Bintulu
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Tuesday, June 19th, 2007Old Elders Go, New Elders Come
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007Well, another transfer, and I am still in Bintulu, hehe. Here is a part of my letter to my mom:
“I remember the feeling of being at the start of Summer Vacation, and how carefree and happy I felt, haha. It always seemed as though the Summer would never end. but it would end eventually, of course. Fortunately, when the time came for school to start again, we were usually ready for it. I guess that’s how things go. Sometimes we just want to move on and to change a little. It’s kind of like a mission, too. When you first start an area, it feels like you will be there forever, but then when the time comes for you to transfer, you are kind of ready for a change. You are sad of course, because you have to leave all the people you love. But you are also happy because you get to meet lots of new people, and make new friends. If you are a good missionary, you never have any regrets when getting transferred. Speaking of transfers, we just had 3 elders get transferred from my district on the same day, so I am the only one left from the house. I spent most of Monday cleaning it. Elder Rowley went home, and Elder Godfrey and Fry were transferred. Now there is Elder Tan, who is my companion, and Elder King and Elder Tai (I knew him from KL). Elder Tan is cool. He’s already been in this area before, but only for 1.5 months. Still, many of the members remember him. He is from Johor Bahru, West Malaysia, is Chinese, and about 28-30 years old, not sure exactly. He is fluent in Malay and Chinese, so he is a big help. Elder King just came in from Singapore, and Elder Tai just came from Colombo, Sri Lanka. So now the house is full again. I’m the District Leader again, so I have to keep on giving trainings and such things, reporting and being responsible. Boring… haha. We had two baptisms last week, Alex and Dony. They are both really good young men. Dony is 21, and Alex is 15. They are both really strong in the faith now, and ready to become future missionaries some day. Monday, Alex came to help us teach, and he is such a good teacher already, even though he had just been confirmed the day before.”
We are also having another baptism this weekend, so I am excited about that. I have about 10 weeks left on my mission now, so I am going to make the most of it and work my hardest these last weeks. I hope that I will be able to help lots of people with the remaining time I have. Anyways, I guess I’ll go now. Here’s some pics from the last week:
Write me letters if u love me^^ Hehe
Elder Rowley’s Last Week
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007We went to the waterfall today, cause it is Elder Rowley’s last week of his mission. There is a big transfer coming up too. I hope that I will be able to stay here also. I wanna stay here til the end of my mission, cause I love Bintulu. We will be having some baptisms this Saturday, and we will be having a few more this month also, so we are excited about that. Elder Rowley is pretty trunky, haha. I have a couple other projects I’m working on, but they are still rahsia sahaja, jadi jangan rasa cemburu, hehe. Hmmm, mungkin saya boleh guna Bahasa Melayu sahaja supaya hanya orang dari malaysia boleh faham apa saya taip, hehe.
Well, I’ll let you know more next week, ok?
This is quoted from my email to my mom that I wrote, I was too tired to write it again:
“I know that my mission is awesome, I actually firmly believe it is the best mission in the world. I feel like I’ve gotten to meet so many awesome people, experience so many different cultures and lands, and learn different languages too. The work is going really well also. The ‘field is white, already to harvest’ (D&C 4) in this part of the Lord’s vineyard. We have lots of amazing investigators right now. One of them, Nguti, is the 21 y/o daughter of Maja, a less active member who lives in the block farthest from the church (but still only a 5-minute walk away). Every time I went to see him, his daughter answered the door, told us that he wasn’t there, but invited us in. We couldn’t go in without a man in the house too, so we would just set a return appointment and come back the next week, when the same thing would happen again. But every time I spoke to hear, I always got the impression that she was prepared by the Lord.
One day, we were going by her house, when I got the impression to stop by and say hi. Maja was gone, she told us. On a whim, I invited her to come to church the next day with us. She seemed a little shy, but I smiled and said not to worry, we would be with her to introduce her and explain things go her. To my surprise, she agreed, and smiled for the first time. We agreed to come get her in the morning.
The next morning, we went to get her. She was asleep. Great, another failed attempt, I thought. But to my surprise, she jumped up, said ’sekejap’ then ran to get ready. We waited til she was ready. She asked if she could bring her mother’s Kitab Mormon to church, to which I whole-heartedly agreed. She was so excited to be going to church!
At church, I was prompted to sit her with Lembong’s wife, Sister Pantai, instead of sitting with her as I had originally intended. (There are no 21 y/o women in the church to fellowship her). After Sacrament meeting, I found out that Lembong’s family were good friends with Maja’s family, and Sister Pantai was the perfect fellowshipper! Wow, that was cool. Nguti looooved church. She made lots of friends and learned a lot. I set up a time to meet her that Thursday.
When I went to see her, I was on exchanges with one of the young men in the Branch. I taught the first lesson about the Restoration. It was going really well, and the spirit was really strong. She is incredibly smart, and asked some good questions. She understood everything. At the end, I felt impressed to invite her to be baptized. I asked her if she believed what I had taught her. She said she felt it was true. I said a silent prayer and then extended the invitation, asking her if she wanted to follow Christ and be baptized in His church. To my surprise, she immediately said ‘Yes!’ and was so happy! We set a date, and she was way excited! Ever since then, she has been a golden investigator.
Here are some pics from this week:
Pergi ke Sebauh
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007Well, this week we went to Sebauh for Gawai. It was a ton of fun. We went to Tok and Nani’s Longhouse, some of our recent converts. They are a really cool family, and we got to spend the day with them. We ate their Iban traditional foods and watched them sing and dance and get drunk (alcohol is a big part of this Iban holiday. In fact, everywhere we went, we were almost forced to drink, because it is a part of their culture. But we of course turned it down and sweet talked our way out of it. It’s kind of scary when they are holding a sword and are drunk and the whole long house is watching too.). So anyways, it was a real experience. We also got the chance to go out on the songket and paddle around on the sungai. It was a ton of fun, but kind of scary, because the boat is really very shakey and we almost capsized numerous times. Haha. Elder Rowley has the worst balance in the world. One time we had to paddle upstream on the big river. It was so HARD! We went about 200 yards in 2 hours! One time we couldn’t stop laughing, so we drifted back about 25 feet because we couldn’t paddle. We paid for that one sorely, cause we got tons of blisters on our hands. Blisters where blisters had already torn off. We went to a Chinese Buddhist Temple on an island. The locals told us the legend. Translated, it goes something like this: There was a man who had a huge boat. In those days they used to boil cats until they turned to a rubbery paste, then eat them. Well, they were going down the stream in the boat, and they were boiling a cat. The cat started to jump around, and so all the people in the boat laughed. They laughed and they laughed. In Iban culture it is really bad luck to laugh very hard. They were laughing and laughin, except one, who admonished them to stop. They wouldn’t stop, so it started to rain. Really hard. And they kept on laughing. Then all of them turned to stone, except the one guy, and the ship sunk. The guy escaped, and later built the temple on the island created by the boat. That’s it. It is in the shape of a boat, but I don’t believe it.
Anyways, we also went to a Chinese Cemetery, which was pretty cool too. WE also got to see an Iban Wedding, but it was in a really rich longhouse. Most of the people there were graduates from college and could speak english, and they were really rich in comparison to other Ibans. The wedding was pretty cool. We had to go back up the street at night time, in the dark, and people were all saying there were lots of crocodiles there. So it was pretty scary. But we got home in one piece, but pretty sunburnt. IT was a lot of fun.
Most of our members are gone to gawai right now. Basically it is like their Christmas. It is the harvest festival, when everybody returns to their home for about 1 to 2 weeks, gets really drunk, dances and sings, tells stories, and gives gifts. It is a lot of fun for them. So most of our members are gone back to their kampungs, or original hometowns. Bintulu is practically empty now, and the flats, our area, is silent. There isn’t much to do, so we went home with them! Haha, but only the ones that were close by.
Well, that’s about it I guess. Church attendance was dismal, maybe 20 people came, including the white people (6).
Well, here’s some pictures for ya’ll. And I’ll try to post a video or two.
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| Sebauh, the Long-House |
And here’s the SlideShow: (this is a new experiment from me!)
Video of an iban dancing the traditional dance of Ngajat
On the way to the longhouse, where the wedding was:
Arriving at the longhouse:
Paddling in the River:
Zone Conference in Kuching
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007Well, I just got back from Zone Conference this morning, and so I am still pretty tired. It was in Kuching again. I have flown back and forth from there so often now, it is not even a new thing anymore. It was a really good one though, because I was able to see the Waterfront again, and I got to see all the Iban shops, haha. The Trainings were really good as well, and really got us pumped up for the work here. Elder Rowley, my companion, spent a lot of money on souvenirs cause it is his last one, he goes home in 3 weeks. I bought a T-Shirt, but I’m not too worried about souvenirs cause I am pretty sure I will be staying here til the end of my mission, haha. We went on exchanges with the 1st branch elders. It was good, it was in the same area I went last time. Here are some pics and here are some videos too:
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| Bintulu and Kuching Zone Conference |
Gawai Party
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007Well, another week has come and gone, and I am still in Bintulu haha. Well, it’s ok, I like it here.
I am doing well. We did find some new investigators, including one named Alex. He is a 15 year old kid, but he is way samrt and super golden. He dreamed about us before he met us, and he said when we contacted him, he felt something stirring within him telling him we had something important to tell him. He is awesome. We set a baptism date for him and he came to church and seminary, and already has lots of friends already. He is so cool. We also were able to set 5 other baptism dates this week, it was really cool to see all the ways the Lord has blessed us here. I know that this church is true.
We had a party yesterday for our Branch. We celebrated Hari Gawai Dayak. It was a really big party. It’s like Christmas for these people. There was tons of food, and singing, and dancing, and Ngajat, and lots of people came. A lot of fun altogether. I got to dance the Ngajat also. I uploaded a bunch of pics and I took a lot of videos, so I will try to upload those sometime. I have so many videos I need to upload, but it takes so long to upload them, I often don’t have time. Maybe today I’ll upload a few.
I will be going to Kuching this next Monday for Zone Conference. It will be a lot of fun, it always is. Anyways, I will try to finish the maps for Sri Lanka, Singapore and here, then I will post them with the pics. Here is the pics for this week:
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| Gawai Party |
The Trek to the Waterfall
Tuesday, May 15th, 2007Well, this week, we went to find the waterfall with some of the youth in the second branch. It was this morning actually. It was a lot of fun. It had rained just last night, and so there was lots of mud and water. It was a blast. It actually rained a little in the morning too, so our youth at first didn’t want to go. But we went and gathered up a large group of them, and lots of them came. We had most of our youth, actually, at least most of the active ones, and even a few investigators. It was good. I took a ton of pics and videos, it’s a good thing I just bought a new 2 gb card in Singapore. So I had plenty of space. It rained a little, so my camera got wet, then the youth splashed me a lot when i was taking videos, so it got soaking wet, but amazingly, it still works. I was really happy it does. The youth were all asking us why we couldn’t come and swim with them, and I was severely tempted to swim anyways, but of course I didn’t, haha. They were all jumping off of the waterfall and it looked so much fun, haha. Oh well. I hope all of you enjoyed the map I posted last week, I am planning to do the same thing for Sri Lanka and for Singapore later, along with a link to all of the pics for that area. Just give me some time…. Haha. Anyways, that’s about all we did this week, so now here’s the pics… I’ll post some videos too.
Pics:
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| Bintulu – Trek to Waterfall |
VIDEOS:
Bintulu, Building a Long House
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007Well, this week was pretty cool, but also very tiring. News from home is good, and everyone is healthy, despite some accidents. Tyler is good in France, he sent me a short letter, which really brightened my day. The work here in Sungai Plan is really going well, but we are also really working hard also. There is a lot of things that need work, and our members need lots of help also. I am pretty sure that this is the most stressful area I’ve ever been in, and on top of that, I have to learn a language, haha. Actually two languages. Well, Speaking of the language, my Malay is really improving. I am finally feeling like I can say what I need to say to get my point across, and can more freely express myself. It’s like the wall of the language barrier is coming down. I am still with Elder Rowley. We are getting along ok. Elder Leo came down yesterday, so he is staying with us too. He is a cool guy, I’ve known him for most of my mission, and now he’s going home next week. Wow, really makes me feel like I’m getting old. This morning, we played soccer with the youth from Branch 2 and 3, in the mud and rain. It was really a ton of fun! We got all mussy, and then afterwards, we had a mud fight. It was really fun, but I was blinded for awhile cause I got so much mud in my eyes. Too bad. Me and Elder Rowley have been really tired from all the running around we’ve been doing. Plus, we are starting to get to be ‘old’ missionaries (Rowley is done in 2 months, me in 4) and so we just don’t have the energy we used to, haha. Plus, we’ve had to get up early many days just to have time to do the things we wanted to do. It is kinda ghetto. But still good.
Yesterday, we went to Tatau, about an hour away, to help them build a long house. We had to get up at 5:30. Bleh. I am going to die. For those of you who don’t know, our mission goes to bed at 11 and rises at 7, so it is different from most missions (10:30 and 6:30). Well, the long house building was really fun, and also a lot of work. But I was really glad we went. We got back from that and were really tired again, haha. What to do.
And then tomorrow I am going on a Visa run to Singapore with Elder Stevenson. I am so excited! I want to go see all of the members that I used to know, and the people I baptized. I am way happy to get to go back. It will be from Thursday morning til Friday night, so hopefully, I will have enough time. Well, I guess I better go now, got lots of things to do today. I love and miss all of you! Check out my pics this week:
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| Bintulu – Tiada Jalan |
Bintulu with Rowley
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007Well, this week, I am still alive, so that is good. It was my first week with Elder Rowley. He is a pretty funny guy, so we get along fine. He likes to play practical jokes. So we are always joking. Well, this week there was some pretty cool stuff that happened. Kristy, a recent convert, brought three of her friends from school and we taught them. We watched the Restoration, and one of them, Tani, started crying because she felt the spirit. So that was cool. They all came to church. On Sunday, it was really wild, more irreverent than usual, so Elder Rowley was losing his mind. It was pretty funny. Not much new this week. I bought a guitar. It is really cool. I will take a picture of it. I’d like to thank my family for that, it was my Birthday Present, hehe. I am slowly learning. My fingers hurt a lot, haha. I got a package from Edlina, from Singapore. Thanks Edlina! And I also got one from my mom and family, thanks! And I got a card from Vinuri, from Sri Lanka, and a letter from Sharon, from Hawaii, so I was rally grateful fro all that mail. It really makes a missionary’s day. I will write all of you back, I promise. Just give me a little time, hehe. Oh yeah, my brother, Tyler, is now officially in France on a mission. I forget the town, but it is in Northern France I think. So cool. He is going to have a blast. No videos today, I have to upload the ones from Sri Lanka.
Oh yeah, I am going on a Visa run next week to Singapore, so I plan to see all the cool people in Singapore, like Edlina, Nancy, Yee Hung, and Romesh. And also all the cool families in the Woodlands ward. So if I drop by your house on The 3rd or 4th, don’t be too surprised, ok? Hehe
Til next week^^
My Pics for this week:
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| Bintulu – With Rowley |
Elder Moto has Gone, Elder Rowley has Come
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007Well, this week I lost my companion, Elder Mortensen. It was hard to see him go, cause we have been together since the MTC, and this was probably the last time I would see him on a mission, cause he has to go home a week earlier than me so that he can go to school. So that is sad. He had been here for 6 months plus, so he had done his time here. I went with Elders Godfrey and Fry that day to their Kampung. It was a good day. The next day I got Elder Rowley, also a very cool elder, that I’ve known for quite a while. I actually went on exchanges with him in KL and in Singapore. So I am excited to have him. He goes home in 2 months, so this is his last stop. Hmmm.. the internet is going really slow now, so I will just have to type more while I wait. Today we went to the beach to play some beach volleyball. The sand was really hot. We didn’t have a net, so we dug some holes in the sand, stuck in some large branches, and tied a ribbon to it. Quite good actually. It was a lot of fun. We won! Yay!
My brother now is in France. He is just starting out, probably in Paris right now. He is going to have the adventure of a lifetime. I hope he can get permission to read this, but if not, maybe I can just email him this each week.
Well, I am going to upload a lot of videos from Sri Lanka in an effort to put all my Sri Lanka stuff on my blog. It is a new thing I am doing to have each of my old areas. I already uploaded all the pics, but the videos are slower. I will post it probably next week, then KL maybe a couple weeks later, then Singapore. That is my plan.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am learning Jawi… It is really cool. I can read and write it now. It used to be Malaysia’s main written language before they used the Roman Alphabet. It looks like this:
Here are some pics from this week:
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| Beach Volleyball and Elder Moto Leaving |
And here is a video of me going through the Kampung with Elder Godfrey and Elder Goreng:
And here is another video of us at the Beach: