November 9, 2014 – Strengthening the Branch - Week 20 in Sibu Jaya

Yeah, we didn’t quite make 40 lessons... this week was long and tough.

Every single day we had things to do and they just killed time.

Sorry to hear you guys got sick. On Tuesday Elder Blackwelder was sick also. We didn’t leave the house, he just slept and moaned all day...

Friday we went to see Veronica and we were informed by Roy’s family that they had divorced and that Roy was taking her to the bus station so he could go back to Bintulu as we spoke. So yeah, end of that. Very sad.

Saturday was boss. Baby, Phillip and Jamil were baptized. Sigai baptized Baby. Way cool! He had a hard time saying "dengan wewenang," and had to redo a couple times, but managed to get it. Phillip wrapped himself in seran wrap and duct tape, we then realized that the church didn’t have big enough clothes for him... Luckily we have Elder Mills, we had him bring an extra shirt. For pants though we just had him wear the pants even though they couldn’t be buttoned up, and we had him not tuck the shirt in.

I have realized that I’m very fortunate to be a laid back person. If not, the stress and worrying would probably have killed me by now.

We are working with the leadership currently, trying to get the branch on its feet. It’s going well. Sibu Jaya is kind of going through a rough time right now. About 2 years ago it was very strong. One year from now it will be very strong. Right now though, it’s kind of in between and it’s struggling a bit.

I’m to the point with my Malay that I can do all the blessings and such without having to look at a cheat card. I can just think of it in English and translate it. The baptismal one is this: (name of person) dengan wewenang daripada Yesus Kristus, aku membaptiskan kamu dalam nama bapa dan putera dan roh kudus, amin.

So yeah, not a lot of other stuff to report this week, looking forward to the package.

Next week should be good. Jennifer, Daren and Pira should be baptized.

Sincerely,

Elder Halpin

I finally found it, the fabled bags of MSG that they sell here. Yes, that there is pure, unadulterated MSG, death in a bag. They also sell it in the 2 Kilo size.

From left to right: Elder Blackwelder, Jamil, Baby, Sigai, Phillip and myself.

Brother Clement and Sister Cindy’s family.