I am small but I am strong

Nama berita,

The Lord said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Paul continues, 'Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.'

THIS was the best week. I went on splits with Sister LeBaron and it was just like old times. There are many advantages of having your trainer also be your STL and live in the same city as her. I love her, she's an angel and she continues to change my life for the better.

A couple weeks ago, I was feeling kinda burnt out on missionary work (I've been doing this for a long time). Sister LeBaron, during studies, said, "I know we made plans to work in your area, but I have this feeling I need to take you to Stampin to get you excited about missionary work again." She's pretty inspired, huh?

She had the brilliant idea of knocking doors with a member, so we did that and found some really awesome people to teach in my area. Then we biked over to her area, which was jauh-lah because a lot of Stampin is industrial. We biked for forever, while having a good conversation, and taught a couple lessons in the worker's quarters. We invited a member to come knock doors with us, and this cute little Iban lady got REALLY into it. At first, she said, "No you can't teach anyone in these flats, they're all Muslim."

To which Sister LeBaron said, "Ya-kah? I don't believe you."
"Okay, there's an Iban family that lives upstairs."

She also took us to a warehouse in a lumbar yard (p.s. they don't have the same safety laws here as they do in Malaysia...no one wears hardhats...uhh) and to a little apartment in the upstairs. We met the cutest Chinese-Bidayu couple, and our member said, while holding The Book of Mormon, "YOU need to read this book. This book will change your life. Throw out those cigarettes. This book is awesome."

Sister LeBaron and I were dying, it was so funny. But now she and Sister Bourgeois have a cute little couple to teach.

It was nice to have a day with Sister LeBaron and feel how much she loves me. I told her not to worry about me, to which she said, "Of course I worry about you. You're my daughter." I can't believe she goes home in 4 months...after her and Sister Hawea leave, I'll be the oldest Malay-speaking sister, which is a little terrifying...

After going on splits with Sister LeBaron, I was gung-ho about missionary work again. So I worked Sister Fonbuena and myself into the ground again. We planned and used every minute of every day efficiently, and it was exhausting. I had a personal goal of doing one more thing than I possible thought I could every day, and I saw so many miracles. I passed out at about 10 last night.

We took Sister LeBaron's advice and continued to talk to people with a church member with us. It's nice because they know their neighbors and it's an instant way for people to feel more comfortable around the tall weird white girls on bikes. We found a TON of people who wanted us to come back and teach them more, but my favorite is who Sister Fonbuena and I call "our little family."

We took Chai, a sister who wants to serve a mission, with us and walked around her neighborhood. She was actually taking us to see a less active family, but I took us down the wrong street but we figured we'd just walk around the block. And there they were.

I said, "Look, they have pictures of Christ in their house." so we walked up so I could tell them I liked their pictures. The wife said, "Oh are you Christian? Come in and pray for us." which surprised me.

I met her husband and sister-in-law, who was recovering from surgery. We told her that her Heavenly Father loved her and through Christ, not just our sins, but our sicknesses and sadnesses can be taken away as well. There were tears in her eyes as we read Alma 7:11-12. We also talked about the priesthood and how miracles haven't ceased. There are men on the earth who have the power to bless and heal and comfort. She was returning to kampung the next day, so we gave her and the rest of her family a copy of The Book of Mormon. Her brother and sister-in-law were so sweet, and they have a 4 month old baby. We asked if we could come back and teach them more, and we're seeing them tonight. They are way educated, own a couple cars (which is HUGE because transportation is an issue in our area), and are kind to each other.

We also ran into an awesome grandpa who I contacted a few weeks ago but lost touch with, and he was happy to see us. We also met a son of a member family who was never baptized, but wants to be. He asked us to tell him the story of how Christ was baptized.

I've also been praying for more charity and more love for the people here. I love them so much already, but I know I can love them more. It's kind of hard though because it sometimes wrecks you. We asked Sister Matina if she knew of any less actives in her neighborhood, and she took us to see her friends. As we entered this house, we stepped over a guy who was on the ground in front of their door, passed out drunk (even though it was 3 pm). We met Matina's friend who was very sweet, as well as her kids.

Drunk-guy came around, and we found out he was the husband. He was being so obnoxious, interrupting the lesson, sitting down and leaving and coming back, so I leaned towards him, looked him right in the eyes, and told him in English, "You are HAMMERED right now, and that's not okay."

That was probably the angriest I've ever been on my mission, and I probably could have done a better job hiding it. Everyone else was laughing at his antics, even the kids, and I said, "Look, this isn't funny. This is destroying your family." Once we established that the family (including him) actually wanted him to stop drinking, I showed him a picture of his family on the day they got baptized and said, "Don't you remember how you felt that day? You don't even look like you anymore."

I gave him a picture of Christ to put in his wallet so he'd look at it every time he wanted to buy alcohol and committed him to getting his life together so he'd be worthy to baptize his son.

I felt pretty sad after that lesson.

But it's okay, this work is the best work I could be doing right now. Elder Bester and Elder Reynolds baptized two of their investigators Saturday, it was senang and reminded me how important the work of salvation is (we also had to fill the font up with a hose but that's a story for another week). God qualifies us in our weaknesses. "And if men will come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses." So even if I sometimes feel angry and I'm imperfect, and weak, if I come unto Christ, He'll make me strong. I've seen it on my mission, and I'll continue to see it. He's going to strengthen the families here who I love so much.

Jumps,

Sister Wynn

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Nama berita,

Happy Easter! I hope you all had a good one. I'm working Sister Fonbuena into the ground but she seems pretty happy about it. We visited all of our less active families and sang "Dia Bangkit" ("He is Risen") to them which really invited the spirit because Sister Fonbuena is literally perfect and has the voice of an angel. Oh and she's also AMAZING at Ultimate Frisbee. This is why we are best friends. We took President Mains' suggestion and taught about Easter and how incredible it is that Jesus Christ overcame death (physical and spiritual) for us, and how repentance is a gift and not to be afraid of it. (A lot of our less-actives are malu about coming back to church because they're worried people will think they're bad people for going less active, but it's okay! The purpose of church is to feel close to God. So many of them want to come back so bad though). I know I'm FAR from being perfect, thank goodness for repentance because it means I can change to become a better person.

Sister Fonbuena's Malay/teaching skills are amazing. She doesn't need me. Well I like to think she does a little bit, haha. It's cool because usually, in lessons, you think of the spirit always telling you what to say. This week, I've had a lot of experiences where in a lesson, I would want to say something, because I'm really chatty and long winded, but I heard a voice in my mind that said, "Wait." So I did, and Sister Fonbuena would testify of whatever gospel principle we were teaching about and it was exactly what our families needed to hear. At one point, in an Easter lesson with Johari's family, the power went out and so we had a candle-lit lesson in a humble little kampung house by the river (my favorite). She ran out of words for teaching, paused, and bore a simple testimony of how much Christ loved that family. After the lesson, she said, "Wow I made a lot of grammar mistakes in that lesson..." and I asked her if she saw the tears in Johari's eyes as he realized what she was saying was true.

The spirit makes up for our inadequacies.

It rained and rained and rained this week (as seen in my pictures). After district meeting, we were at the KDC, and Elders Strathearn and Scott took off for a lesson in the pouring rain. As they left, we saw a bright flash of light and the crack of thunder at the same time. We ran outside and yelled, "Elders, come back!" A few minutes later, they did, completely soaked. We told them we're glad they didn't die, and Elder Scott said as they were leaving, "everything went white, and I saw lightning strike a tree 20 feet in front of me and the top part of it exploded."

Standin' out in the rain

Oh a couple weeks ago, while I was in a roundabout, I almost got tagged by a car that was trying to enter it because it was dark and they didn't see me. I dodged it and thought, "Well that was terrifying." Then it happened two more times in the same roundabout. I dodged those cars too, yelled back at Sister Bourgeois, "Did you see that?" and as I checked my lights I realized my front light had run out of batteries. So yeah, those prayers you all say for the missionaries? They work. I'm also a fan of my guardian angels.

Also, another cool experience I had was this last week, after taking Sister Fonbuena all over Kuching's 8-lane highways (merging in and out of traffic). As I chugged along on my little bike, I prayed and prayed and prayed with all my might that she would be safe, feel safe, and not be tired. I would do anything for that girl. She said, "Wow I'm not as scared as I feel like I should be." It was amazing to me to see how my prayers are answered.

And know that there are days when we feel your prayers.

This week was a little heart wrenching because I love the people here so much. In visiting one of our church members, I found out from the mom that her late husband hit her daughter when she was about 3 years old, making her bleed from the nose. The mom talked about how hard it was being a single mom, and she's homesick but moved from Indon to Malaysia so her daughter (now 16 and wants to go on a mission) can go to school here. But she said tidapa, because Christ strengthens her. Memong hidupan ini susah. One of our investigators had a baby last week, but it was a stillborn. That hurt to hear about and we haven't been able to see her since then.

We had a little miracle (which I believe is a direct result of me redoubling my efforts to be exactly obedient) where one of our former investigators, Mundil, SMS-ed us and said, "Sisters, dapat bantu saya? Can you help me?"

I had never met him, he kind of disappeared when Sister Bourgeois and I were here, but it turns out he went back to Indonesia for a while because his father and brother died, and when we met with him, he was expressing a lot of sorrow. He also wanted to stop smoking so bad. We told him about eternal families, and said we believed in him, and he said he still wanted to be baptized so we helped him start preparing for that.

Even though this work is hard because you see the saddest parts of peoples lives, it's worth it to love them. The locals and missionaries both. Some of their stories bring me to tears. I love them all. And it's okay because we have Christ. Like I said before, EVERYTHING unfair about life can be made right through Christ. He lives to wipe away our tears. He lives and we shall conquer death.

I love being a missionary because all I do is love people and tell them how much God loves them, how He loves us so much He gave us a Savior.

-Sister Wynn

Soaked...

Love, love, love

Selamat tengah hari everyone,

First, our usual internet place was closed, so we went to a different one. It's really slow and kind of sketch...so sorry, no pictures this week because I don't want to get a virus on my hard drive or camera...but like all internet places in Malaysia, this one is also dimly lit, has that faint smell of cigarette smoke, and there are Malaysian men ages 15-50 playing CoD/WoW and swearing at their computers haha. This is the life.

Again, most of my pictures from my jalan-jalan to Singapore this week consist of the inside of the airport...but they're pretty great. I love that airport. There is literally everything to do there. If I wasn't a missionary, I would totally take advantage of the free internet, free video games, and everything else, but for now we just explore the terminals. I braved the butterfly garden again this week (it was terrifying) and visited all of the indoor gardens and koi ponds. Changi airport is legit. Oh and there are free massage chairs. That was nice.

I hopped on a kapal terbang Thursday morning with Sister Hawea and Sister Parcell. We ran into Elder Ormsby because he had a layover in Kuching from Binutulu, and he was really sad to leave his first area. I said good-bye to Sis Parcell at KL's airport, which was hard because she's been in my mission since she's been here. She's the sister missionary in all my pictures who looks like a Victoria's Secret model. She has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. It was nice to catch up with old friends.

When I got to Singapore, I contacted people on the MRT, just like old times. I swung by Sister Hansen's apartment and she went with me to drop off my bag at the chapel. I acquired a Slim Jim from Elder Ormsby (his mom always sends him the best packages) and I was carrying it around the chapel. I saw the APs doing a training in the cultural hall with the new missionaries, so I pressed my nose against the glass and waited till they saw me. They completely lost it in the middle of their training. It was so funny. I walked in while chewing on my Slim Jim and Elders Toney and Robinson were stoked because the old 3rd ward crew was back together! (This is the part where I'd attach our "Awkward Hands" picture). I asked Elder Toney if he was excited to be a normal missionary again, and he said, "Yes...except I'm nervous to train. I've never trained before. Do you have any advice?"

I rolled my eyes and told him if he can jaga all the missionaries as AP, he can train just one missionary. "Don't tell them you don't actually know what you're doing until about halfway through their training." Haha I crack myself up. Elder Toney said he met my new comp, and she's awesome. I went to the train the trainers meeting that night and as I sat there listening, President Mains talked about how important new missionaries are (they have more faith than we do) and how their trainers were picked by inspiration. It was a testimony to me that President and Heavenly Father really do trust me. And even though I feel under-qualified, God qualifies me. For a while I was nervous and wondering WHY in the world I was training again. Like my dad said, ""She is getting her third trainee (new missionary) in a row. She must be pretty good at it......OR they are going to keep giving her newbies until she gets it right!" But really, training a new missionary is the most humbling thing. You learn a LOT from them. Obviously Heavenly Father is still trying to teach me something haha.

I went to the hotel (the same one I stayed in my first night in Singapore) and the older sisters brought the new ones back to the chapel in the morning. They were still exhausted but I loved each of them immediately. I just wished I could let them sleep and prayed that they were happy. We had more training for the new missionaries, and as President Mains addressed all of us, I really felt how much he loves us, and through that, I felt how much God loves and loves all of us missionaries. I teared up a little, it was weird. During the testimony meeting, I bore a quick testimony of that experience, and how when we find out we're training, we feel privileged and excited to meet the new missionaries. I said we love them instantly. I also said this is God's work, it cannot fail, therefore, they cannot fail. I talked about how I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and how grateful I am for Him, and the opportunity we have to share this good news with everyone.

After that, we got to meet our new companions, and I met Sister Fonbuena! She is the most gorgeous girl ever, half Filipina, half American, pandai playing classical piano, studied chemical engineering at BYU, patient with me, ready to jump in and do missionary work. Her Malay is AMAZING for how new she is. We're gonna get along just fine. I don't know why I've been blessed with the most amazing companions ever, but again, I'm not complaining. She's teaching me more (on how to be a Christlike person) than I could ever teach her.

Conference was good. Did you all notice the not-so-discreet theme of missionary work? This work is important! All of you, share the gospel with your friends! Make bringing people to Christ the most important thing to you.

Hmm a couple things from last week's zone conference: Elders Bester and Reynolds sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" for the musical number. I whispered to Sister Bourgeois, "Those are our elders!" and we both teared up a little. They are both so hard working. They are wearing themselves into the ground for this work and every once in a while we have to tell them to slow down. The first thing President Mains said when he addressed us was "My heart swells with love." He LOVES his missionaries. As he spoke, he could barely say the words because he was choking back tears. He didn't talk about what we needed to better, he just expressed his love and gratitude for us, simple, dorky, punk kids. I heard that when he was at a mission president's conference in Hong Kong, being trained by Jeffrey R. Holland, he bore his testimony and said "As much as I love being with you other mission presidents and the general authorities, I can't wait to get back to my missionaries." He would rather hang out with us than Elder Holland. That blows my mind. A little thing that I easily could have missed was that he takes notes on all of our talks and testimonies and trainings. He's a really smart, successful man, way more spiritual than all of us missionaries combined, way more experienced in all things pertaining to missionary work and the rest of the world, and yet he takes notes on what we have to say? Talk about humility.

Another little thing I noticed during Elder Toney's and Elder Robinson's training (on how to love less active members back into activity and really plan for them weekly and daily) is that Elder Toney's copy of Preach My Gospel is waterlogged and almost completely destroyed. He uses it so much that it's falling apart. That's how much he loves this work and that's how much he loves the people in this mission.

I loved Elders Gualtiers' and Elder Snyder's departing testimonies. Elder Gualtier was pretty sarcastic (as usual) and threw in a couple Eminem quotes. But then he talked about how much he loves the people in this mission and made all of us cry. He's this Utah Hick with some of the most beautiful Malay in the mission, and as he got more emotional, his hick accent came out. Elder Snyder said, "I want to give my whole soul to this work." I can't believe they're home now, they had such a long time left when I met them.

Anyway, I still love being a missionary. Sorry for the lack of pictures. See you soon <3

-Sister Wynn

Where training becomes a pattern in my life

Apa khabar kawan?

Well, we just got transfer news, drumroll please:

I'm staying in Kota Sentosa, and I'm training one of the new Malay speakers coming into the mission on Wednesday! I get to fly back to Singapore and pick her up even though I was just there last week for zone conference haha. Um I can't believe President Mains and Heavenly Father are trusting me with another one, but I'll take the opportunity for growth again, haha.

I was just emailing President about how humbling training another missionary is. You realize how far you are from perfect but how God makes up for your shortcomings.

But let's start from the beginning of this week:

Last Monday, we missionaries hung out at the KDC (Kuching District Center, aka the chapel) and played frisbee. That night, we had some time between our appointment and the end of P-Day, so I thought, "What would Sister LeBaron do?" So I made us get ready, and we swung by Rejimah's (our investigator) house. We ran into her cousin Vanessa and invited her to help us teach. At first she was like, "Uhh...I'm busy..." but I pretended like I didn't understand Malay and grabbed her hand and we went into the house. Vanessa bore a powerful testimony of The Plan of Salvation in Iban, and afterwards, she said, "Wow, thank you for that. I felt the Holy Ghost so strongly." Love her, she's awesome. I'm a fan of having the youth help us in our missionary work. If we can get them excited about missions, and they go on missions, they'll be solid and help build up the church back here. It's perfect.

After that, we had a Malam Keluarga with Sister Ankie's family, where Elder Reynolds made a baby cry and we ate lots of food. Afterwards, the Elders had a HUGE wreck on their bikes because Elder Reynolds thought it would be a good idea to grab Elder Bester's backpack on a busy highway in the pitch dark...so they wrecked, almost got hit by a car, and rolled for like a mile. We did a face and elbows check, and they were completely okay. Despite Elder Bester hitting the pavement facefirst and his legs literally went over his head. Elder Reynolds said, "Sorry...I made it look more dramatic than it actually was..."

Zone conference was awesome. It was nice to see everyone at the airport. Everyone from Sibu, Mukah, Miri, and Bintulu had a layover in Kuching. The first thing Elder Parker said was "Wow you look older." After I kacaued him, he tried to memperbaiki his comment by saying he meant I look more mature...riiiight. I know, the mission's taken like 10 years off my life haha.

We ate at Chili's but it was awkward to have a whole herd of elders following me and Sister Bourgeois because they thought I knew where I was going because I served in Singapore...except I never ate at Chili's haha. Luckily, we ran into a guy on the MRT (just like old times) who was on his way to work there. So we went and ate bottomless salsa and Sister B and I got all nostalgic for baseball because the Dodgers were playing on TV. I got to say hi to Sister Hansen, my one and only, and I got to run into Elders Toney and Robinson and they were so happy to see me!

I had never laughed so hard in a zone conference. We talked about how to become Preach My Gospel missionaries, and at the end of testimony meeting, something way funny happened, so Sister Parcell, Bourgeois and I started giggling, and then we couldn't stop, but it was this big spiritual meeting. We put our heads down and tried to read from the scriptures to stop laughing but we couldn't. Sister Bourgeois was stifling her laughter so hard she was crying, which made me laugh even harder. We buried our faces in our hymbooks during "Called to Serve" and laughed so hard, then tried not to giggle during the closing prayer. The best part was we were sitting in the front, so everyone saw us struggling. Actually, the best part was the same thing happened to Elders LaFontaine, Gualtier, and Wayment, so basically the three of us are the sisters version of them. It was so embarrassing and we couldn't stop laughing for an hour after. I ran into the JB Elders and they were so confused as to why Sister Bourgeois and I were laughing so hard.

I loved the departing testimonies, especially Elder Snyder's and Elder Gualtier's. I'm grateful I got to serve with the both of them. I bore a quick testimony of how I'm understanding how this isn't our work, it's God's, and thank goodness for that. We can work and work and work and be effective and prayerful, but we're still going to come up short. But because this is God's work, He makes up the difference. We cannot fail. I also said quickly that He loves us so much. It baffles me.

Anyway, much more to write, but maybe next week.

I think it's hilarious I'm going to Singapore two weeks in a row. I love that city, I love my city right now, Kuching boleh!

-Sister Wynn