Week 52

Well, I already talked to you (for Mother's Day), so I don't know exactly what else I have yet to share. We gave our zone meeting this week. It was better than last one. We spent part of it spending boxes and then putting the things that distract us in them. It was a good way to remind people to focus on their missions. We also watched the video "Because of Him", which is amazing. Because of Christ, every weakness we have can be overcome, every mistake we make can be undone, and every wrong in life can be made right. I've seen it happen in my mission so much, in my life and in the lives of those I work with! One cool miracle: the other elders were contacting, trying to get 100 in one day. On the way, they ran into a member who had set up an appointment with someone he'd met one day, and had prayed the elders would be there since he didn't have their number. It went perfectly, and the man accepted a baptismal invitation. We're trying hard with English class and family history. The Assistants challenged us this morning to double our teaching pool, so that's our new goal. Love you all! -Elder Earl

Week 51

We had a wonderful week, as always. It was a week, however, full of meetings, and not too much proselyting. On Tuesday, we had district meeting, and the Assistants bussed in to do exchanges with us in the late evening. However, we realized that night, that we would have to leave the next day at 5:30ish to get to Singapore at a reasonable hour (we went a day early for Elder Fabiano to get a bump in his knee checked out), so our exchange was pretty short. However, we did get some good possibilities for malls to do family history booths at. Thursday was our first MLC, or Mission Leadership Conference. It is a long meeting that together with Pre-MLC, goes from 3-9:30 with only one short break (30 minutes). Miracle of the week: I stayed awake the whole time! It was a very spiritually uplifting meeting, with the mission president guiding discussions on how to improve the mission. One theme of this month's conference was how we can get investigators progressing. Another particularly inspiring point was "the miracle model", showing how in the Lord's work, we don't need to rely solely on our own skills, but on the Lord, who can and will preform miracles through us. On Friday, we got an x-ray for Elder Fabiano (nothing to fear), and we went back to Johor Bahru just minutes before President Mains and his wife did interviews and a housing check. One on one time with the mission president is always uplifting and valuable. He's an incredible man, with an incredibly busy schedule. It's crazy he knows so much about each missionary. After that, we had more meetings, with English class (about a dozen new students suddenly) and our weekly correlation meeting. The weekend was the same, with weekly planning, and three two hour sessions of district conference. The theme of it all was Hastening the Work of Salvation, and I feel very motivated to work with members. I remember feeling that I had few opportunities to share the gospel back in Utah, but I'm determined to come back and be a great member missionary. I'd encourage you all to heed Elder Ballard's counsel on sharing the gospel, even if it is just once a quarter. This week looks to be less full of meetings and more full of preaching. I'm excited. We also get to do another zone training tomorrow, which is a fun experience. We will be talking about consecrating ourselves and "going the extra mile". There's always a little more that each of us can do to follow our Savior. There's something more that we can offer to him. I know that the Lord is watching out for each of us, and that if we decide we would rather rely on his infinite power and wisdom than our own limited abilities, we will be blessed so much. I hope you all have an amazing week! Love, Elder Earl

Week 50

This week was quite a bit of fun, and the next week also promises to be a good one. First of all, investigators are doing quite well. School is on Sunday here, so there are a few investigators who have to wait until the future when they are graduated or school schedule changes, but the others are doing great. We did two exchanges this week, which was also very awesome. For the first, we went up to Melacca to visit the elders there. Other than the hassle it was to try to bring our bikes up there (I even bought a bike, but in the end, it didn't work out), it was very fun. The bus ride is a perfect time for naps. I got to go on exchanges with one of my former zone leaders and former assistant. It's funny being his zone leader now, but we had a good day together. We did a lot of knocking, and it was fun. I also tried the mission-famous Melaka Ramly burgers. The next exchanges started the next night, with the other elders who live with us. I was with our district leader, Elder Harr. We also did a lot of knocking. It's quite effective to have a Malay speaker and a Chinese speaker when contacting. We visited a very cool member family with their home teachers (yeah, home teaching happens here! It's unreal) and had delicious Western-style food. We are focusing a lot on English class. In fact, tonight, we plan on going to a night market to pass out fliers for it. We also got approved to use Facebook and Whatsapp, recently. So I may be here for a while, since my companion has no smart phone, and that's necessary. The work of salvation is hastening! Other cool things that happened: *A man we contacted pulling out a gun. Fun stuff. (He was probably just getting it out to put it away, since it was in his car. Still a bit scary.) *Elder Fabiano's birthday Recently in my personal study, I've read a lot about what it means to consecrate myself, and that's a real goal of mine is to let go of all cares, dreams, desires, etc. that aren't centered on the work. As missionaries, and as members, we need to constantly evaluate if the things that occupy our time, energy, thoughts, and even feelings are what Christ would have us be focusing on. I feel that was a theme of general conference, too. This upcoming week should be a good one with lots of meetings and exchanges. Love you all!

Week 49

What a week it has been. My time in Johor has been wonderful so far, and I absolutely love the branch and the area. First of all, our great branch. The people here are great. There is a real excitement for missionary work, especially among the branch mission leader and branch missionaries. They help us so much! They are so, so solid. Attendance was also very good this last week, and mostly all the callings are filled. Best of all, third hour attendance was nearly the same as first hour. So wonderful. Another adventure of the week was the 10 roti challenge. My companion has tried it in multiple areas of his mission, but it's pretty much what it sounds like: eat 10 roti canais in one meal (roti canai is flat bread with curry or daal. Simple, cheap, and good). The four of us living together went to try it, and only one came out victorious, with not just 10, but 11. Probably my greatest accomplishment so far. Just kidding. I'll break that record soon. Another very important thing happened recently. You all know of the solar-powered dancing elf named Francisco that used to welcome us home in Sibu. Well, one day, a delivery company truck came by to take our bikes to new areas, and they saw our beautiful elf and stole it. We thought all was lost, until a month ago, when two elders spotted it on their dashboard somewhere else in Sibu. Since I've been in Johor, the elders back in Sibu completed what they called "Operation Jingle Jangle", and I should be getting the elf back next week. Pretty funny. They also stole it back without telling the guys, apparently, so hopefully that's not a sin. We had our first zone meeting this week. We didn't have much time to prepare, but we focused on moving mountains versus the attitude that some missionaries have that their role is simply to "push on the rock". It was a lot of fun, and hopefully next zone meeting will be even better. We have some really solid investigators here. One has read up to Alma 43, and plans on finishing the Book of Mormon soon. Another will be baptized next month. Another two would be baptized if school wasn't on Sunday in this state, and a bunch of new ones are doing great. I'm really excited about it all. We've also implemented new finding methods. English class was started a few months before I got here, and it's awesome. A lot of investigators have been found and fellowshipped through it, and it makes knocking a lot more comfortable. People here really want to learn English. Another focus is family history. In Kuching, they've had family history booths in malls that attract a lot of attention, so we're trying that here. If a mall lets us do it, I'll let you know how it goes. Overall, I really love this city. The people are friendly, the food is good (side story: an expat family that used to live here came back to visit. They've lived in Paris, Hong Kong, all over the world. I asked them where they liked best, and where had the best food. They said here for the first question tentatively, and here for the second one easy. They said much better than even Paris.), the church is growing, and the zone is fun. I'm learning tons, and I love being a missionary! Love, Elder Earl

Week 48

It was a grand week this week full of many adventures. First of all, was the leaving of Sibu. I went around and saw many members to bid them farewell, and it was sad to think each time that it may be my last time seeing them. I got lots of pictures, though. On Tuesday, we had a district meeting that ended in one of the best meals ever, courtesy of Sister Beus, plus a bunch of BR signings (book of remembrance). After packing up my everything, I headed out. My last meal in Sibu was delicious paus, or steamed buns. Yum. Elder Beus took me to the airport, and then I flew to KL, from there, I met up with an elder coming from Sabah, and together we bused down to JB. We got in late, but it was a miracle considering we didn't have phones or addresses and neither of us had ever stayed in JB before. The JB City branch is wonderful! Our missionary coordination meeting was so good. We have many strong members, including several recent converts, and the people are a tight-knit group. I've loved it so far. And though historically, it's been an area of contacting all day every day, we've had an English class with 15 people+, 5 lessons, and a lot of general conference already. It's been really good. The Lord is blessing this area greatly. We are still new at our calling, so we don't know how to do zone trainings and such, but it's a fun process learning. Elder Fabiano is a wonderful, obedient, sincere, elder, and I'm excited to serve with him. I love my mission! By the way, based on conference, I'm excited to hear how all of your study of Preach My Gospel goes. Tee hee. Love, Elder Earl

Week 47

This past week has had some great developments with the work, and two very large and important events. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to one of our investigators, and she has developed a great understanding. Before, we felt she was being pressured to learn, but she told us she wanted to be baptized, and she has a date for next month. She's really awesome. We also helped fellowship another investigator with a member who hadn't been there before, and she came to church. That was good. However, we spent three full days outside of Sibu due to Zone Conference! So fun. I got to roam a lot of Singapore with an elder who I went to junior high with, since my companion and his companion were both at the dentist. It was a lot of fun, and I went to a pizza buffet. The real fun stuff, though, was all the trainings we received. It's safe to say it was my favorite zone conference so far. President Mains expounded on what it means to be a Preach My Gospel missionary, one of the Assistants spent a while talking about the different opportunities we receive from God. He invited us to ask ourselves if we are taking full advantage of them. We also received a training on finding. This elder suggested we cut the small talk and immediately start testifying. Even in the role plays, we could feel it's a much more powerful approach. My favorite training was the assistants teaching us about how to make a long term vision, then 6-week, weekly, and daily plans and goals to streamline the work and make sure we're helping people come to Christ, not just sharing spiritual thoughts. It was really good, and I think it's a good thing to set personal visions as well that I've done for this upcoming transfer. That brings us to transfer news. I'm going to Johor Bahru, in the JB/Malacca zone. It will be a lot of fun. My new companion is Elder Fabiano, in the same group as three of my past companions. Elder Broadhead will be staying here. I've loved my time in Sibu very much, but I'm excited for the opportunities I'll have in JB. It's the place the Lord wants me! You have a great week, as well! Love, Elder Earl

Week 46

This week has been excellent. One fun, but in the end not too important, thing is that we hit every key indicator exactly on. When we set goals according to the Spirit, we'll have to work hard, but we can for sure make each and every one of them. Another fun adventure of the week was the crossing of the river. I've seen on the map that there are a lot of factories and houses past the river, but until this week we'd never gone. We had a couple free hours, so while on exchanges, we paid to cross on the ferry, then we biked around the jungle out there. We found a great couple out there, and returned again later in the week to teach them. We also biked around, and it really is a jungle out there. That doesn't stop people from having evil dogs that want to eat missionaries, though, unfortunately. :D I got to go to an Iban area yet again this week on exchanges, and my Malay is slowly progressing. I got to pray in Malay in almost every single appointment that day. We also went out to Sibu Jaya to teach out there. Unfortunately, this time we took the bus. It was a long and fun experience, though. I had a lot of good personal studies this week, including one where I read through a series of talks that Elder Uchtdorf gave in consecutive Priesthood sessions between 2008-2009: "A Matter of Degrees", "Lift Where You Stand", and "We are Doing a Great Work, and Cannot Come Down". All very good ones. Instead of saying what I learned personally, I'd encourage all to read through them and be edified. Well, I think I'll have pictures this week. So this email is a bit short. I love you! -Elder Earl