Selamat Datang ke Paradise

Keluarga dan kawan,

What. Just. Happened. These last few days were a complete blur. I was in Singapore a couple days ago and now I'm in Miri, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It reminds me a lot of North Shore Hawaii (Brother Simon would kill me for saying that but it's true). I think Miri is one of the nicer places in Malaysia, and of course they send sister missionaries here. But first I'd like to summarize my week.

Oh, and I don't have my current Miri address on me, but you all can go ahead and send letters to the Singapore address. I probably won't get them for about three weeks. What we do in our mission is if there are missionaries traveling to and from Singapore to our area, they just bring the letters the missionaries get with them. When Sister LeBaron and I left for Miri, the mission office gave us a few letters to give to the missionaries here. It's better to send letters to my actual address unless it's around transfer time. Even if I transfer, I'll get the letter eventually. 

The Indonesian and Malay speakers sang Army of Helaman in English and Indonesian in our last sacrament meeting at the MTC. It was one of my favorite experiences. The new Greeks (most of them are from Scotland, England, and France because it's easier for European missionaries to get visas in Greece) loved it. I recorded us practicing it a few minutes before, so I'll try to send it next week. It was hard saying good-bye to Sister Wenyi. She's probably on her way to Madagascar now. My trip over was good, even though it took 30 long hours. We took a train from Provo to Salt Lake, and there we met the English speaking Singapore missionaries. I got to see LA from above while the sun was setting. I pointed out my old school and surf spots to my friends. On our layover, I loved seeing all the missionaries light up when they got a hold of their families and loved ones on the payphones. It was my favorite part of this trip. I started to get frustrated because I couldn't find a working payphone, but Elder Starthearn and Elder Capener walked to the other side of the terminal with me (it's a long walk, that airport is HUGE) and we all got payphones. Elder Strathearn made me feel better when I was about to cry, and Elder Capener lent me his phone card when mine ran out of money because it wasn't working. It was nice to talk to mom, dad, and Mikel. I definitely teared up when I heard dad's voice. I kept the conversation short since I wasn't using my card, but all I wanted to say was I'm happy, tired, and grateful to be on a mission. And that I love my family.

We found Elders Parker, Jackson, and Liddle. I forgot I had tons of quarters in my backpack until I saw them, and they hadn't talked to their families yet. I walked with them to the payphones I used and gave Elder Jackson all of my quarters since he forgot to buy a phone card and wasn't planning on talking to his family. Elder Parker's little brother accidentally hung up on him, and he was worried his mom was sad, which broke my heart. But eventually he got a hold of her again. Then, Elder Jackson's phone hung up while he was in mid-sentence, so the three of us scrounged up whatever change we could find as fast as he could so he could say good-bye. I don't know what it is about missionaries, but I have so much Christ-like love for everyone I traveled with. Again, I was so happy to see how happy the Elders in my district were to talk to their families. It made my night.

We said good-bye to the Indos at their gate. I was especially sad to say good-bye to Sister Sperry and Sister Olsen. They were such great examples to me, but Indonesia needs them. Finally, at the end of our 6 hour layover, we got on our plane for the 15 hour flight to Hong-Kong. It wasn't bad. I sat between Elder Trudo and Elder Fowler. I gave Elder Fowler my window seat because I know how much it sucks for guys to sit in the middle of the row. I only slept for about 5 hours, and it was uncomfortable, but on missions, you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. In every way. I woke up with two blankets, which meant I somehow managed to steal Elder Trudo's blanket in the middle of the night.

We met the Mains at the airport, and they are some of the kindest, hardest working people I've ever met. Every time you talk to one of them, they make you feel like you're their only missionary. They have about 120 now, but we will have 176 by December. We loaded our suitcases in the vans the APs drove, and then they handed out Book of Mormons to give away on the train then we hopped on the MRT (the metro) to the mission home and chapel. I talked to lots of people, and a lot of them were really interested in why I was there and welcomed me to Singapore. Someone just straight up asked Elder Vincent and Elder Lambert for their copy. I wasn't able to give mine away because I didn't ask anyone if they wanted it. I made a goal to place it before I got to Miri though. I gave away a couple cards with the chapel address though. The Singapore chapel is gorgeous. I'll send pictures. I was so exhausted for interviews and stuff, and a little sad that my little district family would be going their separate ways soon. The 3 English speaking sisters and I went to a hotel for the night, and the Elders stayed at the mission home behind the chapel. I roomed with Sister Fa'aleiua, who's from American Samoa and is a convert. She is amazing. It was also nice to finally have a shower. The next day, we had an orientation, and I was asked to give a talk on helping people recognize the Holy Ghost when they feel it, along with Elder Fowler, Elder Jackson, Elder Lundquist, and Sister Fa'aleiua. Later, we were given the opportunity to share our testimonies. I eventually did. It was short and simple, and I also added how grateful I was for the people God placed in my life, like the Elders in my group at the MTC. I am a better missionary because of them. I mean it.

I finally got to meet my trainer, Sister LeBaron, and she is perfect. She's my age and we actually went to BYU together, but never met. She's done three years, studying neuroscience. All she ever does is uplift and inspire me. She said even though she's my trainer, we're equal missionaries and I'm just as qualified as her to do the Lord's work. We also agreed that P-Day is a day for jungle adventures, and we can sleep when we're dead. We are going to get along just fine. We went to Little India for lunch because she intuitively knew I wanted to eat with my MTC district. We went to this place called Ghandi's, and it was one of those places where you eat with your right hand. They gave us utensils because we were American, but yeah right, we didn't need them! The curry was so spicy, but so good. I said good-bye to my district, which was hard, but luckily in this mission we see other missionaries a lot because of visa runs. Sister LeBaron and I repacked our stuff at the Sister's apartment behind the chapel and mission office, and it was nice. The view from it was gorgeous. We then went to an appointment with Noel, an Indian man Sister LeBaron contacted a few weeks ago and gave a Book of Mormon to, but he never answered his phone. It turned out that he suffered a major stroke and was recovering. As he was looking for her card to call her, the Elders called him. I got to meet him and he showed us how his head was squishy because they removed part of his cranium to allow his brain to swell after surgery. We also met his mom, Sofina, and their Indonesian helper, Minnie, so we shared our message about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, half in English, and half in Malay. Noel knew that God has given him a second chance and was really receptive to our message.

On the train ride home, at one of our crossover stations, I placed my first Book of Mormon! We were waiting by a man named Cam, who is from Nepal but lives in the UK. He actually almost missed his train because he was talking to us for so long. His wife Ping was shouting for him to hurry, but he and his kids were laughing so hard. Sister LeBaron and I grabbed dinner at Tako Wow, this little Japanese place in the station with a mall. We got these crab cake things with octopus and prawns. The next morning, we ran around the chapel for exercise because she's perfect for me and likes to run. I got so sweaty in ten minutes that would have taken me 2 hours to get that sweaty in Oregon. Then we got ready and rode the MRT to the airport. We ran into Elder Fowler and Elder Capener and their trainers on the train. We got on our plane to Kuching, then  I said good-bye to my friends since they are going to Mukah and Sibu. My mission is really cool because of traveling, I can't tell you why unless you write me, but look carefully at my pictures. We got to Miri, and our jaws dropped at how beautiful it was. Sister LeBaron has never served outside of Singapore til now, and they whitewashed our area in Miri for some reason, so we're in this together. Our house is gorgeous, with 12 foot ceilings all around, and we live really close to a mall with a grocery store and internet kedai (cafe). Our roommates, Sister Crichton, Sister Thompson, and Sister Noorda got us all set up with bikes and groceries, and we went to Kent's Garden, this really yummy outdoor restaurant. I got Penang Keuh Teow, it's basically Malaysian Pad Thai and it was so good.

Yesterday was Sunday, and it was a blur. It's a 25 minute bike ride, and I'd never arrived to church so sweaty. I want all of you to appreciate how hard it is to bike in 90 percent humidity, and in a skirt. We have one of the only branch buildings in Malaysia in our area. I think there are 3 or 4 other buildings in the bigger cities. Sister LeBaron and I are in a branch with our ZL's, Elder Shutz and Elder Snyder, and the other Malay speaking Elders are in the 1st branch. They had us introduce ourselves during sacrament meeting, and I bore a simple testimony in Malay. I also said, "Please help us find people that are ready to hear the gospel and need it. I know my Malay isn't good, but I know God is helping me." It seems like everyone here is interested to know where I'm from, and guess I'm either Chinese or Japanese, but a mix, haha. There was one sweet grandma who gave me a hug, and everyone seemed excited that we were there. After church, we went to sacrament meeting in the Chinese group, because there was a Chinese woman there with three helpers, 2 from the Philippines and one from Indonesia who had a lesson with us. The Chinese speaking Elders serve there. During sacrament meeting, they handed me a headset because Elder Fabiano was translating from Chinese to English into a microphone, and I was supposed to translate from English to Malay/Indonesian to our new investigators. Sister LeBaron was translating for Julius, who the Chinese Elders found a few days ago, and she was sitting away from me. I gave the Elders a deer-in-headlights look, then told myself I could do this. It's not that hard to translate into a language I've only spoken for 6 weeks. Fake it till you make it, right? The Chinese group really liked Sister LeBaron and I, and we spoke mostly English to them, though a lot of them know Malay. A lot of them are from mainland China.

Sister LeBaron and I taught Nova and Cyntha in Malay, and Sister Cricthton taught Lolita in English. In our lesson, Nova cried as she told us how church and reading the Book of Mormon made her feel happy and helped her through her trials. After that lesson, we ate food the Chinese speaking Elders brought us and studied at the church. Afterwards, we headed to our lesson with Ngian, a sweet Iban woman who lives in a humble house with a tin roof. Some of these houses are super rickety and I always worry I'll break the little wooden bridge paths. After that, we taught Julius at Sister Wong's house. It's really cute because they're friends, even though she only speaks Chinese and he only speaks Indonesian. She told us whenever he talks, she just nods and laughs like she understands. At this point, I've taught more Indonesians than Malaysians. They might as well have taught me Indonesian at the MTC. Julius said he read the Book of Mormon until 4 am a couple nights ago, and his knees hurt from praying so much about it to God. He believes it's true. Our jaws dropped. There is power in that little blue book. I know it. People in Singapore asked me about it as I carried it.

Maaf that my email is like a novel, I just had a lot to say. I just wanted to end by bearing my testimony that I know God lives, and Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. Through Him, I can be forgiven of my sins. I know God is helping me with the language. In my lessons, most of the time I don't even remember what I say. I just open my mouth and the right words come out. Impressions on what to teach come to me as I teach and as I study. I know, I KNOW the Book of Mormon is true. I know because I read it and prayed about it, and cried over it and studied it. Because of that, I know Joseph Smith was a man of God, and a prophet and that we have a modern day prophet who guides us. I know this church is true. I somehow know even more than I thought I did since coming on a mission. I want everyone to be able to use Christ's atonement to be forgiven and have comfort. 

Anyway, I'm running out of time. I'll try to send pictures but no guarantee. I'm happy and healthy. Malaysia boleh!

-Sister Wynn

Update: Sister Wynn has made it to the mission field!

Greetings everyone! This is Mike, Sister Ellen Wynn's brother. As of Tuesday evening earlier this week, we got a phone call from her en route to the mission field during a layover in Los Angeles. It was really nice to hear from her for a little bit. This morning, we received an E-mail from Sister Wynn informing us that she has made it safely to the mission field. The following was what she sent in this very short E-mail:

Sister Wynn with Mission President and his wife.

Hey I made it to the mission home! I'm exhausted but happy. I'll email you next p day. Love you!


We want to thank you for your support and prayers for her. Your continued moral support will be very much appreciated!

Live as a district, die as a district

Sister Wynn's District, with Singapore and Malaysia flags in front of the Provo Temple.

Selamat pagi everyone,

Wow, it's true what they say about missions, the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. Time is so warped here. Sometimes it feels like I've been here for only a couple weeks, other times it feels like I've been here a year. I can't believe I only have 17 months left on my mission. Actually less. The Elders in my district joke that I'm pretty much done with my mission, haha.

If any of you want to write me letters, send them before the 4th-ish because I leave Tuesday afternoon to go to Singapore! If not, send them to my Singapore address instead, but make sure to put an extra stamp on it. I'm getting trunky, but at the same time it feels like I know almost no Malay. I'm excited to meet people and realize I can't understand what they're saying, but no worries, even in those situations I'm all smiles. We got our travel itinerary on Friday, and we were so excited! We have a 6 hour layover in LAX, then a hour layover in Hong Kong, then we fly down to Singapore. It's going to take over a day to get there. I'm stoked. I love planes and airports. It runs in the family. We are traveling with the Indos to LAX, so our plane is going to be full of mostly missionaries. We are also traveling with the other Singapore missionaries who are English-speaking, who live over on the Main Campus. In our travel group, there's 25 of us. 

In other exciting news, we got our malaria pills last week, as well as our second round of Japanese encephalitis shots. I kind of like getting shots, so no big deal. Except this vaccine makes your arm so sore. Yay for preventative medical measures. Since we went up to Main Campus for our doctors appointments, we stopped by the Main Campus book store because that place is magical and way bigger than the store on West Campus. We were happy to see they finally had the Book of Mormon printed in Malay, so we bought some. Before, we were given copies in Indonesian. The other standard works, like our Bibles, are still in Indonesian, but hey, it's a start. 

I also cried for the first time at the MTC on Friday. Well, I cry a little every week, but these were tears of frustration this time. I was feeling pretty discouraged all week because I'm pretty awful at asking good questions in my lessons, even in English, especially in English, and I was feeling like I'm not a good teacher. I also had a bad morning full of little annoying things. I had to teach one of my teachers, Brother Horman. I don't even remember about what, but I was doing pretty bad. He could tell I was pretty bummed, and was trying so hard to spare my feelings but give teaching advice at the same time. I shed a couple tears and wiped them away really fast so my district wouldn't see, because that would be embarrassing. Long story short, I got over it, felt better, and accepted that sometimes I will have bad days. Not even bad days, just bad moments. I'm not a bad teacher, I know more Malay than I think I do, and I've only been a missionary for a month. It's okay not to be perfect right now. Anyway, Brother Horman and Brother Simon rock. I could tell they were amazing missionaries, and they're such good teachers. If I could come back speaking half as well as them, I'd be pretty happy.

For Sunday's devotional, President Nally (the president of the MTC) opened his address by talking about the rain last week and how because it was so dark and the rain was so heavy, it took some of us half an hour to walk home. He said as our branch presidencies waited for us in our classrooms, they admired our good spirits and in some cases, outright joy at having to walk home while being soaked. He said as we were drenched with rainwater, their faces were drenched with tears. It was really sweet. I really appreciate everyone that works/is called here at the MTC.

I love my district. I love my district. We are all such good friends and I have so much love for every Elder here. I will miss them once we get to the field. Brother Simon reassured me that I will see everyone more times than I can count in the field because of our visa trips and whatnot.

Elder Ferguson is from Birmingham, Alabama. Brother Simon calls him 'Bama Boy. He was our first district leader, and now he's our zone leader. I taught with him and his companion the first three weeks we were here. He acted in a huge production of Les Mis, and he acted with Samantha Barks. He played tennis for Weber State and had an IMDB page. He gave all of that up to be here. He's definitely the character in our district. He's so funny and says things like "janky" and "ratchet." It doesn't even make sense, but we all say stuff like that now. He once tried to say, "Saya lucu," in Malay, which means "I'm funny," but accidentally said "Saya luca!" which means "I'm pornographic/obscene."

Elder Liddle is his companion, and he's our other zone leader. He's from Highland, Utah, and he's really tall and really skinny. He's just out of high school and has these little Bambi eyes. He was really shy the first couple days, but he is so, so, so funny. He does perfect voice impersonations, and sometimes freaks Elder Ferguson out by doing his Smeagle voice in the middle of the night. My favorite is his smoker-lady voice though. He's also really, really smart and really humble. His Malay rocks. He and Elder Ferguson are like C3PO and R2D2 respectively.

Elder Vincent is from Pocatello, Idaho, and is one of the most genuine people I know. He studied Malay the most before he came here and is awesome at speaking it. He also knows a little bit of every language, it seems like. He's just good at languages and grammar. I wish I had that gift. I actually talked to him a little online before our missions and he gave me lots of good language advice.

Elder O'Bryant, aka Elder Whitelion, is his companion and is from Arlington, Washington. He is our resident computer genius, and one of the most lovable Elders. He's pretty quiet and has a low voice, and has the most contagious laugh I've ever heard. Though he's quiet, he speaks Malay really well. Elder Capener gave him the nickname Whitelion, and it stuck. Elder Capener, Elder Strathearn and I are currently working on teaching him to cartwheel. They flipped him over a couple weeks ago, but got excited and kind of threw him. From a distance it probably looked like we were beating him up, but in reality we were all having so much fun.

Elder Strathearn is from Houston, Texas, but Australian-born. He lived in Australia until he was 7, so sometimes his accent comes out on random words, like talk, prawns, and crayon. I teach with him and Elder Capener now. He is the guy who always makes sure everyone is included, and he always gives people the benefit of the doubt. I find myself doing the same since I've been around him. His Malay has improved the most, I think, because he's constantly practicing. One day at dinner, he found out everyone else in our district was proficient at another language except him, and he said while laughing, "This explains SO much!" He's pretty optimistic, but I think that inspired him to practice harder and now his Malay is rockin'.

Elder Capener is our new district leader. He's from Riverside, Utah, and he's also half-Japanese, except third generation. I joke that we're the same person, except he's way cooler than me. I'm pretty sure he could beat anyone up, he's pretty scrappy. He is amazing at basketball and baseball. He had a scholarship to play baseball in Northern California. He speaks Malay the most like a native. When I was asking him for advice, he told me to speak Malay with an Indian accent. It works. He saves our lessons when Elder Strathearn and I have no idea what our teachee just said.

Elder Jackson is from Lehi, Utah. The smart ones are also the quiet ones. He studied at Embry-Riddle, which really impressed me the first time I heard that, because it's a great school. He's the most diligent out of all of us. When the rest of us are goofing off around him during study time, his face is buried in his notebook or scriptures and he later tells us about what he learned. He also gets bored and mixes juice at the cafeteria, and we try it. So far, we have Rasberry Crappleaid, and 7 Deadly Sins. Our district is pretty sure he's a spy. He also knows a lot of Chinese and Swedish.

Elder Parker is from San Antonio, Texas, but he lived in Shanghai for two years. He is the perfect companion for Elder Jackson, because Elder Jackson is punctual, and Elder Parker is a free spirit. He makes fun of me the most, but is also so chivalrous and makes sure I'm okay. He's also the one that gets the most injuries out of all of us. He has two giant divots in his shin from jumping off a retaining wall the day before he reported.

I see these Elders as big brothers and little brothers at the same time, but most importantly, I see these men as men of God. Singapore and Malaysia are so lucky to be getting them. I'm so lucky to have met them.

I will miss the MTC when I leave, but I'm so excited to be in the mission field. I'm going to hit the ground running. I will miss these Elders, but we have lots of work to do.

Live as a district, die as a district.

West Campus, Best Campus.

Harap Tuhan sertamu selalu.

Sayang,

Sister Wynn

Rest in peace Elder Wyburg / I shook Neal L. Anderson's hand. Highs and Lows

District in front of the Provo, UT Temple

Apa khabar friends and family,

I know my subject line is a little somber. Some of you may have heard the news already, but an Elder in our mission, Elder Wyburg, got hit by a car while he was biking and passed away Saturday. He was serving in Kuching. The teacher for the other Malay district, Brother Blissett, taught him when he was here at the MTC a couple transfers ago. I've been keeping the family and his companion in my prayers. I was glad to hear the family seemed to be doing okay from their statement, but it's still really sad. However, I think everyone is grateful for the knowledge and comfort of what happens to us after we die, and that death is not the end.

On a happier note, I shook Neal L. Anderson's hand. I shook Elder Anderson's hand. On Tuesday. It was so cool. We were all speculating that an apostle would address us this week, but we all thought it would be Elder Holland, because he was here on Monday. He visited the district going to Argentina, which meets in the classroom below us. So while we were in class, Elder Holland was in the class below us and we were all freaking out. We loitered in the cafeteria in case he came in, but we never caught a glimpse of him. Oh well.

My kind roommates and companion saved me a seat in the choir because I was late getting to practice with my district. I got to sit in the second row. When Elder Anderson came in, we sang "Lead Kindly Light." It was so beautiful, especially when just the Elders sang the first verse. "Lead kindly light, amid th'encircling gloom, lead thou me on. The night is dark, and I am far from home, lead thou me on." I got goosebumps hearing them sing. I was so excited when I saw Elder Anderson walk into the Marriott Center. He has a youthful grin, where the other apostles have kind of a wise smile. Elder Anderson is pretty much always smiling. I love it. His talk was called, "First Love, Then Sacrifice." He asked us to think about what we loved, and what we would do for the things we love. He said, "We sacrifice for the things we love and love the things we sacrifice for." He related it to how much God loves us, and how He loves us so much He sacrificed His son for us. He also introduced us to an old missionary he had as a mission president in France, and that former missionary talked about how his dad wasn't a member of the church but eventually was baptized, and his family eventually got sealed in the temple. I cried a little at that part, because I keep getting these little reminders at the MTC that my family can be together forever. How comforting.

After we were done, President Nally said there was rain and lightening, so we were to stay and sing hymns until it passed, and Elder Anderson would shake some of our hands. We got excited, but I thought there was no way he would come up the stands to the choir, and he would probably just shake the hands of the missionaries sitting on the court. He eventually took notice of the Sisters in the choir and made his way towards us. I thought, "There's no way this is happening." But eventually, he made his way to my row, we stood, and he shook each of our hands. He gave me a warm smile, looked at my name tag, and said, "Thank you for serving," as he shook my hand. I couldn't stop smiling after that. It was so cool. The only other time I got really close to an apostle was when I almost ran into Elder Holland, literally, when I was at BYU-Hawaii. I was so embarrassed that I just looked up at him timidly and kind of ran away.

Sister Wenyi said something to him in French, since he's fluent in French and like 5 other languages. I have no idea what he said back to her. You would think after 6 years of French, I would remember something. Anyway, thank goodness for amazing roommates that save me prime seats. Thank goodness for lightening storms.

When my district left the Marriott Center, it was still pouring. The rain made me nostalgic. Believe it or not, I kind of miss Oregon, so it was nice to get a little taste of home. I discovered my whole district loved the rain, even though they had to get their suits dry-cleaned afterwards. We figured this was good practice for the tropical showers in Malaysia. And if our clothes didn't hold up here, they weren't worth taking on our missions. We were drenched by the time we got back to our classroom, but the walk home was so much fun we didn't care. Our district devotional review was uplifting, like always. It's where I learn the most about the other missionaries in my district, like their deepest concerns, thoughts, and hopes. That day has been my favorite here so far.

As good as Tuesday was, Wednesday was probably my worst, most discouraging day. Well, just the morning, the rest of the day was pretty good. I taught a lesson with Elder Strathearn and Elder Capener, and it went horrible! We weren't asking good questions and the lesson just kind of...failed. Lately, I've been feeling like my language abilities have plateaued. I feel like I can't learn any more words but I also feel like I don't know anything. I'm also terrible at asking good questions, so I've been reviewing and thinking up of good questions to ask investigators that help them apply doctrine to their lives. I also sound really, really American when I speak Malay, so I've been working with my teachers, talking super slowly to get the accent down. I've also been reading anything and everything in Malay out loud. Also, last week, I wasn't so diligent in my studying so I'm thinking that has to do with my inability to speak Malay...this week I've been working a lot harder to learn, which is good because the harder I work during the day, the more exhausted I am at night, which means I sleep better.

Yesterday, my district and I had to go to Main Campus to get our Malaria pills (yay!) so we stopped by the bookstore and were happy to see they were selling Malay Book of Mormons finally. Before then, we were given Indonesian Book of Mormons which isn't just the same. Our Bibles are still Indonesian, but oh well. Maybe they'll let us help translate it after our mission. Despite my setbacks, I'm still very much happy to be here. I have tons of pictures from this week. I apologize in advance that I can only send a couple pictures per email, but I do cherish those pictures. I love my district, I love my mission, I love missionary work. I can't think of a better thing for me to be doing right now. 

I love you all, thank you so much for your support through letters and emails, and just reading my weekly emails. My brother said a lot of you are keeping up with me, and that makes me feel really good. I promise to work hard and come home knowing I did everything I could.

Love,

Sister Ellen Wynn

Misi Singapura

Mubaligh dari Gereja Yesus Kristus Orang Suci Zaman Akhir

Rain in Provo. A little nostalgic for Sister Wynn since she misses Oregon...

Of former NFL players, tiny miracles, and missionary growth

Selamat pagi kawan dan keluarga,

First, thank you all so much for the emails and letters and love. I try to reply as much as I can but there's never enough time. I have a suggestion, you can use DearElder.com to email me, it's free (you have to make a screenname I think) and then they print out the email and give it to me the night of. I think it would be nice to get your notes throughout the week instead of just on Thursday all at once...hint hint. I really do appreciate all of the emails. They are so encouraging and you seem to say exactly the things I need to hear. As of Tuesday, I'm officially halfway done with my MTC stay! Three more weeks to go. I feel like there's still so much for me to learn. I am getting more comfortable speaking conversational Malay and hardly need notes as I teach the missionary lessons save for a couple vocabulary words.

I saw Sister Amy Chirinos all day yesterday. She got transferred from Main Campus to West Campus. I gave her a huge hug and was so glad to see her. Then, this morning, I saw Sister Alex Morgan, and gave her a huge hug, tried not to cry, and asked how she was doing since yesterday was her first day here. I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to see familiar faces from Salem. It's nice to have a taste of home, even though I should stop being a sissy because it's only been three weeks. I also saw Elder Austin Johnson at Tuesday's devotional a couple weeks ago, and a girl I lived with in the dorms at BYU who works at the MTC West cafeteria. And another girl from the dorms who's a missionary herself now. Small world, eh? Also, one day during class, a new MTC teacher walked into my classroom to train with the other Malay district, and I said, "Alex?!" He turned around and I awkwardly asked him how his mission was and how cool it was that he's an MTC teacher now. We went on a couple dates when we were freshman at BYU, and I had a huge crush on him, so the whole time we were talking, I guess my face was super red. So my district really likes making fun of me now for that. Perfect. At choir practice, I turned around and saw a Sister with the nametag "Sister Griffin" with katakana under it and exclaimed, "You're Sunny's sister!" We talked about how her sister served with my brother in Nagoya and how I went to school with Sunny. I'll send a picture that I took with her. It was so cool to meet her.

So the tiny miracle - last Thursday night, I felt myself starting to catch a cold, then all weekend I was exhausted and miserable throughout my classes because I had no energy. I was also coughing a lot and had a runny nose. It was terrible. On Sunday, I got a blessing, and immediately felt better. If you want more detail on that experience for me, ask my dad to forward you that email because it's personal to me and I wasn't sure if it would be good to put it here haha. But seriously if you're curious, ask, regardless of how well you think you know me.

Last Sunday, our branch presidency announced that we had 330 missionaries on West Campus now, and by October, the number should exceed to over 1,000 and then exceed the number at Main Campus. How crazy is it that we have so many missionaries willing to serve? Anyway, I'm glad I'll be gone for most of it, I liked having my small MTC campus. They're starting to fence us in and build gates, I don't like it at all haha. Here's an article I read about the growth: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-missionary-life Mikel, can you post it on my facebook, along with the video about the Elders? I think it really hits the nail on the head about why we're here serving and how our purpose is to bring others closer to Christ. I want all of my friends to see it.

For Sunday's devotional address, Vai Sikahema spoke to us about his mission. He played for BYU in college, and then was the first Tongan-born player drafted into the NFL. He played for the Eagles, the Cardinals, and the Green Bay Packers! Living with the Gilberts made me like the Packers so I was really excited when Vai said that. He continued his career as a sportscaster in Philadelphia and covers the winter Olympics. He said a couple things that made a profound impact on me. He said something like, "I've worn many iconic uniforms. I wore the iconic Green Bay uniform. I've worn a Cardinals helmet. I wore a BYU helmet. I wore an Eagles helmet. But none have been as important in my life as the white shirt, tie, and black name tag. The uniform of a missionary." He continued to say, "My career has taken me to many exotic locations. But they pale in comparison--pale-- to my mission in beautiful South Dakota." 

He continued to say we become advocates and ambassadors to the people we serve. We should love the people so much that we identify as one of them. If we serve in South Dakota, we should consider ourselves South Dakotan, Japan, Japanese, Texas, Texan. And so on. I know it sounds funny, but I hope I can consider myself at least in part Malaysian. I really think my mission will be that big a part of me.

Yet again, I'm out of time. I really wanted to write a little about each Elder in my district so you can get a sense of how wonderful, how funny, and how fun my district is. Maybe next week. Ever since I got my mission call, in every prayer, I say to God, "Look, I can't do this by myself. I can't learn Malay on my own, it's really hard. I can't learn the doctrine on my own, there's no way I'm articulate enough to teach the lessons by myself, or have enough energy to get through the day with all that I have to do. PLEASE help me." And He does. I'm so glad He loves us enough to help us do extraordinary, impossible things. Last week I heard we can't do this work (especially as young as we are), but it's not our work, it's God's work, and we're just here to help. This gospel is true. Injil ini benar. The church is true. Gereja ini benar. I love that the gospel gives all of us a way to access the atonement and we can be forgiven of our sins and feel peace and joy. I was pretty stupid not to utilize the atonement for some of my life. Never again. I can't believe how happy and how exhausted this work makes me. I love the missionary version of myself.

Hati-hati,

Sister Ellen Wynn

With Sister Griffin, whose older sister served in the Japan Nagoya Mission with Sister Wynn's brother!

Richard G. Scott Loves the Missionaries

Sister Wynn's "standard issue" name badge

Apa khabar friends and family,

I love P-Days because I get to think of home and what all of you are up to. I don't really have time to think about that kind of stuff except today, which is the way it should be. The Provo temple reopened again this week, so after email time, my zone is going up there. I'm very excited.

Also, as a side note, my letters from Oregon take 4 or 5 days to get here, which I think is weird, but I've accepted it, haha. Just letting you know. I guess if any of you have pressing matters, or just want me to get your notes quickly, you can use DearElder.com. I don't know how reliable it is though because Elder Jackson in my district has gotten those delivered to him, except those letters were supposed to go to a different Elder Jackson.

On Tuesday, during choir practice at the Marriott Center, there were rumors among us missionaries that we would have a general authority speaking to us. We thought this because the pulpit was set up differently, and there were some chairs set up on the basketball court. Lo and behold, as the devotional began, Elder Richard G. Scott walks in as we're singing the prelude music! So we stood up as we were singing. I really miss that about BYU/BYUH devotionals, being able to have general authorities talk to us. I will admit I cried pretty much the whole time he spoke. 

He first opened by saying, "Every good thing that happened to me in life happened because of my mission." He continued about how much we missionaries are thought about, and prayed for, and loved. He said we will NEVER regret serving a mission. He also spoke specifically to those of us learning a new language, that it's an extra burden, but the Lord will help us to do things we've never done before. He knows our capabilities. He will never abandon us. I really needed to hear that. He continued on with his talk about prayer. It's a very simple principle, but I learned so much. What stood out to me was how answers to our prayers usually come in small packets of confirmation along the way, not all at once. I lost it and cried a lot when he said simply, "God ALWAYS hears and answers your prayers." I was thinking a couple days prior about how there are a couple things I pray for every morning and night for years that haven't happened yet, so Elder Scott's remark was very comforting. He also shared that when he was on his mission, he hated praying next to his companion after companionship prayer, so he would wait until his comp was asleep and go somewhere nearby (still within sight of his companion, of course) and talk to his Father in Heaven out loud. I love that. I love knowing that we can talk to God like a friend, and that we can say everything that is in our minds and hearts. A few weeks before my mission, I started praying out loud while I was driving to places because that's when I would be alone. About everything. About the boys I was dating, about what my mission would be like, about school. Everything.

Anyway, Elder Scott also said God knows what we have the capacity to become. And as he was walking out, he yelled, "Be good!" It made us laugh so hard. He is a cute little old man. Then one Elder, who was crying like a baby, yelled back, "We love you!" and then we all said it. It was funny but also very sweet. Elder Scott said he wishes he could spend an hour talking with each of us individually. Before he spoke, the choir (I sing alto, believe it or not I got compliments on my singing, which is weird because I've always been a lousy singer), sang Jesus Once of Humble Birth. My favorite line to sing was "Once all things He meekly bore, But He now will bear no more." One thing I've been doing in my personal study is trying to understand our Savior. First, in Malay, "Savior" is "Juruselamat." I like that it sounds like Jerusalem, and also that the word "Selamat" is in the word. The root means safe. I just finished reading The Book of Mormon so now I'm studying Jesus' life in the four gospels. I just finished the sermon on the mount this morning. I've heard if you took all the goodness and charity and love of all the good people that have ever lived and will live, and combined them, it wouldn't even come close to how much love and charity Jesus Christ has for us. I love how our sole purpose as missionaries is to bring people closer to Jesus Christ. I'm fortunate that I've had people teach me about Him for most of my life. I hope the people I teach realize how much better their lives can be through Christ and His atonement. One thing I realized only recently is that the atonement not only takes away our guilt, but takes away pain, and sadness. I've used the atonement for the times in my life where I felt truly alone, but I never was.

Last Monday, the Greek-speaking sisters, Sister Tripi and Sister Silvenoinnen, moved out of our apartment to go to Greece. They are from Italy and Finland respectively. I miss them so much. I grew really close to them. On Sunday, they sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" in Greek and I almost cried. I know it seems like I cry a lot here but they are happy tears. I love Sister Wenyi. We have so much fun together. Lately, I've been swinging from the top bunk onto the bottom bunk in our room and she laughs at me. I've also smacked my head on our ceiling a couple times because there's only like 2 feet of clearance. Did I mention I love when it's her turn to pray for companionship prayer? She prays in French and it's so beautiful. Last night, she prayed in Malagasy though and it sounds awesome. I hardly see her unless we are at the apartment though since we're always with our districts. I'm still loving my district. These Elders are stellar young men and they are amazing missionaries. They are here for the right reasons and they are all such good examples to me. On a less serious note, there's not a single meal time where one of us doesn't almost choke on our food, because they are so funny. I've never laughed so much in my life. We are also getting to be better friends with the other Malay speaking district. In total, there are 17 of us going to Singapore and Malaysia. I'm the only Sister, haha. We found 4 other Elders going to our mission, but they are on the main MTC campus and are Chinese-speaking. Next week, I'll add a little about each Elder in my district. I love them all and we've decided to stay friends for a long time. For now though, their names are Elder Jackson, Elder Parker, Elder Vincent, Elder O'Bryant, Elder Ferguson, Elder Liddle, Elder Strathearn, and Elder Capener. 

Yesterday, after teaching a Malay speaking "investigator" (it's just one of our teachers who acts like an investigator they had while they were on their missions), I felt a little frustrated because I forgot to say a lot of things, like what our purpose as missionaries are and tying the whole lesson together. I thought that it would be so much easier to teach if I could just do it in English, but in Malay, if I don't know how to say something, it's not like I can fake it if I never knew the right words in the first place. Brother Simon, the one from Hawaii, said something along the lines of, "It's okay. Keep practicing. Even if you suck." I think that'll go on my quote wall. I got over my frustration and learned the words I needed to. Also, here are some notable language mistakes I've made: In prayer, I've said "Heavenly Pig" instead of "Heavenly Father" (Bapa is father and babi is pig), and "Tinggom, because of the atonement, we are free and can sin," instead of "Because of the atonement, we are freed FROM our sins." My teachers like to make fun of me for that one, haha.

One blessing of being a solo sister is that during language practicing activities, instead of practicing with a companion, I usually practice with one of my teachers, so I get to practice twice as much (in companionships one elder practices being the missionary while the other is the investigator, then they switch), and if I make language/teaching mistakes, they can correct me the right way. For example, yesterday, I got to teach Brother Simon why he should pray, and the blessings that come from prayer in Malay 8 times, being corrected the entire time, while the elders in my class only got to do that 4 times each. Sometimes they stick me with an elder to practice, and usually Elder Ferguson gets stuck with a teacher, which he says is super intimidating haha. Our other teacher is Brother Horman. I think they both love their jobs, and they miss every district that comes through the MTC. They've both been home from Malaysia for 2 years now. Brother Simon got to play with tigers while he was in Kuala Lumpur, so now our whole district wants to do that.

Sorry my email is so long this week. I hope it's pretty interesting. I'm still as happy as can be, I wear my black name tag proudly. I love that I get to wear Jesus Christ's name over my heart for a year and a half. So on prayer, saya TAHU kolau kamu berdoa, Tuhan membantu kamu. Dia sayang kamu dan mahu untuk membantu kamu ada kegembiraan.

Dengan sayang,

Sister Ellen Wynn

Singapore Mission

P.S. Main campus is like this foreign land to us. It feels strange to be there and I always run into the doors there because I forget that I need to use my keycard to unlock them. West Campus is Best Campus. West side!

MTC District at the Map

I didn't survive my first week, I thrived!

Keluarga dan kawan,

I loved my first week here! So as you know, I´m the only Sister in my district with 8 Elders. They have come to be my best friends. I love it! I can say for certain that each of them are here for the right reasons. I can also see how companionships (or lack thereof) are inspired by God because they are so perfect here. My branch presidency constantly tells the Elders to be nice to Sister Wynn, but they make me feel like one of their own. Each of them have served me individually multiple times, I think especially because I´m the only Sister, and it´s great. I try to do the same for them. My favorite experience so far with them was when we had an hour after service (we just cleaned our classroom buildings) where we had nothing to do, so we sat on the grass in the apartment complex and told our personal conversion stories.

I´ve also never laughed so hard or so much in my life. These Elders are so funny and so...normal! I´m not sure if it´s just MTC culture where we just think everything is funny from lack of media or if we really are this funny. I like to think it´s the latter. A couple days ago, Elder Jackson and his roommates gave me a blue skittle...just one, from a plastic bag. I thought it was sketchy but I ate it anyway. They also gave Elder Strathearn one. His first name is Adam, which is relevant to the story. They asked me what flavor I thought it was, and I said, ¨I don´t know, pomegranate? Blueberry?¨ They said that it was called Forbidden Fruit. It´s probably not that funny to you, but for some reason we thought it was hilarious. These Elders also do such a great job of dropping me off to my Sister Companions when I need to, usually at my apartment. I love them, but don´t tell them I said that because they´ll probably make fun of me.

There is also another Malay speaking district, so total there are 17 of us going to Singapore-Malaysia. I just got a new companion last night, Sister Wenyi, pronounced Wynn-ie. We thought that was so funny. She´s from France but ethnically Congan, and speaks French, English, Spanish, and Portugeuse. She is going to Madagascar, Malagasy speaking. This last week my companions were Sister Sperry and Sister Olsen, both from Utah and are going to Indonesia, Indonesian speaking. It´s crazy how similar Indonesia and Malay are, so I can understand a lot of what they are saying. I actually elect to sit with my district for meal times and Sunday meetings though, mostly so I can practice Malay and laugh lots.

MTC West is nice. Supposedly we are a lot more trusted to get to our classes and meetings over here, which is nice. I heard it´s a little less structured here than on the main campus, but we are holding up. We just got a new cafeteria and the food is delicious, though they are constantly building and adding new things here. I also feel like we´re outside more often, which is nice. Today, as a district, we´re taking the shuttle to the main campus to show the travel agency our passports, then run a few errands at the bookstore and stuff. Then we will check out Brigham´s Landing, the shopping complex the west campus missionaries can go to. Missionaries get 50% off Jamba Juice there. I´m all for that.

I also loved Tuesday´s devotional. It was about scripture study by Brother Jensen, a former member of the Quorum of the Seventy. I sang in the MTC choir, it was fun and the words to ¨Come Follow Me¨make so much more sense. Same with Army of Helaman. We walked to the Marriott Center as a district and got lots of honks and waves. The people in Provo really love missionaries.

Oh and I think we leave September 10th for Singapore, so here´s my updated address

Sister Ellen Loila Wynn

SEP10 SINGAPR

2023 N 900 E Unit 840

Provo, UT 84602

Well my computer is glitching so I will send pictures in a separate email. I love you all but I´m too busy and tired to miss you, which is a blessing. I did tear up when I saw how full my inbox was. It is nice to be reminded that I am loved and cared for, but I also need to remember that these next 18 months are not about me, they are about the people I teach. I have a greater appreciation for the Gospel of Jesus Christ now that I´m teaching. So many people have been searching for spiritual truths all their lives, and their lives have the potential to be 180 degrees different, for the better. I love that we´re learning to tailor our lessons to the needs of the investigators. Melalui kuasa Roh Kudus, kamu dapat menerima kebenaran tentang semua hal.

Jumpa lagi,

Sister Wynn

"Companions" while being a "Solo Sister"

Sister Wynn's MTC District