Berlin Family Reunion

This year my family was in charge of hosting The Berlin Family Reunion. Here are few of my favorite pictures...It was a weekend of Fun and lasting memories at the cabin.

The Five of Us Kids.

Our Chicken cookoff... Judges - top, 1st Place - middle, 2nd Place - Bottom Left & 3rd Place - Bottom Right

Shotgun Shooting

Lorraine and Coleman

Cooper's big purchase at the Auction...He was so proud!

Mom, Grandma, & Great Grandma

Nick the winner of the Shotgun shooting competition

Brian and Landon

The Man with the Golden Gun

Jeff, Ben, & Landon

Daren, Jeff, Brandy and Brian having a good time

Misty, Milton, & Heather

Caden

Little Brian

Brian cooking their chicken for the Chicken Cookoff

Minute to Win It Games...

with the little kids too

Carter getting his feet washed...they were only just a little dirty!

The End...

Training in Singapore

Hey Everyone,

Well I am in Singapore and we kinda get a p-day or what you can call a p-day. Since we had training in the mornings and appointments at night so, pretty much from 2-5ish we have a p-day. We have been learning lots of things and most of it I have already been trying to do but, I am still learning quite a bit.

We had some appointments last night with a home teacher and we went and saw less actives and part member families. The first family we saw was a Singaporean man and his Indonesian wife and their two super cute kid’s ha-ha… they were awesome. The husband is a member and the family is not. We came at great time because it was his daughter’s birthday and she turned 6 and was super happy and still was a little shy because I was there. But, I talked to the wife a bit and the husband and we challenged them to have family home evening every night and so they were pretty happy to do so. We shared about how it will help strengthen them as a family. Then we talked a bit about how the gospel blesses families and the wife was down on learning about the gospel so the missionaries who serve here are pretty happy for some people to teach. Crazy part is she is Muslim Indonesian and she is down to learn so we’ll see how it goes. One thing that really opened the family up that we learned in training that day was about singing songs in the lessons. We asked the little girl which songs she knew and it was Amazing Grace and I am a Child of God so we sang them both and the spirit was super strong. That family was awesome and has a lot of potential.

We also taught a Singaporean and his main land China wife and they were cool. We also talked about families with him. He has been a member for almost 20 years but, is less active and is having family problems. So we talked to him about family and then focused a lot on prayer and seeking Gods help and advice in what to do with his family. He didn't remember how to pray so we taught him again and then he prayed and it was a way spiritual moment. The member was super happy with what we did and those people at least felt the spirit and that is what we hope will bring them back.

The whole focus of this new training is to teach through the spirit and to help your investigators learn and grow through the spirit. Basically teach people and not lessons. The way I think of it is it’s not 1 size fits all lesson and that’s how I have rolled this

whole time. But, sometimes you forget that and you need a slap in the face to get back into gear ha-ha but, things are awesome.

Last week we went out and saw Oscar and Christian two Nigerian brothers who have been coming to church for quite some time and we had taught a couple of times. We put both of them on date and they are awesome and ready as long as they keep it up. We had been using what we learned in these training videos called the District 2 and it works really well and our teaching is improving so hopefully this should work. But we taught them and they are cool.

Sammy we also taught again and finally got him down to church and he is doing well the Branch President helped him to understand the difference between Islam and Christian and so his mind about his girlfriend is all OK. He is doing well. Those are the 3 people we have on baptism date... the sad part is I am having to pass them all to Elder Carter and Elder Thurman so we will have a big whooping 0 on dates.... we’re going to have to start over finding more new people to teach and then get them on dates.

Maria also came to church for the 2nd week in a row and I am not sure how or what changed but, she is doing awesome and I am super happy. We also have a 1/2 Chinese 1/2 Bidayuh investigator and she is cool, named Rina. She is doing awesome we taught her some more last week and she read the Book of Mormon and had quite a bit of questions and she is cool just need to help her get work off so she can come to church.

We are also teaching Devid from Nepal and his friend Assisah and they are cool but, their work schedule keeps ruining it for us. When we met with them this week they said they can't make it to church because they are working morning shift... but, we will get them so how. They are keeping other commitments and doing awesome.

Lina was baptized last week and is still doing super well. She was so happy the next day when we saw her she bought us dinner and gave us so much food. She is such a sweet lady and she has a ton of people she wants us to meet so we just need to follow up and teach them.

We also have a Tamil lady who we met and every time she just wants us to join her pyramid scheme.... :/ ayo so annoying but, what to do. We also followed Elder Merrill last week a lot because his companion wasn't in yet so we were in his area a lot.

Also basically after September 18 wherever you are at, is where you will serve. It is not a mission split as everyone is calling it. In the letter I just received it is just two sub missions under one mission. So keep me in your prayers that I will have the opportunity to serve in Sabah, I really would love to serve there so we will see what happens. I also finally got Scott’s letter and the Nielsen’s letter. I also got the package you guys sent so I will hopefully get the goods back into Malaysia.

Keep me in your prayers about serving in Sabah. I am probably in KL until October some time and then we will see.

Elder Watkins

Our Summer days are gone as School begins...

This is how I feel about going Back to School too...Somehow it doesn't matter if they are going into Kindergarten or a Junior in High School...it is always hard to see them go back to school. I agree with the kids... Summer vacation is too short.

So long to our summer days...this background picture has been on my desktop all summer...I don't have it in me to change yet...maybe after Labor Day.

The whole neighborhood is different today...my walk is really quiet with no sounds of children outside playing. Even the air is cool on a normally hot day in August...at least the kids can wear their new school clothes on the first day without dieing from the heat. My mom always wrote "Hooray" on the calendar on the first day of school to begin...maybe it was because she had five kids!!! I don't think she puts that on her calendar anymore :)

Check this out...Guess where it's at???

If you guessed Singapore you're right. This resort opened this past June. My sister-in-law that sent this to us thought Nathan could make us some reservations to stay there when we go pick him up ha-ha!!!

Don't look down: A guest swims in the infinity pool of the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers - 55 stories over the city of Singapore

To infinity... and beyond! The pool stretches 150 metres, three times the length of an Olympic swimming pool

The view over the side: An artist's impression shows the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers, including the infinity pool

The resort from across the bay. The three towers were based on a deck of cards

Lina gets Dunked =)

Elder Thurman, Elder Watkins, Eder Wong, Lina & Elder Rathnayake

Lina's Baptism

Hey Everyone,

Well things here are same old, same old except for the Singapore trip on this Sunday. We have been teaching lots of people here some are keeping up and others are not so much ha-ha.

Lina was baptized this Sunday and it went super well. Eder baptized her and she was super happy. She told us that after she was baptized she felt super awesome and saw a bright light. Then today about 5 minutes ago she texted us and said I believe this church to be true 100% and thanks for teaching her about the gospel. She also is going to turn out to be quite the referral machine she keeps telling us about people she can bring. She already brought her friend KC who is from Nepal and actually he speaks really good English and he really wants to learn. So we will have to get them all taught. She was super awesome and it all came to pass because of a member referral.

Last week Wang Song a recent convert, we taught him about the priesthood and baptism and he got super excited to baptize someone, so he brought his friend Ma Xim Ling to be taught last week and he is awesome. They both came to church on Sunday and we taught him about the 2nd lesson and about baptism. He said he wants to be baptized but, as of right now he will only be in Malaysia for a couple more weeks if he doesn't decide to come to school here.

We also got a referral from Sister Rosemary another Indonesian sister here it was her boyfriend Lwin from Myanmar he’s pretty cool. He is Buddhist and just wanted to learn more. So I told him this church can answer many questions of his soul and then explained the Joseph Smith Story. At the end I said I know this church can help you and he then said, “can this church tell me what happens after I die?" I said yes and gave him an answer and he was super excited. So I hope everything will work out well with him.

We are also teaching a Nigerian named Oscar who is doing well. He believes that this church can save his soul and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. So he is doing well. He has already come to church 9 times. Five times before he was taught because he went to the KL branch and not our branch and the sister took some time to pass him to us.

Maria came to church again and it went super well. It was nice to have her at church and to help her get some more spiritual confirmation. We went to teach her on Monday and set her on date but, low and behold some crazy question came up, it was how we were angels and stuff before earth and angels after we die and it was just super crazy I can't even explain the question to you guys but, it basically took over the lesson and it didn't happen ha-ha... it’s not something we wanted but, she wouldn't give up and nether would the member we brought with us. But, hopefully we will get her cause she is awesome and she told us she knows it’s true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

We recently got some new people from East Malaysia to teach here. One is Rina from Sarawak she is Bidayuh and she is good and cool we taught her once she used to live in our building. She referred her Punjabi friend who basically started to talk with us cause I am white and she is my age so the investigator was trying to set us up.... which is not good, so we dropped the Punjabi girl cause she was too flirty and just out to be BF (best friend) GF (girlfriend) thing... But the Bidauh girl read the Book of Horman as she called it and loved it so we’ll see now.

But, we got a half of an investigator Wanda she is Kadazan and she is cool. She said she wants to learn the bible so this Sunday we went to teach her, turns out she married a Muslim so we cannot teach her till she gets her IC changed which would take time but, if it’s what she wants it can be done, since she divorced the Muslim man. But, then she gave us her 4 younger siblings who are all Christian to teach woot ha-ha.

We also have been teaching Brenda who is super awesome and is doing well. She won't let us teach her outside of church till she moves home because her roommates hate Christians... But, we can still teach her and she is still coming to church and reading she is so cool.

But yesterday we were off trying to get the other apartment ready for Elder Thurman and his new comp. I am not sure if I told you last week but the power is still off cause the flat management cut the power. For some crazy reason all the air cons and the washing machine had been going for days?? I am not sure how this is possible. How can a washing machine run for days??? Impossible because it turns off... But, now I have to clean those nasty fridges and get the power on. Elder Lewis is supposedly coming back and if he does then I will be in KL until I finishing his training…but we will see.

Well that’s pretty much all.

Elder Watkins

Yummy!!!

Thanks Brian and Carol for playing a trick on Kathy at the reunion...they have already paid up!
Thanks Glen and Kathy for the yummy cinnamon rolls they are worth every dollar Jeff paid for them!

A little piece of Heaven...

The cabin where we stayed

Karen and I had a great time doing the paddle boat until she almost fell in when she was getting out of the boat...good thing I'm strong and saved her from taking a little dip in the pond :)

This is the view from the deck of the cabin...I sat on the deck reading with this view surrounding me. It was such a peaceful place. They said that their is a bald eagle that hangs around in the trees by the pond...I guess doing a little fishing himself.

Inside the cabin where we stayed

I love this picture of Bridger and the guys...Bridger was just dieing to jump in a grab a fish.

Thursday we headed off to a little piece of heaven...The Box Y Ranch and Guest Lodge 28 miles up in the Bridger National Forest on the Greys River in Alpine, Wyoming. It was absolutely beautiful and so relaxing. So remote that there is no cell phone service, no internet...which meant Jeff truly got away from work for a few days. The guys fished, shot, played horseshoes and just did whatever. I went for walks and read and just enjoyed this peaceful time. But...the best part for me was that we just walked down to the lodge for our meals...the food was awesome and I didn't have to to think or worry about anything, they took care of everything. I had to walk to work off all the fabulous food they feed us.

We took our dog Bridger with us. He was truly in heaven. By the time we left this morning his poor paws were so sore from all his freedom of running.

Thanks to Dan, Holly and Shayne for inviting us and sharing this time together. We had a great time with you guys. It was hard to leave and to come back home to reality.

Elder Thurman down...

Pictures: A big pile of chili peppers which burn like crap if you eat one, my mouth and throat burned for 30-40min and they are super big... there is one more smaller than that and its even hotter. But ,if it gets in your eye its toast. The other one with the chili peppers and the workers are from Ayam Penyet my favorite restaurant here which is Indonesian Sambal and stuff mmmm… Sedapnya. The other ones are just some cool pictures.

Hey Everyone,

Well this week was pretty crappy for missionary work cause... Elder Thurman got infection in his intestine so he was in the hospital. He is now out and doing a lot better so pretty much for about 6 days we just sat at home or at the hospital with very little appointments. Good news is that he is better and that hopefully by Friday he will be off and back into the work. We stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel and it was very nice, it had a very nice TV but, for us the beds weren’t so great I slept in an arm chair thingy and same with Rathnayake ha-ha. But, we were near the Xpac Soter so I got some Dr. Pepper, Orange Crush, and Welch’s Strawberry :)

The good news is this Sunday Lina will be getting baptized WOOOT! So we are pretty excited for her and the progress she has made. She is super awesome. I also forgot to tell you we put Sammy our fitness trainer on baptism date for the 12th of September so that is pretty exciting. He is pretty cool and very willing to do what we ask him but, I am worried he doesn’t quite understand what being baptized in the true church really means to him yet.

Brenda is doing amazing and she is really opening up to us and loves church and learning about God :) she told us her concerns and she feels like we can help her. She will be a bit slower but once she knows it’s true and stuff I think she will be a totally awesome and strong member in the church. I am really excited about teaching her. The only problem is this week she thinks she is too busy to meet with us because she has a English paper due so hopefully we can get her taught this week and with Brother Kheng Saint help. He is translating for us and his knowledge of the Chinese culture and people has really been a great fellowshipping tool.

We have a guy named Diwan who is looking to be baptized because he says he knows the church is true then after that he feels he can find his soul mate at the church ha-ha which maybe he can. He is an Indonesian from Medan same as Dewi and Yanti.

Speaking of Yanti and Dewi... Maria finally came around and will for sure be at church this Sunday and is now making a step closer to baptism again. I think she really wants it now and has overcame her concern. They have such a sweet spirit with them I love them to death they wanted to come and visit Elder Thurman in the hospital and take care of him ha-ha which was really funny but, they were serious. They couldn't make it though cause of work but, they are going to come over and see him at a Kedai by our home and they also want to see Elder Austin before he goes next week.

Sister Lena another Indonesian member brought a friend to learn so we got another referral and she is cool we just need to get her to church. Last week we also meet a Chinese guy who schooled at UVU and wants to send his daughter to BYU Provo and he said he has been to our church many times and actually likes it a lot and learned from the missionaries. But, I am not sure what happened to him. We also meet a member family who is going to hook us up with someone. The husband is working IT and so we talked at the bus stop about all the new computer stuff and it blew my mind a little bit ha-ha...

That is all for the week not a whole lot. Next Sunday we go off to Singapore for 6 days... but what can you do and transfers will be his next week too so, I’ll let you know later.

Elder Watkins

She is awesome and is going to get dunked :)

Hey Everyone...

Well this last week was pretty crazy with all the traveling between the areas but we have been able to find a couple of good people.

The Iban family we have been teaching haven't made any effort to come to church... I think they've dropped us ha-ha because they haven't been answering their phone and we went by their home and they were home for sure the gate was open but, the door was locked and the light was on and they didn't answer ha-ha. Hopefully with their friend Anni we picked up, something will come of it she answers her phone and is willing to let us come over.

We have been teaching an African guy named Sammy from Nigeria he is a personal trainer. I am not sure if I told you about him before but, he is cool and has come to church twice now and his only problem is his girlfriend is Melayu (aka Muslim) so he is getting pressure to join Islam. But he told us he’s planning on moving to London and she wants to get baptized there if they go there if not he has to join Islam. But he is pretty good and we are going to challenge him to be baptized tonight.

Brenda our referral from Brother Senturan is going well. She is way "cool" ha-ha she picked up that word from us and it’s so funny when she uses it she’s like coo- lah ha-ha... But, we finally got a Chinese translator over to help us teach her and she is doing awesome and she came to church. We have her reading the Book of Mormon, she just needs to pray and that’s what we focused on last night so, hopefully she'll pray since she now understands why it’s important. She is looking for God’s help in her life and we told her she just has to ask him through prayer to get his help.

Our investigator Lina, from Indonesia on a baptism date is doing well she pretty much knows everything already because she read all the pamphlets and almost half the Book of Mormon. We taught her the 10 commandments and she basically read it and then taught me the lesson on it ha-ha. She is way awesome and funny. Calling us Alders and ending every sms dalam nama Tuhan yesus kristus amen.... ha-ha But she is awesome and is going to get dunked. :)

I am not sure if I told you about Nancy and her maid from Kamboja (Cambodia) she found the church because she walked by it going to the bank and now she has come to church 3 times in a row with her maid. We haven't been able to teach her cause she claims to be super busy. But we gave her a Book of Mormon two weeks ago and she came to church on Sunday and asked me to sign my name in her Book of Mormon then, thanked me for it. She has already read to like Alma 30 and said she has read it every morning and night for a week and that it’s the best book she’s ever read. Then I gave her a Book of Mormon in Cambodian for her maid and she was happy about that. Next week we committed her to schedule time to meet us after church. But she is pretty awesome and hopefully we can get her taught cause if she already has a testimony nothing is keeping her from baptism but, learning. She also loves how our church is growing here in Malaysia and throughout the world. She is cool and keeps me looking forward to Sunday.

One thing we have been doing a lot of is strengthening the recent converts here by getting all their recent convert lessons taught and bringing members with us to get them more friends and strengthen them. So things are doing well.

We’re starting to find some new people. Yesterday we found a cool Chinese Indonesian girl. She was cool and has been here for 2 days and wants to find a church here so we have one. :)

Yanti and Dewi are doing awesome. They bore an awesome testimony on Sunday it was a great highlight to see RC (Recent Convert) bearing such strong testimonies. They were so nervous that they stared in the corner of the ceiling the whole time they spoke :) ha-ha

That’s pretty much everything in a nut shell... oh except Sister Mei a recent convert here, she is so awesome from mainland China she always gives us some laughs when we see her cause she is funny and works at KL Sentral and we are always passing through there so we see her often.

Till next week,

Elder Watkins