HIGHS and low

Selamat Pagi ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.  Welcome to another week of adventures from our wonderful life in Borneo.  This week the representative from BYU Hawaii came to speak to the youth about the opportunities available to them to attend BYUH.  WOW!  Were we ever impressed.  BYUH is making them a fantastic offer if they will apply and if they are accepted.  BYUH currently has only 19 Malay students and they want to have 50.  They are offering the Malay kids scholarships, work, housing and tuition breaks.  It was such a fantastic offer.  We told all the kids to get on-line and fill out their applications.  Get the ball rolling now so they can attend when they have fulfilled all the requirements and met all the guidelines.  Of course there were some stipulations if they are accepted.  No. 1, they must complete their degree in 3 years. No breaks.  That is due to the type of visa the US will give them.  No. 2 after they finish their degree they must return home to Malaysia and live here for at least another three years.  The rep said that some of the kids, when it comes time to return home, don't want to, but that was made clear to them in the very beginning when they signed the contract.  The Church is making a big investment in these young adults.  I hope they will all apply and go.  It is such a marvelous opportunity and will be a great blessing in their lives.  A wonderful way to get their education for next to nothing.  A HIGH in our week.

We had a low point this week when we learned that Hong Kong had turned down our latest project.  Bummer!  They said the water project located in the BaKalalan area, near Buduk Bui, was too far away from a "center of strength" (a branch).  We felt just terrible because it meant telling our long time partner and NGO the Kuching Rotary Club that we wouldn't be able to help them any more.  Then one day Ben had some inspiration.  There is enough money left over from the previous Buduk Bui project to more than pay for the new one we proposed.  We asked HK if we could use that money and the same NGO for the new project and they seem to think that that will be ok.  We resubmitted the project today and we should know by the end of the week if HK will approve it.  We are hoping and praying they do.  So we ended the week on a HIGH with this project.  Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers that it will be accepted.

In December a sister in KK1 gave birth to her 6th and 7th children.  Two little twin girls.  She has five other children at home, the oldest of which is 8.  YIKES!  I would be crazy, but she seems to be doing well.  We went to the hospital to visit another sister who is there for cancer radiation and we decided to drop by the NICU and just wanted to let the mother, Senley, know we were there and thinking about her.  We didn't ever expect to see her or the babies.  The babies were born premature and each one only weighed a little over 2 lbs.  For the last two weeks, Senley has had to "room in".  She stays with the babies night and day and they are trying to get the babies to be able to nurse better and to gain weight.

These are the two babies.  Ivy (pronounced Evee) is on the left and Dora is on the right.  They let us in to see them!!!  They are so very tiny still but they are growing and doing fine.  They can come home when they weigh 2 kilos.  That is still a pretty small baby to be around all those other little kids.

Another sister in KK1 branch had a baby on Jan. 5.  Her baby was full term but is still very small.  She weighed in at just barely 5 lbs.

This is baby Emily.  She looks big compared to the two preemies, but she is quite small.  Her mother, Roslin, was one of the first recent converts we taught when we arrived in KK.  I love Roslin.  She is such a good lady and so sweet and kind.

This is her daughter Jeanette, 2, who was the baby until she was replaced.  Isn't she a cutie. There are also two brothers, Hendry who is 10 and Larry who is 7.

This is Roslin holding baby Emily and Jeanette standing in the doorway of their home.  They recently moved to their new home in December.  It is farther away from the church, but the branch president and his wife are related somehow to her and they make sure she has a ride whenever she needs it. Another HIGH in the week.

Monday we had all the YSA over for FHE.  There were about 20 all together.  I decided to feed them Hawaiian Haystacks.  Hey, there's rice involved so it is sure to be a hit.  And they did enjoy them:

 After eating some of the YSA went swimming in our condo pool and some stayed and played my version of Telestrations (sp) which I tried to remember how to play from the original game.  It worked out ok and the kids enjoyed the food and the game.  Another HIGH.

On Saturday, the Primary and Relief Society had a joint activity.  They made key chains.  The Primary made their key chains out of beads:

while the RS sewed their key chains.  They were in the shape of an apple, red or green.  They only had one sewing machine so it took a lot of time for everyone to get their apple sewed.  This is the finished product:

The RS President who was teaching everyone how to make/sew their apples actually had one there to show us but she used her apple as a pin cushion.  I didn't make one as there was only the one machine and I wanted the others to have a chance to finish theirs.  Today at church, the RS president gave me a key chain she had sewn later for me.  So sweet and thoughtful of her.  My apple was red.  Another HIGH!

So you can see it has been a week of HIGHS with really only one low which we hope to turn into a HIGH by the end of the coming week.

You can help us have a HIGH by sending us an email.  We love to hear from you.  We love and miss you all.
E/S Read