Our Christmas was Awesome even though it wasn't "White"...

Hey Everyone, 

Well, we got back from Miri Tuesday night. It was pretty cool to be able to go to Sarawak. Now I have seen the difference between the whole mission. It was definitely a lot smaller than KK, and even Tawau, and Sandakan. In their building wise nothing super big or more than two stories and lots of little kampongs all along the streets and everywhere. It definitely seems a lot different and the way the elders teach is totally different as well. It is probably one of the reasons why the mission is kind of split.  Like, everyone who is in Sarawak stays there because it is so different with the teaching style and the attitudes of the people. But, it was fun to experience my 24 hours of Sarawak. 

Miri Chapel

They have a chapel in Miri and it’s a way nice chapel. Just like the one here in KK. It’s not as out in the open as the KK one but, it’s still visible. But, we didn't get to do a whole lot besides help with one appointment the night before. Then sit at the church and then fly back to KK. Last week was pretty crazy...

Our white Christmas died pretty much right after I hung up the phone with you guys. Madam Yap called and canceled her baptism and wants to postpone it until February. She did come to church again and still wants to be baptized just not till February. Something to do with Buddhism she promised her son to a Buddhist God last year and in doing so he was suppose to bless her son with health and safety. Well the whole promise thing isn't broken till February and because she doesn't want to offend her mother who is still Buddhist she wants to wait. She could have gotten baptized herself but, she wanted to get baptized with her son. So I guess that gives us some more to make sure her testimony is strong and review the lessons. She was good to go and interviewed and then last minute it died.

Dexter is now back from Kampong again and hopefully when he comes back he can get baptized also and/or things have lightened up a bit. We watched the restoration DVD with him and he liked it and the spirit was pretty strong. After that we talked with Sister Jemimi about her sister and her brother. She is going to take us to see her brother sometime this week.  We hope it will go well.  We are also going to work with her sister again. She came to church 3 times before but, her husband was lazy and usually drunk so he wouldn't bring her to church and then when she was there he would call her like every 3 minutes... But, now she has her own car and can come by herself and apparently he has lightened up a bit and maybe she is ready now.

Jemini and her Family

Brother Sokupit, a member invited us over for a Christmas party on the 26^th and it was awesome he told us how he had invited many of the members who lived nearby to join us. We told him he could can also invite some other family members and non-member neighbors.  He did and  he also brought his brother who is married to a Filipino, who we are going to start teaching and his new neighbor who just moved here not too long ago from Kudat. He was willing to let us come over.  Just to let him know first so he can make sure all of his children are home so his whole family can hear the message woo hoo :) so hopefully they'll work out. So we are still on the prowl, trying to find some new investigators that are solid but, we have some in the works that will hopefully turn out good.

Stell is doing awesome we taught her Sunday night and things went well. We will see her again tonight and she'll be interviewed tomorrow and then baptized on Friday night. We have taught some really deep lessons to her and they have gone really well. Sister Dorkas thanked us for teaching her so well. It was nice that she was happy. 

Christmas was awesome though, we had some good food all day and was so stuffed again ha-ha I didn't eat breakfast for like 3 days because I was full from the night before.  Things are doing good and nothing really to complain about.

The bed bugs are all gone now and the exterminators came and killed them and then left us with some of the poison to kill them if we see some between now and next week.

Eder's dad is doing okay he fell through on the Christmas party and church on Sunday. Mainly because, Sunday they were still waiting for their son's call from Australia but, he couldn't call out because of a storm. Hopefully we can get him to come this week. I can’t really think of anything else.

So till next week

Elder Watkins

Eder is here from KL and so are the Bed Bugs...

Hey Everyone,

Well things are good. Sad news is that Maria didn’t have time to meet us on Friday she was busy and from what it sounds like she will be busy until the New Year. I tried to call her on Monday even though she said she thought she couldn't meet but, she didn't pick up so hopefully after the holiday is over she'll be easier to meet. We still have had contact with her though and she is still doing well and was happy to hear from us.

Dexter is doing better he still won't be able to get baptized at this point in time but, he is still good to go at a later time when he is older or maybe when this all blows over. But, sadly he is heading back to kampong on the 31^st of December. He'll be coming to church and then to the Christmas party tomorrow. We had an awesome lesson with him yesterday thanks to Eder...

Yes, Eder is here from KL so its back like the good old days hanging out with Eder and using his amazing teaching skills ha-ha. Eder is probably one of the best teachers ever. His knowledge of the gospel, scriptures and how it relates is amazing. The lesson he helped us teach with Dexter was amazing. We went and met with Eder’s Dad on Sunday and there we talked a bit about Dexter and he had some great ideas so we brought him along and man, it was awesome. We talked about how when he goes back he needs to be a light to his family. We read about how you cannot light a candle then have it hid under a bushel and how he has to be the salt of the world. It went really good.  We then talked about how he must be an example to his family and how he just needs to continue to read and to pray while he is gone and one day he'll be able to join the church. He was super happy and pumped again. What was amazing is how asking the right questions and then Eder making sure it was said the right way, how much he understood from the scriptures because his reading isn't the best but, man yesterday he was understanding a lot. So he'll come back around the Chinese New Year and well be able to meet with him again. But, as for Eder's dad, he is good. He is funny and he is down to learn from us and to hear what we got say. He knows the church is true he is just currently procrastinating with everything. He drinks and smokes but, only drinks when his family isn't around so he doesn't really need it. But, right now we are just going to work on getting him to come to church. He'll be coming to the party this Thursday and he should also be coming to church. We figured if we can just get him to church it will be easier down the line to get him to stop smoking and instead of just focusing on that in the beginning. He already knows he has to stop to ha-ha…I mean his family has been members for a longgggg time.  

We have also been teaching Stell a member’s daughter here and she is doing good. She is 19 and man she is tall for a Malaysian ha-ha. She is really smart though. She is always thinking and she asks lots of deep questions as we are teaching. On Sunday we asked her if she knows this is true and would she be baptized.  And she said, of course I will. So, yesterday we taught her and she said she feels great when we teach her and when she reads. She thinks that is her answer. So..she is getting baptized on January 1st!! She is moving right along and it is going great.

We recently had a young single adults Christmas party because this branch has well, a lot of young single adults ha-ha. It was a pretty big hit we had a bunch of people and it went really well. Stell, Leslie, and Jacob some of our recent converts came to the party and had a real good time.  

We got a new referral from Sister Wendy, named William, he is a tour guide for Sabah, he is still young but, really enjoyed church. We are pretty excited for him. He said, coming to church was a lot better than just hanging out in the real word ha-ha. Well other than that things are going pretty good and nothing to complain about. Things in KK are doing great and we are working hard.

Oh…today I had to throw my mattress out, we are having a problem with bed bugs... so, we are trying to get someone from pest control to come and take care of them. I have little red spots all over me :(

Talk to you guys on Christmas!

Elder Watkins