May 25, 2014 – Brother Uching Returns after Two Years Away! - Week 19 in Kuching

This week was a mixed bag.

That food was Malaysian style curry pizza.

This is Malaysian style curry pizza.

So, first off, on Monday morning Brother Clement had a heart attack. We went to the hospital to give him a blessing that evening. He’s still in the hospital but doing much better now.

We also decided to go visit Brother Uching that evening. We got together everyone we could find (Brother Beliang, Brother Raymond, Brother Sup, Brother Jeff, Brother Senen, President David and Sister Catherine and mobbed his house. It turned out all right - everyone was talking and having a good time. On Sunday Brother Uching came to church, the first time in 2 years!

Also, Brother Beliang is coming consistently now. In addition, his son, Syaiful, is coming too. We had 43 at church.

So yeah.

Unfortunately we can’t meet Poura until her husband, who works "outstation," (oil rig or palm oil field) comes back, but she did start reading the Book of Mormon so it should be good later on.

Also number 6’s return appointment fell through. Still working on getting that one going.

Also making preparations for Gawai (opening gawai is Saturday at midnight and Sunday is the first day). Only sacrament meeting is scheduled. Even still, we already know that all of our strong families will be going to Kampung that evening and won’t be at church. We are fully expecting 4 people at church including us... This will be the case across all of Sarawak. It’s probably going to kill all work next week, and there might not be any email next week because all the kedais will probably be closed. The only bright side is that we have received many invitations to visit people’s longhouses which should be cool.

This week should be good anyway. Get lots of work done.

Sincerely

Elder Halpin

Pictures this week:

Elder Lafontaine and me.

Jason, Sister Merina’s son.

He’s 11 were going to try and

get him ready for the priesthood.

 

Me chilling at district meeting.

 

 

May 18, 2014 – Awesome Week! - Week 18 in Kuching

First off, I’m not going anywhere. Transfers just came in and Elder LaFontaine and I are still here in Kota Samarahan.

Kuching for life!

K-Sam (Kota Samarahan) has been getting better and better, this past week was awesome.

We had a lot of very spiritual lessons with some of our less active members. 

We are also trying to get Home Teaching going for the second time since I've been here. It’s a more concerted effort and I think it will work.

Also on Friday President and Sister Mains came and had interviews and inspected the house, all went well.

On Tuesday-Wednesday I went on splits here in K-Sam with Elder Bester, good times, we located where a less active member we had never met lived and also met with Minah and Maju. They are doing good. This week we really need to get a member there with us. Thinking about taking Roosevelt and Lucy of the Beliang clan.

Something I have been working on is letting the spirit guide me. As I have done this, over the last few transfers, I have felt myself grow more spiritually than before and also have become more sensitive to it. An example, on Thursday Elder Lafontaine and I had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Robinson one of the Assistants to the President (APs). Good times. All of our plans fell through for that afternoon so we were going to just show up to a couple less active member’s houses. Anyway I was leading on my bicycle and felt like we should go talk to Elmie at the store where she works instead of the aforementioned activity. We got there and said hello but she wasn’t sure when her off day was yet so we couldn’t make an appointment. I was then like ugh... Anyway we were thirsty so we went into this ghetto mall to buy some drinks. While we were in there we contacted a lady named Poura who owned a hair salon. Great discussion about families and temples followed. Great potential. After that we went out and as I looked around I felt like we should go knock a few doors down this small cul-de-sac. Door knock number 6 ended in a 45 minute discussion about the restoration and a return appointment this Wednesday.

Cool stuff.

Love

Elder Halpin

Pictures:

Paper airplane built on P-day.

Unknown food item

Matthew did not indicate what this is.

Looks good though!

May 11, 2014 – Mother's Day - Week 17 in Kuching

There was no email from Matthew this week.

Matthew was able to Skype with us here at home.  It was quite awesome!

He looks good and is very happy!

May 4, 2014 – 10 Reasons the Book of Mormon is Awesome - Week 16 in Kuching

So, first off, Mother’s Day next week. I am not sure exactly of the time, but Brother Jeff has offered to let us use his computers Monday morning. I have permission to send a confirmation email on Sunday so I will do that, I’ll send you the name to search and stuff too.

So this week was better. We have 4 new investigators!!!

You might remember Andrew one our former investigators. Anyway at the time I felt like some of his siblings might be interested but it didn't really work out. It finally worked out!  We decided to drop by just to say hi and we met his sister Minah who invited us back! So we went back on Wednesday and Andrew, Minah, their father Maju and another sibling Baling met with us. They are all Anglican except for Maju who still follows "the way of the Iban".

Meeting again this week should be good.

We also met with Kelvin and Karren and taught the first Temple prep lesson. They are great!

We also are teaching an institute class on Friday night. It’s doing good.

We are meeting with Anthony and his friend Elmi’s referral on Tuesday, should be good.

Splitting your area after working in it for three months sucks. Basically there were lazy Elders here before and kind of killed the area a bit. Elder Poppleton and I and then Elder Lafontaine and I finally got the area going again and then they split it...... ugh. Anyway bottom line all the referrals and such we were working on in the other half have finally started to show face and it’s a bit frustrating.

That’s OK though, the other Elders are good and I trust them, they’ll do a good job.

I've decided to read the quad in a couple months or less. I started on Wednesday and am already to 2nd Kings. It’s going well, basically been reading a book, sometimes two, a day. I've already learned a heap I didn't realize. For instance, when Jesus says the two greatest commandments I always thought he just compiled them all into categories in his head and then made something up. Nope, it’s actually a direct quote from Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Anyway cool stuff. That’s something I've noticed as I've been reading actually, that the higher law is written all over the lower law you just have to dig for it and think about it.

10 Reasons the Book of Mormon is awesome.

1. It brings people to and strengthens their knowledge that Jesus is the Christ and made the atonement for all mankind.

2. It brings to light important doctrines and principles such as prayer, the atonement, the plan of salvation, obedience, the power of the spirit etc.

3. It is the keystone. It holds everything in place. Through it people can gain a lasting testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.

4. If you read it every day you will become closer to your Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ.

5. It answers questions of the soul.

6. If I read the Book of Mormon in the morning then almost without fail I find a way to apply what I learned during the day.

7. It backs up the Bible.

8. It shows God’s love and longsuffering for his children.

9. It shows us the power of the Atonement.

10. It is the single most useful Missionary tool there is. It, coupled with a testimony, are pretty kuat. (strong).

Love

Elder Halpin

April 28, 2014 – Slow Week - Week 15 in Kuching

So this week was annoying. I told you last week about Elder Lafontaine being sick. Anyway after that blew over all of our referrals canceled and such, good fun.

We still had good success with our less active families though. There were 48 people at church.

Also the scheduled temple trip this year was moved back a month because of scheduling issues. Anyway the low down on that is that Brother Kelvin and Sister Karen will be able to go. We are working on getting them caught up on the temple class and will be going tomorrow to give the first temple preparation lesson. Very excited for them.

I know the Church is true. It’s confirmed to me every time I teach a lesson, pray or read the scriptures. I KNOW that if we will do the little things like read and pray every day that our lives will be much more happy and fulfilling. I know that Jesus Christ’s church will not fail. I am very grateful for a living prophet and know that if we will heed the prophet’s and apostle’s words that we will be blessed. I am very grateful for the atonement. As a missionary I have seen it work miracles in the lives of people.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and directs this work, his work.

Love you guys.

Elder Halpin

Pictures:

Samuel, Brother Senen’s son

holding a very long tailed lizard

Elder Lafontaine and I at Sister Lihot’s house

A random house

April 21, 2014 – Go Big or Go Home! - Week 14 in Kuching

Sounds like stuff is good at home.

Adam and Katherine, Happy Birthday!!!!!!

Elder Lafontaine was sick yesterday so we stayed home.

Last week, after I told you I was going to be better, by the evening I promptly got worse. I felt feverish all day and when I went home I just laid down for the evening. I woke up at about 9 o’clock and knew I had to have a fever. So I went and took my temp, 103.6, smashing my previous record of 103 flat when I was a kid..... So yeah, I took some good old Malaysian cure-all "Panadol" and went to bed. Woke up at 2:00 in the morning and was completely and utterly soaked in sweat, also since I picked the bed under the air conditioner, I was utterly freezing. I got up took a shower and changed. Anyway this process repeated all night. I would sleep then wake up soaking in sweat and uncontrollably shivering, take a shower and change. 4 showers and sets of garments later I just gave up on sleeping and sat on an office chair until morning.

Anyway I’m doing much better now.

The less active and recent convert families that we are working with or trying to work with are as follows.

Less Actives

-   - Brother Beliang, Sister Chunggat and family, (there are many, many people in this family, a few are active).

-   - Brother Clement, Sister Lucy and family - also Anthony lives in the same house, he is Sister Lucy’s brother.

-   - Brother Uching, Sister Lunyi and family.

-   - Sister Merina and family.

-   - Brother David, Sister Jouyah and family.

-   - Sister Lihot

-   - There are a few other families and individuals that we are also trying to meet with but haven’t been able to recently.

Recent Converts

-   - Brother Niga

-   - Brother Kelvin, Sister Karren and family.

They are all awesome. We have some really good referrals and we have appointments to meet both of them.

Brother Kelvin has a cousin whose name is Daughtry, like the band. He has a girlfriend of 4 years named Elvi. Anyway last week we all met at the Kelvin’s and he shared a bit with them then we explained a bit about the Kitab Mormon. They agreed to meet again this week on Thursday.

Anthony also has friend who apparently already has a Kitab Mormon and has already read it and such! Her name is Elmi, her only day off is Monday so we were not able to pursue an appointment yesterday for obvious reasons. Next week though she sounds awesome.

Really this week has been really good for me. All of the member work we have been doing is finally paying off. We gave 2-3 other referrals to the other Samarahan Elders. We had 54 people at church, granted it was Easter, but still without that the average is now in the 40s every week.

We are starting institute this week, Elder Lafontaine will be teaching. Should be good.

Anyway, Micaela it sounds like your classes are annoying but that’s OK. I only had like 3 maybe 4 annoying classes throughout all my time there. The sooner you get them out of the way the better right?!

I am going to share some mission wisdom that I have learned, that I wish I realized before my mission. It applies to everything. "Go big or go home". It was Kuching’s motto when I first came into the mission. Simply said - If you aren’t trying your hardest at whatever you’re doing, then you are probably just wasting your time and energy. Not to mention the added benefits and experiences that you get when you try your hardest.

In missionary work it is especially applicable. If you only half try to work hard, to learn the language, to talk to people and open your mouth when prompted, to study, to rely on the Lord and the Spirit, then you are only going to receive half the blessings and experiences the lord has for you.

Like I said before it applies to everything, it basically just applies to life.

Hope you guys have a great week!

Love

Elder Halpin

Pictures

Random photo I took before Zone meeting. 

There are a lot of missionaries in Kuching now, 24.

President David and I

The dreaded Sago Worm. 

They basically chop down a sago tree and let it sit for a month or so, then they go chop it up and find all the grubs that have spawned in it.

April 13, 2014 – Transfers, New Elders - Week 13 in Kuching

April 13, 2014 – Transfers, New Elders - Week 13 in Kuching

This week was good if a bit slow. So we moved as you know on Monday and we cleaned the old house on Tuesday. We organized the new house on Wednesday.

We managed to get a few appointments in on Tuesday and another on Wednesday. Anyway the new Elders arrived on Thursday. They don’t yet have bikes, they are on the way. On Saturday and Sunday we had general conference. I watched in Malay but will watch in English over the next few days. It was pretty good. I’m to the point where I understand all the general gist of what’s being said but not all the words yet. There were some good ones, Elder Holland, I think Elder Christofferson and some others I really enjoyed.

I also had quite a few firsts last week. On Tuesday while riding back from our appointments I saw fireflies for the first time. They were on a palm tree and looked like Christmas lights. Also I ate a Sago worm for the first time, it was the fried variety… It actually was ok once I got over the fact I was eating a grub. Also on a less fortunate note, I am currently legitimately sick for the first time right now. I developed a headache and fever of 101 last night and woke up this morning with no fever but still a headache and a non severe stomach bug... So yeah fun stuff. First headache I have ever had in my life. Luckily one of the sisters had the anti headache essential oil and it actually has worked.

Anyway, so about splitting the area. It means 2 things. First the number of people, both members and non members, has been cut in half.... Second it also means that we can focus more effort on both finding and working with the less active members. We will see how it goes. We are all living in the new house, it’s pretty big and a little too much for us. The new Elders are pretty cool, I think they will do good work.

Sounds good with the Garments.

Being sick this morning I did not transfer my pictures.... Next week I promise you another 3 week bunch of photos. There will be some good ones.

Adam I saw the preview for winter soldier in a cafe we were eating at, it looks pretty sick.

Also what happened to the rototiller?

Also, Elder Coloma is now in my old area in Matang, if anyone can make it in Matang it will be him.

Love you guys a lot, Miss you!

Elder Halpin