HaoHaoHao/HoHoHo (Depending on Your Dialect:) )

Well folks, another week has come and gone, and here we be on the brink of Christmas! Aiyo! Super fast! It's pretty exciting :) 

This past week we had the chance to go to Kuching for an East Malaysia Christmas Conference; it was wonderful! The Spirit was there, and I felt such a great deal of the Savior's love for me, for my family, and for the people of Malaysia. I've learned a lot about peace this week; it was a personal theme that I studied all throughout the conference. Peace is truly an interesting topic--we know from scriptures that the Savior is the Prince of Peace, and that from Him we gain the longest lasting, the deepest, the most profound, and the happiest peace imaginable. He helps us out through the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. He came to this world for that sole purpose: He was "born to raise the sons of earth" to a higher state of happiness that they have never reached before. It's an exciting and invigorating thought :)

Fun fact: The word 'Kuching' (or, in its proper Malay spelling, kucing) means 'cat' in Malay. Thus, they have lots of cat statues and motifs all throughout the city. The day after Christmas Conference and before we had to board the plane back to Miri we went and did a little sight-seeing. Yes, as you can tell, they like their cat statues :)

This upcoming week is Christmas! It's the most wonderful time of the year! Hooray :) Christmas is by far the best evs :) I got to open a couple presents/letters at the Christmas Conference, and there are a few presents that I'll open up on good ole Christmas Eve; Christmas Day itself will be spent visiting members and less actives and making sure that they're feeling the cheer as well :) I hope that you all have a very merry and bright one, and that you'll have the opportunity to take some time and ponder more about the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas. If you haven't yet, I highly encourage you to take a moment and watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional from a few weeks ago--totally worth the watching :)

I love you all, and hope that all your days may be merry and bright, and that all your Christmases will be white :)

Yours,

Mai Zhanglao :)