After 8 months in Bintulu, Thomas learned on Good Friday (22 April) that he was being transferred to Sibu, a city located at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers and about 100 miles southeast of Bintulu. He arrived in Sibu on Tuesday (26 April), after a long ride by himself on the bus. Thomas misses Bintulu already, especially the many nice people he worked with there. Quite a few people wrote him goodbye letters, knowing that they might never see him again. He was touched by the letters, in which they thanked Thomas for bringing the gospel into their lives and changed them for the better.
Thomas' new companion is Elder Ajek, who is from Kuching, the capital city of the State of Sarawak. Thomas is really glad to have someone who knows the culture and languages well to be his companion. He is going to learn a lot from him.
The church in Sibu is on the 6th floor of a building and this is the view of the city from the church. The tall white building on the right is houses an internet cafe where Thomas emails us from.
Another view of the city from the church. Sibu is a medium size city with about 250,000 people. It has a large Chinese population because it grew out of a settlement founded by Chinese immigrants from Fuzhou (Foochow) in 1901.
The LDS church in Sibu has 3 branches. Two are Malay speaking and one Mandarin speaking. Thomas is serving in the Sibu 1st Branch. He and Elder Ajek share an apartment with Elders Williams (from Georgia) and Chin (from Sabah, East Malaysia).
