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hey mom.

this week has been going really well. last week, puras and her daughter marina were both baptized. it was pretty awesome. they both bore their testimonies and it was cool to see the change in them. we had a big turnout from the branch, and it was one of the best baptisms i've experienced on my mission. this saturday, sister ing and her two daughters will be baptized. they seem really excited. we just got them interviewed yesterday and they all said they couldn't wait to be baptized. they have come to church like 4 or 5 times in a row already, so very nice. after that though, things are looking a little shaky. we've been getting lots of new investigators and teaching them, but a lot haven't been turning out too well. we're trying to focus our work in the area around the church, but unfortunately there are hardly any members out here, and none of the other members really have transport so we are working almost without member help. we've been getting new people mostly by contacting, which i guess explains why there has been a significant drop off. we've found some good people that we're hoping to get to church this sunday. we're still just going to have to work hard and schedule everything well so as to see everyone efficiently. then we'll see who comes. the crazy part about the mission is you can work so hard, but people still have their own agency, so you have to sit back and see who will really be faithful or not. but we've had a lot of fun. i can't even really remember what happened this week, it went by so fast. we do have some families we're excited about, but they're all pretty new so not much to say about them.

but i can give an update on norina, that lady that was supposed to get baptized back in october but then stopped answering the phone out of no where and avoided us. well, one day i just felt like i should call her, and i actually got through. she was at kampung with her relatives in law, who are rc. i found out from this phone call that she had been receiving a lot of anti influence and that was causing her to avoid us. i tried to keep talking and she just hung up on me. at that point, i thought it was hopeless. but while we were over by her house last week, we decided to just drop in. we had a lesson with her and tried to remind her about the joseph smith story and how she prayed before. then we asked her to promise that we would be able to come back at least one more time to share with her. she agreed. then we went over to her house on monday. we had an awesome lesson with her. well at first we were kind of confused on how to go about it. we didnt expect a lesson with her, so we hadnt planned anything. she told us that she worked too much and had to work on sunday. so we at first tried to tackle that issue, thinking that that was the problem. we talked about how we need to have faith in God, and we shared the scripture in jacob about first seeking the kingdom of God, and then we shared in matthew about how the birds and flowers don't do anything, but God still takes care of them, but nothing seemed to take. her heart still seemed pretty closed. but then it came up that we were talking about her and her husband and just went over priesthood power that can bind on earth and how her husband is learning about what we are teaching her now. just this entire conversation we had with her seemed to open up her heart a lot, and she asked a ton of questions. she was really concerned that since her husband's family was rc, that if she didnt join rc she wouldnt see her husband again. but we explained the plan of salvation and you could just see the relief on her face. she seemed a lot more willing to talk about going to church after that as well. so we committed her to read, pray and also go to church. so there's still some good hope for her. no matter what happens, i know we were led by the spirit in that lesson, and we did the right thing. i'm so excited for this work, and have been having so much fun out here.

i tried to send some pictures, but there's some sort of lock on this computer that won't let me access my camera files, so hopefully another week. i apologize. i have been taking more pictures so you guys will have a lot to see, but malaysian pcs are unpredictable.

for thanksgiving, we are getting together as a zone and eating lots of food. the couple is going to cook for all of us. so we're pretty excited. in about 10 min i'll start heading over there actually. since today is pday, that's the day we're celebrating thanksgiving. i hope you guys have a great thanksgiving.

but speaking of desiree, i would be more than happy to take her on a date. like i said last week, it's all about those promised blessings. if you have the time, you can share with her jacob 2:18 or matthew 6:25-34 to help her know that when she trusts in God, He will provide and the blessings come after we show our faith. although it seems tough now, if she follows God, she will always be better off in the long run. i'm excited for you and your great member work mom. keep it up. keep doing what's right, and let me know how things go. when it comes to christmas, it will probably be me calling on your christmas eve, but i'll confirm that later. anyways, i gotta run, so talk to you next week. love you mom!

love, zac