Sitiawan: A Bigger House and Smaller Branch

Well, This week brought a lot of change, and for those of you who did not read my last email, that change came as a result of transferring to a new area. Sitiawan, my new home, was about a four hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur, and is even smaller and less busy than my last area. We are a two-elder District, and we are about a two hour bus ride from the next closest set of missionaries. We have a huge house, and it is very messy right now, and we will soon clean it up after we finish emailing. There is so much to write about and not much time to write. I will try to be simple and organized in my comments.

Sitiawan has been known in the past for its disobedient missionaries, and for the difficulty of the area. That is why Elder Gould (my new companion) and I included the statement of "Turn this area around" on our Transfer Vision. The Branch here is small, but the members are great, and they have helped us to get places and to visit other members and less actives. Although it is hard to contact people because the area is not too busy, we are still hopeful and looking for areas where we can make things happen. Another challenge (more of a personal challenge) for me is that this is definitely a chinese area, as opposed the the English area that I served in for the last four and a half months. Church is held in Chinese, and many members and residents only speak Chinese: I feel very motivated to work hard to improve my Language skills.

One cool event/thing that we were able to go to this week was a morning market (after getting permission from our mission president) that is literally like a 5 minute walk from our house. I have already said that these markets (night and morning) are really what I imagined Asia would be like. There are tons of people, exotic fruits, tents, and different kinds of meats. Shirtless Chinese men throw fish around and scale them right in front of you, and other kinds of meat hang down all around you... a pretty unique experience. While we were walking around, we stopped and talked to a lady about English class... she asked us for more information and then she bought us a big green fruit (I am not sure what it is but it tasted pretty good). Elder Gould and I spent some time standing on a corner where all the cars pull in and out of this morning market with a sign for our free English class. We had a ton of people come up and ask us for more information... so we are excited for this next Thursday and Friday. 

Other news, I got a bike, and we simply cannot find a map of our area because it is that small. If anyone is wondering what it is like to be a two person District Leader: it basically consists of doing normal missionary work, and then having District meeting on Tuesday (I am sure it will be amazing tomorrow). I also need to lean on Elder Gould because he spent a week in this area 5 weeks ago (long story) so he knows where things are.

Elder Gould is great, and he is a really hard worker. I am excited for what we can accomplish together, and I am really grateful for his motivation and effort. Also, he is an All-American swimmer from Tennessee.

Well, the Church is true, and I want to bear my testimony on the power of the spirit as a comforter. As a missionary, I realize that I do a lot of things poorly, despite my best efforts. It can be easy to feel out of your depth and unqualified. While those circumstances may be true, God can send the Holy Ghost to lift you, encourage you, and help you to get on the path to get better. Having the spirit with us is one of the best feelings in the world.

Thanks for reading.

Elder Allen 

Mary's note about the pictures: 1. His previous district: Kuala Lumpur West. 2. His new companion is on the right.  I'm guessing this is a young woman from the branch since they are standing outside a church building and she doesn't seem to be wearing name tag. September 1997 is Nathans birth month so they are all about the same age.