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Kuala Lumpur – My Area

Friday, May 11th, 2007

This is my area in KL. It was pretty big. We rode the buses a lot. The Apartment was ok, and the Church was awesome! I came to the area in March of 2006, and I left in July of 2006. My first companion was Elder Clinton, from Texas, and my second one was Elder Gammon, from New York. Elder Gammon was the first time I was a senior companion, kind of scary for me, haha. We had a lot of baptisms in this area in comparison with the previous elders who had been there. We had a lot of success here. I really loved this area also because it was soooo diverse. There were literally members here from all over the world, and you got to meet people from so many different nations. Africa, Australia, America, UK, Chile, Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, Mongolia, and of course, Malaysia. It was awesome! I will forever love the wonderful city of Kuala Lumpur!

Here is a map of the area:
If you can’t view this one very well, or you want to look at it bigger at google maps, here is the link:
KL Map

Here are the pics from Kuala Lumpur:

Kuala Lumpur

Visa Run to Singapore!

Tuesday, May 8th, 2007

Wow, this week I got to take a Visa Run to Singapore with Elder Stevenson, cause our Visa’s were expired, so we had to go get them re-chopped. So I was really excited because it was my old area, and I got to go and meet lots of the people who I knew and taught there. I was wayyyyy excited. We stopped in Kuching to switch flights, then blasted on to Singapore. We landed in Singapore and reported to the Mission Office, then went off to Sim Lim Square to look at electronics. Elder Stevenson wanted to buy a camera. We looked at a few, and in the end, he bought the same kind I have. It is a nice camera. Then we went to eat at SUBWAY!!! I love Subway, and it has been 3 months since I’ve had any American food. Yay! It was good. Then we went back to the office and I went with Elder Ferdi (my old buddy from Sri Lanka) and Elder Hagobian (from Iraq) and we went to the Seasons Park Condo, my old house. It was really cool. Then I made some calls and went to meet some people with Elder Antony (from Sri Lanka) and Elder Worley. We went to see the Lim Family first. Only Kandace, Sam, and Sister Evelyn were there. But they invited us in and we got to chat for a while. It was a lot of fun^^. Then we had to rush to an appointment in Sembawang. On the way, we ran into Abish Lai^^ She is so awesome, it was good to see her again, and also Jennifer Yu. She is really nice too. And they both recognized me, despite my crazy short new haircut, lol. Then we also met up with Joseph Goh, and he came with us to the Marican’s house to help us with the appointment. The appointment was good, then we went to see Derrick and Jency. They were there, and it was soo cool to see them again. So we didn’t have much time, but we said hi to them. Then I went to see Alan Thong and his awesome family. I was in for awesome new… Alice got baptized!! And Alan’s mom has a baptism date!!! So awesome! I was so happy. Then we rushed home and I got a call from Nancy saying she had seen me there at a bus stop. So I got to talk to her for awhile too. So cool. I slept soudly that night. In the morning, I went to meet Romesh. He is still doing awesome! I love Romesh, cause he is so cool, and he is really smart and friendly, and he has a strong testimony. He is probably my favorite… well, better not pick favorites haha. But he is cool. He gave me some Italian handkerchiefs and candy. So cool. He said he is considering serving a mission. Wow! That would be so cool… Anyways.. we flew back and I got in to the Kuching Airport. I bought an RC helicopter. It was really cool. Then we flew to Bintulu. The next day, we played soccer again with the youth in the rain. Afterwards, Elder Rowley was really sick. He had to stay in all day. He has been sick all the way til now. We went to see a doctor. I am so bored staying inside all day!!!! I am losing my mind!!! Oh well, guess I can write some letters… Well, that’s about it. Here are the pics for this week:

Bintulu – Visa Run

Bintulu, Building a Long House

Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

Well, this week was pretty cool, but also very tiring. News from home is good, and everyone is healthy, despite some accidents. Tyler is good in France, he sent me a short letter, which really brightened my day. The work here in Sungai Plan is really going well, but we are also really working hard also. There is a lot of things that need work, and our members need lots of help also. I am pretty sure that this is the most stressful area I’ve ever been in, and on top of that, I have to learn a language, haha. Actually two languages. Well, Speaking of the language, my Malay is really improving. I am finally feeling like I can say what I need to say to get my point across, and can more freely express myself. It’s like the wall of the language barrier is coming down. I am still with Elder Rowley. We are getting along ok. Elder Leo came down yesterday, so he is staying with us too. He is a cool guy, I’ve known him for most of my mission, and now he’s going home next week. Wow, really makes me feel like I’m getting old. This morning, we played soccer with the youth from Branch 2 and 3, in the mud and rain. It was really a ton of fun! We got all mussy, and then afterwards, we had a mud fight. It was really fun, but I was blinded for awhile cause I got so much mud in my eyes. Too bad. Me and Elder Rowley have been really tired from all the running around we’ve been doing. Plus, we are starting to get to be ‘old’ missionaries (Rowley is done in 2 months, me in 4) and so we just don’t have the energy we used to, haha. Plus, we’ve had to get up early many days just to have time to do the things we wanted to do. It is kinda ghetto. But still good.
Yesterday, we went to Tatau, about an hour away, to help them build a long house. We had to get up at 5:30. Bleh. I am going to die. For those of you who don’t know, our mission goes to bed at 11 and rises at 7, so it is different from most missions (10:30 and 6:30). Well, the long house building was really fun, and also a lot of work. But I was really glad we went. We got back from that and were really tired again, haha. What to do.
And then tomorrow I am going on a Visa run to Singapore with Elder Stevenson. I am so excited! I want to go see all of the members that I used to know, and the people I baptized. I am way happy to get to go back. It will be from Thursday morning til Friday night, so hopefully, I will have enough time. Well, I guess I better go now, got lots of things to do today. I love and miss all of you! Check out my pics this week:

Bintulu – Tiada Jalan

Bintulu with Rowley

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

Well, this week, I am still alive, so that is good. It was my first week with Elder Rowley. He is a pretty funny guy, so we get along fine. He likes to play practical jokes. So we are always joking. Well, this week there was some pretty cool stuff that happened. Kristy, a recent convert, brought three of her friends from school and we taught them. We watched the Restoration, and one of them, Tani, started crying because she felt the spirit. So that was cool. They all came to church. On Sunday, it was really wild, more irreverent than usual, so Elder Rowley was losing his mind. It was pretty funny. Not much new this week. I bought a guitar. It is really cool. I will take a picture of it. I’d like to thank my family for that, it was my Birthday Present, hehe. I am slowly learning. My fingers hurt a lot, haha. I got a package from Edlina, from Singapore. Thanks Edlina! And I also got one from my mom and family, thanks! And I got a card from Vinuri, from Sri Lanka, and a letter from Sharon, from Hawaii, so I was rally grateful fro all that mail. It really makes a missionary’s day. I will write all of you back, I promise. Just give me a little time, hehe. Oh yeah, my brother, Tyler, is now officially in France on a mission. I forget the town, but it is in Northern France I think. So cool. He is going to have a blast. No videos today, I have to upload the ones from Sri Lanka.
Oh yeah, I am going on a Visa run next week to Singapore, so I plan to see all the cool people in Singapore, like Edlina, Nancy, Yee Hung, and Romesh. And also all the cool families in the Woodlands ward. So if I drop by your house on The 3rd or 4th, don’t be too surprised, ok? Hehe
Til next week^^
My Pics for this week:

Bintulu – With Rowley

Elder Moto has Gone, Elder Rowley has Come

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

Well, this week I lost my companion, Elder Mortensen. It was hard to see him go, cause we have been together since the MTC, and this was probably the last time I would see him on a mission, cause he has to go home a week earlier than me so that he can go to school. So that is sad. He had been here for 6 months plus, so he had done his time here. I went with Elders Godfrey and Fry that day to their Kampung. It was a good day. The next day I got Elder Rowley, also a very cool elder, that I’ve known for quite a while. I actually went on exchanges with him in KL and in Singapore. So I am excited to have him. He goes home in 2 months, so this is his last stop. Hmmm.. the internet is going really slow now, so I will just have to type more while I wait. Today we went to the beach to play some beach volleyball. The sand was really hot. We didn’t have a net, so we dug some holes in the sand, stuck in some large branches, and tied a ribbon to it. Quite good actually. It was a lot of fun. We won! Yay!
My brother now is in France. He is just starting out, probably in Paris right now. He is going to have the adventure of a lifetime. I hope he can get permission to read this, but if not, maybe I can just email him this each week.
Well, I am going to upload a lot of videos from Sri Lanka in an effort to put all my Sri Lanka stuff on my blog. It is a new thing I am doing to have each of my old areas. I already uploaded all the pics, but the videos are slower. I will post it probably next week, then KL maybe a couple weeks later, then Singapore. That is my plan.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am learning Jawi… It is really cool. I can read and write it now. It used to be Malaysia’s main written language before they used the Roman Alphabet. It looks like this:

Here are some pics from this week:

Beach Volleyball and Elder Moto Leaving

And here is a video of me going through the Kampung with Elder Godfrey and Elder Goreng:

And here is another video of us at the Beach:

My Birthday in Bintulu

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Well, this week was pretty good. It is my birthday tomorrow, so that is also cool. We went on a hike today just now to try to find a waterfall. It was deep in the jungle. It is the dry season now, so it wasn’t really going. But we had a nice hike in the jungle. It was fun at least. My companion might be getting transferred this week, we aren’t really sure. We will find out friday. If you notice, I shamelessly updated my blog description to include my current address, so anyone who wants to can write me haha. I promise to reply to each letter I get (fishing for letters I guess) haha. We had some cool stories this week. We were feeling kind of down because some of our members were going less active and not attending church as much as they should, and it was frustrating also cause none of the people we asked really wanted to help us. And we also needed some new investigators. So we decided one day just to bite the bullet and to go contacting and finding. We were following the spirit and we were led to Block M. Elder Mortensen said “Nothing good ever comes out of Block M” but I wanted to try so we did. We went up and when we got to floor 4, we saw a door that had our church’s picture of Jesus taped to the door. It was obviously old and faded, but it was there. There was also a sign that read “No Salesman Allowed! Only Saleswoman! (then in pen) Beautiful Women Only!” Haha. So well we decided what the heck, we would knock and see. So we knocked. no one came, and we knocked again. Then they opened the door. It was a man named Jinga and his newly wed wife. We introduced ourselfs and it was kind of awkward. We didn’t know what to do. We looked at eachother and then just asked “Boleh Masuk?” which means can we come in? They said “Boleh!” so we went inside and we taught them a lesson. They used to be taught a long time ago by some chinese ladies. So we set up a return appointment. They are really good, and truly an answer to our prayers.
Okay, that is the miracle for this week ( I have decided to start putting a miracle and a quote from the day for each day of my journal). Anyways, I better be going soon.
It feels wierd to be 21 already. I feel old. But I still feel young too. I know that no matter the age, we can be who we want to be. I am still me, the same old Elder Whiting, sedikit nakal, dan selalu seronok. Well, I love all and I am happy to be here still. Take care, everyone!

The hike, I have more but this is all I have time to upload

Fire in Bintulu!

Hiking more

Pictures from this week:

Bintulu on my Birthday

Similajau Activity

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

Hello everyone! Well, not much has happened this week. We did have a really cool Elders Quorum Activity. We went to the beach at the Similajau National Park and had lunch and fished a little. I got really sunburnt, I guess I wasn’t used to it. Well, not REALLy suburnt, just a little. It wasn’t red, just hurt. It was cool.
News from home: My Great Grandma Whiting has passed away. I am sad to hear it, because we will miss her wonderful spirit, but I am also very happy for her, because I know that she is in a much better place. She has run her race and she was a good lady, so I know I will be able to see her again, someday.
My brother Tyler is still in the MTC, he leaves in a week or two.

That’s about it… The video site is down today, but I have a lot of videos I want to upload. I am going to upload some from Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. It will probably take me a couple months, cause I have so many. I’ll try to go in order. Oh yeah, and in case anyone wants to write me, my address here is:

Leighton Whiting
Lot 737 Sungai Plan lots
Jalan Tanjung Kidurong
97000 Bintulu
Sarawak

See you next week!

Pics this week:

To the Beach…

Back in Bintulu again, yay!

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

Well, I am still here in Bintulu. THings are pretty normal here, as far as normal here goes. We had some baptisms on the weekend after Zone COnference, and we were both feeling a little under the weather, and really tired, up until now we are still tired, so maybe we will just stay home this P-Day and relax.
There are always small neat stories with little miracles, and I write them all down in my journal, but right now I can’t think of any cause I am still tired haha. I’m sorry. So I uploaded the videos and pics, so you can see them.
Well, that’s it for today. I love all of you! Zone Conference was great!
Oh yeah, I bought an Iban Blow Gun and Bow n arrows from Kuching. They are awesome!

Some Videos:

Me Bowling in Kuching

Me at the Waterfront in Kuching with some elders…

Pics for this week and last:

Bintulu Not Dead

From Kuching…

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

Hello All! Well, I am in Kuching right now, that’s why I couldn’t email yesterday, because of Zone Conference. I flew in this morning. It will be my 6th flight in 6 weeks. Kuching is pretty cool.
This week has been pretty normal, just average missionaring. We didn’t have a baptism last week, but we do have this and next, so it will be 5 out of 6 weeks with a baptism.
So we are excited. Listen… I don’t have much time today, so I’ll update more next week. And no pics this week, sorry… But I’ll stick up a few videos. Next week, I will try to post some videos from Sri Lanka. See ya guys!

They were making this stuff called Belacan in the flats, so I took a video of it. It is a shrimp paste, and it smells really bad.

This kid from the long house has so much energy, he is bursting. I thought it was funny.

Still in Bintulu, and Still Alive

Tuesday, March 13th, 2007

Well, I am pretty sure that I am still alive. We had another good week here in Bintulu. We had a family get baptized this week, the third week in a row we’ve had baptisms. We probably won’t have any this week, but we have another one next week. We are running out of investigators though, so we will have to start finding new people to teach. Our goal is to baptize everyone in our area who is not Islam. So we’re working hard at it. But we are also trying to keep all the less active families active. It is a lot of work, and are always busy.
Things are going well though. I am still improving on my Malay, and I am also learning Iban. I got a dictionary last week, so I made some flash cards, but I never have time to quiz myself on them. But I’ve probably memorized about 200 words so far, so I can at least say a few things. Iban is actually a lot like Malay. If I had to explain it, I would probably liken it unto the relationship between Spanish and Italian. Similar, and some of the words are the same, but not all. If any of you want to try to read malay, I’ll give ya some:
Minggu ini sangat bagus! Saya masih sihat, dan sekarang saya lebih gemuk daripada minggu lepas, sebab saya selalu makan banyak makanan, dan segala anggota gereja selalu bagi kami banyak makanan dan Milo juga. Tapi saya bersenar setiap pagi, jadi saya juga sedang menjadi kuat sikit. Apa boleh buat? Ok, habis sekarang. Cuba membaca itu.
Yep. That’s a sample. Malay has a lot more syllables than English does. You should record yourselves reading it and then send it to my email so I can get a good laugh. Haha. Well, I got to go now. Next week is Zone Conference, so we are all flying to Kuching again. I am excited. Miss you all!

I took some pics for this week, so here they are: