Rest in peace to a Prophet of God🙏🏼 Russell Marion Nelson at 101 years of age. What a man and legacy he has left behind. Honored to have him call me to Singapore and Malaysia, and I know that he was a true prophet of God just like Joseph Smith and every prophet that has been likewise called of God, Praise to Russell M. Nelson indeed🖤🙏🏼
Onto the email⬇️
Hello, everyone‼️🫰🏼
WHAT A WEEK in the Lion city (cool fact about Singapore is that in Malay, Singapore is Singapura and that literally translates to Lion City. Singa=Lion. Pura= City/temple in Malay) Such an amazing week I'll break it down.
Monday: P-night, went out with Elder Randall which was super fun. We served all last transfer together just me and him, so running it back with my first trainer after we split is so fun. He's also District Leader this transfer too, so we're still able to be in the same house and around each other in Miri which is great. Had a solid night, we taught this man named Changan about Joseph Smith and the Holy Ghost and how we can know Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God through the Holy Ghost. Said the First Vision in Indonesian (yes, they taught us the Indonesian First vision in the MTC, not the Malay one😂😂 Indonesian and Malay are comparable to Spanish and Portuguese but slightly closer just for reference, so super, super close languages. Anyways) Also taught this one family about Patriarchal Blessings (which is pretty rare to teach as a missionary. It's not a required lesson for baptism and especially in Malaysia as well, it's very rare to touch on Patriarchal blessings) I felt prompted to testify about how both my grandparents are Patriarchs. But I accidentally said "nenek" (grandma) instead of "Datuk" (grandpa)😂😂 Can't say either of my grandmas were patriarchs haha. Got another chance to talk about it again and I said Datuk the next time to clarify. Really felt the Spirit with them.
Tuesday and Wednesday- went with Elder Platt on Tuesday, a new trainee from the MTC and he's super chill. He played baseball, and I told him I got a lot of buddies back home that also played baseball and one that still plays now and my guy Tingey who just committed to play at BYU. Love baseball, such an awesome sport. Wish I played for sure. Was cool to finally get to talk about it with someone. Wednesday did some morning finding, got some McDonald's in Miri and then spent the rest of the day traveling to Kuala Lumpur and then Singapore‼️ Got in really late though but went to bed super excited.
Thursday and Friday- Zone conference In Singapore🇸🇬🦁‼️
Could write a whole email just about these two full days, but I don't want this email to get too long haha, but amazing as always getting to see all my guys from the MTC, interviews with President and Sister Ho, they're the best. Went out on Thursday with Elder Johnson (both our first names are Isaac too haha) and had a blitz day with Elder Johnson (basically where you get a random new companion and you just go out to a designated area and find and talk to people basically for a couple hours for that one day) across Singapore after working with the elderly that morning for our service project. Me and Elder Johnson went to Tao Payoh which is a little district in the middle of Singapore. Super, super fun. We met a lot of Filipinos, and this one lady taught us some Tagalog! Felt the Spirit a ton throughout the day especially during the departing missionaries' testimonies. Listened to Elder Simonsen's Farewell testimony which was super solemn and inspiring though for sure. Sad to think I only have 2 and a half weeks with him left.
Saturday- traveled back from Singapore, got to walk around the greatest, nicest airport in the entire world, and oh my gosh, my mom wasn't too far off when she implied to me I wouldn't want to leave Singapore😂😂 Singapore is just so crazy clean and oh my, words cannot describe how nice it is and just like how safe and peaceful it is there. Cannot wait to serve there. but like I told my mom also, Miri is home. Sarawak (the state in east Malaysia where Miri is) is just so special. It's so unbelievably different and just its own place truly. My bike also broke AGAIN😂😂 Apparently all of East Malaysia is having bike problems so the APs and President and Sister Ho are getting involved, which is nice.
Sunday- woke up, went to church, got home from church eventually and my previous comp and trainer Elder Randall is this super super super sarcastic guy, so when he randomly out of nowhere said, "President Nelson is dead," my heart just dropped. Knew he wasn't messing around. Then I saw the texts coming in from President Ho to the mission groupchat and I just couldn't believe it. During Personal Study we just sat there and read these articles about him on Church News and then listened to one of his talks for Comp Study. It was great.
What a week though, this is a really long email but this week just goes to show the highs and lows of a mission. This mission has constantly been a roller coaster of emotions for me, no doubt. You feel it all when you wear this badge for sure. One thing that helps me stay level and balanced is focusing on Jesus Christ. 15 days tho until transfer calls. Me and Elder Simonsen were just saying to each other that it's time to lock in for sure. Me and him both want to end super, super strong. This could be my last transfer here in Miri or if I stay, then I'll be finishing Elders Barker's training. Whatever happens I just wanna finish strong. I've come to love this place in a special way for sure. I guess this is my spiritual thought. Anyways love y'all, the support back home means absolutely everything for sure. Can't believe I almost didn't want to serve a mission😂 Wouldv'e been a catastrophic mistake not to serve one haha. I'll stop rambling though, love y'all🙏🏼❤️
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