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.