Archive for July, 2007
Wow, my last month is here
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007Well, it is now the 1st of August, my last full month on my mission. It is crazy. I can almost feel the time slipping through my fingers. I must admit, that it’s kinda hard not to think about it when I’m not doing anything, but when I keep busy, its easy. So my plan is just to keep busy, so that I won’t think about it too much. I really am having a good time here. I feel like I’m finally able to speak more in Iban now that I push myself to use it. The problem is that most of our people understand Malay, and so sometimes I get lazy and just use Malay, but I have been really trying to speak more Iban, to improve my speed and fluency. Many of our members and investigators are really shocked when they see me speaking in Iban. Still, it is a real struggle and I have to concentrate really hard to do it, and sometimes when I don’t know a word I just use Malay, and it feels like I’m going back to English when I go back to Malay from Iban, because I feel like I can say so much more with Malay. It is a wierd feeling. Anyways, I really love to learn languages and I really love to teach the gospel to these people. It is amazing to see the light of understanding come on in their eyes when they finally grasp a concept. And it is good to be able to understand Iban cause now I can tell if there is a problem that they are too embarrassed, afraid or shy to tell us, because I can understand what they say to eachother. Also, I can understand the talks at church now, which is really cool. But I only have 1 month left, so I am really going to push and try to learn it much better while I still have the chance.
This week I was a little sick with a fever and sore throat, and generally just tiredness. But I still kept working and going. Yesterday my friend Elder Tai was really sick with something, and so the other elders decided to let me stay with him instead of his companion so I could rest and regenerate my strength and health. It was really good. Especially since today our P-Day is very busy, because we will be helping someone move house and don’t have any time to rest today.
We had some baptisms, which was really cool. Elder Tan and I were really concerned about our Branch last week because so many of our members are going less active and/or not staying for all of church. And no one wants to do their calling! So we really studied and prayed about this, and we fasted too. In the end, we came up with some ideas that will really help the branch, first and foremost, getting the Home Teaching Program going. So we got materials, supplies, and met with the Elders Quorum President (also a Recent Convert of 1 year) and discussed with him what could be done, and volunteered our help. He got really excited about it and he made the Home Teaching Assignments that night. So now we are getting things going. We also went and met with lots of our members when we had time in between teaching investigators and encouraged them to Endure to the End, fulfill their callings, and keep the Sabbath Day Holy. It was really a week of rebuking, but it really paid off when we went to church. So many people came, and stayed the whole time! We also had 10 investigators come, and I taught the Asas-Asas Injil (Gospel Principles) class. It was really good cause there were so many people there, and everyone is more excited now. Excited to do their callings, and to help others around them. We have some more baptisms this weekend, and the weekend after that, and after that too, up until I leave. So we have a lot of work we need to do.
Hmmmm… What else to say. How about I tell you a little about the culture here? Basically, Ibans are descendants of a warrior tribal race, who have lived and hunted in the forests of Borneo for thousands of years. The have shamans and worship many different gods of the forest, mountains, spirits and such things. They are highly superstitious. They hunted heads up until about the 1970s, and thus are known as ‘head-hunters’. You still can see the skulls at some long houses. They loooove to drink their home-made alcohol, and most also smoke, which are major problems when we teach them. They are generally very friendly and very kind and hospitable. Most of the people I teach are Ibans who have moved into the flats from wherever else they were previously (usually a long house or kampung somewhere out in the jungle). We sit on the floor for every appointment, hard tile floor, although some of them do own couches. We still sit on the floor though of theirs. I have calluses on my ankles from this now, haha. They love to drink Milo (like Hot Chocolate) and eact biscuits (crackers). Many of them that are in the flats are already Christian, but many are also still Agama Iban (Traditional Iban Belief). They have many customs and traditions, but it is beginning to be lost, because of the lack of a uniform written language. Iban books (what few there are) always use different words and different spellings for most words. This is largely because the Ibans in different areas speak different dialects of Iban. There are about 9 main dialects, and many different variances. This is because of the river systems. Ibans live on the main rivers, so they speak differently throughout Sarawak and Sabah. There are also other smaller tribes scattered about, and we sometimes run into some of them. Among them are the Kayan, Kenya, Bedayu, Kadazan, and Milanau. There are many more also. Scattered among these are also some Malay Islams and some Chinese Buddhists. That is the area I work in.
Okay, that’s about it for today, I’ll try to make a list this week of things I can write next week, so stay tuned, ok?
I love all of you, and miss you all too!
Hmm
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007Well, the picture upload option is still down, sorry guys. Anyways, here is another update from Bintulu:
Zone Conference was great, but I found out at the end that it will be my last one! I guess this came as kind of a shock to me because I still have 1.5 months left. I had to get up and bear my ‘last testimony’. I never thought that this day would come. I can’t remember exactly what I said, just talked about how much the mission has changed my life, and all the cool people I got to meet. I really do love my mission. I am staying well, a little under the weather, but I think I just need to rest. Hmmm… sorry short today, but I am feeling kinda tired. I’ll write more for next week, sebagai ganti. Hmmm, mungkin saya boleh cakap bm saja, lebih baik saya fikir sebab tiada orang yang boleh faham itu. Tapi saya malas dan letih, jadi mungking saya akan pergi sekarang….
Zone Conference in Miri and Visa Run to Singapore! BUSY
Tuesday, July 17th, 2007Well, this week was pretty hectic. I had to go on a Visa Run to Singapore with Elder Tan. It was really fun though. We got up at 6 am. We left early Monday morning (which meant I had to finish my reporting by Sunday night, what a pain!) and we went to the Airport. We flew into Kuching, then switched planes and went to Singapore. It felt like I was going home, haha. No one was there at the airport to pick us up, but we both knew Singapore (I was here for 7 months and Elder Tan used to study here) so we just took the MRT into town. Luckily, I still had my Touch Card. We went to the office to pick up some supplies and say hi to people, then we went out to Sim Lim so I could copy some CDs, print some pictures, and eat lunch. The craziest thing happened: Elder Tan met his brother, randomly. He just came up to him and they started talking and shook hands, I just assumed it was someone he knew from school or something, but then he asked me to take a picture and said “This is my brother”! Crazy! If I met my brother randomly on the street, I’d do a lot more than just shake his hand! Anyways, we ate then went to see some of the people I knew. We went to see Stephen Lai and his family. They are soo awesome! I love them! When I knocked on the door, I didn’t recognize the person who answered the door, and timidly asked “Is this the Lai’s?” Haha, it was their oldest daughter who was in BYU when I was in Singapore. They invited us in and we chatted for awhile, and I took pictures of their family. Their oldest daughter is going on a mission on the 5th to Taiwan, the same day I am going home, weird, huh? And Abish is going to BYU this August. She is so cool too. I hope she does well there. Bro. Lai is really a cool guy, he works for the CES department and he is really busy. He gave us $20 to go eat dinner! He’s so nice! We spent it at Subway the next day. Mmmm.
We then went to see Nancy and Alan Thong’s family, but neither were home, so we stopped by Derrick Chua’s place to say hi. He invited us in and we chatted and swapped deep doctrine ideas, then took some pictures and then headed home for the night. I stayed at the Seasons Park, the same place I stayed the entire time I was in Singapore, so it brought back a lot of memories. We left the next morning after studies and went straight to the Airport via MRT. We flew to Kuching, then changed planes again to go to Bintulu. It occured to me that it might be my last time I fly into Bintulu.
We got home about 5:15 pm and put our stuff at home, then went out to see some people. We were both really tired by the end of the day, and so we went right to sleep after we got back.
The next morning, we had to get up at 5:30 am and get ready for the Zone Conference. We took a bus here to Miri. It is the first time I’ve been to Miri. I plan to go see someone special. We are going to stay at the elders’ house here, which is a really nice apartment. They even have maids clean twice a week! Crazy! Anyways, I gotta go. The picture upload isn’t working here at this Cyber Cafe, so I’ll have to put them up next week.
Another Week goes by…
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Well, I didn’t go on my last Visa Run yet, that will be next week. I will fly there monday, come back tuesday, then take a bus to Miri on Wednesday for Zone Conference, and won’t get back til Thursday night. I am not so trunky yet, but I do see the date looming into view. But don’t worry, I haven’t slacked off my strength in working or anything like that. If anything, I have only increased my strength and diligence. I’m determined to stuff as much Missionary Work into these last few weeks as I possible can. I remembered hearing a story about Mike Wilson about how he played the guitar for someone and taught them a lesson. I had much the same experience this week. I bought a guitar about 2 months ago for my birthday and have been practicing about every chance I get. I love guitar, and I am not sure why I never tried to learn it earlier. I have already made a few songs, mostly soft and soothing acoustic ones. Anyways, last night I was at an appointment with a family, and we were teaching them the Plan of Salvation because their grandpa had just passed away. It was the first time they had heard it and so it as a little bit tense, but the lesson went well. We invited them for baptism and they were very unsure, so we kind of let it drop. I noticed that they had a guitar in the corner, so I asked if I could try, and they agreed. I played one of the songs I had been working on, which I didn’t have any words made for yet. I was inspired to sing my testimony in Malay to them (they aren’t Iban, they are Kayan). It turned out really nice, and it seemed to match the tempo and it even rhymed a little. “Saya tahu gereja ini betul, sebab Nabi Joseph Smith benar. Bapa di Syurga sayang semua kita, dan mahu kita menjadi gembira. Saya pun tahu Rancangan ini benar, dan Yesus mahu kita ikut dia. Terima Kasih, Yesus!” After wards, everyone was just quiet. It wasn’t a loud type of song, just a soft one. After awhile, we asked if we could say a prayer and then when we went to leave, they asked “Mana satu hari kamu boleh datang lagi? Kami mahu kamu datang! When can you come back? We want you to come back!” We told them we could come again on Thrusday, and they agreed, and said “Tapi kamu mesti main lagu itu lagi! And you have to play that song again!” It was so cool. Anyways, that was my highlight for this week, that and when Nguti asked if she could give a talk in church. She has only been baptized for two weeks! She is so good!
Not much else is new I guess. I went on exchanges with Elder Nixon and Elder King to train them a little. Time keeps on slipping by like a dream…
Here’s some pics for this week:
The 4th of July
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Warga Bintulu, kita merayakan hari kemerdekaan kita, yang dibayar oleh darah, dan air mata para pendahulu kita!
There’s some Malay for ya. Well… I am still alive, haha. But I am feeling older and older now as time goes by. I have less weeks left than my companion has months being on his mission. My bag is just now starting to break down. Maybe I’ll have to get a new one, especially since they are so cheap here in Bintulu. You can go to the Pasar and buy one for maybe $4-10 USD. My tooth also is breaking. A big chunk of it fell out last year when I was in Kuala Lumpur, but it didn’t start hurting til just now. Maybe I’ll have to go see a dentist. I brush every morning and night, so don’t worry. I am going on a Visa Run on the 16th and 17th to Singapore, which will be my last one of my mission. I’ve only had 4 so far, so I’ll only have had 5 my whole mission. I’m excited to go back to Singapore, maybe I will get to see all of the people I knew there.
Me and Elder Tan are still keeping very busy. Every day I come home more and more tired, and more and more busted. I am keeping my morale up though. I love being here in Bintulu, and I love the people here. I’m glad that I can speak the language more easily now, and I’m learning more and more Iban every day.
Today was the 4th of July, and we had a celebration over at the Hintze’s house, one of the couples here. We had a barbecue and played volleyball and listened to the National Anthem and such. It was really touching and a lot of fun too. I am so grateful for the people who have sacrificed for us, so that we can have the freedom that we enjoy today. Especially when you think of all the places in the world now that don’t have the same freedom or rights that we can enjoy back home. I love the USA.
Well, that’s about all I have to write.
Oh yeah, I decided that I would write a spiritual highlight from each week, so here is the one this week:
“Nguti, the young lady who I baptized on the 23rd of June, was sustained last sunday (June 30) as the new Young Women’s President! I was so shocked when President Lembang announced it, and she accepted and everything! She has only been baptized a week! Haha. Her family is less active, but she is so strong and good! She had to totally change her life to be baptized and follow Christ, but now she is awesome. Me and her have a lot in common, actually, so it’s easy to relate. She is 21 and the oldest. So that’s cool. She has also read most of the Book of Mormon already, even though she’s only been reading for about a month.
Joe also was extended a calling to become the Branch Librarian. That was so cool to see! I baptized him too!”
Pics this Week: