Week #14 - Exchanges in KL: October 11, 2016 - October 17, 2016

Kuala Lampar, Malaysia

This week we went on exchanges for a day with the Sister Training Leaders in Kuala Lumpur. It's a busy city, but it was fun to contact people on an LRT, a type of public transport similar to the subway, rather than on our bikes. We were able to learn different teaching techniques, styles, and ideas. It was fun to be in the city and get more ideas for missionary work in Penang.

Penang is an awesome city! It's an island so it's hot and humid. It's also a touristy destination. There are a lot of vegetarians here, so I see a lot of vegetarian houses (restaurants). In Malaysia, there are 3 main cultures: Chinese, Malay, and Indian. Most people speak 3 or more languages: English, Malay, and whatever heritage they have. I often hear Mandarin, Tamil, and Hokkian (a Chinese dialect) around Penang. In Ipoh, it would be Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tamil. Wherever I go, the signs are usually in English, Malay, and Mandarin. Funny, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkian are all Chinese dialects, spoken differently, but all are written the same. As for food, it is

delicious! Penang is especially known for its food. The Indian food is delicious! I love cheese naan, and we get it quite often. The Chinese food is also delicious. Rice is eaten with every meal, so the food fills you up fast! Instead of forks and knives, they eat everything with spoons and forks. We scoop up all of the food with a fork, and put in on the spoon to eat, or we eat with our hands (mostly an Indian style). The culture and people here are so awesome and interesting. Most people I meet here are religious in some way or another, mostly Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or Christian. It's been fun to have so many cultures meet in one place!

The Petronas Twin Towers, KL

On Sunday, the primary children had their primary program in the church. The primary children are kids in the church ages 4-11, who had a short program of singing songs. It was so fun to see the kids. The theme was the scriptures, and their hope is that each of the children could say, "I know The Book of Mormon is true" with confidence by the end of the year. It was precious to hear their singing and know that they were genuine when they sang the songs and shared their testimonies. There were a couple of talks after the primary children concluded. One of the talks was about the primary children and how courageous, fearless, innocent, and forgetful they are. The primary children are very forgetful, but in a good way. When we do something to hurt their feelings, we just need to say sorry, and then they are happy again. It's because a child is so innocent, and CHOOSES to have the best image of people in their heads, that they are so forgiving. When we say sorry, they are so easy to forgive and forget. That is what makes children so precious and innocent. We should be as little children and CHOOSE to have the best image of the people in our lives in our head. We CHOOSE to forgive, we CHOOSE to forget. This will help us have more love towards one another, and more peace in our lives.