ParkerLeeThompson

Sibu, BMX Style

Yes by reading the title you might be confused but I will just get right into the story:

So we were out in Permai, which is a very beautiful town outside of the city of Sibu, Sarawak. Permai is known for a park that has some adventurous stuff to do. I had two Elders with me who were on exchanges with me so they had never been out to that part of the city. I decided to show them some of the highlights of Permai. We had just finished a lesson and it was getting dark, but we headed to the park to, "do something fun," is what I said... So we headed to a part of the park that had some raised tracks through the jungle that are made for walking, but we bike on them anyways. It has been flooding like crazy here in Sibu, which is normal so we went through some water to get to it. These raised tracks are like the closest thing I can get to mountain biking so we ride them as much as possible. They are fun, except when it is dark and flooding, and dry ground turns into swamp...

Before we started riding them there was a moment of hesitation, as there always is with missionaries, and adventures, and the rather stupid side of me took over. I said "I love a nice adventure," and headed on my way. I was speeding through the track and looked back to see where the other guys were and they weren't there, or they were a little behind and going slow. So I stayed turned around to see if they were alright, meanwhile losing my balance. The second I turned around I knew I was done, and down went the front tire, off the track. Needless to say I threw a pretty sweet front flip... my back landing into 1 ft. of swampy water. The rest of night went pretty well and we finally got on after all was said and done, but yeah, that was disgusting, and hilarious....

On a normal note, the work here is going fantastic! As I mentioned before the flooding here is ridiculous but the people just live with it. In America the news would be all over it and there would be disaster relief people everywhere, but here it is just way of life. I have a pretty fun time trudging through rain storms and huge puddles that some cars don't dare to go through. So that's a daily occurrence.

I'll end with this. I have many 'Moms' here is Sibu within our branch. It has been mentioned to me that it is hard for missionary moms back home to take care and constantly not worry over their Elder. Well of course that would only make sense! Well I am here to say for one, Mom, you don't need to worry because the 'Moms' here take care of me as if I were their own. It is truly amazing and I am in good hands so don't worry! No one can replace you, but they can be a substitute while I am away for awhile! I am confident that is the case with all other missionaries world wide also. They get mad at me for being lazy with where my legs are while we sit or manners on how to eat, Haha! They also serve me, forever more than I could ever serve them, and that's just the way of a Mother I guess.
(Parker appropriately noted several Draper Moms that sent care packages and Décor, which often doesn't make it to him, but a big Thanks with proof in pictures):