Another week down, nearing the end of my time here in Johor Bahru. Now that I know I won't be getting three transfers here is sad. This area is the most underrated area in this mission, no doubt. The wonderful blessings of the Lord have led me to this city. Going to finish really strong here these last 10-ish days. This week was really a week of change and realization.
P-night (Monday night)
- Malacca Elders came down Sunday night so we did exchanges Monday night. I went with Elder Overly for our SIXTH (6, enam) exchange together. (were only in our 4th transfer together Btw, 2nd area😭) Man, we've served so much together and it's great. Seeing our growth in Malay is special. We work really smoothly. We've genuinely been together just for the last six months. He was in my MTC district. We keep joking we're just gonna follow each other to our next areas. Love it. It was a great night. Talked to a guy from Japan, talked to this other guy from Myanmar, this other one super chill Muslim guy outside this gym was like, "Wow, you guys Malay is really good." We can tell them we're "volunteers" (which we are yes) (can't even really tell them we're missionaries though) if their chill enough, but regardless, we cannot teach them anything about Jesus/Heavenly Father, unfortunately. No principles or doctrine. Can't invite them to church. I swear the amount of elect or super chill Islamic religious people that will accept this gospel one day or in the spirit world is actually wild. Us Singapore/Malaysia missionaries nonstop talk about it. We genuinely believe we are here to nurture people so they can just go and accept in the spirit prison. I just love to look at it like that at least, I don't know. Anyways
Btw forgot to write out yes, I did get a buzz cut from Elder Fandi. (kinda like a crew cut but whatever) He genuinely blessed the entire Johorlacca district. Me, Elder Moulton, Elder Workman, and Elder Broadhead, and then Elder Fandi himself we all got buzzcuts/crew cuts together😭😭 (come to find out buzzcuts actually are not allowed in this mission but oh well. It's technically not a written rule though it's only a spoken rule that isn't set in stone. So you know, we had to.) We also went to the mall. Bought a Spain world cup addidas soccer jersey/shirt cause I just had to. (Viva Espana🇪🇸) Just walked around, we got this place called 4 fingers. We all got these chicken sandwiches and oh my. With the Mtn Dew. No free refills but regardless that was special.
Tuesday- had in person ZCM (Zone Council Meeting) as a Johorlacca district. (each zone has districts in it so Johorlacca is just us, the Johor Bahru Elders, the Masai Elders and the Malacca Elders) so all of West Malaysia only hopped on a call and we learned from missionary leaders. We had district lunch together as well. Then we went out and had our 2nd day of the exchange. I went with Elder Broadhead. He actually served with my MTC companion, my guy Elder Stevens, in Sibu Jaya in Sarawak for a transfer. So, we had a lot of fun, asked him about how that transfer was, what they did in Sibujaya. The work in Sarawak, especially a place like Sibujaya, is just SO different from a place like here in Johor Bahru, it's actually crazy. Anyways, it was a great day. We didn't have the bikes on us, Elder Page and Elder Overly had them for the day, so we were walking all over Johor Bahru. I have a lot of respect for most other missions throughout the world. Where y'all just walk and walk and walk. So grateful we get bikes in this mission. Anyways, we went and visited some On-dates that were taken off, shared a Christmas message, did about 30 minutes of finding, typical phone messaging, was able to make a friend off of calling referrals. There're so many people we could teach if they just had the smallest desire. Even just for like 15 minutes if they could just hop on with the missionaries and feel the Spirit once. It could be that simple. But it's not. Anyways. The Lord still keeps his arm bare🙌🏻 that's why we're out here. Doing the Lord's work.
Wednesday- 🎄Christmas Eve🎄what a day Wednesday was.
Around an hour before my personal study on Wednesday, I get an email and a text from the Singapore Mission secretary, Sister Shurtz, and she said that President Ho (mission president, stake president of Malaysia) wanted me to get a work pass/visa in Singapore🇸🇬🙌🏻 just absolutely massive news right here, folks. Glory to God on the highest. Just for some background, these work passes are around 10,000 dollars to obtain and you have to have extensive paperwork and all this stuff to even get one. The Church only has so many they can give out legally from the government because it's based off how much money such an organization or a Church makes or has. Since the Church is non-profit and doesn't make any money, Singapore limits how much the Church can give out (work passes) and they provide them for the missionaries free of charge to the missionary. They also require seminary graduation, high school diploma and just a lot of documents. But once I'm able to get it, thanks to my mom being so on top of my documents, and my seminary teacher, Sister Sawaya for reminding me to do my seminary work, also with the documents being 9000 miles away from me right now, I will be able to legally be a worker in Singapore. If I ever go through immigration and they ask me why I'm going in, I legally have to answer, "I'm working in Singapore." I will legally, technically speaking, be getting paid by the Church (DISCLAIMER🚨I won't be making ANY money, not one cent🚨) but regardless in order to have a work pass you HAVE to be getting paid/making money. Anyways this is just such a massive blessing.
I know it's the Lord's will. I know it's time for me to serve in Singapore. I was telling Elder Page I'm going to Singapore next transfer I just knew. Whether I'll have to do half a transfer in Kuala Lumpur and then switch halfway through it'll be interesting to see how they get me to Singapore, because you need to be in Singapore waiting while they process documents and stuff so I'll do like half a transfer in Singapore and then half of one somewhere else. It's just so crazy to be getting one. I thought I would never. Not every missionary gets one and they usually only give them to Mandarin called speakers in this mission. The main purpose of a work pass is literally only for getting through immigration easier. That's really the only reason. Also, it would allow me to comfortably serve there longer as well. So, the chances of me getting 3-4 transfers there (in Singapore) are pretty high. Usually, most Malay called speakers in Singapore would just get two transfers only. Most missionaries in general only get two transfers their whole mission in Singapore. Going back and forth from Malaysia and Singapore gets hard the longer you get into your mission, so I won't have to worry about immigration really ever. Anyways. I know that's a lot but y'all deserve to be updated on everything, and I do my best to lay out all the facts and all background information and stuff📢🚨
Christmas was great. Definitely a day where you could self-pity. but it was great to just go out and work. Basically me and Elder Page biked to this far out spot and doing all our studies and did a ton of Singapore finding (lot of Singaporeans will leave Singapore and come to JB for the holidays, off days because their money literally gets tripled when they convert their Sing dollars to ringgit and just take a 30-minute drive over the bridge into Malaysia) did some YSA finding (Young Single Adult) near a college. Anyways, we didn't make a friend (didn't find an investigator or someone who was interested) but we weren't gonna let that ruin our night. We just so happen to stumble upon this absolute hole in the wall place called "mamacitas" in this shop lot, and we got SO HYPED. We were going crazy. ACTUAL MEXICAN FOOD. We scoped the place out because there was a bar inside and live music, BUT there was really no one in there, no one was even drinking, there were literally families going in as well. So, we're like bet it's totally okay if we go in. And wow what a decision that was. Ate some real Mexican food, got a carne asade quesidilla with churros and a NON-ALCOHOLIC Pina colada. WOW. Genuinely felt like I was in Texas or just back in the US during that hour. Anyways that all deserves part in this email. I cannot now say that "I haven't had Mexican food in two years," when I get home because most missionaries (outside of North and South America, Hispanic food. Yes, I know my difference between Mexican and Hispanic) ESPECIALLY in southeast Asia do not get ANY opportunities to eat real Mexican food. Wow what a night.
Thursday
🎄❄️HOT HUMID 88 DEGREE 14 UV MALAYSIAN CHRISTMAS🎅🏻☃️
SELAMAT HARI NATAL SEMUA🇲🇾
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, love y'all
Definitely a very weird day. A very unique one for sure. Hard to describe waking up on Thursday. Just a year ago I was waiting to interview with my Stake President, didn't even know the Malay language existed. I knew a little bit about Malaysia and Singapore but man, obviously not as much I know now. Had no idea I would ever literally be 9,000 miles away from family and friends, going down to San Antonio for a BYU game also around that time, crazy. A lot of mixed emotions for sure. I know I cannot be anywhere else in the world right now. I refuse to be. We had a great morning and since Elder Page knows I'm going to Singapore at some point because of the work pass, he gave me a stick of deodorant as a stocking stuffer and wrote such a nice note on it. I feel so bad I didn't get him anything or write him a note but now next Christmas I'm gonna pay it back to my junior companion/trainee now that I know what to do. I took off my Malay Badge for the first time in a while and wore my English one. It's nice in this mission we get English ones because you really only wear an English tag when you serve in Singapore unless you speak Chinese. Anyways.
We had a great day. It was weekly planning day as well. Went to the mall, did our weekly planning. Mall was absolutely jumping with Singaporeans and Malaysians. Did 50 minutes of shop lot finding outside the mall after our studies and we were wearing Santa hats and carrying around 2-liter bottles of soda. Everyone was looking at us, we looked ridiculous😭 it was awesome. We grabbed to Brother Daves house and man this guy was loaded. Crazy fish tank, he was telling us how much each fish was and how he got it, just so much food. He cooked homemade Sarawak laksa, so spicy but so good. So much shrimp. Brother Dave's mom, Sister Jelani, this sweet Iban woman was literally just throwing shrimp on my plate. I would finish and then I look away for a second and I see another one perfectly peeled on my plate again. She's like "Makai lagi" he had a whole Bourbon whiskey collection, Singapore dollars taped to his wall. We brought the Coke in and he literally goes, "Alright Elders, just put it in the freezer." We didn't even end up using them😭 He brings out some fake wine, too, afterwards and he's like, "Elders, drink up this is real." Just laughing having a great time. We were there for like two and a half hours.
This man brings out Musang king durian. Now Musang king durian is literally like wagyu steak of fruits. It's rare (this type of durian is only found in West Malaysia), it's super expensive, it's the best kind of durian. If y'all don't know what durian is then it is a native Southeast Asian fruit only found in Borneo (east Malaysia and Indonesia), West Malaysia and mainland southeast Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar) Anyways, Elder Ang, Elder Page, brother Dave and all these people love Musang king Durian or just any durian in general. There are many different types of durians. I genuinely am physically not able to describe the taste of durian to any of you. You NEED to try it to know. Scientifically speaking, there is NO OTHER taste in the ENTIRE WORLD that is like durian. So your brain actually doesn't know what it's having or tasting. It's such a unique taste and has such a strong smell that your brain actually links it to skunk smell or like a sweeter garlic/onion smell. Because it doesn't know what it's smelling. So literally, the more you try and have it the better it gets. First time I had it only took one bite of a piece. This last time I had 2 whole fruit pieces. (granted Musang King durian is truly the king of durians and taste the best but still) My brain literally likes it more because it's able to distinguish it as just durian. Anyways, durian is a crazy cool fruit. The best durian is found in west Malaysia. Because they make hybrid durians here that have small seeds and the most amount of "meat" on it. Durians are awesome and yeah Elder Page said it's like smoother, juicer guacamole that is nuttier, yellow, sweeter, and a way stronger smell. Anyways
Brother Dave, he's like, "Elders, I want you guys to do some karaoke right now,so after this big, massive meal, me and Elder Page are just singing, "What child is this," with microphones, both of our voices were sick already and raspy. He's just smiling the whole time. So funny. We end up sharing a message with Elder and Sister Ang, and brother Dave and his wife and mom. It was great. Talked about how when Jesus came, he saved all the Nephites that believed on him that he would come. It's all in 3 Nephi Chapter 1, If y'all wanna read it. It was a great night no doubt. Great way to close off Christmas. The Angs took us back and we listened to Christmas music the whole way home. Just so awesome.
Friday: this day was a special one. We made two friends this day during finding and had a lot of great contacts and It was a day I felt the Spirit the strongest throughout my entire time as a missionary. I felt great but I still felt like there was something I needed to do. So, I went and talked to President Ho about some things. I'm hoping for the best and ready to receive greater spiritual power from this.
Saturday: nothing special found for about two hours. Went to a member's open house and had some fun there. Saw a lot of miracles that night. Ran into old people we've had interactions with. Saw this French couple and I was able to tell them "nous sommes les missionaries de l'eglise des Saints de Dernier jours" Two years of French in high school and memorizing the name of the church in French coming in clutch. They seemed really happy that some random American knew a tiny bit of French all the way in Johor Bahru Malaysia😂 They said my French was "really good" and were asking me where I learned it and if I learned it in Italy. Big compliment and awesome to see them being so cool about a non-French person speaking French. They were super nice, and we planted a big seed for when they go back to France. Also, a really cool miracle when we got back to the church that night. A man that used to be in contact with the older Johor Bahru Elders randomly came up to us right before we got into the church and said he was coming to Church tomorrow! (he came!) He definitely was going through a rough time and it's great to see he's now relying on the Church and mainly Jesus Christ for support. I know I am right now that's for sure.
Sunday- a really relieving day for sure. Church was great and felt a lot more peace and calm. Went home, ate, did personal study, did other studies, went out did some finding. Great day.
Without saying too much I have finally gained just even a little bit more of realization and recognition for Christ's atonement. I'm grateful for it and to have a chance to rely on Christ with all my heart and partake in his Atonement. We will see what the next couple of weeks hold. Love you all🙏🏻
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