Hello, Everyone. Blessed with another week in Malaysia. It was great.
Monday night- went over to a recent convert's house and had a fun night there. It was her daughter's birthday, so we sang carols, ate catered KFC, this recent convert had a helper (a helper is like a maid basically it's just the Asian term for it) and she was from Indonesia. She was super sweet and so I was talking to her in Malay and she was speaking Indonesian, and it was just a great night. We stayed a little later than we should've and this recent convert opened up to us. I'm so happy we were there for her to tell us her concerns as a recent convert with not a lot of support. I grew frustrated with myself that I wasn't putting a great focus on her and wasn't there to support as I was leading the area this transfer. I texted her an apology and promised her I would do better. That's on me. It's the missionary's job to nourish recent converts and I wasn't doing my job on that. Anyways, it was a great night, nonetheless. Just something to learn from for missionary work.
Tuesday: another great day. Had DCM as a district (District Council Meeting) and learned more about the Book of Mormon and its power. The Book of Mormon is truly so powerful. I love reading its passages and teachings. I read the talk from President Holland (🙏🏻🕊️) and the 2017 talk from President Nelson about what our lives would be like without the Book of Mormon. Just absolutely phenomenal talks. Did some finding that day, house to house. Here in Malaysia, we don't knock doors, we knock gates. All Malaysian houses just have these massive gates on the driveway, so we always gotta yell in and knock on the metal gates. It's nice to see when a house is Chinese, Christian, or Muslim. Of course, we skip the Muslim houses and then try all the other ones. We met this one lady who said we could come back the next day and that we could bring a Book of Mormon. She gave us water, and she was super nice. Had two calls at night, one with our recent convert and one with a new friend. Great day. Made two new friends and was very productive.
Wednesday: started the day off with going to the church and helping these Muslim bros, Elder Ang's employees, move some stuff into the Church. I no joke cleaned these new cups and plates we got from the Angs for a solid hour straight. Hands were hurting cause they were so wrinkled. They were so dirty, and mom be happy cause I got some great great practice haha. Then one of our friends, as a Filipino tradition, gave us SO MUCH fruit. (I don't even eat fruit, but Elder Page was hyped) I tried some of the new, exotic fruits I've never had before and they were solid. We went back to this lady's house, but she wasn't there, dropped off the Book of Mormon in Mandarin and then did some house-to-house finding. That night we went to downtown Johor Bahru, right next to Singapore, and had a YSA, BBQ New Year's Eve celebration. It was fun. Traffic was so bad, so we got home super late. That night we went up and watched ALL the fireworks go up over Johor Bahru. So wild. So cool to see. Just me and Elder Page up there alone, drinking our soda, talking about life, our missions. Crazy. We stayed up that night and just talked about college for like an hour and a half straight. It's been nice not to worry or stress about it, but it's gonna get to a point where I'm gonna have to make a decision. Elder Page was starting to think about it, so I was happy I was there to be someone he could rant about it with seeing he has less than nine months left now. Anyways. The Lord has directed my paths so far, just need to keep trusting.
Thursday- 1st day of 2026
Woke up at 6:00am and got the bus station around 8:00am waited for our bus until 9 and then genuinely from 9am to 9pm we bussed all the way up from Johor Bahru (southern point of the Malaysian peninsula) ALL the way up to Penang near Thailand. Wow. Cooped up in the bus. All day. Listening to the same five songs on repeat. Doing weekly planning, also, so just mentally straining so hard having to plan so much. Bus was rocking a lot because central and northern Malaysia actually has massive mountains and valleys. Man. Getting to go up to Penang is just so legendary though. Might never serve there so getting to say I've been there is awesome. Penang is famous for its food and Chinese-presence culture there. Drove through Kuala Lumpur and saw the Petronas Towers, and the Merdeka Tower was awesome as always. Funny story: We get off at the Kuala Lumpur bus station to go to the bathroom, and we no joke almost missed getting back to our bus. We literally were running around, everyone is staring at us, place is packed. We sneak past security because for some reason our bus moved to a lower level. So crazy. Anyways we finally got to Butterworth and then took a FERRY to get to Penang Island. (Yes, we not only take bikes, busses, planes, and cars in this mission but also literal boats. This mission is so crazy) crazy travel day. 6am-10:40pm. Getting up to that 33rd floor that overlooks all of Penang was so worth it though.
Friday- went with Elder Honey in Penang. Man, he is so insanely good at Mandarin. He actually grew up speaking Mandarin and is half Taiwanese. He's awesome with the Mandarin. Just speaks it so well for only his 1st transfer in the field. It felt weird serving with someone who you're actually so far ahead of experience wise. It's his first transfer so I actually got to train him and stuff which was nice. But of course, he led the exchange that day area wise and where to find people. We had a great day. And wow, let me say Penang was breathtaking. Just unreal. Literally felt exactly like Mallorca and Palma where I went with my dad. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Biking on the sidewalks, massive mountains, you feel the ocean breeze. Wow. The desire to serve here has only gotten bigger. So awesome. Made the bus drive all worth. The Penang Elders here live on the 33rd floor so you see ALL of Penang from the apartment and then mainland Malaysia in the distance. So cool. Super Chinese there. Unreal, world famous food. Anyways that day was great.
Taught two lessons and we got along great. Taught him basic Malay throughout the day and I had to tone down my English/Malay vocab I've adopted where I mix in Malay and English throughout all my sentences. Most if not all missionaries I've been around all know Malay, but Elder Honey is just called specifically for Mandarin. So it was fun to translate for him at this one restaurant as well. Was teaching him good phrases to know as well. He taught me some Mandarin as well. Anyways. Did some finding in this massive park with monkeys everywhere. Had a great time, made a friend, too. Talked to a guy from Switzerland, people from Singapore, all over Malaysia, Japanese lady. Super cool. Talked to a Sikh, as well. They're all awesome. Rare to find. Felt great to be finding, feeling the Spirit really strong, knowing I'm doing all I can. Following the blueprint for being a successful missionary. Desire and Spirit. Had a very sacred nightly prayer that night. What a day.
Saturday- bussed ALL the way back down to Johor Bahru for ANOTHER 12-hour straight bus ride. Woke up at 7am didn't get back to Taman Molek in Johor Bahru until ?. Kinda crazy. Tried to stay as productive as possible. APs called us and were like, "What are y'all doing lock in" basically. Can only text people for so long lol. Got back to the Larkin Central Bus Station, ate some Mcds, got back to the house, and slumped. Such a filler day. One great thing was just like me and Elder Randall back in my 1st transfer where we just talked and talked and got past some things. Me and Elder Page did that and we came to understand each other a bit more. I talked to him about some things going on and we each talked about our individual transfers and how we've seen the Lord pruning and guiding our paths and helping us grow so individually and personally throughout our missions. We just talked and talked about the greatness of the Lord and His plans for each of us and just our life and so many little things. It was so productive and great. Anyways
Sunday- solid day. Church was great. Did a lot of gate knocking and houses and shoplot finding. Testified throughout really strongly and had a very long conversation with this one Chinese couple in English about our church. The Spirit was super strong, and we shared about the Book of Mormon and yeah it was great. Had a great lesson with a reactivated friend who is starting to learn from us again. Finished my fast and definitely growing in my testimony of fasting and all of that. Learning self-mastery through understanding how I should let my spirit control my bodily desires. Something important to learn out here.
I was drawn specifically to overcoming the world this last week and read Presidents Nelson's talk about what it means and how we can overcome the world. Unfortunately the world overcame me at a time in my life. But because of Jesus Christ, my parents, this church, church leaders, I have literally been lifted up to a new plane of being. Reflecting on the last six months has been special. No reminiscing or remorse as compared to previous times. I could go through each little time period or each transfer here in field and talk about each part so in depth and I was telling it all to Elder Page he said, "Elder, you have the spiritual gift of noticing the Lord's hand in your life." I loved that so much and I can definitely see that. It's definitely a blessing. These are all gifts from God and man, do I have also my weaknesses. Always have. But not always will. Call it New Year resolution motivation, but I have seen a massive change just in the last week and after being humbled from the last week and a half-ish. It's been nice to have a reset and just continually being totally pushed out of my comfort zone and current mindsets to higher and holier ones. I should be thankful for the opportunity to be self-critical to the point where it is making me a better disciple of Jesus Christ. I think the Lord respects when we're hard on ourselves to an extent. He respects the respect we give to him because He wants us to give our whole heart. He wants us to show respect to Him and by overcoming the world. He wants us to realize the most important thing we can do as his creation is to fulfill his commandments and have charity.
The conviction and the testimony were grown in the month of December. Now it's time for charity and for even more humbling. Patience, too I think when it came time for me to come out on this mission, I had no prompting to do what I should've done. I know it. I had to come out here first and just start building and putting one foot in front of the other. Just start reading the Book of Mormon at least. Just start praying. Just start suffering sikit. Just pick up the cross at least. I reached my point in my discipleship where I had to now go and do what I should've done before my mission. Because if I don't, then I won't feel the lifting from the Lord. Where else I would've gotten it? It's done now and we'll see what the future holds. I'm happy I've done it. It's forcing me to put full faith and trust in the Lord. To know when I look back on this I will not be forsaken or forgotten. I've seen too many miracles and heard too many things to know that Jesus is the Christ. That's another spiritual gift is to know that with conviction. I've never struggled with that. I find it hard to comprehend the Atonement and so I was called to this mission regardless of what I did and then I'm placed here at the peak of my discipleship to make the right decision, to not plateau and to fully access the power of the Atonement. It's special to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord is keenly aware of the growth of his children and especially the ones who show forth and exercise their love and faith as in missionary work and effort. Every week I can see improvement. There Is no greater more important thing I can be doing. I know it. I will find out soon what the future holds. Love y'all.
Regardless of what happens
ZIONS WALLS SHALL RING WITH PRAISE
It is my hope and prayer every night I can bring one soul to the city of one heart and mind where an everlasting God will rule over the entire earth and over all kings and judges with a righteous judgment. Amen.
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