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
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