hellooooo.
I can't believe another week is over. do I say that every week? I feel like it. but it's true. time is passing so crazy fast now I don't know how to handle it.
there were a few highlights this week, mostly funny. what can I say, it was a funny week.
first, last wednesday night we went to a member's house for a dinner appointment. she is this adorable phillipino woman with a chinese husband and two of the most adorable kids you've ever seen. the little girl is 8, her name is katherine, and I adore her. and she adores me. we ran around and played all these crazy games the whole time I was there. and then we had a photo shoot which was really hysterical. I printed out some of the pictures, I'm gonna include them in the next letter I send back:) I can honestly say though, I have never been as full in my entire life as I was that night. the sister is a typical hostess here, she serves you, and she puts the biggest pile of noodles or rice you've ever seen on your plate. and then she starts piling on the fish, the chicken, the veggies....every bite you take, she runs over and puts another bite on your plate. literally, it is an endless plate. you never make and headway on it until there isn't a grain of rice left on the table that could possible make it onto your plate. holy schmoley. and of course, you've got to eat every bite if you're not gonna offend anyway. it's actually really really sweet though, the sister literally cooked alllllll day for us. and that's how they are! so I have to remind myself to get over how full I am and show my gratitude for their service. anyway. unfortunately, katherine made me run run run and spiiiiiinnnnnnn five seconds after finishing the meal. I threw up in my mouth a handful of times, and almost started crying when we were walking home because my belly was so full I couldn't stand up straight. hahaha. it was a nice night.
also, we were teaching one of my favorite little girls her recent convert lessons. we were talking about Christ, and I honestly don't remember why I asked the question, but I said, "if you saw Christ, what do you think you'd say?" (it sounds like an entirely irrelevant question now, but I assure you, it made sense in the lesson!) and guess what she said? haha. "uhh........good............morning......?" HAHAHAHAHA. you would have to know her. and then it would really translate just how hysterical that moment was, but boy. I don't know how I didn't burst out laughing during the lesson. we hardly made it out the door though, until sister hite and I started giggling about it. and then dying laughing about it that night. and then again when I wrote in my journal about it. and again now. it was just funny. what a nice first line, eh? haha.
the other day sister hite and I were both sick and so that morning we were going really slow through our studies. but we refused to admit we didn't feel well so we kept going. it came time for us to go out for the day, and hite went to the bathroom as I quickly went to fill up my water bottle. there I am, in a daze, minding my own, when all the sudden I hear water spurting eeeeverywhere. and then I feel it on my bare feet. and I look at the faucet and it's as though I nicked an artery. water spurting out of the top, and water spurting out of the cupboard in the bottom. haha I'm such an idiot, the only thing that came to my mind was yell, "sister!! ada masalah!!!!! ada masalah!!!!!!" hahahahaha. have a problem lah! so she comes running in and starts laughing so hard. I literally broke the faucet off the top. so then we had to call the elders to get the maintenance guy as I took out the mop and tried to mop out the 1.5 inches of water that had filled our kitchen, onto our deck where the drain was. and sister hite was standing there trying to plug up the hole. hehehe. it was a classic moment of our companionship, we always run in to really random situations like that where we both come out looking like idiots. but no worries, the maintenance guy finally came after his "lunch" break and we now have a brand new, still broken, faucet. wah. haha. no place like home.
whenever we go to teach two of our investigators, kamlan and jukilin, there is this mentally disabled little 9 year old girl that lives next door that always comes. she weighs twice as much as me. she used to be really mean to me. when we first started going, she was the one that stared at me and said, "how do you make your face so pretty???" and just as I smiled and was about to say thank you, she adds, "too bad you're so BIG!" haha. anyway, she used to be a little snot, and I loved it. but now, she has finally broken her hard exterior I think, because now she's sooooo cuddly. she sits on me. like every day, she tries to sit on my lap. when that ends in my yelping and everyone yelling at her, she then moves to sitting so close to me she's still sitting on my leg. haha. it's really funny actually. she also has really bad gas. last night, I had just sat down on the floor, when I look over to see where she is going to sit, my face in her butt region, when she decides to let one rip. yep. less than six inches away on that one. I felt the wind:) hahahaha. I seriously, just love life. I just do.
we just put this cute little Iban girl from sarawak on date. she is 17. and she used to be really really super quiet and awkward and scary, but now she giggles like crazy. she can't even stop. I always sit across from her when we are teaching, and she always has her head on her hands and she just stares up at me nonstop. even when I'm not the one speaking. the other day she was doing that like usual, and I kept trying not to look at her cause I could feel the laughter coming. so I kept avoiding her gaze, and she totally knew what I was doing. she wanted me to laugh. so it came to the point where it was my turn to speak, so I look at her, and she just starts dying laughing. and then I do too. and she threw both her hands up in the air and just was giggling like a mad woman. it was soooo funny. this super quiet and shy girl just bellowing. but really, it was actually a really really special moment that day. she had never prayed before in her life, and she was scared to do it. we taught her how her first lesson, but when we went back last time she said she hadn't done it. so we taught a lesson just on prayer. which is actually a really fun and cool lesson, I love teaching about prayer. so anyway, we taught her, and after a lot of encouragement and a little bit of missionary pushiness, she said she would say the closing prayer. which she did, and it made me tear up. I was there for her very very first ever prayer. that is really cool, right? I felt so special. I love her. 
I discovered something that might just be the downfall of my health the other day. in the supermarket, if you go to the chinese one, in the frozen food section there are pre-made vegetarian chinese pow, or steam buns. remember those from china? they are like white on the outside and there is stuff in the middle? these ones have spice and carrots and turnips. I steam them up every night for sister hite and I, and I close my eyes and smile as I'm eating them. sounds creepy. it actually might be. but I don't like a ton of the food here, but MAN! those steam buns! do they have them in america? I'm gonna cry if they don't.
I have really been enjoying reading the new testament lately. I love all the parables. they make you think. it takes me a long time to sit and think them through. of course, I also love the words of encouragement Christ is constantly saying. I love the verse in Mark, 4:40, he says, "why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" I don't think He was trying to be a snot, I mean of course he wasn't. He's Christ. but He is being honest, why were they so scared out there? I often think about that and how it applies to me. I was scared for a long time on my mission. really scared to speak, mostly. malay is scary, and people love to laugh in your face if you get it a bit wrong haha. so I was scared to speak. but really, why was I so fearful? why are we all so fearful? I think in chapter five, although I don't remember the verse, He says something like, "be not afraid, only believe." it's very true. it's been a struggle for me, something I'm really working hard on, is not letting fear take over my faith. they can't exist together. and really, what does fear accomplish, anyway? if we have faith, we are promised we can do anything. so what gives? why are we so fearful? 
it has been a good week, and it's gonna be another good week for sure. the work is coming, and that adds joy like can't even be described.
I love you all and I hope everyone's doing well!! 
jumpa minggu lepas.