curious it's located just off the lower right corner of the above map.)

all in all, it's a very bitter sweet move. i'll be leaving the most successful area in the mission going to one that hasn't had very much lately. i'll have a lot more responsibility, but with the Lord's help i'll be able to bear the burden well. anywho, that's enough about the silly transfer.

I got a beautiful package this last week. and when i opened it, my heart almost burst when i saw the contents. that football hasn't left my side since i opened the package (except when i'm out teaching). there are only a couple crunch bars left, and the doughnuts were all moldy, but i tried them anyway. they weren't very good. thank you so much.

in speaking of football, i'm afraid my football dreams are slowly fading away. i would LOVE to play when i get back, but i won't be back in time to start the winter semester, which means i will have to wait an entire year until i can even try out, which means i will be 22! that is old. almost too old be a walk-on. we'll just have to see how things go i guess.

when i came to sibu, i thought, "yes, i'll finally lose this belly i've gained." nope, it's doubled at least. it's because we never have time to eat dinner while we're out because we're always teaching, so we'll eat when we get home, right before bed. BAD IDEA. i'm a chub duck. no worries though, it's just more of me to love, right?

i'm glad mom got the package. sister helen was so excited to make the necklace. i've got some more cool stuff, but i can't send it home, so you'll just have to wait until i bring it myself.

the year mark was good. both elder pace and i burned a shirt. it almost ended up disastrous, but that is a story for a different time ;)

TJ promised me a letter when i talked to him, but it must've gotten lost in the mail...i hope everyone is well. this is the first week that i haven't been updated on mom's knee, so i'm assuming that is a good sign. anywho, keep on truckin' everybody.

love,
Elder Troxel

The View from the Top

2009-02-04T06:12:00.000-08:00

dear family,

wow. i cannot believe it's been one year. aww!! i'm coming to the top of the hill and looking back, the climb to this point went way too fast and now it's just downhill. it's sad to think that i'm half way done. i've accomplished so little. but there is another year in front of me and i want to see malaysia go up in flames in these next 12 months! (not literally, but more like spiritual flames). i've got a lot of goals that i'm less than half way to accomplishing, so i'll have to pick it up. in speaking of flames, i'll be burning a shirt sometime this next week. i've got plenty that i wouldn't mind burning because they're so nasty, but i'll just pick the worst one.

this week has been a good one. on saturday we had 5 more baptisms. it was awesome because 3 of them were kids of this epic recent convert family and 2 others were some of the first investigators we had in this area. so with those baptisms that brings our January total to 16. that's the same amount as i had the entire time i was in klang. The Lord is preparing so many people here we almost can't keep up with all of the people that want to learn. we've been extremely blessed to be put here.

Elder Watkins and i got word the other day that we are companionship of the month. we don't get anything except our name in the mission newsletter and a bunch of phone calls from other missionaries, but it's gratifying none the less. i've got a little bit of a feeling that i'm not going to be here all that much longer though. there will be transfers next week i think and i'm hoping my name won't be on the list. but i'll keep you updated.

i got to give the training at DDM yesterday. The title of the training was "The Faith to See." most of it was based off of D&C 42:48-52, but there was a lot more also. i learned so much preparing it. faith is probably the deepest doctrine there is, so it was really fun studying it all last week.

i'd heard that after chinese new year, the rain always stopped and there weren't any more floods... everyone was wrong. it was amazing that we had anybody at church this week, because all of town was under about 4 feet of water. the only day that elder watkins and i came home at night dry in the last week was yesterday. i got some good pictures of the flood. it's horrible for these people though. everyone had about 2 feet of water in their house. most people only live in one room, so it's not like they can move their things upstairs or anything, so everything just gets ruined. we got a call saturday morning at about 7:30 from a way awesome sister named Helen requesting that we bring her some garbage bags. i was really confused why, until she told me that they had 2 feet of water in their house and that they needed some way to keep things dry. it hadn't rained hard for a few days, so i was flabbergasted when i saw how high the flood was in town. i guess it just came from the river, because it wasn't from rain. we started to ride our bikes through it, but realized that it wasn't a very good idea when the water reached our handle bars. (ps-floods aren't good for bikes). we got to her house and she requested that we help her husband, Lajang, lift his motorcycle to higher ground... uh... ok. we did it, but it wasn't the easiest task i've ever had to accomplish, that's for sure. we carried his motorcycle about 200 yards to a parking lot that was on a lot higher ground. apuh! but we saved it and it started, so job well done.

(Note from Dad: Click on the pictures for the full size view!)

spring cleaning was this morning. we do a really thorough cleaning of our houses quarterly on a p-day. it's amazing how dirty a house can get after only 3 months of living in it. but no worries, it's dazzlingly clean now.

i'm gunna try to attach some pictures and maybe a video onto this email from elder watkin's camera. but if it doesn't work, no worries, because you'll see it anyway when i send my card home again.

anywho, i think that's just about it. i love it here. sibu was made for me. elder pace and i have decided that when they want us to leave here, we're just going to hide in the jungle and become rogue missionaries, going from village to village crying repentance to the people. and grow beards.

i love you all. keep on truckin'.

elder troxel

PS-the baptisms picture is the one from this last week

Kong Si Fat Chye!!

2009-01-28T05:08:00.000-08:00

Note from Dad: Sorry I can't translate the title, I tried Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian

dear family,

this week was nuts! in case you weren't aware, this last week (monday) was chinese new year. it was HUGE! i've never seen anything like it. i thought that the stadium of fire was a good firework show, but chinese new year puts the fourth of july to shame. it was incredible. the fireworks started about 6:00 on sunday night. there was just a few here and there until about 9:00, when they really got going. when we went to sleep at 11:00, it was like a war zone! i didn't think i was going to be able to sleep... but i eventually dozed off for a few minutes, only to be woken up at about ten to midnight. i wish you could have seen it. our house was shaking from all of the booms. the sky was on fire, or at least it looked like it because you couldn't even see the fireworks through all the smoke. i'm glad that i'll have one more while i'm on my mission. i loved it.

in speaking of that, i found out my death date! February 10, 2010! wow, that is not very far off at all. in just over a week i'll reach the crest, and it'll all be downhill from there. it goes too fast! everybody says the second year goes a lot faster than the first, but i don't know if that's possible. it has flown by.

anywho, we had a baptism last saturday for the husband of a lady who got baptized about three months ago. it was really cool... until we went by another investigator's house later sunday night and found him and the brand new recent convert with big old bottles of beer in front of them. wow. that was the worst. if i thought getting dear johned was bad, i had no idea what disappointment really was. he had just been confirmed about six hours before, and there he was. poopy. it's almost as bad that the investigator he was with was supposed to be baptized with his family next week, but now has to wait. we also walked in on two more investigators with baptism dates breaking the word of wisdom that day and the next, bringing the total to four! guess what we'll be teaching a lot of this week... word of wisdom baby!

elder watkins and i had the first bike wreck of our companionship this week. we were riding through town, and went to go into this little apartment building. to go in, you have to go over a little bit of a bridge that, if it rains at all, is always flooded. that day it happened to be under about a foot of water. i remembered that there was a hole in the bridge, and was able to avoid it. thinking that elder watkins would follow without a problem, i just continued on... i didn't even hear the splash. i stopped to talk to some people who were just inside, when i heard a cry from behind me. i looked back, and elder watkins was lying spread eagle in the water and his bike was completely under. it was really funny. needless to say, he didn't remember the hole and went straight into it. his front tire sunk down in and flipped him right into the flood. good times.

good to hear that whitney's dance is going to be good. make sure dad films it with his new camera. i'll really like to see it in just over a year 3D)

i haven't received any birthday package yet, but i hope it gets here soon. oh, and mom's birthday package is finally ready! i'll either send it today or tomorrow, so you can expect it in a couple of weeks. i sent my sd card home last week, so you should get that pretty soon. there are some really good pictures and videos on there.

i'm doing well here. i don't exactly know how, but i continue to just get fatter and fatter. but the work is going well. elder watkins have a goal to have at least one baptism every week until one of us gets transferred. that shouldn't be for a while, so it will be quite and accomplishment if we can do it. we have dates for every week until the end of february right now, but none for march. we might have 5 this week, but probably only three.

i hope everyone is healthy and happy.

i love you all,
elder troxel

The Golden Birthday

2009-01-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

dear family,

well i'm officially 20 years old now. i had an epic birthday, too. elder pace and i went out in my area yesterday and we taught a ton of new referrals from our recent converts. we set two baptism dates, and there will be a lot more to come. this week (monday through today) has been amazing. we only had 5 new investigators last week, so the zone leaders commitment to us this week was to double it. well, on monday we ended up with 18 new investigators, and yesterday we had five more. i was starting to get worried because we've been running out of people to teach, but the Lord has again blessed us in abundance. i never want to leave sibu.

we got a new couple this week. we really needed a new one, because with the branch splitting there are going to be a lot of people who need to be trained in leadership. they are from Missouri and their names are Elder and Sister Paul. they are completely shell shocked. Americans are so funny. i hope i wasn't like that when i came into the field. it would probably be a lot harder as a senior couple though. all of us are going over there after this to play "mafia." if you don't know what that game is, you are really missing out. we'll play it when i get back. but the Pauls are really nice and they live really close to elder Watkins and i. hopefully they'll adjust soon...so on to the questions:

1. i haven't gotten any birthday package yet, but i'll be sure and tell you as soon as i get it.

2. yeah, about the wiring of money... probably what i will do is i'll just have elder Pace draw out my money when he goes to singapore next week. i have no idea how i would go about wiring money, but it sounds like a long and grueling process that i don't especially want to bother with, so if elder pace can't do it, i'll just wait. it's not too urgent.

3. no, i just wore the long sleeved shirt that i have. it's not in great condition, but it worked. as far as my pants go, they weren't doing to hot... until this last week. elder watkins was spending quite a bit of time in the bathroom because of some personal issues, so i had some time to do some sewing. i'm not very good, but i was able to fix all the holes. they aren't very pretty (it probably would have helped if i would've used the same colored thread), but they'll do.

4. unfortunately, i think the floods are over. pitty, because they really were pretty fun. i'm used to being soaked all the time. starting from the time when we left our house yesterday to the time when we got home, i was soaked. no biggy. there are a few dangers about being wet all the time though, most of which i won't discuss, but i have been lucky not to have any problems. one of the down sides of the rainy season though is that i haven't seen the sky in more than a week.

that's pretty much it... we're still working hard, and everything is still moving. i can't believe we're approaching the end of january already. i'm almost on the down-hill side :( it's going way too fast, and i don't think it's going to slow down at all. but, "come what may, and love it." stay safe and be good... yeah.

love,
elder troxel
(who is no longer a teenager)

Sorry for the short email!

2009-01-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

dear family,

finally! i've been spending forever trying to get this dang computer to let me respond, and at last it is working. unfortunately though, it doesn't leave me with much time, so i'll get right into answering the questions:

1. (What was the correct translation for your message to your mother?) haha, you got quite a few of the words right dad, but most of the meaning was wrong... i'm surprised by your effort though. i can't tell you the exact meaning (mostly because i don't remember exactly what i said), but mom's birthday package will be there hopefully before the end of february. the rest of it was mixed with iban, so that's why you couldn't find the meaning. i love iban, but it's pretty hard to speak.

2. (Any luck on finding a way to wire you money?) oh yeah... i was supposed to do that, huh?

3. (How is the language coming?) the language is coming really well. the hardest things to get is tenses of verbs and things. you add on prefixes and suffixes to change tenses of verbs, and i'm not very good at that, but it's coming along slowly. the most important language is the language of the spirit though, and everyone can understand that :)

4. (How long has Elder Watkins been out in the mission field?) elder watkins is only a couple months older than me in the field. i think he went into the MTC december 19th. he's the oldest one in our zone though, so we've got a way young zone.

5. (Any word on transfers and when would the next ones most likely be?) we have no idea when or where transfers will come, but elder sederholm thinks that i'm the next one to leave. i wouldn't expect any changes until the end of february at the very earliest. president skelton isn't one to make changes when areas are doing well. the longest he's kept someone in one area was 14 months, so i'm hoping to break the record.

6. (How much longer does Pres. Skelton have to serve?) president skelton leaves in july, so i'll have 6 months with a new president. it's going to be really sad to see him go, he is the best.

this last week was so good! we had a couple baptisms, we set some more dates, and we went down to kuching for mission tour because elder Hollstrom of the 70 came and spoke to us. it was really good.sibu was all but completely under water this week. even our street had about six inches of water on it. i'm sending home my sd card tomorrow, so you'll be able to see the pictures of how high it was. epic.s

ibu is fantastic. everything is going really well. i'm sorry this one is so short, but i've gotta get going. i love you all. stay safe and sound.

love,
elder troxel

Every New Beginning

2009-01-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

dear family,

this week has been a very interesting one. the Lord continues to bless us with many people to teach. in the little over two months that i've been here, the number of people that i have taught who have been baptized has nearly doubled. we continue to work hard and pray hard that this won't just be a tidal wave with a lot of nothing behind it. right now we still are finding people and hopefully the success will continue in the months ahead.

i really liked the emails today. it's crazy that mom is already back at work! it seemed like forever last time before she was able to go back and work again. hang in there mom. it's funny, the things that you described in your email are the same things that i have been learning in the year that i've been out:

first of all, that my parents (and whole family for that matter) are proof that heavenly father knows and loves me. you always been there for me in everything i've ever done. i can only remember one time when mom missed any one of my sporting events, and that was only because she had just had her gallbladder removed. not very many people can say that about their parents. you've stood by me in everything i've every done and i am completely a product of your dedication. without you two i wouldn't be here. because of your example, look at what has happened; you've had four sons go on missions and i'm convinced that thousands of people and families will benefit from your faithfulness and your example. you can't even imagine the how far the ripples are going and will continue to go. i'm so grateful for that.

second, like you said mom, satan does take every possible chance to make you feel inadequate and worthless. he'll hit any hole he can get and run as far as he can with it. i've especially felt that in the last week. sometimes things just get messed up and hard to deal with it. i teach everyday that Christ has felt all the pains and trials we've gone through so that he can "know how to succor his people", but until i had a really tough trial i didn't know to what extent. i can't really put into words how this last week has been, but i am very grateful for the Atonement and how personal it is.

Third, there are so many good people who live their lives the best they possibly can and are "kept from the truth only because they know not where to find it." i really wish i could just stay here forever. i know how alma felt when he talked about how he wished that he was angel so that he could declare the word to the whole world. there's so many people that need to hear. no matter how hard i try to talk to every person i see (even those i have to run down on bikes), i'll never get to everyone. but i am grateful to play the small part that i play in this work.

Fourth, that trials never get any easier, no matter how many times you experience them. in fact, i'm coming to realize that the more you grow and progress, the harder and harder they get. but as long as we keep on truckin' and put our trust in the Savior, he'll make of us what he wants us to be.it was a really good email mom. thanks :)

on to the question's from dad's email:

1. (Do you have a refrigerator? If not I guess you don’t store any fresh fruit of veggies? What about milk?) yeah, we've got a fridge... it's more like a freezer. no matter how low i turn the temperature down, everything continues to freeze. and i miss real milk so much! the milk here is just this uber-pasteurized nast. but it does slightly resemble milk, so i still use it with my cereal. but i miss the creamery.

2. (Have you heard anything about parents being instructed not to pick up their missionaries?) i haven't heard anything, but i'm pretty sure it's still optional. as long as it doesn't turn into a huge deal, i see nothing wrong with it. but if it comes from the first presidency, that's different. keep looking and let me know what you find.

3. (Do you spray paint your bikes to make them less of a target?) yeah, i put a sweet paint job on my bike just the other day actually. i don't know why or how it happened, but i've become more of a perfectionist on my mission. things have to be nice and straight, well planned, clean, and organized. what the? who am i?! but i spent forever taping up my bike to the paint job would be really nice, and then after i did it, i realized that it looked even better that it did before and had to paint over it.

4. (Is there a bank in your area that we could wire you some money?) i'll check on it.

5. (Is your house on stilts?) no, here there are two different kinds of houses. rumah batu and rumah kayu (cement houses and wood houses). the cement houses are all built on nicer higher ground, while the wood ones are built on stilts usually where it floods.

6. (I hear that snakes can be a problem in flood waters, have you seen any snakes swimming in the flood waters?) unfortunately, i haven't seen any snakes :( only monitor lizards.

welp, i think that's just about everything. thanks again for the emails. i hope everyone is masih sihat dan sangat gembira (still healthy and very happy). jika saya boleh hantar kamu sesuatu, beritahu saya dan saya akan cuba (If I send you a note, to let you know and you will try). saya ada sesuatu yang sangat istimewa untuk hari jadi Ibu! (You have a note for that special day for your birth) tapi dia mesti tunggu sedikit, sebab itu akan dantang lewat sikit (But she must wait a little bit because it is late). dan jika sulu saya mahu tahu, aku masih mencinai di (and if you want to know, I still ____ at). saya harap kamu tidak ada kamus untuk baca ini (hope your not having to use a dictionary to read this).

Note from Dad: In the end I think he is trying to say he is sending LuAnn her birthday card and it might be a bit late, and in his way wish her a happy birthday by making me translate all of this, as much as I can tell...ask someone from Malaysia to translate it for a better reading.

love,
elder troxel

New Bikes

2009-01-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

Jordan was pleased with the new bikes they just received

Tour of the Sibu House

2009-01-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

Join Jordan on a tour of the house/apartment in Sibu

Visa Run III

2008-12-31T09:15:00.000-08:00

dear family,

wowee, that was unexpected. thanks for the words of advice dad. i really do appreciate it. if i said i didn't feel horrible, i'd be lying. but i'll pull through. i can confidently say that i know why i am here.

so this week was really good. we had 6 baptisms! holy smokes! and we're having five more this saturday. most of them are all from one huge family. they are amazing. i wish you could meet them. they're so happy to have the gospel. they're going to be referral machines.

i've learned a lot about how to do effective missionary work since i've been here. when i first got into the mission, i was all about just hard work. the more you sweat, the more success. that just isn't true. hard work is extremely important, but it's even more important to work smart. how do you work smart? through the members. it's really hard for missionaries to understand that they don't need to go out and knock doors 24-7. as you take your focus off of your hard work, and put that work into the members, not only do you create an army of missionaries, but you really strengthen the members at the same time. michael made a comment that he couldn't imagine trying to handle as many people as were coming into the church, but as they start doing missionary work and finding people, they take care of themselves. i wish i'd of learned this earlier in my mission!

sibu is completely flooded! elder watkins and i rode through about a two mile flood that was up to the top of our bike tires! it was so crazy! i got a really good video of it too, so you'll be able to see it soon. the bad thing about the floods though, is you can't see where the street ends and the monstrous open gutters begin... fortunately though, it wasn't me that fell in. it was elder semana :)

i forgot my debit card! dang it. that was the most important thing to bring (besides my passport) on this visa run! but i guess i'll just have to wait 3 months until my next one.

i want you all to know how much i love you and how much i love this work. in a time like this, it would be really easy to despair and lose sight of what's important, but i want everyone to know (especially mom) that absolutely know that this work is the Lord's work. i wouldn't dare lose focus. i know that it's true. I KNOW, and nothing could nor will it ever change that. is it poopy to get a dear john? 100% yes, but i'm not going to let it effect His work. i'll worry about things like that on my own time... in 14 months. so don't worry. i'm great. try not to say anything about it in the next email though, ok? thanks.

take care everybody! until next week.

love,
Elder Troxel

Ni wei jung wai yu ma (I have no idea what it means, I think it is Chinese, maybe Ibon?)

2008-12-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

dear family,

it's crazy to think that i get to talk to you in just 8 more days! is chelsie planning on coming over? i guess i won't get a response to this email until after i talk to you anyway, but i definitely wouldn't mind if she came... the reason i won't be able to get a response until after i talk to you is because we're moving p-day next week to thursday so we can have it on christmas. it should be pretty cool. we're having a big meal with the couple and we'll just play games and stuff. i'm pretty excited.

i pray that everything goes well with mom's surgery. it should be fine though, it'll just hurt like the dickens. but just remember mom, "thine afflictions shall be but a small moment, but if thou endure it well, thou shalt run and not be wincing, and walk and not limp." you'll do great!

football last week was phenomenal! it was so fun. i'm way fat and i've gotten really slow, but i can still catch anything baby! in speaking of that, did tj and michael get a chance to use those gloves i got them before i left? those things are money.

ok, so you requested i tell you a funny story... they happen all the time, but it's hard to remember them. maybe as i write more i'll think of a good one.

so on to the questions:

1. (Does your telephone have an answering machine?) i'm 80% sure we don't have an answering machine. that sounds really good though, i'll be waiting at 10:00 sharp for your call.

2. (If your telephone has an answering machine, will the message be something that I can understand?) since our phone doesn't have an answering machine, we don't have to worry about that... but if it did, you probably wouldn't be able to understand it. something really interesting here is that you don't set your own answering machine message, they're all the same. crazy malaysia.

3. (Is the weather in Sibu substantially different from KL?) i think it's pretty much the same, except i feel like it rains a lot more here than it did there. we get soaked almost every day here. i've grown to be quite fond of it actually.

4. (Any more packages yet?) i've gotten two packages so far. i got another one yesterday, and i should be getting one more today. i got a notice that it was at the post office, so the couple will give it to me whenever they get around to it. word on the street is that i've got a few waiting for me in singapore, so i'll grab them when i go there on dec 30.

5. (Humorous stories?) ok, so i'm still thinking. this morning was pretty humorous. we played basketball with some of the chinese elder's investigators... if you recall, basketball isn't my forte... it isn't even my piano (oh baby, he's still got the wit)... but it was pretty humorous. i didn't bloody anyone, and i even made a few shots. i shouldn't say a few, because it was only two, but hey, that's four points! i also realized what little vertical i had is now completely gone and i'm lucky if i can heave this monstrous body a few inches off the ground. oh, but i remembered an even better story! so we've got this huge family of investigators that are so golden i can't even comprehend it. anywho, one of the ladies just had a beautiful baby girl, and happened to go visit her husband at their house while she was at the hospital. needless to say, we were all really pumped. we asked him what he was going to name her and he didn't know, so i threw out "Chelsie Rose" as an idea. anywho, we came back a few days later when the wife and the baby were home. apparently they really like us, or maybe the name, or maybe chelsie's picture that all of them have seen, but there is now a 10 day old baby in sibu, sarawak, east malaysia, named Chelsie Rose Anak Janggu! merry christmas chels =)

6. (Is the clock right on your blog, eldertroxel.blogspot.com?) i checked the blog, and the clock there is correct. so we're all go for christmas!

i haven't heard for a long time what's going on with beau. i haven't heard from him since that one letter he sent you. if you hear anything, let me know. i wrote him a letter, but he didn't ever write back that punk.

i think that's everything... the work is going really well here. we're getting ready to split the branch which is really exciting. we're having our first baptism this week, and we'll have between 10 and 15 next week!

i love you all. keep on truckin'
elder troxel

I miss football!

2008-12-10T23:39:00.000-08:00

dear family,

selamat hari khamis! that means safe thursday. its good to hear that all is well at home. im at zone conference right now in kuching. its pretty fun, but zone conference really throws off the rhythm. i'm all about getting into rhythm and just letting things flow. then you leave for two days and have to put everything on hold. apuh! no, but its good to be able to see everybody again.

yeah, i heard a couple weeks that andrew is an assistant. thats awesome. it's strange though because in this mission, if you are called to be an assistant, you are there until the end. we got a new one recently and he'll be assistant for more that seven months before he dies. so being transferred from being assistant is very foreign to me.

it's really good to get a bit more football news. no surprise about craig. he's been the best player in the state since he was a sophomore, so he deserves it. i'm surprised about x though. a lineman getting MVP? what is going on there? good for him.

so in answer to your questions:

1. (Have you had any trouble with migraine headaches?) no, i haven't had any headaches since i've been out (thank heavens). but what elder watkins and i were thinking of doing was buying a phone card together and then i could just call you first like last time... or you could just call me and i could just use the card in case for some reason your call doesn't come through. he's going to call first at around eight in the morning i think, so if you call at about ten in the morning (my time) that would be perfect. apa-apa kamu mahu (whatever you want).

2. (How did Elder Watkins get bit?) it was somebody's pet monkey. i didn't get an opportunity to hold it, because when he got bit, we were on exchanges and we already dropped that family. poop.

3. (Did you get to read the news about Elder Cusick being made an AP?) yes, as previously stated, i did.

4. (Besides being able to talk to us, is your Christmas Day spent with other elders or after the phone call is it back to teaching and appointments?) christmas day is just a normal day. we'll be visiting some members and investigators, but just another day. that's how i want it to be. rhythm baby. that's why i already opened the christmas packages... oh by the way, they were beautifully wrapped mom! i really appreciate the cds and especially the doughnuts. i got the package yesterday and ate five in almost one sitting. i held back though and left one for when i get back from zone conference. yeah, so i got one box so far. i'll be in singapore december 30th through january 1st and ill get the other packages then.

5. (Jordan had problems with his feet early on so we asked how they were doing since sending him gellin insoles) my feet are great now that we don't have to walk everywhere. bikes are so nice! and my legs are freaking kuat (strong) now.

thank you so much for the package and for everything. i do have a couple things a would like to request for the next package though... i NEED a football. if you could deflate one and send it here, that would probably be best, but i've been going through withdrawals. i sometimes go into epileptic shock and elder watkins has to sing the cougar fight song to bring me back. i won't be able to play very often, but if you could send me one, at least i could sleep with it...

funny story about that. we were contacting in a long house this last week when we contacted a man named khan. when khan opened the door, i noticed his tv was on. usually if someone is watching sports it's almost always futbol (soccer). but no, lo and behold, there was missouri playing kansas in real, beautiful, american football. i pooped myself. we made him turn it off though.

anywho, i love you all. take care and choose wisely :)

love,
elder troxel

ps, i've got like five letters from you this week chels! finally someone unclogged the mail!

Saya rasa bahasa kamu tidak bagus (In my opinion your Malay is not that good)

2008-12-02T21:16:00.000-08:00

keluarga saya (My Family),

apa khabar (What new)? it was good to hear from everybody. especially michael. i haven't heard from tj or scott forever... i don't think i've gotten anything from tj since the mtc actually. but just so you know michael, i have been praying hard for you to find an eternal companion... so get out there and make things happen! i've heard that prayers of missionaries are powerful, so get crackin!

this last week was a bit humbling. after having an incredible week the week before, i think we got a little prideful and paid for it. we only had 5 investigators come to church. we were expecting around 30 to be there. but i think we (after having to be compelled to be humble) have bounced back and we've had some extremely powerful lessons with those who didn't come last week. all of them have committed to coming seratus peratus (100%). i'm absolutely positive that the lord has put us here to burn this place to the ground! (in a spiritual sense) and if we can stay humble and just do his work, we will.

so in answer to your questions:

1. (Berapa saya behasa melayu?) yeah, you're malay, i would say, has some room for improvement. the correct phrasing of that sentence would be "macam mana bahasa melayu saya?" (Do you like my Malay language?) berapa means 'how much' and you most of the rules in malay are backwards of what they are in english. for instance, in english, you would say,"how is MY bahasa?" but in malay, 'MY' (saya) always goes after the word if you want to make it possessive- "ini komputer saya" (this is my computer)

2. (Just checking on my understanding of a phrase: apa freak ini, what the freak? Do they actually say this in Malaysia or is this a Malay/English missionary thing?) if you were to say "apa freak ini?!" to a native, they wouldn't understand. it's just a missionary thing. i think elder semana made it up.

3. (Let us know when packages arrive.) elder watkins brought me home a package from the mission office not to long ago, so i got that one. i will let you know when i get the other ones.

4. (How is the language coming?) saya boleh tahan, tapi saya belum pandai (I am able to endure, tapi(?) I am not yet intelligent). that means, it's coming along. i can teach just fine, because once you get into a teaching situation you're blessed with the gift of tongues. i can teach really pretty much anything without much difficulty, but i still have a bit of trouble understanding what people say... mostly because i still don't understand iban. i can only say a couple of phrases in iban- "aku enda namu jako iban" that means "i don't know iban." it's alright though, because everybody understands malay. i haven't dreamt at all in malay yet, i don't think, but i sometimes think in malay, which is a good sign.

5. (Any funny language stories?) too many to count. i usually slaughter at least one word a day.

6. (Do you know where you will be calling from for Christmas?) i'll most likely just call from our house. the number is (084)310-294. no, it's not missing a number, that's all of them. yeah, i didn't understand your instructions and i don't want to read them again for fear of getting a migraine, so if you can diagram it out in an easier manner, that would be great ;)

7. (Have you heard about the terrorist attacks in India?) i haven't heard anything about any terrorist attacks, but i did meet a couple pakistani guys (its crazy to find them in east malaysia) who professed to be part of alquida (i don't know how to spell it). that's no good, because the hindu's in west malaysia already hate the muslims. about 20 or so years ago there was a lot of fighting between the two and quite a few people ended up dying. there aren't any indians here though, so i don't know.

that's just about it. i don't know if i already told you this, but elder watkins got bit by a monkey the other day and had to go get checked out for rabies! hahaha! i freaking love malaysia!

love,elder troxel

ps, zone conference is next week, but it's on thursday so don't be surprised when you don't have and email from me on wednesday. just be patient :)

2008-11-25T21:23:00.000-08:00

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.

Saya Suka Nanas (I like pineapples)

2008-11-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

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!!

Baptisms?

2008-11-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

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)

Corn Juice?

2008-11-05T15:07:00.000-08:00

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.

Jungle to Jungle

2008-10-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i don't have much time today, but i'll type fast. it's my second zone conference in a week and a half today (because of the transfer) and we're going to go play football. i'm pumped.

sibu is 180 degrees opposite from KL. KL is nasty smoggy and super busy. sibu is really pretty small and everybody just lives in crazy wooden houses on sticks in the middle of the jungle. i haven't seen any amazing wildlife. but the people are amazing. i never really got to test how good my malay is while i was in my last area, so i didn't really know how much i knew. turns out i know quite a bit... i can teach enough to get my point across. fortunately elder watkins is really good in both ibon and malay, so whenever i get stuck i just throw it back to him. he lets me teach a lot, so it's been really good. i'll tell you all the little details about the area next week, but just know that i have never been in a place like this in my entire life. it is nuts!

this is the address to which you should send packages: (Note from Dad, use the address in the post "Corn Juice")

No. 1B lot 1602, block 4,
lorong bunga rose 3,
jalan road
sibu, sarawak 96000

that is actually the address of the couple, but that's where you should send everything for now. we're in a brand new house so i'm not quite sure of the address. it is huge! and entire house for just elder watkins and i.

anywho, tell everybody hello for me. good to hear that chelsie is still doing well. i haven't gotten a letter for quite a while, but it's ok, i'm working really hard =) if liz reads this, you need to write to me too. sorry it's so short today, but the computer is timed and i'm almost out.

i love you all. i'm still alive

elder troxel

Sibu

2008-10-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

well, i forgot to inform you last week that this week is zone conference. so no emails this week... my bad. but it's ok because i have good news! i bet you're wondering what "Sibu" means. well, i haven't the foggiest, but it's my new area! my first transfer! crazy! so i'll tell you all that i know about the situation:

i leave for Sibu on saturday. sibu is in east malaysia where they speak kosong bahasa ingeris (zero english). i'm super pumped about it because my malay is going to get really good and i'm going to learn to speak ibon (EE-bon), which is the native language there. what happened to being called english speaking??? my new companion will be elder Watkins (who i have never met, nor heard anything about. but apparently his ibon is pretty good already), and we'll be opening a new area. right now in sibu there are four elders- two mandarin speaking and two malay speaking. the malay speaking elders have been bringing upwards of thirty investigators to church every week for the past TWO MONTHS! that is nuts. their baptisms are through the roof with an average of around 6 every week! it's grown so much that they're making it it's own zone and we are going to open a new area there. i'm stoked out of my mind!

elder kartchner will be staying here and training a new elder. i'm going to be a grandfather. that's pretty cool. other than that, i have no idea what's in store for me. i hear it's a hard core biking area, which will be good because i'll hopefully lose some of my huge doughnut of fat that i've developed over the past 7 months in klang. i can't even beleive it. it's going to be super hard because it'll be like going through training again having to learn the language, but whom the lord calls, he qualifies. and apparently i've done all the work i was sent to do in klang... FINALLY! time to move on.

so we were supposed to have a baptism for william (the american guy from montana) and this guy named innocent from nigeria on saturday. to make a long story short, we weren't able to contact william all week and he didn't show up for the baptism =( but innocent did! we've worked with him for a long time. we've had to use multiple teaching records for him because we've been to see him so many times. he requested that i perform the baptism, and i stayed up this time! i was so worried. he was confirmed yesterday AND he got the priesthood. i love it.

well i hope everything is going well at home. i don't know the address that i'll have in sibu yet, but i'll have that for you next week... maybe. we've gotta get moving though because we still need to have our interviews with president. i hope everything went well with Pat's funeral. i'm looking forward to hearing about it. i trust everybody is doing well. you're always in my prayers. assalamalayacom!

love,
elder troxel

PS- in answer to grandma and grandpa's questions, elder kartchner is from St. David, Arizona, and it's president skelton, not "skeleton" =)

PSS- i would like some pictures for christmas i think... not emailed though. like real ones

What a Plan!

2008-10-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

Note from Dad: This week in our letter to Jordan we had to tell him that a lady that we were home teachers for passed away suddenly from cancer. Pat Harward took a real interest in Jordan and always wanted to hear how he was doing. I was able to visit her in the hospital a few hours before her passing and she asked me to relay to Jordan that she loved him very much. I have been asked to speak at her memorial service and so Jordan was responding to a request for some word to pass on. Even though Jordan had not met many of Pat's friends, all of Pat's friends know Jordan as she would tell them about Jordan and she kept a picture of him on her TV. We will miss Pat.

Dear Family,

i've been thinking about what i should write about Pat. i don't really know. but i've been studying a lot about the plan of salvation lately, and all i can say is that i know it's true. i'm grateful to have been able to know her while she was here, and i'm looking forward to when we will get to meet again. a good thing to read at her funeral would be the "death, physical" section in true to the faith. i really like the quote in there that says "the only way to take pain out of [someone dying], is to take love out of life." it'll always be hard when people die, because we won't get to see them for the rest of our time here, so there's nothing wrong with mourning, but we can take comfort in the fact that we will meet again. what an amazing plan.

anywho, i'm also glad to hear that mike is tearing it up. hopefully i'll get to play with him again in a couple years. that's really good for the mountain west though, to have 3 teams in the top 25. i can't believe it! why couldn't this happen in 2010?! GOO!

so i had an interesting experience yesterday. well, not so much interesting, more just poopy. i spent 9 hours on a bus! turns out that we can get our visas extended in butterworth, which is about 4 1/2 hours away. so we took the trip up there at 8:00 yesterday morning and got our visas extended! then we proceeded to hop on a bus and take the trip all the way back. it's was ridiculous. i hate days when i can't teach. but now i can stay here until january 5th.

so we're having two baptisms this weekend, and one is for an american! his name is william and he's from montana. we've been teaching him for probably 6 months now, so it's good to finally see him baptized. the other guy's name is innocent from nigeria. i'm really excited.

i got a really awesome letter from chelsie this week. it was from egypt and written on papyrus! how crazy is that? thanks chels.

being a missionary is so awesome. whitney- you should go on a mission! get ready. but don't turn into a weird sister missionary, because most of them are really weird. don't be weird. just be strong and be good. i highly recommend it. maybe you'll get to go to malaysia and see all the wonders it holds! like all the fantastic rats and cockroaches! oh, quick story. so i went into my bathroom this week to take a shower. it was after i'd woken up and gone running, so i was still really sleepy and really tired from the run. anywho, i pull the shower curtain, and low and behold, there is a giant cockroach on the curtain! i flipped. i hate those things, so i just tortured it for about ten minutes with water before i just caught it and flushed it down the toilet. they call me the roach slayer around these parts.

i think that's just about everything. if you could mail me some pictures of stuff, that would be great. i'd really like that. and i'm nearly due for another shipment of deodorant =) thanks. there was something i really needed, but i can't remember what it was. i'll just have to ask next week. i love you all.

elder troxel

Fonts are Slippery...

2008-10-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

dear family,

this week was excellent. it's good to hear that everybody is continuing to have success. 29 wins in a row is a lot. that's poop that craig went down. tell him to suck it up. just kidding, those are nasty.

so in the last 30 days we've had 8 baptisms! crazy! heavenly father is really blessing this area. there are so many people who want to learn, and the people who are getting baptized are on fire with referring their friends and helping us out with the work. i love it. elder foster told me on monday that it was pretty likely that i was getting transferred, but i'm not. we had two baptisms on saturday. one for a man named qamaruzzaman from pakistan and one for a man named senthuran from sri lanka. those two are amazing, but the baptism was quite the experience, which brings me to this week's...

WEEKLY REVELATION: the baptismal service really was incredible. zaman asked me if i would baptize him, so i was really excited. the spirit was really strong as we stood in the font and i said the prayer. then i dunked him, and i don't really know what happened next, but i must have just slipped because the next thing i knew i was in the water too. don't worry though, he got all the way under, which is what really matters. after quite a bit of flailing around and splashing, we both made it up too. it was really funny. i think that was the fourth or fifth baptism i've performed, but it was definitely the first time that i've gotten to get baptized along with them. it was funny.

so i attached a voice clip that elder frost sent to me. i hope i did it right because it is hilarious. sounds like he is having a lot of the same experiences that i am having here... except i don't run into too many drunks. here it's more just nappy cross-dressers. SICK!

we had a pretty neat experience the other day. we live right next to this enormous flat called Mentari Court. probably half of our investigators live there. but anywho, it's not very successful to contact there in the afternoon, because everyone is at school or at work. but we had about 90 minutes of free time without any appointments the other day in the afternoon, and i really felt like we needed to go contact there. we ended up on the 12th floor of block C, and in 90 minutes we had 6 new investigators, all on the one floor. it was really cool. there's so many experiences like that as a missionary. it happens every day. if you listen to the spirit, he tells you exactly where to go. it's too bad i'm not a very eloquent writer, or i could tell you some amazing things that have happened, but i know i couldn't do them justice. but i am uberthankful that i was put into such a wonderful family with parents that taught me the gospel so that i could be here. i know i don't really ever share spiritual experiences in my emails, but it's like i said, i know i couldn't do them justice. the mission is amazing. it's the hardest thing i've ever done, but out of those hard times come amazing experiences. like it says in How Firm a Foundation, my dross is being consumed and my gold is being refined.

tell TJ not to worry, i still make noises when i eat. oh, and tell him that i didn't forget his birthday, i just haven't had time to write him a birthday letter yet. speaking of which...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! in two days that is.

anywho, i think that's everything. i got one of the packages the other day. everything got thrown off because there wasn't any post last week because of hari raya. but i got one and it was fantastic. unfortunately, there aren't any starbursts or kitkats left =( i couldn't help myself! and thanks for the calendar, if you could get me one for 2009 also, i would much appreciate it.

i love you all.
elder troxel

Emergency Transfer

2008-10-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i didn't think that we were going to be able to email today because it is Hari Raya here. what exactly are they celebrating, you ask? who knows. when you translate "hari raya" into english, the direct translation is something like "the day of special day." i think it probably has a lot to do with the end of rhamadan, which is the muslim month of fasting. but there hasn't been mail at all this week, and there won't be for the rest of the week, which is really poopy because our quarterly supplies from church headquarters are supposed to be coming in this week, and we have almost nothing to give out. fortunately Elder Kartchner was able to grab some supplies in singapore this last week.

it's good to hear that the t-birds put a whoopin on mountainview. i remember those days... if you get to see kevin again soon, get his address. i'd like to write him and see how he's doing.

there's a recent convert of ours who's name is Thenmoli. she's sixteen and she's amazing! she'll be and incredible missionary. anywho, she told me i looked like i was five months pregnant last night... time to diet. i've been working out really hard twice a day, but i continue to get fatter. oh well, you can still be fast and be fat... just look at dad. haha, i'm sorry dad, i'm just lashing out irrationally now.

we had two baptisms last week, and this week we've got two more... well i hope two more anyway. we heard a rumor that one of the guys who is supposed to be getting baptized on saturday is still smoking, even though he told us he's stopped. we'll see. but just so you can get an idea of how broad of a scope of people we teach here, our two baptisms last week were for a nigerian and a nepali, and the two this week are for a sri lankan and a pakistani. what the hey? where are the malaysians? oh yeah, they're all muslim. in all seriousness, i think i've probably met someone from almost every country in the world here. it's crazy. we teach so many different kinds of people here. i love it.

oh, about the title. i'm just kidding. i'm not getting transferred! but i am going up to penang next week to get my visa extended. that should be fun.

well, the work here continues to go swimmingly. Heavenly Father is preparing so many people to learn here! we've got 13 people on date for baptism right now, and we're setting three or four more every week. and word on the street is that we'll be here for awhile (knock on wood).

i love you all. take care. be good.

Elder troxel

Why do Malaysian names all sound the same?!

2008-09-23T20:48:00.001-07:00

dear family,

so i hit eight months in a couple weeks. is that not crazy to you? wow, time flies. nick morley is over the hump now, as is andrew, and jacob frost is past 18 months. i wish i could make it go slower.

i can't believe the cougs! that's so crazy. 14th! why couldn't they do that last year?!! if they win a national championship while i'm gone, i think i'll kill someone. good to hear also that craig is still tearing it up. that kid is a monster. keep me updated on kevin's mission call. my guess is Singapore.

so we had an interesting experience this week that definitely would qualify for a:

WEEKLY REVELATION: so, elder kartchner is on his first visa run right now, but he had to bus there so we needed to go buy bus tickets on monday. since i've never had to bus, i have no idea where to buy them, so he called the zone leaders to find out where we needed to go. he's still not familiar with all of the names of places here, so when Elder Richards told him he needed to go to "Puduraya," what he heard was "Putra Raya." there is no place called "Putra Raya", but there is a place that is on the outskirts of Selangor (the state in which we reside) called "Putra Jaya." so, we took the three hour trip to Putra Jaya only to find once we got there that we were in completely the wrong place. what a fiasco. however, i did meet a really cool kid who lived most of his life in baltimore, and was able to teach him and get his number. it's interesting how people just happen to fall into your path... if there's one thing i've learned on my mission, it's that there are no coincidences in missionary work.

well, we got some poopy news this week. the father of the family we baptized a few weeks back lost his job and started drinking and smoking again. ARGH! this experiece has been the biggest roller coaster ever. his family went from being completely dysfunctional, to being amazing, and now it's back to the former. the branch has really stepped in though. we only have time to go there maybe once a week, but there has been somebody from the branch there everyday to help out.

we've got another baptism coming up this saturday, and then it'll be two weeks before we have another one because we'll be watching conference on the 11th and 12th (that's assuming the DVD's get here by then, but that's what the branch is planning on). i'm so excited for general conference! it's going to be amazing.

i'm so glad we have time to study in the mornings. i only wish we had more time. i had no idea how little i knew until i came on my mission. there is so much to know. i've been studying about the second coming a lot lately. EPIC! as is the book of mormon. there is so much in there, i don't know how it all fits on those pages. i love it.

anywho, the work here continues. we're teaching some amazing people.well, i love you all. tell TJ to stop being a sissy. only 17?(stitches) pish posh. just kidding, that's pretty nappy.

elder troxel

Pulled Pork ;(

2008-09-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

dear family,

first of all dad, when you update me on how teams perform, you should tell me who it is that is getting their butts handed to them. i thought it was the cougs that got beat 59-0. i almost soiled myself. and then i read on and found out that they won! then i did soil myself. that's so sweet to hear that mike is getting playing time. i'm happy for him. he's a stud. if you see him tell him congrats from me.

it's also good to hear that mom's knee infection dealio wasn't a big deal. i'm always on the edge of my seat when i read stuff like that. but just hang in there mum, you'll be good to go in a couple months... until the next one happens. my knees are bad news too. we do a lot of sitting on the ground cross-legged here, and i can't go more than about five minutes before i have to extend my legs. stupid football. just kidding. i love it.

this week has been, as always, complete chaos. what mom used to say is completely correct, "if the church wasn't true, the missionaries would have screwed it up a long time ago." it's always amazing to see how when things fall through, heavenly father will always put you where you need to be to meet who you need to meet (if you're obedient).

we also got transfer news!!!!!!! i'm still not being effected =( just kidding, i love this area and we're doing excellent work here. i would be very unhappy if i had to leave now. since my last email, we've set at least 4 baptism dates. it's hard to remember them all, but i think that's it. our next one is a week from saturday, then we've got 4 or 5 set for the 4th, one for the 11th, 4 for the 18th, and 1 on the 25th. it'll be an interesting month.

the food here is so delicious! i don't know what i'm gunna do when i have to leave (just kidding, i do. i'll lose weight). i'll make you some indian food when i get back. is there any indian food places in provo?so update me on what's going on with The Office. oh, and in your next package could you send me a calendar? i really need one.

i'm not surprised to hear that Dan blew out his knee. the mtc is much more dangerous than people think. i saw a few people break bones and blow out knees while i was there.anywho, we're off to a lunch appointment. i love you all.

elder troxel

You Shot the Invisible Swordsman!

2008-09-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

dear family,

everything is going great here. it was good to hear that the cougs stole a victory. that defense needs to shape up though. defense wins championships. but don't worry cougs, i get back in 17 months...

so you asked for more details about why elder taiamony got stopped and put in the slammer. well, mostly just because he's from new zealand. malaysians are extremely racist against really anyone who isn't malaysian or white. if your skin is darker, it's really hard for people here. that, and he had about a billion stamps in his passport from all the visa runs he's been on. the malaysian government is absolutely ridiculous.

but we had an amazing week! it was actually a really hard and frustrating week, but any week that ends with four baptisms is a good one. we spent most of the latter end of the week trying to put things together for their interviews and baptisms. it was crazy. but they made it, and it was nothing short of phenomenal. we had the service right after church on sunday, so almost the entire branch stayed to see it. i baptized the father (Silvan), and then his wife (Kamala), son and daughter (Deva and Thenmoli) were baptized by Elder Hector, Elder Kartchner, and this guy in the branch named KC who helped us teach them a lot. it was so amazing.

zone conference so far has been fun. we're going to carl's JR after this. we've moved from Chili's to Carl's now. both are sangat sedap (very delicious). so we'll be doing that after this, and then we'll go to the other elder's apartment and watch the best two years. it's an all day p-day, but we scheduled an appointment tonight so we can feel like we're being productive. should be fun. my interview with president skelton was good. he basically just told me to be ready for more leadership positions in the future. we'll see.

i don't know what that wonderful looking something was in the picture of Elder Cusick and the other missionary, but i want one. that seems to be my problem these days, i have an unquenchable sweet tooth. i've been running a lot lately, trying to burn off my ginormous love handles. slowly but surely... at least that's what i keep telling myself. it will be nice to get back into a gym.

so chels is in jerusalem now. wow. that would be amazing, but i can see how being there would be a bit distracting from the studies. just stay focused girl. and don't worry about shortening your letters; whatever you have to do to stay on top of your studies.

so elder kartchner finished his training. yippee. all that that means is that we only get an hour of personal study instead of 90 minutes.

things are really cookin here though. hopefully we can keep it up. hopefully i can stay here for longer. i'd love to stay here my whole mission, but it's not likely.

tell everybody i love them and i pray for you all setiap hari (daily).

love,

elder troxel

NOTE FROM DAD: The "wonderful looking something" was a picture of a some kind of french pastry that Elder Cusick sent home. I forwarded several pictures onto Jordan because I knew he would appreciate them. Here is the picture he was talking about!!

NOTE FROM SCOTT:
I had three heart attacks just looking at this picture...Thanks!

I Hate Technology

2008-09-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

dear family,

well, once again my attempts to conquer technology have been thwarted. i had all but finished my email, and was trying to use this new device that elder kartchner bought to attach some pictures, when this message popped up and said that the internet explorer had experience some sort of error, and all of my unsaved work was lost =(

so, here we go for round two. thanks a bunch for the pictures of jackson. i think he looks more like Kimberly than Tj though.

good to hear that Timp is carrying on the tradition. hearing about the BYU games is trunking me out of my mind! but keep updating me. i want to hear how they are doing.

this week has been good. we had a crazy bad rainstorm this week, the first really bad one of the season. i don't exactly know what a monsoon is, but i think it might have been one. we could only see a few feet in front of us because it was raining so hard. and cars here love to splash you when you walk on the side of the street... especially the buses.

i'm still alive, so no worries there. we had a baptism last week and we should have 4 more on sunday. things are going really well. there's been some crazy changes in our district and zone. elder Taiamoni, one of the zone leaders (from new zealand) went on a visa run and couldn't get back into malaysia. when he got to the airport, they put him in jail for a day or two, and then sent him back to singapore and singapore only gave him 14 days. so their trying to get him a workers permit, otherwise he'll have to transfer missions. this is a crazy mission! so that means that we only have one zone leader. elder maynes from my district got transferred so now elder richards (the lone zone leader) is with elder pace, who has only been in his area for about a week. crazy stuff. but no changes for us luckily.

zone conference is monday and tuesday, so you'll need to get your emails off early. anywho, carl's JR is calling my name, and i hate this stupid computer... so everybody take care and be safe. '

elder troxel

ps, PLEASE send me a list of everyone's birthdays!

It's Baptism Season

2008-08-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

dear family,

wow, tomorrow i will be an uncle again! i'm pumped for that. i'll be praying especially hard for kimberly the next couple days. child birth must really schmell.

good to hear that mom is such a trooper. i guess it's just in the blood. hang in there mom. know that you're also in my prayers and i would give you my knees if i could.

i can't believe it's football season without me! what is going on in this world?! but round these parts it's baptism season! in the next two weeks we should have 6 baptisms, and in the next month we should have about 10. i'm so excited. we're having a baptism on saturday for this awesome nigerian guy named bright. he's so solid. the way we met him was really cool too. we had just gotten out of an appointment late and needed to grab a taxi because we were supposed to meet a member. we spent probably ten minutes trying to grab a taxi, but traffic was all but completely stopped, so we decided to hoof it. needless to say, i wasn't the happiest of campers, first of all because we were late, second of all it was blisteringly hot, and third of all the walk is about 30 minutes to get where we needed to go. but as we started to walk down this long road, i saw a guy off in the distance walking towards us and i had a strong impression that this is why we hadn't been able to grab a taxi. we stopped him and got his number and the rest is history. he lives with no one, but TWO pastors... and they are the most ridiculous pastors i've ever met. but bright knows it's true, and he's so solid that the two pastors have since moved out of his apartment because they couldn't convince him that the book of mormon wasn't true. what a stud. he's only 21, so we're going to see what we can do to get him on a mission.

next sunday we'll have a baptism for a man named silvan, his wife kamala, and they're son and daughter, deva and thamoli. we met this family my first week in this area, and after dropping us twice, they are finally ready to get baptized. i can't even describe how flabbergasted i am at the change in this family. when we met them it was a completely disfunctional family. now they're so happy! i now know what it means in the book of mormon when it talks about people like Ammon being overcome with joy, even to exhausting their strength. that's how i feel when i see this family. the gospel changes people.

well, we're getting back into the rainy season here. it's rained every day this week... which means we've gotton soaked at least once every day. most days two or three times. umbrellas do absolutely no good, so i don't even carry one anymore.so i had been really wanting to buy a portable DVD player. a lot of missionaries have them and they are really nice because some people here don't have DVD players or TV's, so we can't watch any of the church videos. those are really nice because they have them in their native languages. so i bought i really nice one. i took out some money while i was in singapore for it, so that's where that money went. i'll take some pictures of it and send them to you. don't worry, i am EXTREMELY careful with it. after all, i cost me a bloody arm and a leg =).

i continue to pray for you all everyday. be safe, aight?

love,
elder troxel

Stupid Malaysian Taxi Drivers

2008-08-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i'm glad to hear that mom is slowly but surely improving. don't worry mom, surgery is really fun. i loved it when they put me under. it really was quite refreshing when i woke up. i'm UBER-excited for tj and kimberly's baby. he's going to be such a stud. too bad i won't get to see him until he's almost two.

so i weighed myself again on sunday... and i am FAT! 194! goodness gracious! it's really out of hand. so i've started running every morning instead of just three days a week. it's a little bit harder being the senior companion because i never have time to work out at night like before, i only get the mornings. but the food here is fantastic... and packed with MSG. there's a lot of things that malaysia chooses not to follow; for instance, copyright laws. you can copy anything you want here, no questions asked. i made a sweet mini version of preach my gospel. i don't know why, but we're allowed to copy any church materials we want. cool beans. also, they choose not to follow the food guidelines put out by the FDA. everything here is filled to the brim with MSG. it's delicious, but not healthy in the least. and it's not like you can get away from it either. EVERYTHING you buy here has it. they use it as a substitute to salt or something.

WEEKLY REVELATION: taxi drivers are not very smart. it is against the law here for taxi drivers not to use the meter, but hardly any of them use it. they sit outside all of the big flats and they charge you up the wazoo to go anywhere. i finally got fed up yesterday and decided to test one of them =) i told him where i needed to go, and he wanted 12RM to go there (bologna! it wouldn't have been more than 5 if he used the meter). i asked him why he didn't just use the meter, and he made up some bull-poop story about how the government came and took the meters out of all the taxi's that were there. so i said, "ok kawan (friend), i'll write down the numbers of all of these taxis (there was probably 5 there and all the drivers were sitting together), and i will call and ask if they really did take out the meters. all the other drivers looked at him like, "great job, ya moron." he just went quite for a few seconds, and when i pulled out my planner and pretended to write down all of their numbers, he flipped. it was really funny and he looked like a complete idiot. he tried to threaten me, but he just made himself look like even more stupid. we still had to get a different taxi though, so it didn't really do any good, but i was satisfied.

the work here is still amazing. we had 30 new investigators last week! and we had 21 member present lessons! it was amazing. we've got two baptisms a week from saturday, and then the week after that we've got 4. heavenly father is really blessing this area. i'm just glad i get to be a part of it.

elder kartchner is doing really well. he's growing as a missionary (and in girth, but that's what he gets for being my companion). we're so busy right now and i love it! so many people are making drastic changes in their lives and following the gospel. it's incredible. i read an article the other day in one of the ensigns by neil something anderson. you should look it up, it's called "it's true isn't it? then what else matters?" i gave a talk about it in church on sunday.

anywho, everything here is just peachy. time is flying by! i can't believe it's already p-day again. but i love you all and pray for you every day. stay safe. tell kimberly good luck with the baby!

love,
elder troxel

Phone Tag

2008-08-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

dear family,

thanks for the wonderful emails. beau's letter was bust-a-gut funny. he's awesome. if you could email me his address, that would be fantastic.

so this week sounds like it was a fun one. too bad the plays weren't up to snuff. don't worry though, i've been shooting some sweet videos on my camera that will make up for the lack of acting in cedar city. how are kirt and michelle doing? what's drew up to? if you would be kind enough to pass me his address, i would like to write to him. dad said something interesting in his part of the email. he said something about provo not being in the same region next year... what's up with that? are they finally demolishing that heck hole of a school? it's about time.

sorry i didn't have very much time to email last week. the other elders were rushing me... and i guess i kinda really wanted to go play too =) it was a blast. we went to this beach and rented tandem bikes to ride over to carls JR which was about a mile away.

WEEKLY REVELATION: don't rent tandem bikes. i was with elder griffin. he weighs about 210 and i'm above 190 now =( anywho, the bike wasn't made for that much mass. it was pretty bad. the back handle bars broke clean off! they weren't very high quality to begin with though, so it wasn't really our fault.

there was two packages waiting for me in singapore. i was very excited to get the two SD cards back, but even more so for all that jerky and candy! is there any left? nope. none. i am fat.

anywho, when i got back to subang, i found that our phone bill hadn't been paid, so our phones were turned off... and they were like that for the whole week! the guy who takes care of the bills sure took his dear sweet time. it makes it very difficult to do effective missionary work without phones, but we managed. we spent about a total of 20RM on the payphone for the week though. fortunately, they were turned back on this morning, so things are back to normal.

things are still rolling here. we had a baptism for another nepali brother named Deshbandhu. he's such a stud. elder kartchner got to perform the baptism. it was awesome. it was really good for me to be able to perform a baptism during my training, so i wanted him to be able to have that chance also. we've got A LOT coming up in the next month, including a family that we've been working with since my first week in this area. i'm excited.

don't worry dad, i'll still be at the BYU games with you in spirit. keep me updated on how they do, along with how timpview does. it's crazy that school is already starting. summer is almost over already! oh wait, it's always summer here =( i can't tell you how much i miss snow. anywho, i think that's everything. if i forgot to answer any important questions, as them again next week.

i love you all,
elder troxel

Singapore

2008-08-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

hello family,

singapore is a lot hotter than i remember it being. but it's awesome. i got here yesterday at about 1:00. the situation in this mission is really weird with the visa runs and things because they will often times send you alone, which is what happened to me. it was really strange being by myself. i haven't been alone in 6 months! i felt like i was breaking the rules. but i got to teach some good lesson while traveling and get some referrals for the singapore elders.

i'm glad to hear that mom is progressing. slowly but surely. there's a saying in malay: sikit sikit, lama lama, jadi bukit... which means little little, long long, big hill. i don't know, it doesn't really make very much sense, but neither does anything in malaysia.

it was also good to hear from TJ. i'm really pumped to have another nephew. that kid is going to be so funny.so michael and emily are serious? that's pretty sweet. emily is awesome. i give them my blessing.

so guess what we're going to go do after emailing?! we're going to go play football! and not this malaysian football nonsense, but real american football! when i say that elder griffin had one last night i wanted to cry. it's so beautiful. i can't wait. we're going to the beach to play on the sand, and then we're going to carl's JR. i love singapore!

the work in our area is going really well. mom asked about how things are in our companionship, and things are ok. we're having a lot of success together, and that's really all that i care about. i like to get things moving, but some people aren't quite as motivated.

anywho, i've gotta run. we're leaving to play right now. i love you all. i'm still alive. the mission is awesome.

elder troxel

Two New Videos!!

2008-07-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

The package that Jordan sent to Whitney finally arrived. Jordan sent home his second photo card, which included several videos. For those who like to hear Jordan talk and laugh, this is for you!

I know all about the letters. How do you think I know? She told me, that's how I found out!

2008-07-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

dear family,

i was so pumped to find out that whitney's package got there! that thing cost me a bloody arm and a leg to send. just kidding, but the mini patrick thing was way sweet. i'm so glad it got there. those pictures are amazing. i was really bummed when i heard that you hadn't gotten them. there are a lot of good memories there.

it's also good to hear that mom is doing better. just take it easy, injuries take a while to recover from. i would know =). but hang in there mom, you'll be doing hand springs again before you know it.

i got a package from ya'll this week. the doctor scholls are HEAVENLY. i wept when i opened the package and saw them in there... and then i took them out and saw the jerky and started to ball. good work, it was an excellent package.

so this week has been really good. we had nine investigators at church... but we should've had at least fifteen. my goal before i leave this branch is to have at least twenty. there is a companionship in east malaysia that had 34 investigators at church last week. i can't even imagine that! that's nuts. but twenty is definitely a possibility. so elder daines went home this week =( it's a shame that missionaries have to die. he's such a stud. but elder houston became the new assistant, so KL is getting a new zone leader. his name is elder richards, but i don't know him. all i know is that he's in elder palfreyman's group. that should be exciting.

there is some more transfers coming up soon. fortunately for me though, they are chinese transfers. the chinese elders are on a different transfer cycle. elder foster (our district leader) seems to think he's getting transferred. if that happens, there will be some more changes to our district. we'll just have to wait and see.

as far as the work goes, we've been focusing a lot on getting referrals from people. there are many ways to go about doing this, but the easiest is just to ask. so for the last couple of days we've been asking everyone we talk to for friends that might be interested (something that we should've been doing all along) and the result has been amazing. in the last two days we've already received more referrals than all of last week combined! so awesome! so now what we need to do is put that into practice with our members. we've coordinated with our branch mission leader to go visit a member family every week, starting with his this week. we'll go over there and teach them how to teach the restoration. imagine how effective we could be if we had an entire branch full of missionaries. that's our goal. we'll be challenging every person in the branch (probably only excluding the primary and nursery) to find a friend or someone to give a book of mormon to and refer to us. that way those people already have fellowshippers and a reason to come to church. all of these things are really obvious and are being practiced most places by members of the church... except for here. it's really weird how much culture interferes. people have a lot of trouble giving up the traditions of their fathers and come into god's culture, but that's what has to be done here. the church has been here for 20+ years, but it acts like it's only been here for 2 or 3. the youth of the church is amazing though. once they grow up and become the leaders of the church, that's when things will really start to catch fire.

we've been teaching a ton of nigerians lately. they are so hilarious. they hate it here though. i haven't met a single nigerian that likes malaysia. we're teaching three of them tonight. one is already on date and we will hopefully be setting a baptism date for another one tonight.

the work is so amazing here. i love it so much. i had an interesting bit of revelation last night. i felt like i needed to tell you all to pray for missionary experiences. maybe you could make that your purpose of your fast this upcoming fast sunday. everyone needs to do it, and when the opportunity comes, have the courage to open your mouths. remember elder bednar's talk last conference (or maybe the one before, i can't remember) when he said that members are full-time finders, missionaries are full time teachers. that applies to all of us and we need to do more of it. look for those opportunities, and they'll come.

anywho, i'm starving and pizza hut is calling my name, so until next week, adieu.

love,
elder troxel