Christmas

My favorite Christmas present this year to talk to Elder Allen for an hour tonight.  He's doing great in Klang, Malaysia.  He traveled about an hour away to the apartment of a senior couple to skype us at the start of his P-day.  Since they are 15 hours ahead, it's already Monday morning there.  He looks and sounds great. We are so grateful for his service and your friendship and support.

Jason is showing Nathan one of his Christmas crafts.

Christmas In the Air, and New Investigators!

Thanks everyone for reading this email! I hope that this next week brings you joy as you celebrate Christmas. This is my last email before Christmas, but for many of my viewers back home, my next email will come on Christmas night. The subject line for this email comes from the the great week that we had over these last seven days: starting in China town (one week ago on our last p-day), finding great people in the middle of the week, and ending with a combined Branch Christmas Party on Saturday. Also, I send personal thanks to my family for sending me a piece of a pine tree in my Christmas package: that was a great idea.

I sent a picture of Pasar Seni (China Town in Kuala Lumpur) but I am afraid that it does not truly capture the essence and environment of that area. I haggled for real for the first time ever and got a backpack (the same one as Elder Rogers just for 10 rm less :). Pasar Seni is full of knock-off products, and I am actually pretty sure that there isn't anything authentic there. It is full of horror stories of unknowing tourists paying $600 Rm ($150 US equivalent) for a fake G-shock watch that a missionary could have bought for $50 Rm. Lots of people call you over and really want you to listen to them, and I felt a certain amount of empathy for them because I know what it is like to offer something to a person who does not want it :).

We had a really solid week in general, but there were a few highlights and things to mention that happened in particular. One of those things was after a really solid session of contacting, Elder Rogers and I, guided by the spirit of course, found 10 potential investigators in one day. A few of those seem really solid, and we have already met with one and we are really excited for her.

 Another miracle we saw came when we met with a potential investigator named Nelson. We actually got his number from a friend who apparently lives at the same apartment complex as us that we found while contacting on the train. This friend was not interested, but Nelson certainly is and is very prepared. When I called him to see if he had interest, he said yes and asked if he could bring a friend :). We taught him a part of the Restoration lesson on Thursday (God, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon) as well as answered some of the questions that he had about the Plan of Salvation. This is what he texted us Friday night (he speaks good Chinese and pretty good English so don't judge his text too hard): "dear Allen and Roger, thanks for helping me remove the fear of die, let me understand Jesus Christ. I feel save, and happy. Thank you so much." Nelson is so prepared. He later told us that for a few days up to our visit, he had become increasingly worried about death and what would happen after we died. It got worse and worse until it got to the point that he wasn't sleeping well. The day it was worst was the day we called him, and when we met with him he slept well and he thinks that it is a sign from God - we certainly think so. We met him again on Saturday, and when we invited him to set a baptismal date for a goal, he said in reply "just tell me when and where." He came to church on Sunday and he is keeping his commitments and reading the things we have asked him to.

Lots of other really great things happened this week, with more great and prepared people- but probably not as prepared as Nelson. We met with another new investigator who also seems really solid. 

The week ended with our branch Christmas Party, and we held it in PJ (I know that means nothing to you. Basically, we went to the next closest chapel - which is about a 30 min bus ride and then a 15 min walk for us). One of the members in our branch - who likes to feed us and help us a lot, provided us with antlers to wear during the party (see the pictures). The picture shown is us with another member of our branch. Her family (the one in the picture) is very solid, and they are the ones who we met with last week as we visited the father who is coming out of inactivity).

Well, that was our week... sort of, there are a lot of things that happen in seven days. I have been studying Charity a lot this week, and I have reflected on the power that love has to help us become better people. I truly believe that it is something that we need to develop if we want to become like Christ. Our love for others brings confidence to us, but it also brings us the confidence to change to help others. When we do things out of love for others, we feel the love of Christ in our lives and it motivates us even more to continue serving others. Check out Elder Christofferson's talk called "Abide in My Love" from this last conference. By far my favorite talk that I have found as I am reading through this last session.

Love,

Elder Allen

The Joys of Contacting and Christmas Conference

Well, this week was really good, and we found ourselves having more time than normal to contact this week (normally not very preferable) but we had a lot of success so it made it both worth it and enjoyable. 

Although my street contacting skills have much room for improvement, contacting is turning into an activity that I rather enjoy doing. It is exhilarating to feel the spirit work through you as you testify to someone about the restored gospel. People in general are just fun to talk to too. Sometimes they will say funny things, have different ways of thinking, or be rude to you in such an awkward way for both you and them that you can just smile and keep looking for someone else to talk to. The best part of contacting, however, is when you are trying to understand how you can help this person by talking to them about the restored gospel, and an approach pops into your mind. When you say it, you feel how well it comes out and the power that it has to testify of the truth of Christ. 

Another highlight of the week comes from our zone meeting that we had on Friday night. It was our Christmas conference. We learned about three kinds of gifts: gifts we give to each other, gifts Christ gives to us, and gifts we give to Christ. I am really grateful for the opportunity that I have to tell people about the gifts that Christ is extending to them! 

We also had a white-elephant gift exchange and I brought a small bag of candy that I haven't had since the US. In return I got a bar of soap...so I didn't really get a great return on my gift but that is ok :). We had cake after so it was all made better.

One of the cool experiences that we had this week actually came just yesterday. There is a member in our ward who has recently been coming out of inactivity. He has been a faithful member in the past, and it was the passing away of Elder Chan (the area seventy who lived in our branch) that really woke him up and got him to start coming again. His family is a really solid portion of the branch, and we are so happy to see him joining them again. We had dinner with them last night (roti cani - super good - I will miss good curry when I go back to the US). We shared the Light the world message that the church has put out for Christmas. We bore our testimonies on the power that service has to help others, and also how important it is for us to follow the example of the Savior. The coming-back member really appreciated the message, and I am so grateful for the resources that the church provides and also for the ability that service for others has to soften peoples hearts.

Testimonies come as we live the gospel. As we deliberately choose to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ, and as we consciously recognize the blessings that will come, we will continue to grow in knowledge about and of the savior. I know that the Church is true.

sincerely:

Elder Allen

Pics: double parking (parking behind someones car) is such a big thing in Malaysia that they prepare signs to put in their windshields).

Elder Rogers posing with the first root beer I have had since being in the US.

I may have showed this before, elevators don't have a fourth floor because in chinese, the word "four" and "death" sound really similar.

Food a member brought for us and made us promise that we would send pictures of it home so that our moms know we get chinese comfort food.

The First 12 Weeks...Out of Training and Into...

Well Hello Everyone,

This week marks the end of my training, and in a week I will have been in Malaysia for 3 months! It is crazy that I have been here this long, and it is not so much that I still feel new in Malaysia, it is that I still feel new to missionary work. I still have so much more to learn, and definitely a lot of Chinese as well, but I am also really excited for the learning and changing that is to come. Overall, I think that I am most grateful for this experience to learn who I am, and to grow and become better through the challenges that I face. 

In my last week in training, we saw some cool miracles in a few different aspects of missionary work, and I felt the spirit a bit more than I believe I have in other weeks - which is a big blessing :).

We had a lot of appointments scheduled for the earlier part of the week, and so we did not have a ton of time to contact and find potential investigators (not that I am complaining, it is a huge blessing to have a lot of lessons, even if some of them fall through, as they always do). Overall, I feel like our lessons went pretty well, and one of the elements that I noticed that was a little better was our ability to teach simply. I have really come to appreciate simple teachings, because it is only when you really understand a principle that you are able to teach it simply.

One cool experience of the week happened during our weekly planning sessions. We got a call from one of our investigators who asked us to come right away and visit one of her friends. We had an appointment scheduled for the next hour, but we asked if we could come after that and she said yes. When we got to where we normally meet her, we were able to meet with her friend, a nice old lady who has recently converted to Christianity. She shared with us that she had lost her daughter, and she wondered why that happened to her. She also expressed the desire to find the true church of God. She asked great questions and I felt the spirit as we talked to her, teaching me how much the Lord loved her. We gave her both the Restoration and Plan of Salvation pamphlets, but didn't get much time to talk about them before she had to leave.

We were able to meet with this referral again, later in the week. When we started she told us that she had read the pamphlets, and that she had felt the spirit as she had read them. She asked us about the Book of Mormon because she wanted to read it, and when we gave it to her she said "thank you, but I don't have money to pay for it." Once again I felt the spirit during that lesson, especially as we shared the first vision account. My main concern for her is her ability to come to church... she lives far away and we don't have any members who live out that far.

Another highlight of the week came when, after trying our hardest with investigators, less actives, and members to find people to teach, we found ourselves with a whole day to contact. We decided to try out the bus system and go to an area that is a little farther away. We found 10 potential investigators that day, and one of the last ones we were talking to, after we had gotten his number, stopped us as we were beginning to walk away and asked us if he could us his girl friends number!

Another fun contacting story happened yesterday. We were talking to a Chinese girl and she asked us how we could know if the church was true (which is a great question that I have never been asked before :). I asked her how she knew that Buddhism was true, and she thought about it and wasn't sure :). Then she talked about feelings in her heart, and we were able to connect that to how the Holy Ghost talks to us.

Anyways, lots of really good lessons this week and great spiritual experiences. Transfer news came in while I was writing this email. I am in Klang for another six weeks and so is Elder Rogers! Apparently it is pretty unusual for the trainee and trainer to stay together after the training is complete. I am really excited for the progress we are seeing here and I am glad that I can still serve with Elder Rogers! 

This week I have been studying the Conference talks and I really liked Elder Uchtdorf's talk (go figure) called "How Great the Plan of Our God." Basically, when we have spiritual experiences and times of revelation, we sometimes become complacent or accustomed to our marvelous knowledge or experience. He talked about how we need to remember our awe for the things of the gospel. I have truly found this to be true in my life. When I thank the Lord for the experiences that I have, and consciously record those experiences, I am more able to experience them in the future. 

The Church is true.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

I totally slacked on pictures for this week...so here is a cool pic of the case I made to keep my planner dry (from sweat and rain).  Also, a member bought us antler headbands... I am not sure how we will use those :)

Thanksgiving In Singapore

Zone Conference this week made for an exciting change to our normal week and included a plane ride to and from Singapore. Due to visa problems, the mission leaders have decided that it is best for the missionaries to come into Singapore to have zone conference instead of having the leaders fly out every three months to the missionaries in their areas. So, I spent two nights at the mission home in Singapore.

Zone Conference brings with it a lot of consequences, one is the travel that it takes to get there (essentially it takes us half a day of travel to get there from our home). Another consequence is the enjoyment that we get from being able to interact with missionaries who we don't see very often. I got to see Elder Howell (the first time since the MTC) and it was great just to meet and talk with other missionaries from our zone. Zone Conference, of course, also brings a lot of training, and I really enjoyed the presentations and the doctrines that were shared. One of my favorite parts was Elder Tad R Callister's talk on being a consecrated missionary, which was shared by our mission president's wife: Sister Simmons. Another fun fact is that we watched a music video of "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul" that was played by the youth Symphony that Ethan Bullock is in (there was an Elder in the conference who was in the music video and he knew Ethan)!

Other random facts from Singapore: I had cereal for like the first time in two months (and I took advantage of it). I got the Liahona magazine which included the conference talks. I received a package from home with Christmas presents in it! I got more langauge material from the Taiwan Taipei to study. I got to go to China town. I went on a run with some of the Elders and it was awesome (we probably only went 4 miles and I was way sore the next day...probably because I haven't ran since the MTC).

For those of you who asked, we did celebrate Thanksgiving, and probably quite a bit more than other missionaries outside of the US. It just so happened that our Zone Conference was on Thursday, and so we had a fairly traditional styled thanksgiving meal, along with pizza later to top it all off. 

As we enter into this season of gratitude, starting with Thanksgiving and ending with Christmas, I am so grateful for the Savior and for the potential that we have to change our lives through him. Missionary work is about others, and I am finding more and more joy as I forget myself and look to improve so that I can be a better instrument for the Lord. I am experiencing many miracles that confirm to me that the Lord truly is preparing His children to hear the word of God. The Church is true, and if anyone is struggling with their testimony, just remember to be patient with yourself and to trust in the savior, remembering your past experiences with Him.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

(sorry, I forgot to charge my camera for Singapore and then I forgot to bring it here to send the pics that I did take...)

Typical Week For a Missionary in Klang

This week was good, even though we had a lot of appointments cancel on us and we didn't spend the whole time in our area, I felt like I learned a lot though, and as always, there were some cool moments in the week where I felt the spirit strongly, and felt capable of doing things that I otherwise would have done poorly.

The first experience that I want to talk about happened on a night when we had two appointments cancel on us all of a sudden, and so we had a lot of time to contact, visit members, or do other sorts of missionary work. Normally, we would have stuck to our back up plans, but since we had two appointments cancel, that gave us time to do activities that we would not have been able to do if one of our appointments canceled. We decided to visit the homes of one of our investigators, and we were able to have a really great lesson with them while we visited. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and I felt the spirit as we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how it applies to our progression in that plan. The Plan of Salvation is truly a plan of happiness, and it really is simple. I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the opportunity that we have to learn to apply it in our lives.

The other cool experience that I want to mention happened when we were teaching an investigator about baptism. Our investigator comes from an interesting background: he is very willing to learn about Christianity, his sister is Christian (and has met with LDS missionaries and chosen a different church), and the rest of his family is Buddhist. Our lessons are also interesting because we teach him in English, but sometimes clarify things in Chinese (if a gospel word is unfamiliar in English, it might not be in Mandarin). But, despite these things, we were able to help him make the connection between baptism and happiness/being able to go to the celestial kingdom with his family. When we, as missionaries, keep the commandments of the Lord and invite others to be baptized, I know that he sends the spirit to help us, as missionaries, and also to help investigators.

Well, that is basically it for this week. I recognize that some of the experiences I share may not be too exciting for the casual reader, but they are significant to me :). One thing that I am learning, is that it is the simple things that are consistent in our lives that make the biggest difference. Learning to recognize the spirit in our lives is one of the greatest blessings that we can have. When we are true to what we know, the spirit can come into our lives, even though we are imperfect people. The Church is true :).

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

Pics: 1. Eating one of the few sweet foods available (roti susu).

         2. The family we visited in the before-mentioned lesson.

Cheese Naan, The Rainy Season

Ever since arriving at Malaysia I have been told that we were in the "rainy season." But I didn't really believe them since, as I have already mentioned before, for the first six weeks I was here I was not rained on once. But, I now truly believe it, because it has rained everyday this week, and I have gotten soaked. But, the work still goes on an we were able to have a good week, despite showing up to many locations very soggy:)

I finished up watching conference this week (I was unable to previously because my companion was in the hospital) and it was awesome! Listening to prophets brings the spirit and a desire to change and improve. While we were in the church, we saw a rat in the room with the TV. The next day, we saw two in the back in the church. Unsurprisingly, there is now a rat cage in the back of the church, and a Branch President asked us to check on it during the week :).

This week we also had exchanges, and I went with Elder Graham on Friday. Elder Graham is even newer than I am, and so we had the two green missionaries in Klang for one day. On the exchange, there was a point where we had three appointments scheduled, and all three fell through. So, we decided to drop by a member and say hello. While we were there, we were able to meet an inactive member who we have never been able to contact before! He was visiting this family (the members whose house this was were introduced to the gospel by this now-inactive member) when we dropped by. We shared a message and it was really great to be able to meet him, especially since we have not had a correct address or a working phone number for him.

Well, that is about it for this email. We are working really hard to have a "White Christmas" (investigators in baptismal clothes) and we put another investigator on date this week. He is pretty awesome and super funny. When we asked him if he believed in the Book of Mormon, he said "oh yeah, I believe in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith." He also expressed a desire to read the whole Book of Mormon before he is baptized, so we will be working with him to achieve that goal. 

I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have followed the promise that is found in the back of that book, and I know that any person who sincerely reads that book and asks God if it is true can have that same experience. 

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

Pics: sorry, a little boring: 1. I took a pic of part of Malaysian culture: you pay to fill up your water bottle (I have not seen a single drinking fountain in Malaysia). 2. My "Large Fry"

Reuniting With a Dear Companion

Hello, thanks for diligently reading my emails! This week was really good, with too many things to write about in one email. I forgot my journal as well, so I am just going off of my planner and will only be able to write about a few things. The subject line comes from a scare that I went through a few days ago. After biking 40 minutes away to visit an investigator, and then coming back, we were contacting and I went to point at my chest to show the person my name tag and I realized it wasn't there. We had biked so far already, that I figured there was no way I would ever find where it fell off. So, I just took out my all-Mandarin tag and continued with the day. That was around noon. The crazy thing is though, as we were leaving this morning, I found that name tag that I thought I had lost under my laundry! I guess I had forgotten to put on my tag a few days ago (how embarrassing, that is the first time that has happened and I can't believe I wasn't representing the Lord for like 2 hours) because I didn't see it and Elder Rogers didn't notice either. Anyways, I am really grateful that it is with me again because people here don't read Mandarin (only 50% of the Mandarin speakers can read characters), and because it has been with me since the MTC.

Well, that was a long story that most of you might not care too much about. A week ago, after we emailed on P-day, we went to an "escape room" with a lot of our zone. The mall it was in was huge and it had an indoor roller coaster (see pic). Elder Rogers crashed his bike the next day (his tire went in between the metal grates of a gutter) and our phone was destroyed in the process, so we bought a new one (Elder Rogers is Ok by the way, it happened at low speed). Yesterday, we had District Conference (think Stake Conference) so we had all the branches from the district, which encompasses all of Kuala Lumpur, gathered for a meeting. It was the biggest group of members I have seen since the MTC.

We also had some good lessons this week, one of which was with an investigator who is quite open-minded. His name is Alexander and we had already taught him the Restoration. We were planning on teaching him the Plan of Salvation, but halfway through, Elder Rogers and I both thought we should talk about Baptism, and so we did. The spirit was really strong, and we were able to get some good discussions going about baptism, and faith. We found out that his life goal is to help other people, and so we were able to connect that to serving God by serving others. 

My main take away from this week is the importance of loving others. I tried to focus on doing things out of my love for other people, and I found myself working more efficiently and effectively. The spirit was a lot stronger and I enjoyed myself a lot more when I was contacting. You may be thinking that this principle is only applied to missionaries in the field, but I like how it is stated in Alma 34: 27-29: once we have prayed for forgiveness, and have cried unto the Lord for our support, we should always have our hearts drawn out in prayer for our own welfare and for the welfare of others. We need to focus on building up ourselves in order to improve, but in order to reach our fullest potential, we also need to focus on others.

You are all great.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

Pictures: Biking in the rain

A look at some Indian Food

The Mp3 I bought today for $3.75

Great Week, The End of Transfer 2 Week 1

This week marks the end of my 7th week in Malaysia: it seems so short and yet like such a long time. We saw some cool miracles this week and were able to have a pretty normal week in our area, after having so many consecutive weeks where we spent lots of time on exchanges or other uncommon activities.

The first miracle that I want to talk about happened at the beginning of the week. Last week, we were contacted by a former investigator who said that he wanted to meet! This almost never happens, and we had a great lesson with him. Part of the crazy thing is that when we went to call him to confirm our appointment, he beat us to it, and called us! He made sure that we hadn't forgotten, so that was pretty cool. 

Also, by way of other news, I was rained on for the first time since coming to Malaysia. I am not counting the 3 or 4 small drizzles that I experienced for like 5 minutes that didn't get me wet at all that happened during the first six weeks of my stay in Malaysia. Although I had witnessed many rain storms, all of them were in the morning, and so when we left in the afternoon, the ground was wet but we were perfectly dry. I consider my self a good luck charm - at least I did until this last week. It rained hard not once, but twice this week, and I am so grateful for that great experience :). I love seeing the look on peoples faces who drive past us on cars: two white boys wearing ponchos and riding bikes in the pouring rain, hopelessly searching for a certain street :). We ride through puddles that were probably 6 inches deep, and the "wake" that your front tire makes kicks up water on either side of you and completely soaks your shoes. Needless to say, when we stopped to walk around, I drained my shoes.

Another cool experience this week happened when we taught an investigator, who is the daughter of a less active member. The less active member is mostly less active due to her work, but she reads and prays everyday. Her daughter, who is also a mother,  speaks only Tamil (Indian language), Malay, and very little English. We used the scriptures and read together a part of 1 Nephi: 8. She read her scriptures in Malay and we read in English, taking turns and we explained the tree of life. She was really attentive, and with the help of some artistic additions to the lesson, a pretty crummy sketch of a tree and a path, I think that the message was conveyed pretty well. After the lesson, we asked if we could do anything to help their family. They asked us to give a blessing to our investigator's brother (not a member and speaks no English). He was having trouble sleeping, and so when I had the opportunity to give him a blessing, I was so grateful for the guidance of the spirit to help me to know what to say. Although he may not have understood a single word, I hope and believe that he felt the special spirit that was there.

The Church is True, and I am so grateful for the blessings of the knowledge that I gain from the restored Gospel. I am especially grateful for the lessons that I learn as I apply that knowledge in my life, which I am very imperfect at. But, as we taught in a lesson to a family in our branch this week, the Lord blesses the diligent. One of my favorite scriptures is D&C 58:26, and I know that verse 27 is a scripture mastery, but it is so important for us to be trying to be our best. We are looking to change, and to become better. I have seen so many blessings on my mission as I have decided to put my desire for perfection (or rather perceived perfection) to the side and decided to work hard, even though I knew that I would make mistakes. 

Sincerely

Elder Allen

Transfers End, Hospital Part 2, Area Seventy, More Exchanges

Hello Everyone, 

This week marks my sixth week in Malaysia, and therefore, the conclusion of one transfer. Transfer news came out today and it looks like Elder Rogers and I will stay in Klang, so that is fun! Our district had a few people move out though, and one of the Elders will be training - so I will probably see someone who was in the MTC with me for a short while.

This week was actually kind of an unusual week. Elder Rogers (and therefore I, as well) went on transfers on Tuesday and Wednesday. I stayed in Klang on Tuesday so was the "senior companion" for that day, I guess. It went ok :). Wednesday we had zone conference, and then I went to a different area on exchanges while Elder Rogers stayed in Klang. We went to visit the member that lives the farthest away in the other Elders Branch, and it took us three hours by train to get to her house. I see why they only visit her once a transfer.

On Thursday we went into the Pantai Hospital again for a follow up appointment for Elder Rogers (he had a kidney stone if you don't remember). We ended up staying there much longer than expected. But I had a cool experience where I got talking to a nurse ( a nice old lady in around 60) and got to share the message of the restoration on the spot! It was really cool. I also figured, while I was in Pantai, that excluding our apartment, that hospital is single most-hours-in building that I have been in since coming to Malaysia (including the church). We went in around 8:30 am and didn't leave till about 4:30 pm.

In our Branch, the President's father was less active due to cancer and being confined to his home. Elder Chan, who was an Area Seventy, passed away on Friday morning, so it was a tender time in our branch this weekend. Elder Rogers and I attended a service Friday night, and then the funeral on Saturday morning. There were other Area seventy that we saw, and Elder David F Evans spoke the concluding remarks on Saturday. A letter from the First Presidency was read, and on Friday night I met the first member of the Church in Malaysia. He told me that President Kimball had told him when he was a young man visiting that US that he needed to go back to Malaysia.

Well, Thanks for reading this email. I had a great time this week learning about how to be a better missionary, and we had some really great lessons this week. One thing that I have been thinking of lately is the importance of humility in the learning process. Pride truly limits our ability to grow, and in Alma 12:10 we learn that when we harden our heart, we receive a lesser portion of the word. When we are humble, we can turn our mistakes into learning opportunities, and so always be getting better - which is really all God requires of us.

The Church is true, and I feel the spirit confirming that to me frequently. Be true to your testimony and focus on what you do know, not what you don't.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

Pictures: Satay (?) not sure how to spell - the thing on the stick.

I carried a huge watermelon home in my shoulder bag (it was really heavy)

We ordered Pizza last P-day night - it was really good. 

New Investigators!

This week we had a lot of new investigators and it was really great to be able to teach people really simply about one of the core doctrines in the gospel. God is our Loving Heavenly Father. What a marvelous truth! I believe that Elder Holland said that the first great truth is that God loves us. I really like the scriptures in 2 Nephi 26 that talks about God's love. 2 Nephi 26:24 says: He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world. When we truly understand God's love, then everything else in the Gospel makes sense. It is a great and simple way to explain both the reason for prayer, how we should do it, and what it is.

This week I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with one of the Assistants to the President this week. We did a three sum so I was still with Elder Rogers, and we spent a lot of the day going to appointments with members, less actives, and investigators, and then contacting on the way. It is always good to see how other people contact, and it was especially fun to see Elder Harker show us good ways to contact, even when we are riding bikes! After our exchange, Elder Rogers and I have spent more time visiting members and less actives. This is consistent with the approach of the mission. We "mine the gold mine." This means that we focus on recent converts, less actives, members, investigators, and then contact on the way to an from those appointments.

There is not much other news, sorry... I took a picture of the lizard that was on our kitchen cabinets :) 

One thing that I have realized this week, more than others, is my many weaknesses. It is not really a sad thing, in fact, I think it is empowering to realize more what you fall short of. This week I have really felt an increased need to rely on the atonement of Christ. The blessings that follow relying on the Savior are immense, including increased friendliness when contacting, greater receptivity of the spirit, and being happier in general. 

I have a testimony of this Gospel. It has changed my life and the message contained in the scriptures and from the prophets are true. When we have faith, we can accomplish hard things and see miracles in our lives. The only hard thing is that it is sometimes hard to have faith, and to do things for the right reasons. But God blesses our efforts, so don't give up! I hope that you all have a great week!

[Note from Mary regarding their kitchen visitor: Nathan's apartment is on the 9th floor. Yikes.]

The Hospital

Hello everyone, the subject for this week's email comes from an unfortunate event that occurred late Friday morning. Elder Rogers and I were just finishing studies when his back started to hurt. He went to lay down and I made lunch for us both. It became clear that this was not just a passing pain, and Elder Roger's self-diagnosis was kidney stone. Long story short, we went to the hospital and Elder Rogers was indeed right, it was a kidney stone. This took a while to find out though, because they wouldn't let us be admitted until our insurance checked out, and so I had a hassle of trying to get the church's insurance to send in some information to the hospital. 

Luckily, it all worked out, and Elder Rogers had an procedure on Saturday, and we left the hospital Sunday at three. So, while this was happening, I would basically just read the Book of Mormon. On Saturday, some members came and I was able to go back to the apartment to get some things: like a change of clothes for us both. The members were really great to us and we got meals, snacks, and other things to make our stay more comfortable. I was especially grateful for the blankets, because after being told that the hospital didn't have a lazy chair sort-of deal, I slept on the ground, with the hospital and member's blankets for padding.

The worst part about all of this, however, was that we missed out on listening to General Conference. We are already watching it a week late, and this was the much anticipated weekend. I'm not sure when we will get to hear the talks, we might have to wait from the magazines (which take even longer because we have to wait for a missionary to come in from mission headquarters in Singapore). But, we do have a little bit of time on P-days, so feel free to send in some recommendations so that I can pick and choose what I want to read.

Other than that our week was pretty normal and pretty good. We had a small miracle this week where we were finally able to meet with a lady who was a referral from someone in a different area. It seems like she didn't really know the person who referred her, but because she felt like it was inspired, she decided to meet with us. Her name is Alisaa and she is new to Christianity and very open. Elder Rogers and I had planned to share the message of the Restoration, but after finding out about her life, she shared that her dad had recently died, and she had powerful experiences with God while that was going on. So, Elder Rogers and I both felt inspired to teach her the Plan of Salvation, and it went well! We also committed her to be baptized, so this is the first investigator that we have had on date since I have gotten to Malaysia!

Finally, I feel like I should explain the plethora of pictures that I sent from our Pday activity today. Elder Roger's past area's ward mission leader: Brother Ben, was visiting Klang and he took us away from the city and down to the "beach." What we were looking at was the Strait of Malacca and there were some run down play ground things, as well as a 'good fortune tree' (I'm not sure what to call it. Basically, it is a tree loaded with red ribbons that have washers on each end and the names of people, as well as a good fortune phrase written on it. You then throw that onto the tree (the higher it is, the more lucky you are). After that we did what everyone in the states wants to do: tour a rice factory. It was cool to learn about how they get white rice (fun fact, white rice has 5% of the nutrients that brown rice has - and both white and brown rice are the same plant- white is just more processed). The rice fields are beautiful, and the concrete buildings that dot the country are bird nests, because the birds eat the bugs that eat the rice.  

The Church is true, and God is our Heavenly Father. Omnipotent and loving. I am having great experiences with the atonement, as I learn each day how to be a better servant of the Lord, and to be more Christlike in general. The Book of Mormon is also true, and I know that we can find both comfort and guidance within it's teachings. I recently read about Abinadi talking to King Noah about Jesus Christ. Chapter 14 is beautiful (same as Isaiah 53) and I know that through Christ, we can conquer and fear, trial, or weakness. Missionary work isn't always easy, nor is it easy to have a good attitude, but it is worth it.

KL City Center, Zone Conference, Big Lizards

Hello Everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this email. I honestly have so much to write about because I got smart this week and recorded things that I wanted to talk about in my planner while they happened. I'll try to go quick though. I'll start off with some general cultural stuff that I have been meaning to include and then talk about some cool experiences during the week.

The first is about bike riding. I am in one of the few biking areas in my zone (only one other companionship) and it is probably because our appartment is not next to the city's center...and it is just spread out in general. When I first got here, I was not accustomed to riding so close to cars. There is basically no shoulder so we just ride and assume that the cars will make room for us as we go: Which they have so far. Overall the general rule seems that every traffic rule is really just a suggestion, and that you just yield to those who have more authority. There are tons of motorcyclists and they just weave in and out of cars.

Malaysia is pretty diverse ethnically with three main groups: Malay, Indian, and Chinese. All the Indians here speak Tamil, and I know about 10 words of Tamil now. The Chinese are very hard working and much more quiet. Both Malay and Indians are very friendly, but almost all Malay's are Muslim and so we cannot teach them. I am starting to be able to discern races of people pretty well. Another fun fact: almost every security guard is from Nepal and I have no idea why. Maybe there is only one business and they advertise exclusively in Nepal.

Now, onto the week. This week is marked by three significant events: Zone Conference, Exchanges with Zone Leaders, and then exchanges with the Elders near us. 

Zone conference was really good with the theme being repentance. After zone conference we went to KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) and had a picture scavenger hunt and watched the light show. We saw the Petronas towers and then I ended up contacting there the next day when I was on exchanges with the zone leaders. 

Highlights of the zone leader exchange included me correcting a Chinese man's Chinese (it was on accident, I was trying to clarify something but apparently he was saying it wrong) , and seeing one of the big lizards that are native to Malaysia... I am not sure what they are called but they are green and about 2.5 feet long. My zone leader also expressed to me the importance of looking at mistakes as learning opportunities- which I really liked because although I getting down on yourself can bring about hard work, it doesn't help you to share the gospel.

This is getting long so I'll end it quickly. I am loving it here in Malaysia and I am definitely still learning the culture. The people here are super nice and I have only just now started to notice yellowing on my shirts :). I am also learning more and more about how much I don't know, but the more I realize I don't know, the better I have become acquainted with the power of the atonement. We are all on a journey here, and as we try to progress, we will definitely make mistakes but we will learn to get better.

Pictures:

KLCC light show,

Patronas Towers,

Elder Rogers and I at KLCC

A typical Malaysian Mall: huge, nice, empty mall.

A picture made out of sand

Elder Hogan and I on Exchanges.

Some Schawarma I had.