God Speaks Iban / Ngian's Baptism

Hey hey saudara and saudari,

This week was busy. Missionary life is busy. I wish I had more time to study, write letters, and write in my journal. Today, for P-Day, Sister LeBaron and I are taking it easy because we're exhausted. Every morning I wake up and everything hurts, but I somehow manage to roll over and say my morning prayers. It's the good kind of hurt, like I'm doing something important with these 18 months I've been given to be a missionary. Or trying to at least. I promise I'm working as hard as I can. It is not requisite that a man run faster than he has strength. But I also know I've been given more strength and energy.

First, Ngian got baptized! She was so happy and excited all week. On Friday, the day before her baptism, the Elders informed us there was something wrong with the baptismal font and after they drained it from last week's baptism, some of the dirty water backed up into the font. Elder Snyder and Elder Shuetz, the best zone leaders ever, went to the church for a couple hours and stood in knee-deep gross water and Elder Snyder tried to clear the drainage pipe (elbow deep in hair, dirt, plastic, and all the sins that have been washed away from baptisms past.) They also tried siphoning the water out, but to no avail. The next day, Sister LeBaron and I, along with the new Sisters, went to drain the rest of the water by bucket and clean the font a little so it would be ready for Ngian. There was a Relief Society activity finishing up from Branch 1, and they offered to help drain and clean the font! The work went by in no time, and Ngian was there to help and I think she really appreciated seeing all the church members support her.

The evening of the baptism, Elder Snyder and Elder Shuetz got us food since we had to stay with the font for it to fill up, and make the programs. Then Elder Snyder refused to let me pay him back. Best zone leaders ever? I think so. Ngian's baptism went by without a hitch, even though at the beginning of the day, nothing seemed to be  working. For example, our printer wasn't working for the programs, and we couldn't get a hold of the branch president all week to preside. All of those things ended up working out. Ngian was confirmed yesterday, and right after church, she came with us to be our church member present in a couple of our lessons with investigators. She shared her testimonies about prayer and the Book of Mormon. 

She was so shy when we met her, but now all she does is exude confidence and joy. I learned how to say "I love you" (Saya sayang kamu) and "I'm always sad when I leave your house because it has a special spirit" (Saya selalu sedih untuk berpindah rumah kamu sebab rumah ini ada roh istimewa) just for her. I love how in Malay, there are two different ways to say love, sayang, which is what you say to your friends and family, and cinta, which is the romantic kind of love. That way, it's not weird telling the families we're teaching that we love them. People say it all the time. If I had advice to give to a new missionary learning a language, I would say tell and show the people you're working with that you love them and care about them. That you're excited to see them, and that you're excited and happy they're becoming closer to God. Learn how to say all of that in your mission language.

I also wanted to talk about a conversation I had with Nayan, one of our investigators. We're teaching her and 6 of her kids. Her husband is sudah menginggal (passed away). She was telling us she loves praying, but she's a little malu (embarrassed, shy, apprehensive) because she's better at speaking in Iban than Malay and isn't sure if God likes that.

"Nayan," I said, laughing a little, "God speaks Iban."

She's been coming to church all month, but yesterday, she came to all three hours, and Sister Loreen was teaching Relief Society and taught it in Iban! I think it made Nayan a lot more comfortable at church. I introduced her to tons of people while Sister LeBaron was getting signatures for Ngian's baptism form. And dad, don't worry, Iban and Malay share a lot of words so I'm still learning Malay. I know a couple words in Iban too so I can tell people they're awesome and that I love them.

One other thing, Brother Chaong, a really sweet Iban man that looks like an owl, is the only church member in his family, but right now we're teaching his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids because they said they were ready this time. And they all believe the Book of Mormon is true and love reading from it. Brother Chaong showed us his passport and he got passports for his whole family, and has saved up enough money to go to the Philippines Manila Temple for when they all get baptized. It was so sweet. I almost cried when he shared that with us.  

Who knew I lived only 15 minutes away from bike from the beach? I sure didn't. The beach is pretty. The water is dirty, I can't decide if it's better or worse than California. Our district biked on the sand to check out some tide pools. I decided I should bike on beaches more. It's hard but really fun. I biked through where a small stream meets the ocean, but didn't time it right so a wave came in and my shoes and shorts got soaked. It was pretty funny. It was our last P-Day with Elder Conners and Sister Noorda, who sudah habis-ed their missions, and Sister Thompson, who got transferred to Kuching. I went on splits with Sister Thompson last week, and I'm grateful I got to know her better. She's still an Asister/Sister Training leader. She showed us her area and houses of people she and Sister Noorda were working with to show the new Sisters who are white washing Lutong. Then on Saturday, before Ngian's baptism, we showed Sister Caballa, and Sister Anderson, the trainee, their area.

Sister LeBaron warned me that sometimes when there are two sisters being trained living in the same house, that it gets competitive with the language. But Sister Anderson is way cool, she's from New Zealand, half Chinese, and is already fluent in Chinese so it's no contest. She speaks Malay with a New Zealand accent which is awesome. Sister Caballa was at BYUH the year I was there. I forgot to mention Elder Fletcher, the new Chinese elder, but he's been here for a month already (the Chinese Elders are on a different transfer schedule from the Malay and English speaking missionaries). He's from Ogden, Utah. His whole family is inactive, but he's a stellar missionary. Elder Wayment is training Elder Christensen. He's from Utah...somewhere but is sweet. Half of the missionaries in Miri are being trained. It's awesome. We have that special greenie power that's half enthusiasm and half naivety. I hope I never lose it.

What else? Brother Chaong's house is the only one we go to where we don't sit on the floor in a circle. All the women in Malaysia are gorgeous. The Miri accent is pretty, they pronounce "i" at the end of words like an "e". So instead of "terima kasih" and "cantik," it's "terima kas-eh" and "can-tek." Something like that. The church members love me now because in between sessions of general conference, I ate tons of food, and Malaysians like big eaters. I think I may have told you that already. Our landlady is a really sweet Chinese woman who gives us food because, as she says, "I noticed you don't have a mom." She still thinks we're school teachers even though we've explained a million times that we're volunteers for our church haha. Everyone here is so loving. Oh and Malaysians love to tease you, so you have to learn how to do it back. And dad, I know you were wondering how I teach abut Christ in a Muslim country where it's illegal to teach Muslims. It's actually pretty easy. When I'm on the bus or talking to people, I say, "I'm from America, if you couldn't tell. I'm a volunteer for my church." (We're not supposed to say we're missionaries because it implies we're getting paid). Then I say "What religion are you? Oh, Muslim? That's really cool! Can you teach me more Malay words?"

Easy. Love you all.

-Sister Wynn

Brethren in the Lord / Getting mauled by a baby sunbear

"Therefore, Sister Wynn did rejoice exceedingly to see her brethren, and what added more to her joy, they were still her brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth, for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

But this is not all, they had given themselves to much prayer and fasting, therefore they had the spirit of prophesy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with the power and authority of God."

The best Christmas presents I've ever gotten as a little kid (top three: my hamster, guitar, and barbie spa) pale in comparison to finding out I was flying to Kuching for new missionary training and got to see the Elders from my MTC group. Well, the ones being trained in East Malaysia at least. Pale.

Sister LeBaron and I hopped on a plane in Miri around 9 am (it was a Boeing 737 Mikel) and an hour later, landed in the beautiful, enormous city of Kuching. It was a 15 minute cab ride to the church, but the gate was locked so we had our driver (his name is Vincent, he told us all the cool things to see in Kuching) drop us off at the huge mall next door so we could eat and kill some time before training started.

We saw Elder Capener and Elder Hays, his trainer first, as we were walking to the food court. Imagine the happiest you've ever seen me, and multiply it by 10. I ran up to Elder Capener and gave him the most enthusiastic handshake ever. We caught up and I told him I heard they were tearing it up in Sibu. Elder Capener has always had the Malay accent down. We went back to the church, and I saw Elder Parker and his trainer in the church parking lot. I yelled "Elder Parker!" and he said, "Oh, hey Sister Wynn." as he unlocked the gate for us. He's still the same free spirit. It was like another day for him since he's serving in Kuching right now.

In the church, I saw to Elder Fowler, serving in the middle-of-nowhere Mukah, and Elder Hobbs (Kuching), and then Elders Liddle, Ormsby, and Cook and their trainers pulled up in a couple cabs. They're all serving in Bintulu.

I ran up to Elder Liddle and said I'd give him a hug if I could (I told all the Elders that) and that my district in Miri wrote him a card. The week before, my zone leaders asked if he'd like a card since I'm the only one that really knows him, and I said he would appreciate the gesture, and even if he didn't like it, he would still say he did because that's the kind of person he is. I asked how he was feeling and he said, "You know, I'm doing all right." I told him I love him, and Miri loves him.

I got to see Elder Ferguson and Elder Lundquist (serving in Kuching, but the other side so they had a 16 mile bike ride) at the mall where we ate lunch. Everyone had either lost weight (in a good way) or gained weight in muscle. I was glad because we were all looking pretty tubby after the MTC haha.

After lunch, we saw President and Sister Mains and the APs, and it was nice to see them. I knew training was important, otherwise why would the mission president fly us all in from where we were serving? Everything they said was inspired, and I loved learning that missions (and life) are about joy, and that we can continually improve. I forgot my notes but I'll send some of them next week. We also split up for a while, trainees and trainers, and the trainees talked to President and Sister Mains about what we like about training and what we want to see different. We have a good group, and they could see we were all very energetic and willing to work hard, and all of our trainers have been doing a good job giving us a lot of responsibility and experience speaking and teaching. Some of the Elders said their trainers on the first day handed them the phone and said, "Okay, make all the appointments today." Sister LeBaron said a couple trainers in her group were feeling discouraged, and complaining about their trainees. Elder Crosland, one of the APs, cut him off and said, "Pray more."

At the end of training, we had a brief testimony meeting, and Elder Liddle stood up and bore a powerful testimony that he's grateful for eternal families, and that's why he's here serving so people can know they can see with their loved ones again.He didn't cry but Sister LeBaron and I did (of course, the only two sisters at this training meeting cried). Didn't I say in my last email that Elder Liddle is a strong person? On the card I gave him from my district, I wrote that he's incredible for exemplifying the character of Christ. Despite losing his dad, he turned outward in service to others, instead of turning inward. I pray for him every day, even though I know he'll be okay. I hope one day I can be like him. After training, he even did his voice impersonations when I asked him to show Sister LeBaron.

It's incredible to see how much these Elders, my friends, and brethren in the Lord have changed in 5 short weeks. They're still themselves, but I think we're all better teachers, and have so much love for the people we serve. We were so excited to talk about the people we've been teaching all over East Malaysia. But at the same time, we're all still a little bit the same. When I showed Elder Parker my pictures with the sunbear, he said, "That's such a Sister Wynn laugh." I love my mission. I can't wait to see how much we all change after 2 years.

Sister LeBaron and I caught a ride back to the airport with the APs, Elder Harper and Elder Crosland (selfie pics in the cab forthcoming) because we were the only ones flying home that night (the APs back to Singapore). We ate at Marrybrown's, which was the first time I had fast food in a long time, and said our good byes. I made sure to tell the APs they were good examples of what a Preach My Gospel missionary is, and that we appreciated all the work they do, because being an AP must be pretty thankless sometimes. Sister LeBaron and I got home, back in Miri, at 11 pm and crashed. Friday was a good day. Long day.

The next morning, we woke up at 7 am, like usual, but so sore and exhausted. During exercise, all I did was lay there with my legs in the air and said to Sister LeBaron, "How do President Mains, the APs, Zone Leaders, and ASisters do this every week?" But the night before, in my prayers, I said, "Heavenly Father, I'm tempted to sleep in tomorrow because I'm running on no sleep, but I'm gonna get up on time. Please help me get through tomorrow and teach with the spirit and be happy." And I was.

Well last P-Day, we went to the Crocodile Farm. I got to see the ocean from the bus (today is beach day) and I got to hold a baby sunbear! You know you're jealous. I got to play with a lot of jungle animals that day actually. I was like a kid in a candy store.

Ngian is getting baptized this Saturday, and she is ready and excited! I love how much her confidence has grown since she learned and accepted the gospel. She was so shy and quiet (a lot of Iban/Asian women are) at first, and now she's so talkative. I always tell her I'm sad to leave our lessons at her house and she says she is too.

A little about the culture (email me questions about what you want to know), most of our investigators and everyone, really, live in kampongs, the neighborhoods with wooden houses. Most of them are built over the Miri River. Sister Tungalim was telling us yesterday that every year their house floods a little as the river rises. Some people have generators for their electricity, others just use candles at night. I love teaching lessons by candlelight.

The people here like to tease the Elders, and sometimes the Sisters, but if you can tease them back they just love you more. They love me know because at General Conference, between sessions, I ate TONS of food (because I'm always hungry) and tried a little of the Malaysian/Iban dishes. They like big eaters. K I'm out of time, till next time.

I love Malaysia. I love Sarawak, and I love Pujut in Miri. I love these people with all my heart.

-Sister Wynn

I'm going to Kuching / I would give away all my sins to know thee / Rest in Peace, Brother Liddle

Selamat pagi (I guess petang for all of you in America),

My heart is heavy right now. Yesterday, after one of our lessons, Sister LeBaron told me she got a text from our zone leaders saying Elder Liddle's dad died of cancer. I had the opportunity to teach with Elder Liddle and his companion in the MTC and got to know him really well. He's just out of high school and has always been an exceptional missionary, even though he's 6'3" and skinny as a twig because he's only 18. He focused on studies when the rest of us couldn't, and spoke excellent Malay by the time we left. He made us all laugh. So much. Even with his own personal struggles. He didn't talk to me about his dad that often, but during a testimony meeting our second day at the MTC, he briefly mentioned how his dad has cancer, but he was really grateful for the support of church members and for the knowledge that we can be with our families forever. He is strong, always has been.

I had the privilege of seeing him talk to his dad on the phone at LAX, and I loved seeing him light up and tell him about his experiences at the MTC and about Bintulu (his first area). The other Elders we were with gave him a huge hug after. When the APs were in Miri a couple weeks ago, they told me things weren't looking very good for Elder Liddle's dad, and it made me really sad.

I also found myself at a funeral wake, and the next day a funeral, this week. We're not really sure how we ended up there, except that a less active woman, asked the church members for support. We got to know her better these last couple days and are going to continue to support her. Her mom died young, we think she was about 50, too young. She loves talking to Sister LeBaron and me about her mom. She also wants to start attending church again.

We also got pins last week at district meeting, with a Singapore and Malaysian flag, with the words

Elder Jason WiBerg

Singapore Mission

embossed on them. Rumor has it his parents had the pins made and sent to our mission for the missionaries. I never met Elder Wiberg, but all of the events this past week has gotten me thinking about life and death. I read Alma 40 this morning, and listened to some of the words at Dawn's wake. "The spirits of men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life...the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame."

Death is not the end. Death is not the end.

I never get tired of teaching people that. A few weeks ago, as we were teaching the Plan of Salvation lesson to Ngian (the tiny Iban woman we love so much), Sister LeBaron was explaining how her body can be perfect. It won't ever be sakit (sick, hurt, in pain, it's all one word in bahasa Melayu) again. I started tearing up a little. I never get tired of telling people they can be with their loved ones forever and ever and ever. Elder Liddle's dad doesn't have cancer anymore. Claire's mom doesn't have chest pain anymore. Uncle Paul is fine and healthy. We don't need to worry about them.

I'm also grateful for tender little mercies from God. At church, Sister LeBaron said, "Sister Wynn, do you trust me?" and proceeded to share her plans to make a lot more appointments than we thought we had time for. "I trust you."

The two appointments we had after we got news of Elder Liddle's dad fell through, but I think Heavenly Father knew I needed the bike ride over to their houses to tear up a little and feel sad and think for a while before we had to go to our other appointments. I didn't really cry until an hour ago, while I was doing family history training on the computer and thinking about how families can be together forever. You have to imagine me sitting at an Internet kedai, bawling my eyes out, while there are 9 year olds running around screaming at their computer screens, playing Call of Duty.

Anyway, I've also been thinking about sins and being of the world. There's this prominent Miley Cyrus song that came out a month before I left, and I'm guilty of once loitering in a souvenir shop to listen to it. It's really stupid and worldly and catchy, but when I hear it, I get taken back to the wonderful summer I had, of driving to Gerrit's house, bonfires, trips to the coast, and swimming. But then I also had this resolve to buang (cast out) the things of the world for the rest of my life. There are so many things in the world that compete for my attention, and I'm tired of it.

I was also reading about the conversion of Saul recently, and you have to imagine Sister LeBaron trying to have a peaceful personal study and me bursting out laughing, because I read, "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church," and I had to explain to Sister LeBaron that I imagined Saul kacau-ing (harassing) these poor church members and said, "Man Saul, you used to be a real jerk." I know my personal conversion to the Lord wasn't on the same level as Saul's (like the Caravaggio painting portrays, the one where Saul has fallen off his horse as he is being converted), but I know God doesn't care who we were, He only cares where we're going and that we're doing our best to become more like Christ. Look at Saul, he was a real jerk, but became one of the best missionaries of all time.

I know I have been saved by Christ, and one thing I've been trying to learn this week is how the Atonement is about change. Heavenly Father wants us to change and become better. I know I've been asking Him to help me change, to cast out anything and everything worldly about myself. And I'm dumbfounded by how I make the same mistakes over and over, and God liberally forgives me when I come back with a broken heart and desire to change. Christ's grace is sufficient for me.

I loved General Conference. Some of my favorite things were when Elder Holland said, "Hope is never lost," and "If the bitter cup will not pass, drink it, and become strong." We are 15 million strong now, and there are 80,333 missionaries. I can't believe it's been one year since I was sitting on Austin's couch, crying with him because we both knew I was going on a mission. Why did I ever doubt my decision for so long to serve? Now that I'm here, I know I would do this mission all over again. How many times do the scriptures say "Doubt not," "Doubting nothing," etc? I'm glad I'm here, because if I wasn't, there would only be 80,332 missionaries serving right now, and every one of us count. And those of us without black name tags are missionaries too. We need each other to find people that need the Gospel of Jesus Christ right now.

In other news, I bought a giant bag of longan last week at E-Mart. Longan is so good. When I said, "Terima kasih!" to the farmer, he started laughing at me. I said in Malay, "Are you laughing at me because I have a white person accent?" and he just nodded and kept laughing. He was super cool though because he gave me more longan than I asked for for the same price. I also tried jackfruit for the first time. It's durian's distant cousin in the fruit family tree. Durian isn't in season right now, but when I try it, I'll be sure to share how nasty it is. I also ate a chicken foot at the wake. It was in this bowl of curry, and I was feeling pretty awkward (as I always do at wakes) so I shrugged and piled some curry and chicken feet onto my rice. It's very cartilage-y, and Elder Wayment had to teach me how to bite off the toes and eat the meat around the bones.

Speaking of Elder Wayment, we just found out we're 3rd cousins! His mom is a Purcell, so I'm pretty sure my dad is friends with his mom. Also, I got chased by dogs that can run faster than I can bike. Imagine me screaming and laughing, legs a blur because I'm pedaling so fast, and praying that these anging besar (huge dogs) won't catch me.

I also accidentally drank coffee. This golden family we are teaching right now gave it to us, and I wondered as I drank it, "This is really weird tasting Milo." Sister LeBaron decided not to drink it until after the lesson, and after she took a sip and realized it was coffee, looked over at me with wide eyes and saw that my glass was empty. At that lesson, I also felt a bug crawling under my leg and ignored it, but the family started freaking out and Stanley, one of the sons, smashed this millipede that crawled out from under my leg and explained that they have really painful bites. Dodged a bullet there. Stanley and his sister Shetu are so sweet, and they put their pictures on the inside cover of their Book of Mormon. I love how special this family is. We're trying to get the sons to stop smoking. We found out Subyia also smokes, and yesterday, I thought his mom was kidding, but he said he smokes a pack every two days. I was like, "Dude you're only 16!" But he's really excited to start his plan to stop. I'm always amazed at how willing people are to stop things (even coffee and tea) when we ask them to. I'm this inarticulate girl from America, yet they listen to me and Sister LeBaron and show us so much warmth and love. I love their house too because at night, we light candles so we can see since they don't have lights, like a lot of Iban homes.

I also bought a Malay and Iban Bible last week. It's awesome.

Okay, I'm out of time, but I love you all. Have a good week. Till next time.

-Sister Wynn

P.S. I'm going to Kuching this week for new missionary training! So stoked to see my homeboys from the MTC.

Heart, Might, Mind and Strength

Apa khabar,

So if you want a visual of my mission, imagine a quiet little street, palm trees swaying in the breeze, me in a pink dress riding my bike with no handlebars (I learned how to do that my second day in the field). Also, I'm wearing a dorky bike helmet and sweating profusely, all the time. And I always have this stupid grin on my face. This is my life. I love every second of it.

Happy [almost] Birthday mama-bear! You are incredible and if I can be half as good of a mom as you one day, I'd be pretty happy with myself. I'm glad I had time to send a personal email to the family.

Just in case any of you wanted to google-earth my area, I live in Lutong, by the EconSave/Myy Mall, but we bike across the Miri River every day to Pujut, our area. The church is next to the HSBC bank. I want to know how many miles I live away from the church. Last P-Day, our rides to the crocodile farm fell through, and today, it's raining really hard so we decided not to go again because we want to hold baby sunbears in our lap and feed monkeys, and they probably won't want to come out and play in the rain. Last week, the roommates and I went to downtown Miri and I finally got a little souvenir shopping done. I didn't buy much, but I bought a really pretty purple sarong. I love the sisters I live with, we are a really good house (which apparently that didn't always used to be the case). I also love my district. Yesterday, I made everyone gyros and we broke our fast at the church.  (You know you're jealous of my mad cooking skills). The Chinese speaking Elders and Sister LeBaron and I switch off making lunch (or dinner for fast Sundays) every week. A couple weeks ago I made everyone yakisoba.

That reminds me, we just found out Elder Fabiano is getting transferred to Singapore. He's the Italian-Hawaiian looking Elder in all of my pictures (which I will send...eventually). I thought I was the only compur (mix) in my district. He's a cool kid, and speaks perfect Chinese. He also started a weekly English class at the church. Sister LeBaron and I got roped into teaching the advanced class, and it's so much fun. They also find a lot of investigators this way. He tried speaking Iban to me once, he said, "Mama burrito," to which I said, "Uh, you mean 'nama berita'?" I can't make fun of him though because he was always nice enough to translate sacrament meeting during Chinese group so we could translate for the Indonesians that come. That's my ode to Elder Fabiano, he's going to go change some hearts now in Singapore. His trainee, Elder Mitchell (the redhead in all my pictures), is now going to train in Miri, so they will both be going to Singapore this week for Elder Mitchell to pick up the new guy.

I was really sad when the sister assistants (or asisters) came back from Singapore with no mail for me. I was a little disappointed in myself that I was kind of sad in the first place. I know it's not important to get letters, but I do love having those little reminders of home. I guess that's what I get for burning all my bridges before I left, haha. Sister LeBaron and I go running every morning, except there are angry dogs that chase us all over our neighborhood. It's good exercise though, and everything is less sore since we've started running, especially my back.

In other news, we have a security guard for the church at night, or I should say we used to because he died last Monday! His name was Dason Dixon, but the missionaries called him Boss, and he was this really sweet Muslim guy. We always thanked him for keeping our church safe. When the new security guard told us, I started laughing, and Sister LeBaron gave me this mortified look. I (my whole family, actually) handle death in a highly inappropriate way...by laughing. Don't judge me.

We also ended up teaching this drunk guy, who was the neighbor of one of our less actives. He desired to change because he doesn't like how angry he gets when he drinks, so we taught him the Word of Wisdom lesson right then and there. Except he kept interrupting me, and he kept talking in circles. I said, "Okay, when we teach you next time, you aren't allowed to be drunk. Promise?"

I can't remember if I talked about the miracle where we found this less active family, and the miracles that followed. Sister LeBaron and I were looking for a totally different family, and we biked by these little girls who were playing. I thought I heard one of them yell, "Sisters!" so I called Sister LeBaron back, and we talked to them. I said, "How did you know we were called Sisters?" and they let us into their house and it turned out they were a less active family! The mom's name is Karen, and her daughter Teo is the most beautiful 12-year old I've ever seen. She's half Iban and half Chinese. Karen can't talk because she has a throat sickness, but wrote on a piece of paper that she wants the missionaries to teach her kids. Her friends, Bangi and Linthia, came over right then, and we asked if they wanted to learn. They said yes and were stoked on their Book of Mormons we gave them. Wait, it gets better; while Sister LeBaron and Sister Thompson went to teach Bangi and Linthia on our exchanges, another family, Nayan and her kids, who live in the same house, wanted to learn. So we've been teaching them (there's 9 of them total) and they love being taught about the gospel. A couple nights ago, we taught that they can become perfect, and have perfect bodies again, and be with their families forever. Shetu, the oldest daughter, who is 23, the night before had cried and told us she knew she had been saved by Jesus Christ. Then, during that lesson, she said Sister LeBaron and I had the face of God. I don't really know what that means, but it was sweet. I like to think Sister LeBaron and I have hope and optimism, and the light of Christ in our eyes.

Lately, I've been thinking about how amazing our generation is. We heard a talk in the MTC about how when we heard the invitation to the call to serve from President Monson last October, we said, "Yes we will!" And because of the huge number of missionaries (80,000 strong now), we said, "Oh, we only have 6 weeks to learn Malay instead of 9? Bring it on." I didn't realize that other missionaries would end up meaning so much to me. I have full faith in them as future leaders. Take Sister LeBaron for example; I didn't realize how difficult her training situation was-- She is whitewash training in a country she'd never actually been to (she spent her first 6 months in Singapore) in a language she never needed. My first day in Malaysia was her first day in Malaysia too. And she is doing an incredible job. This week, we had the most member-present lessons, most investigators at church, referrals contacted, and progressing investigators in our zone. Not because we're that great, we told each other it's times like these where we wish we could hi-five God. "I do not boast in my own strength nor in my own wisdom...but I will boast of my God." Maybe it's beginners luck, or maybe we are supposed to be teaching these people right now.

I've been studying D&C 4 and want to live it, "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength."

I want to give my mission everything I have to give. I want to come home exhausted. Everything I teach, I know is true. 

-Sister Wynn