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| Coming into Miri. |
Nama berita kita wai,
I'm sitting here at the internet kedai with all the little Malaysian kids playing CoD and I'm freezing and soaking wet. Udah kena ujan. It is SO good to be back in Miri. It feels like I never left, but I do feel different. Sister Pitts is an amazing companion and udah pandai jakuh Iban even though she's only been out three months. My area is beautiful.
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| Soakin' wet! |
We just moved houses and it's weird to have an upstairs and so much space. Even living with 5 other sisters. Good news, we have a companionship of Chinese-speaking sisters here now. I'm also living with Sister Fonbuena again and she's training, and has the cutest companion. We have a good looking family line going. We're seeing how long we can go before she figures out I'm her grandma in the mission. There's also a new Chinese speaking sister. We met them as we got back home, covered in sweat and kampung mud, and as we were introducing ourselves, the power went out. We exclaimed, "Welcome to Miri!" The water wasn't running either, so Sister Pitts and I came to terms with the fact that we might be going to bed without showering. Luckily, the power came back on around midnight, but I love how anytime there are brand new missionaries, crazy things happen to them.
Our new house is about a block and a half from the church, so I STILL have to bike like half an hour every day to get to my new area haha. I'm just never going to get away from biking huge distances I guess. But I get to bike right through my old area, not a bad trade. Elder Stewart and Elder Fowler are my ZLs, it's nice to serve with someone from the MTC again. Elder Sheranian and Elder Hill are awesome to work with, Sister Pitts has been showing all of us around and introducing us to members. A lot of the members in my branch remember seeing me around, and they love pointing out that I'm a lot skinnier and more pandai bahasa Melayu now haha. "So you're saying I used to be fat and stupid."
My bike is still in Kuching...crossing my fingers that it'll get here soon because I miss it. Sister Fonbuena's (formerly Elder Rasmussen's) bike has been wrecking me. Just like old times, I say a prayer that I'll survive as I cross the Miri River bridge. Today, it was while trudging through six inches of water as it cascaded downhill. On days where I can't use Sister Fonbuena's bike, we just bus up to Lutong and Sealine and Senadin. We never know when the bus will get here, and apparently they stop after dark, but it's fun riding those janky, creaky buses and talking to all the friendly people here. Then we just jalan kaki around our kampungs and I meet members, teach a few lessons, etc. Transfers week is always like surgery in a battle field. You just make do with what you have. Like I said my first week in the field, embrace the chaos of it all.
My first night back, we swung by the church to teach English class. I saw these two ten year old boys who looked kind of familiar, then I realized it was Winsely and Rexman! They were a little taller, and so sweet and polite. "Sister Wynn? How are you?" They were happy to see me, and it was all I could do to not burst into tears right there because they are members of the church now. I met another hebat church member who's only been a member for a few months, and he said Brother Irak was the one who invited him to learn the gospel.
Chruch was tenang. I ran into so many people from the 2nd branch and I'm sure I felt like Alma when he was reunited with the sons of Mosiah. Selina and Monicca are really active now, and they straight up cried when they saw me. I told them "Anang menangis, kalau kamu nangis, saya 'kan nangis!" I said hi to Apai Sigat and Sister Belaiya and she held my hand for a long time, and then we decided to trade shoes. They were stoked I could actually speak a little more Iban now.
Then down the hall, I spotted Brother Irak in his white shirt and tie. He stopped when he saw me, and I walked directly over to him in slow motion and gave him the firmest handshake I could. "Apa hal Irak? You're a church member now." We caught up and I teased him for being SO stubborn when he was an investigator and for never coming to church, and he laughed and apologized for not understanding how life-changing the gospel was sooner. And now he's 1st counselor in the branch presidency. To this day he is still one of my favorite people I've taught.
I said hi to his wife Wynndy and she looked so natural fulfilling her calling in the primary, trying to herd her kids into a classroom. I thought my heart was going to explode with joy. There never was happiness like what I felt this weekend.
The branch that Sister LeBaron and I worked so hard for back when I was a brand new missionary grew. Same with my new branch. The people Sister Anderson taught got baptized, they're strong members, and a handful of them are going on missions. Our branch mission leader, Dividson, still remembers me from back when he was an investigator. He's counting down the days til he's been a member for a year so he can go on a mission as soon as possible. "Dividson, why do you want to go on a mission?"
"Because I think about everything Jesus Christ has done for me and berbaloi to tell other people about the gospel, it's not even a sacrifice." He said it so matter-of-factly.
Sister Pitts and I put a couple family-men on date for baptism last night, because this is Sarawak, and despite all of its problems, there are good men out there who love their families and want to change and want to help build up the church. We made our game plan for the next six weeks, which involves winning over the hearts of our strongest members because we love them, and having them help us find their friends to teach and reactivate. We need to find more families, especially the ones with dads who can help build the kingdom in Miri. There's no shortage of work here.
Saying goodbye to everyone in Singapore was hard. I miss the 1st ward already, even though it was such a hard area. When we told WML John the transfer news, he said, "Can you swing by work for one last Quiznos dinner?" The five of us had so many good laughs, John said more profound things about missionary work with his sarcastic Scottish accent, and offered to fly me back out to Singapore after my mission because he needs a babysitter for his kids so he and his wife can actually go out for once haha.
Elder McCarthy (who is now a zone leader in SG, called it) gave one last incredible district meeting. He asked me to share why I came out on a mission and I said the simple answer is because I love Jesus Christ and the Atonement is real. I think of all the opportunities Heavenly Father gave me to grow and to finally decide to come on a mission. It doesn't matter if people think our testimonies are indoctrinated or recycled. This is real. This is the most important thing, for the rest of my life, to share the gospel. I wish you could have seen the glow on Irak and Wynndy and their kids. They are so changed, all in one short year. This is what the gospel does to people.
At the end of the meeting, Elder McCarthy did the hakka for us one last time (he said he probably won't do it anymore because some Maori words sound like English swear words haha) and we all said our goodbye as we went to our new areas. I'm probably going to finish my mission here in Miri, and you better believe I'm going to make these last 3 months count.
Wish me luck.
xo Sister Wynn
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