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 :)