The Plane Ride

Hey Everyone, 

Well we just got back at 11:30 last night from KL. The conference was good and we learned a lot it is just way too long for me to sit in a room. We start at 9 am and go to like 5 or 6 pm... So it’s a long time ha-ha but, we learned a lot that will really help out on missionary work. Some of the things we learned I was super pumped up to use them but, the surprise is I guess I didn't know how soon I would use them. Last night on the plane was by far one of the greatest experiences on my mission. We sat down on the plane next to a lady named Maria. Maria is Roman Catholic, she is 38 years old and has 3 boys. She works for the Agriculture Department in the government here.  She started to talk to me just to see if she could switch me seats for the isle. I said; yeah, can do, no problem. We were waiting for a bit to switch because of the people going by but, I started to talk to her and tell her why we were here etc. We talked for a bit and then told her a bit about the church and Joseph Smith; but, just briefly. She then asked questions about the gift of tongues but, to avoid an argument we kind of stopped talking about those things. Elder Wright started to read something. I just started to talk to her about her family. She goes on to say how she had 3 boys ages 10, 8, and 2. She told me all about them and how awesome they are and from what she said they are pretty awesome. She truly loves them so much and she proceeded to tell me about how they have all got their own personalities and then described them to me. She was so happy to just have someone to talk to and so she did a lot of the talking and I listened for a while. Then she told me a story about when her oldest boy Dillon and her middle child Danny came to school for the first time and how Danny was scared and very sad that his mom just left him at school and was super upset. But, the older one Dillon held his hand and told him how everything will be alright and that Mom will be back soon and that he was here for him. She said he held his hand the whole class with his right hand which made it difficult for him because he had to write but, he did it all with his left hand. Then when his Mom picked them up the older boy said; “don't send him to school because he can't handle it”… ha-ha. Afterwards I said you know that reminds me of Jesus Christ and how he is our brother and he loves us so much that he is always there for us when we need him. He is there to hold our hand or to pick us up when we are down and to help us overcome any obstacle we've got in our life. She agreed and I asked her if she felt that in her life, she said; sometimes but, recently not so much. We then sat in silence for what probably seemed forever but, was probably only10 seconds. Then I felt prompted to share one of my experiences about how I knew that God loves us and how I knew it. My story consisted of the Jeep accident but, I won't bother with that story since I am limited. I then told her that God knows what we need most and how he loves us so much and that we are her to represent Jesus Christ and tell people about him and how we have a loving God. I told her that I knew God loved her and that I know we only just met but, that we also care for her happiness. Then some more silence for a second. Her eyes began to water up a bit and she began to cry. It was kind of tears of sadness mixed with tears of the spirit. She than just opened up and started telling me her story and she started out by saying she doesn't know why she is telling me but, she feels like she could trust me and that there was a true care for her. She then told us how her Dad had passed away this year in January and how it was so sudden and how sad she was. She explained some more how she felt like God didn't love her as much anymore and stuff. Now Elder Wright was back from reading and so we shared a bit about the Plan of Salvation and different parts of it and about overcoming trials. We then talked about sincere heartfelt prayers afterwards as he felt like she had been lacking a bit of that. We told her you know God loves us and he listens to our prayers and to just talk to him as you would talk to your father or mother. She said, he might think she is ungrateful. We told her that God is always there to listen and he loves us no matter what. I told her you know it may seem like you don't have any light at the end of the tunnel like you expressed earlier but, I know the message we share is of great importance and can bless your life and your family and that God always blesses us and maybe meeting us was a blessing and then she smiled and said, yeah, I am so happy to have met you two today and that it wasn't just coincidence that we met up.  She thanked us so much for the advice and the little teaching then said, you know you’re so young and you’re the ones giving me, the older one advice ha-ha.  We told her you know we will keep you in our prayers and we will pray to know what to teach you when we meet on Monday. She was so excited to meet again. That was such a great experience and she is one of the coolest ladies I have ever met. She really helped strengthen my testimony also. I know that God placed her it our path. That just goes to show you that you never know when the people that need you and where they'll be and when you need to open your mouth and speak. I am happy to have helped her feel the spirit. It is what makes missionary work worth it.  And that God placed a family in our path.

Well next, Selester and Ah Yong got baptized! Along with Paili and Stella from the sisters and 3 children of age. It was a pretty big service and it was awesome. Elder Wright baptized Ah Yong and I baptized Selester. It was an awesome baptism with some great testimonies. Ah Yong is actually the son of a member in Tawau and his mom just got back from the temple when he got baptized here. So that family is now even closer to becoming an eternal family. 

While we were in KL we got to go see Sister Yanti and Dewi it was pretty fun to see them we just saw them for a couple of minutes. But, we also saw a member Arne from KK while we were there and she is doing well. She is helping Carter and Lewis teach Wanda my old investigator from KL who is also from KK. Wanda and her whole family is learning now but, the moved into the other elders area which is too bad but, Wanda made us a whole bunch of food that was there when I got to KL she is super cool.

We also went and saw Eder Wong and his mom. They are doing well but, what was awesome was that his friend Eric who is also from KK was over. He just got back from the UK and is with Eder and his family till Dec 18, then they all come back to KK for Christmas but, the crazy story is that Eric's Dad just got baptized 2 months ago in New Zealand!!! His dad just got back to Malaysia also and so we are hoping to be able to make sure he comes to church. But, he is also in KL till Dec 18th. So hopefully we can get the Dad to church here and teach the Mom and Eric.

Wendy is getting baptized next week and things are going good with her she is still bringing tons of friends to church. Tomorrow she'll be interviewed and next Saturday. The day she gets back from China she gets baptized ha-ha. She is pretty much just like a member and already goes to the activities during the week and cooks food for people ha-ha.

We are also teaching a lady named Jessica who we have had to teach at a restaurant near her work because the Muslims at her home don't like us teaching about Jesus. So we taught her by her work. But, some crazy pastor guy came up and said God loves everyone except Mormons. Jesus died for us except Mormons and he kind of pissed me off and I was like we don't need this right now luckily Jessica missed it ha-ha but, we explained you know people don't always like our church but, you know we can tell you or answer any questions you have about the church and then I gave her an Articles of Faith card.  She read through it and said all this makes me know your church is good and about Christ because all these things are good things and there is nothing wrong with them. Then the stupid crazy guy comes up and put one hand on my head and on my arm and says I am going to give you a blessing and goes off about God please lead this lost boy and help him to find truth etc and he was being super dumb again luckily Jessica was on the phone. But, she said you know I heard a lot about the church and you know I just had to hear it myself because people don't always tell the truth. So she was cool.

We also have someone named Jenny who was actually taught in Utah a long time ago when she went to school there. She is cool but, she has some deep questions but, she seems to like church a lot and is good. I ended up telling her to find a book called; ‘The Book of Mormon on Trial” it will help answer some of the questions she had etc. but, she is way funny and she has good questions that she asks us. And that’s pretty much all.

Elder Schone is awake and his Dad is there now. He is all fixed up but, they are working on getting him always breathing on his own. He is on a respirator and can only go off it for couple of hours after that is hard because they literally had to open up his ribs for surgery so he is in a lot of pain. Hopefully in 2 weeks he'll be back in America recovering, if all goes well.

Things are going good though. 

Elder Watkins