Hey hey orang yang saya sayang,
First thing's first, what missionaries do here for handwritten letters is have the letters go to the Singapore address. It is:
Sister Ellen Wynn
Singapore Mission
253 Bukit Timah Road, 5th Floor
259690 Singapore
Singapore
It's also on my facebook cover photo if you forget. This means we only get mail about once a month or every 3 weeks. I think it's because the mail here isn't very reliable/no one really has addresses. Missionaries coming from Singapore to our area bring our letters and packages. Our Sister Training Leaders and ZLs are going to Singapore this week for leadership training, so they'll pick up our letters. Also, the APs flew in from Singapore this week, which means I got mail! Well, I only got one letter, from Brother Kirby, and it was so uplifting. Keep writing, missionaries love letters. Even if I don't get them right away, keep writing to me, promise? I will try to respond as soon as I can.
Well, I forgot to say last week that Sister Crichton got transferred to Kuching about 2 days after Sister LeBaron and I got here. It was fun trying to remember where everyone lived. Can I just say Sister LeBaron is a champ for white-wash training in a country she's never been in, and in a language she didn't really use much before? She spent the first 6 months of her mission in Singapore, where missionaries mostly speak English. I really appreciated Sister Crichton being here, but I'm kind of glad she's gone because I feel like I teach a lot more, and that's the best way to learn the language.
Also, we wake up at 7, and go to bed at 11 instead of 6:30 and 10:30 in most other missions. I don't know why it seems so much better, but it's awesome. Also, I waterproofed my backpack. And by that, I mean I stick all of my books and valuables in plastic bags. It's the cheap man's way to waterproof stuff. I learned my lesson from two P-Days ago from biking in the rain and all of my stuff got wet. I was just thinking how it hasn't rained since that day, then yesterday, Sister LeBaron and I left early to pick some less-actives up for church, and it poured the whole time we biked. I thought to myself, "I'm going to miss days like this." I also wore my hideous Crocs yesterday, and we were a little late to sacrament meeting, so you have to imagine everyone trying to be reverent in church and us walking in late, dripping wet, and the squelching sound of my shoes as I tried to find a seat.
What else? We live by a mosque, and if we're home around one of the 5 times they do call to prayer, we can hear the music from it. It's so cool! It really reminds me I'm in a foreign country...even though they have mosques in America too haha. The music is beautiful. Last week, I put a carton of 30 eggs in my backpack and biked home without breaking a single one. I'm getting really good at hauling groceries home on my bike. I have yet to try mangosteen or durian, but I have been eating lots of dragonfruit. I also have our phone every other day, and some days I have the keys. I love calling members and investigators and trying to confirm appointments in my broken Malay. Just so you know, the Malaysia mission phones are so archaic. I miss my qwerty keyboard, but my phone has T9 bahasa Melayu which is pretty cool. The Singapore missionaries have really nice touch screen phones. Pampered much? I have a picture with one of the APs and we're holding up our phones so you can see the difference. For a while, I was feeling pretty bummed because I teaching in lessons about 10% of the time, but I started saying things when there was an appropriate pause because I know the lessons, even if I don't say things perfectly. I talked to Sister LeBaron about it and now we have our lessons where I try and teach most of it, and she fills in whatever I forget or can't say. Usually, I just forget a word here and there. I'm learning a lot of Malay this way, and I really appreciate that Sister LeBaron is taking a backseat on the lessons so I can speak more. I've also been filling out the area book (whoever doesn't have the phone that day does the area book) and I've decided I never, ever want to be a bad area book keeper. It's so frustrating when there's not enough information or complete information on the teaching records. But it's okay, we figure if there's something we don't know, we just ask our investigator. It just makes a lot more work.
Kusnadi is slowly giving up cigarettes. Kami percaya kepada dia! He's doing great. I showed him a picture I have of Gerrit and talked about how he wanted to stop smoking so he could serve a mission, and with the help of the Atonement, he was able to do it. I also had time to show him all of my other family pictures and he loved it. He showed us his little bag of kidney stones that he had about a year ago. I've learned not to be afraid to promise people these huge promises, like if Kusnadi relies on Christ and understands it's okay if he messes up, he will be able to stop smoking. We also promised that girl, the one who takes care of all those kids, that she will be able to read one day. We are slowly teaching her. I almost cried in one of our lessons with her because her 18 month old started crying and wouldn't stop, and she told us he was hungry but she didn't have enough milk for him and her newborn. She lights up every time we stop by and talk to her, even if it's just for a couple minutes.
I went on exchanges with Sister Noorda last week, and I got to be "Senior Companion." I learned a lot from her. She only has a month left before she goes home, but she said the mission goes fast. Live up every day, and love quickly. Sometimes you don't have time to love slowly, so love your comps, investigators, and church members in each area quickly. It's easy enough because Malaysians love me so much, even though I can barely speak to them. I've been really good at conveying love to everyone I meet though. It's a language everyone speaks, because love comes from the spirit.
We had a great jungle adventure last P-Day. Our branch mission leader, Kevin, who served in Singapore, took us to a national park and we got to see beautiful waterfalls, huge ants, and lots of pokok (trees). The hike was hard, but so fun. We climbed up this sketchy wooden treehouse tower where the ladder at the bottom was broken. We didn't climb to the top though because I don't think it was built for 7 huge American kids to climb all at once. We also ran into a couple Australians, an Englishman, and a New Zealander who were in Malaysia for work, as divers and surveyors. We tried to talk more about what we did as missionaries, but the conversation never went there. As they were leaving, I had this thought to read a scripture to them, but I didn't act on it. For the rest of the hike, I kept apologizing and praying in my head that I would find them again. We did at the end of the hike, and I talked to Peter, from New Zealand (bonus: he was pretty cute), and Merrick, from Liverpool, who kept making jibes at me for trying to proselyte. He said "So are you going to try to preach to me now? And I said, "You better believe it!" I read them Mosiah 18:9 and we said our good-byes.
Kevin also took us to a replica of an Iban longhouse, and to downtown Miri for lunch.
I think I forgot to mention, before we left the MTC, the Indos and Malays sang the National Anthem. It was so pretty because a couple people knew the harmonies. I love my country. I also love my mission country. I am in love with Malaysia. Also, for our last district meeting, I read Alma 17:12-13, which reads, "And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth among the [Malaysians] to declare unto them the word of God.
And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of [Malaysia], that they separated themselves one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken."
I said I was probably the most vocal about missing my MTC district, but we were going on to do amazing things, and I was glad I got to get to know all of them, and that they needed to remember they were men of God, worthy priesthood holders. Of course, I almost cried, but I held it together enough for me to say what was in my heart. We are doing a great work. I sometimes wonder how each Elder is doing, but I know each one is being an exceptional missionary right now.
Some days, I know angels are carrying me and my bike over the bridge across the Miri river at night, because some days I'm so tired. The church is true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. I didn't always know that, but now that I do, I have to act on it. I wouldn't be here 8,000 miles away from you all if it wasn't true. I love the work. I love my God. I love my Savior. Talk to you next week.
Sayang,
Sister Wynn
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