hello loves!
sorry. it's been a few weeks since I've sent a decent email....that happens. we got really busy. plus not a ton of crazy stuff happened. but I have some stories this week. check it:
so ferg, bless her heart, hasn't been speaking malay in 8 months. singapore is english. so she gets to miri, everything is in iban! mixed malay. overwhelming for her, but she is a trooper and tries her best. so we are at a shoe store, trying to find nice shoes for zone conference, when this cute malay girl comes up and tries to talk to her. in english, of course. ferg, trying to practice and show off her mad skills, decides to respond in malay. I'm on the other side of the room, so not in the conversation but can still hear everything. the malay girl goes "how do you speak malay?" and ferg, trying to say she had lots of friends that help her, said "saya ada banyak kawin!....", instead of "saya ada banyak kawan......" so what she said was that she had been married a lot. but what she meant was that she had a lot of friends. I couldn't help it, I just looked at her and burst into giggles. then the malay girl did too. and then the girl behind the counter did. finally through the giggles I was able to tell ferg what she said and she started laughing too. it was pretty epic. it's an everyday occurence with her though. haha! I love the surprises of what she's going to say wrong next! it makes me so happy. I remember when I was new too! no doubt I always said things wrong. I'll have to talk to hitey about it...see if she remembers anything stupid I said...
oh here is another funny story. this one involving me:) so there is this disgustingly famous fruit here called durian. it's the big poky spiny looking fruit that smells like a mixture of gasoline, smelly feet, and delicious fruit. it's pretty intense. I can eat it fine, but I definitely don't love it. but I'll eat it. so we are at Tarang's house (my FAVORITE new family of investigators) and they are giving us tons of food and they bring out special yellow durian, which I had never had. always the white kind. so I eat a piece, not too bad. ferg hated it so she wasn't eating it, so I had to eat another piece to make up for it. so two biji's or pieces of durian. feeling fine. then about 15 minutes later, my head starts to get a little fuzzy. and in the middle of the lesson, I got to grab the picture book out of my bag, and as I tilt my head down to look for it, the tilt was too much to handle and while still cross legged, completely fall over and smash my face on the floor. hands didn't help my fall. I didn't even see it coming! so I sit back up, everyone is dying laughing, and I am like what the heck! what is wrong with me!! and they all go "ohh!!!!! jensen mabuk!!! dia sudah mabuk!!!!" they were telling me I was drunk! so I was like no I am not drunk!!! completely shocked at the accusation, when they explain that I was "mabuk durian" meaning I was drunk off of the durian. the yellow kind is more potent, and apparently if you eat too much, you get kindof drunk. hahaha. whooops. it took a while before I wasn't so fuzzy again and I made a vow to only eat one biji of durian at a time!
so here is a fun story. on my birthday, I went to our recent convert family Masir's house. but I didn't mention it was my birthday. so a few days later, they find out it was my birthday, and they were all sorts of peeved that I didn't say anything. so the grandma, sterry, kindof yelling at me in iban, tells me that I have to go to their house on sunday then. haha. so we arrange our schedule so we can go, and we go. I get there, and all the adults are in the kitchen and won't come out, but I'm smelling the most delicious smelling smells ever....meanwhile it's me and ferg and maling and rimbau and ubit. two little 14 year old boys and the 4 year old little girl. so we play uno and have all sorts of fun just chilling, waiting for people to come out. thirty minutes later, out comes dish of food after dish of food. all homemade iban kampung food. alllllll my very very very favorite dishes (which they knew, and made specially for me) daun ubi with garlic and ginger, rice, chicken and ginger cooked in a big bamboo stick, pork, grilled fresh fish....tons and tons of food. and then this huge store bought expensive and beautiful cake with the words "happy 22 birthday sister jensen!!!!!" so they bring it all out, roger gets his guitar, and everyone sings happy birthday to me all off tune...basically it was the greatest night of my life. I was so touched. but they all did so much to make sure I had a good birthday. and I love them. roger already is 1st counselor in young mens and masir is in the process of getting a teaching calling. they are all so strong and so faithful. they're my miracle family.
one last thing I'll mention, is that chinese new year is crazy!!!! non stop fireworks allllll night every single night. our house is surrounded by chinese people so it shook all night long. so much fun!! and it goes on for like two weeks!! weeeee.
and I have no more time!!! sorry.
love you all so much!

Lisa has been so busy the last 2 weeks she has not sent a blog update.  So the following are pieces of her last two letters!!

January 11^th

it has been hard mom!! it has been so hard for me. especially lately. my first week with Sis Ferg was good, she is a good missionary, diligent, really wants to work hard. however, she cannot speak malay. the people laugh at her when she tries (like they did to me in kk) and it is hard for her. I feel it. I remember that. but basically it puts 99% of everything on me. I speak malay all day every day. to everyone. I teach all of the lessons. every single one. and when our first and second plans fall through, its night and its raining, but we still have two more hours left of the day, the stress has been unreal. I'm trying to carry us and trying to be diligent and trying to help Sis Ferg speak and to feel effective and all that. and it is just, weighing on me.

before moody left though, he gave me his bike. I will try to send a picture. it is the rolls royce of bicycles. mine was crap that only had sixth gear.

yeah, my diet is AWFUL. on a daily basis, I eat tea and crackers in the morning. then if we eat out, a little bit of rice, maybe some chicken. or some curry and roti. I keep suckers in my backpack for when the sun kills me and I need something to pick me up. and then every house we go to gives us sugar water and a few crackers. my diet is worse than bad.

the dvd made me so homesick for the cabin with the family. I'm still waking up every day. and following dads instructions, "somedays, you have to dig deep." and I'm getting through it. definitely still getting more and more brazen in the fire of affliction.

gibbons gave me this thing, that he says in his head every day. he called it his title of liberty. it gets him through the day, focused on the work and up, not down. I have stolen it. I write it on the inside of my wrist so I read it all day while I'm biking. but its:

for love

for forever always

for always rise

the things to live by. and I love it.

I get up and go out every day because I really do love mom. I love God so much. and somedays, it is hard for me. but I love God, so I keep trying to be full of love for the people here as well. also, I love you guys more than anything. so I try to keep going remembering that God will bless all of you if I work hard.

the forever always part, is what this is all about. the missionary work is all about. "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" I'm trying to help people find how they can have their families, they can have God, they can have progression, happiness, joy, for forever always. that's what we do.

the always rise part is a reminder to do just that. always rise. some days suck, the wind is so strong plus the heat plus the pouring rain. people won't let you in, people cancel, you're tired, you didn't say something as good as you could have, people smoke, lie, whatever. but the trick is to always rise. stand back up and keep going.

so those three things are also what I live by now. and it helps.

January 18^th

so yesterday was technically our p day but the senior couple here needed my malay speaking skills so we went around with them and a very poor woman to a thousand doctors offices and hospitals so the poor little darling could get some medical attention. it took 9 hours and we were so spent, but I love that family so much. so it was good. I was glad to help and also to be back doing medical stuff:) oh but anyway. that is why I have p day today. on my birthday!

josie called to sing me happy birthday and say sweet sweet things, so did sister lowe, forsyth called, the elders here are taking me out to eat italian food. the hodders are going to take me to get a pedicure. don't even worry, I'm getting more spoiled here than I thought was possible! it's gonna be a good day.

the first time I watched the 2011 family dvd I bawled. haha pretty good. and I went to sleep, and slept it off. I have watched it a few more times since then, won't lie....it's so amazing! tom is so talented. it doesn't make me cry anymore. it is like another reminder to keep going.

I love my mission so much. I can't believe how much I would have missed out by not going. you can't comprehend how much it will bless you and change you. I'm so glad I came.

OW

ow is Iban. they say it for everything, mostly in replace of "yea". I make a lot of weird noises and sounds now. I might not be able to pass through immigration when it's finally time for me to move back to land of the white people.
so this week! Rinet left. she is training in Singapore. Ferguson came from Singapore, I am training her here. very interesting. I've never had a companion that couldn't speak malay, so it has been interesting. my brain gets tired a whole lot because I have to be the voice. however, it has been good. since there isn't an iban speaker here anymore, people will actually speak to me in malay. instead of iban through rinet. so that has been quite the blessing, and made quite the difference. it is very interesting. I've had to step it up a lot, take the lead on everything. which of course is understandable, I've been in malaysia the whole time, she has been in singapore. worlds apart. but she is a great companion already. she came and we immediately got on our bikes to go to an appointment. she took it like a champ:) we have a lot of big plans. I told her kindof the pattern of the work in the past and we both decided we were going to put an end to it, and try to clean everything up. so our focus is on the members. getting to know them, letting them know us, serving them, building the branch, and hoping that when we have their trust, they'll tell us the people they love and want us to teach. so there we go.
oh so here is a cute story, both about Masir and his whole family, who were all baptized on the 31st of December. it was a glorious day. we have been so blessed with incredible families being baptized lately. huge families. that will be the future of the church in malaysia. so anyway, on the 1st it was fast sunday, and masir and roger both came to church wearing white shirts and ties, they both shared their testimonies, amazing testimonies, and they received the aaronic priesthood. so next week, the sacrament! they were fellowshipped into the ward so incredibly well. and they both said they feel like they have always been there. it's amazing.
but the best story, we went to teach recent converts to them on fergs first night, and we did it on missionary work and service. so we focused the whole thing on Christ. they all loove Christ and have the strongest desire I've seen to just serve Him. so we focused on how Christ was love and service. and how we can follow His example and be the same way. and Merara, she is very quiet, she grabs my hand and asks, "so can Rimbau start following you and helping teach? so he can start serving you for all you have done for him, and so that he will know how to be a missionary when he is older." Rimbau is 13. and I looked at him, and he was grinning. he wanted to follow so bad. I got these huge tears in my eyes and said absolutely. and then we talked to Roger, who is 21, about how he could serve a mission. and he was excited as well! their family is so beautiful. they are already insanely strong pillars for the very new and growing church here. like I said, they are the future. and I am so proud of them.
also, I have gotten quite a bit fatter lately. HA! I'm not sure if I've mentioned, but on holidays you go to members houses allllllll day long and you eat. and that is all you do. so I had about a week of going to 10-15 members houses a day, and eating at every single one. I'm looking forward to not being so fat again, so I can properly and comfortably ride my bike.
this week was good. next week will be better.
love you all SO MUCH!