I wish our card readers worked at this internet kedai because our pictures from this week pretty much capture the essence of how insane this week was. It was one of those weeks that built me because I was so weak and so underqualified but the best part about missionary work is none of that matters because the Lord qualifies us. Every. Single. Time.
Sister Callor was so sick on Tuesday and I said, "I'm sorry, but we HAVE to get out and see Liew, and then we can rest." She was a trooper and we did. Wednesday we hopped on a plane and went to Singapore. I got to see my friends from Sibu zone in Kuching's airport, and they're doing so well. Before our activity, Sister Hansen and I stopped by Brother Keith's work in Raffle's Place and got to see him. Elder Hunsaker was also telling me there were tons of people he and Elder Plazier called from my list of people I contacted in Singapore who are now learning from missionaries, including this one girl who was strong in a different church, but stopped going because she had lots of unanswered questions. Right when she was praying for help to find truth, the elders called her. Elder Hunsaker asked if I remembered her, and I said, "Psh, no! I contacted thousands of people when I was there! But are you saying things I did nine months ago that I thought didn't matter actually matter? It's like the church is true or something."
And when I thought about it, I did remember contacting this girl on the MRT. And I remember calling her back and her politely declining being taught by Sister Hansen and I. It was good for me to hear because sometimes as missionaries we forget that we do a lot of good. And it was humbling because missionary work is like a relay race. I'm just impatient I guess haha, and I want to find, teach, and baptize everyone. But for most people, they come into contact with dozens of missionaries before they think, "Hm, there's probably something to these young kids and what they're promising me."
We also stopped by Baja Fresh because I was craving good old American mexican food, then I showed some elders the way to Chinatown because I like sherpa-ing the Malaysia missionaries around my old stomping grounds. I bought TONS of keychains for our members back here in Kuching. Love em.
Zone conference was so good. More than anything, I felt so much love from my mission friends, from President and Sister Mains, and from Heavenly Father. I've always been told I was a child of God, but it wasn't really anything that had meaning until I came out here. I got to see most of my MTC elders, and they've all grown so much. A lot of them are zone leaders right now, which freaks me out because I'll always remember them as 16 punk teenage boys with greenie fire. But every time I see them, my heart swells with love because of how much they've grown and how much they love their people. I also got to see a lot of old comps and roommates, and I thought about how much they influenced my life for good. Elder O'Bryant has probably changed the most. He, along with the rest of my friends, still make me laugh so hard I double over and start to cry, but he exudes so much more confidence now. He bore an incredible testimony about how he used to lack in desire to serve, and how he only came on a mission because it's a priesthood duty. But now his mission is the most important thing to him and he's lost in the work and we can all get lost in the work. And THEN, his low baritone voice got all shakey and tight and he teared up a little bit, and I was sitting in the front so I started to cry, and it was just a mess and I thought, "Dang it Elder White Lion!"
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Sister Callor and I also played our duet of "I Am a Child of God" and we were so underprepared and nervous but by some miracle it sounded really good (again, Heavenly Father helping us out). I was only running on 9 hours of sleep for that whole three days because of my cold, but it was nice to know I can do hard things like being all over Singapore while feeling sick and still being happy about it. It's like a precursor to mother hood or something haha. My head hurt SO much on the flight back. Sinus pressure and high altitudes don't mix well haha, but it's okay.
The next day, we crunched for Liew's baptism, along with the elders' in our branch. Biking felt like hiking up Mount freaking Kilamanjaro, everything hurt so much and had we not had a baptism, I would have taken a sick day haha. The font was really dirty, so we rinsed it out with the fire hose, which made it dirtier, so I handed everyone a brush and I got in the mucky water and started scrubbing. My head started killing me, and I looked at the elders and said, "Please help me" and Elder Poppleton was a total sweetheart and kicked off his shoes, rolled up his slacks, and got to work. Everything went wrong with that day, which was okay because the night before, I said, "Gear up Sister Callor, there's a baptism tomorrow and Satan's gonna try and stop it!" But the baptism itself was wonderful and Liew even teared up a little because he was so happy. He is going to be instrumental in bringing his family and friends into the church.
All the while across the country in KL, Sister Parcell and all the missionaries and members were filling up their baptismal font bucket by bucket for Arnold's baptism. Remember him? The sweet little Dutchman I was teaching when I was there. He asked, "Why are you all doing this for me?"
"Because this is how much we want you to get baptized. This is going to change your life. We love you." Sister Parcell told him.
When I biked home that night, my head felt like it was going to explode, and my lungs burned with every push, and my muscles felt like jelly, but I didn't care because knew I was the luckiest girl in the world. Arnold and Liew were baptized. They have the Holy Ghost. Their lives are different for the better. I will spend and be spent (2 Corinthians 12:15).
C.S. Lewis said, "I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun, not because I can see it, but because by them I can see everything else."
XO Sister Wynn
P.S. Getting transferred to Singapore. 1st ward. Time to network with my Americans living in Singapore. I'm sad to leave but I'm trusting Heavenly Father.
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