Exploring, Climbing, Zone Meeting, Mother's Day

This week is Zone Meeting so the Tedrows are here from Mukah. We spent Monday with them do some more exploring and going to dinner.

We spent most of Monday in "Explore" mode. We took the Tedrows to the long house with the skulls. Nearby are two places of interest. The first is a Malaysian cultural center. It's still in the construction stage, but will be quite nice when it's completed. Across the street from the cultural center is a beautiful park. It's built on hill with steps up to the top of the hill. There are many, many steps to climb to reach the top.

Sister Tedrow, Sister Mills, Sister Bodell

Classy Men's and Women's Restroom Signs

Suspension Bridge that does sway back and forth across the pond.

View from almost the top

Another view from almost the top

A Chinese cemetery on a hill. All the Chinese cemeteries we saw were on hills.
This is a view from the top of the hill.

Looking down from the hill

More Chinese Cemetery

Elder & Sister Tedrow and Sister Bodell starting the descent.
It's a long way down!

Almost to the bottom . . . a chance to rest

Entrance to the Park

Tuesday was Zone meeting. The ZLs did a great job likening our jobs as missionaries to a large corporation with Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ being the founders and CEOs. The IT man is, of course, the Holy Ghost. Then we talked about the other positions and how they relate to our callings as missionaries. It was well done.

The ZLs, with the help of the Tedrows and Mills, had taken pictures of members in the several church branches in the zone, thanking the missionaries for the job they're doing. Gawai is nearly upon us so the ZLs wanted the zone to know that the members love them. Missionary work is going to get a little sketchy until Gawai is over. I'm not sure what all Gawai entails, but many people, including members return home to their kompungs where much of their extended families live. There is much merriment, carousing, and drinking. We hope the members don't get involved with all that!

Here is the video that I helped the ZLs put together from the pictures and video that were taken.

We Love the Missionaries!

You have to love these missionaries! They are doing the Lord's work here in Sibu, East Malaysia. Yes, they can get a little silly at times, but they are great young men.

Saturday was moving day for the four Elders living in the Nuri house. All eight of the missionaries pitched in to help with the moving to the new house and the cleaning of the old. The Nuri house is now ready to close. We just need to get with the owner and take care of that. The Elders are very happy with their new place. It's clean. It's fairly new, too. The owner/landlady is wonderful to work with and speaks excellent English.

Sunday, of course, was normal with the addition of Mother's Day. The Branch 2 choir continues to grow. There was a cake cutting for the sisters in Branch 2 to celebrate Mother's Day. The primary in each branch, under the direction of Sister Bodell, sang the traditional Mother's Day songs during Sacrament meeting. 

We had two Elders arrange time to Skype with their families from our place. Since they were coming around dinner time, Sister Bodell fixed dinned for all eight of our missionaries. We had three Elders Skype Monday morning so Sister Bodell fixed them all breakfast.

It has been a pretty good week. Sunday was wonderful, too, even if it was busy. Here are pictures and video from Mother's Day at church.

The Relief Society sisters gathered to cut the cake

The cutting of the cake! I should mention the cake had lit candles on it!

The traditional serving of the cake. Sister Bodell was first!

Happy Mother's Day from Sibu!

A Quiet Week!

This has been a quiet week! We haven't been involved with a lot of activities. We've been able to catch our breath and catch up.

Each week in District meeting the missionaries are asked to relate any miracles that have happened to them. When it came our turn this week we were able to announce that we had finally found a new house for the Elders that had been approved by the mission president's wife. We have looked at so many that were either too big, too small, too dirty, etc. This one is quite nice, and the owner is willing to add water heaters to each shower, of which there are three, supply a washing machine window coverings. It's close to where a missionary house is currently, but it will be closing soon. The new place will house the Farley Corner Elders immediately. Their present lease is up the end of May. If all goes well, the Elders should be able to move into their new digs next week.

We attended the Chinese Branch FHE at the church on Tuesday evening. The Chinese Elders had the lesson. The first counselor in the Branch Presidency was there. With us, there was a total of five. It was fun, but sad that no one else came.

The next night we drove out to Rantau Panjang, where many of the Branch One members live, for FHE with Brother Steven, his family, and President Gara and his family, and us. The ZLs gave the lesson and played a game that resulted in many new referrals for them. I'm going to make a copy of their game for future reference. Elder C created it when he was in Kuching. This is a picture of everyone playing the game.

This is a great game for teaching the Gospel and increasing awareness of friends
who may be interested in learning about the Church.

We also went to Alexson's for a reading lesson Wednesday afternoon. He did really well today. I did some research and found a copy of the Dolch word list in English. This list comprises the 220 most often used words in the English language. Elder L and I translated it into Malay. I've made several short lists for Alexson to practice in Malay. He was excited to start practicing. I think he'll be able to handle a new list or two each week.

Friday's lesson with Alexson was good. He's getting more fluent. I told him that he had to practice, practice, practice.

FYI: May 1, 2015 - Eight months ago we entered the MTC!

Housing Update: President and Sister Mains have decided to close the Nuri house instead of the Farley Corner house. I guess it will all work out in the end. The Nuri house Elders will be moving into the recently acquired house, and the Nuri house will close.

Sister Bodell and I have often driven past a particular Chinese park, but we've never had the time to stop. After doing a little shopping one day, we took the opportunity to stop. There is a beautiful pond, and the water lilies were in full bloom. It was rather spectacular. Thus, we have pictures to share of the park.

Chinese Pagoda

It was a beautiful, sunny, hot day!

The pond is covered with the water lilies.

Water lilies up close and personal

Nice panoramic shot. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Today is May 3, 2015. Right now my emotions have the better of me. I started my fast yesterday. I personally felt the need to go a little longer that the normal 24 hours. Because of the length of time and the heat here, I made it a water fast. I have been blessed in so many ways, and today my cup o'reflowerth. 

We started the day with an Asian multi-stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake City. Sister Bodell watched it yesterday in English. Today we watched the Malay translation in both branches. It was an excellent meeting, very simple, but things the members in this area of the world need to hear and understand. There were many less-active members and investigators in both branch meetings. 

Just prior to the Branch 2 meeting, President Balley, the branch president, told me they were blessing their new baby today. That was good news, especially since he and his family have been unable to come to church the last few weeks. ... moto problems. When it came time to bless the baby, President Balley motioned for me to come up. No more problem until he also motioned that he wanted me to do the blessing. That pretty much floored me! This was very humbling honor and a blessing for me. I am grateful that I had been fasting so that I could act as voice for this ordinance. I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for blessing me with His Spirit so I could do so. I felt the Spirit strongly as I pronounced a blessing on this sweet little girl. I was also prompted to bless her family as well. 

Sister Bodell, Sister Mila, Vyana Champin anak Balley, Marcos, President Balley, Elder Bodell

Between feeling the Spirit during the blessing and again during the Sacrament hymn, I had a difficult time containing my emotions. I had to leave the chapel for awhile after the broadcast started so I could get those visible emotions in check.

I am grateful for my testimony. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, indeed, His Church. Jesus Christ restored the Church through His servant and Prophet, Joseph Smith. I know the Father and Son appeared to Joseph Smith in a grove of trees as a result of Joseph's humble prayer.     

I know we have apostles and prophets on the earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet. Through him. Christ directs the Church. 

I also know that through the Power of God, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. It is the Word of God, written by prophets of peoples who lived on the American continents hundreds of years ago. If you haven't read it, or it's been awhile since you have, I would encourage you to so now. Your lives will be blessed. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you. We love you. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers in our behalf. We ask that our Father in Heaven bless all of you. 

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.  

Transfers, Touring, Teaching, and Pictures

This has been one of those roller coaster weeks with emotions. Yes, it was transfer week. They just don't get any easier. We just get too attached to these young Elders. They are special, and some of them just worm their way into out hearts.

This week Elders H and S finished their missions and returned to their homes and families in the United States. Elders L and W were transferred. We lost half our district! We only got two new replacements. We were downsized one companionship. We will probably lose another companionship at the next transfer, too. It's too bad because the missionaries here are really working hard and are starting to have an abundance of investigators.

Monday, P-Day, we were able to visit a couple of interesting places with some of the young Elders before they moved on. The first was a Chinese tiger temple. There is a fellow in the Chinese Branch that knows about these difference Chinese temples. We would never have known about this one. Truly unique!

Did you notice that the entrance is shaped like the mouth of a tiger?

What's a Chinese temple without incense burning?

The entry to the temple

No lions or bears, just tigers

This one appears to be relaxing.

That could be Dad in the back wondering about his son.

This one isn't lounging, maybe prowling?

A warrior tiger

Nice kitty, kitty.

Sister Bodell and Elder L emerging from the temple

The outside body of the tiger temple

After our excursion of the tiger temple, we drove down the road to a long house. To those who might not know what a long house is, it is a long house. There are several homes built together in the same building, most often they are family. This one is really quite nice with a covered hallway. There is a porch on the outside where families can also gather or hang their clothes out to dry. The Iban tribe used to be cannibals. One of the most intriguing items in this long house is a net full of skulls. It's hanging from a light, almost like a chandelier.

A very lonnng hallway in a very lonnng house.

We just kept walking and walking

The wooden floor on which we walked. You can't see it too well in the picture,
but the ground is about 20 feet down from the floor.

These pictures are all over in Sarawak. They are
the Prime Minister, the Monarch, and the Sultana, the Monarch's wife.

Weren't you just waiting for this picture?

Maybe just a little bizarre?

The lonnng walk back to the car.

Sister Bodell and I were able to go with the Elders M and C to Sister Star's home again. This time they taught the lesson on the restoration of the Church. It was pretty impressive, even though we didn't understand a lot since it was in Malay, but we did understand the Spirit. I asked Elder M if I could share the story of how they came upon this family. He said I could. He typed it for me so this is the story in his own words.

     We only have a few main locations in our area, Rantau Panjang and Sentosa. One random day, Elder Hays and I decided we would try and bike past Sentosa to see if there was anywhere else we could possibly start some more work and find more people. 

     We had already passed Sentosa when we realized there wasn’t a lot of housing area, but we found more of the thick Sarawak jungle on both sides of the road. We had a feeling we should keep on biking. We biked about 20-30 mins past Sentosa when we hit a bridge and a turn off. We took the turn off to a place called Sungai Salim.

     We were amazed with the number of long houses in the area. We kept passing one after another. We weren’t sure who to talk to until a very energetic man came up to us. We talked to him for about 10 mins until a car approached us and stopped. We started talking to the woman that was in the car, and she agreed to show us her house and have us come back another time and share a message with her. Her name is Star.

     When we finally followed up with Star, she agreed to drive 45 minutes and meet us at the church in Sibu. We brought a member along and had a great lesson with her. She explained to us that she had a son named Jackie who had a failing kidney. She then explained that he was blind because of that problem. She asked if we would come to her house a few days later to give a blessing to him. We agreed. We gave her a tour of the church, and then separated.

     The following Sunday, she came to church in the morning. That was a miracle for us! At church, she met some of her relatives and friends that were members. That night, we had the senior couple, Elder and Sister Bodell, take us in their car to her house.  Brother Dagang and Sister Lucy, the relatives who she had met that day, also followed. All of Star’s family (including her husband) gathered together and we gave Jackie a priesthood blessing. Star then insisted that we eat her mass amount of food and her boiling hot Milo. Before we left their house, we scheduled another appointment.

     Elder and Sister Bodell, the following Thursday, were good enough to take my new companion, Elder Coloma and I out there again to meet with Star’s family. Before starting the lesson, a friend named Leah decided to join in the lesson along with Star, Jackie, and Erika. We shared with them the message of the Restoration. At first, the lesson was rough and the family was unfocused, but it changed. About half way through, both Elder Coloma and I listened to the spirit and shared the rest of our message. At the end, we both felt an impression to put the family on date for baptism for the 23rd of May. We did so and all four of them accepted without hesitation. 

     The cool part of this experience was hearing Star’s testimony and thoughts about us sharing our message with her. She was driving back home that first day we met her, and she saw us by the side of the road. She explained that she knew we were messengers from God and a light shined within us. She felt impressed to stop and talk to us. After we left, she took a minute and prayed for another meeting to happen with us because she had felt something.

     At that time, she had been looking for a Christian church that would help give her a  blessing to her ill son and also give her peace in her life from the situation with that. She didn’t feel right about the many churches she already investigated but she felt right about the comforting message we had for her. 

     I was in shock at the miracles and love that God gives to all his children. This experience strengthened my testimony of the simple gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no doubt in my mind that God lives and through Jesus Christ, we can all return to Them. It’s through the great message that I share as a missionary that can do that for people.

It is such a joy and blessing to work with the young Elders. They are amazing. Their level of spirituality, their attention to the Spirit, to go who knows where or why and be blessed is truly a blessing to behold

More pictures of other activities during the week:

Alexson and Elder S.
Elder S went home this week, but before he did, he gave Alexson his bicycle on four conditions.
1. He would always lock it up and keep it safe.
2. He would use it to ride to church.
3. He would "follow" the Elders and help them.
4. He would continue his reading learning with Elder and Sister Bodell

Elder L, Alexson, and Elder S

Alexson's family - Family pictures had to be separate because Alexson had to go to work.

President Gara's family, Brother Alok and his wife, and the missionaries.
All the missionaries are gone except Elder Mix who is still here.
Elder J went to Bintulu, Elder D went to Kuching, Elder L went to JB.
Elders H and S are now back home.

Brother Gaadong and his family with Elder and Sister Bodell and Elder L

Sister and Elder Bodell with Elder W before he was transferred to Kuching

Can you see the bananas on the tree to the right?
These trees are growing in a garden planted by a local resident.

Happy 65th Birthday, Elder Mills!
Yes, Sister Bodell made and decorated the cake.
We had dinner at the Maple Leaf.

So, this week we said good-bye to Elders H and S who completed their missions in style and returned home. We also said good-bye to Elders L and W who were transferred to other areas. We said "Hello, and good to meet you," to Elders H and C. They will be a great addition to the district. We also welcomed back Elder V.

Elder P (District Leader), Cassidy, and Elder H, our new Elder from Down Under

Here are a couple of short videos of what happens when the youth and missionaries get going after seminary:

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

The Hokey Pokey -

Where everyone had a good time!

That is pretty much it for this week, except to say that it looks like we found a house for the Elders. It's big enough for the six Malay Elders and will be perfect when the next two leave the area. The house is in a good location, and the owner is willing to upgrade a few items that will be of great help. The house has been approved by Sister Mains, the mission president's wife, so we are moving forward.

It has been a good week, except for the transfers, but that the way of it. We have been blessed with good health and safe travel. I know our Father in Heaven has blessed us. There was more than once that we could have been in an accident. I am grateful for the prayers of family and friends. I know those prayers have been answered.