He told us he's listening to us because he wants to come closer to God.

There's no way this was only a week. It felt like two years ago I was emailing you guys last.

Hello Family! Thank you so much for the overflowing love and support I've felt this week! You're the greatest!

The Beach Party was extremely fun. Pics coming. It was a great time, and it suprises me now that it wasn't the highlight of the week.

Remember the Kampung we found? Well we met with the people there. Sis. Raca got all her less-active friends and we all met in one house. They all expressed desires to go to church, but they haven't come for almost ten years. Apparently the bus that goes to the church stopped running, and the missionaries lost track of them somehow a long time ago. One of the women had a 14 year old daughter that we're going to start teaching for Baptism this week! So Awesome!

This Friday we had the great opportunity to go to Kutching for the Christmas Conference, where I got the BIGGEST PACKAGE OF ANYONE THERE! Thank you so much for the raw love I felt from that! We're going to be re-enacting How The Grinch Stole Christmas for the Christmas Party this weekend. I'll be the Narrator.

Better then that though was the 9 letters I received! Thank you so much! They really warmed my heart to hear your news. It seems what Dear Elder does is put all the letters from one entire week in one envelope and send it overseas all at once, because the latest date I got your letters from was Dec. 1st. Written Replies to those will be coming!

ALSO BE PREPARED FOR A MASSIVE BOX! LATE CHRISTMAS GIFT! PROBABLY A COUPLE MONTHS IN COMING!

After we got mail we had a wonderful conference. The Mains's are some of the greatest people. We all were very spiritually touched by everything. We got to create humanitarian kits, I was the Angel in the Nativity, and we watched the 1st Pres. Christmas Conference!

Sunday we got to meet with a Relative of Sis. Katrina, name of James. He was a very prepared man that Sis. Katrina gave a Book Of Mormon to, and he told us he's listening to us because he wants to come closer to God. He speaks English, but can't read it, so he uses the Malay B.O.M. He wants to come to church every Sunday and discuss the B.O.M. afterwards.

The Other exciting thing is that we have been getting home late every night we didn't have a previous engagement going carolling with the branch. We go to every members home. jam as many people as possible inside, sing 2 songs, Pres. Langgie or Bro. Saban (1st Councillor) share a Christmas Message, and we pray, then all caravan to the next one. They feed us a ton and it's so much fun, but tiring and late. Worth it though.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! ENJOY THE PICS!

LOVE YOU ALL MORE THEN I CAN EXPRESS!

-Elder Christensen

 Elder Sessions, MTC Companion

THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN HAVE BEEN OPENED THIS WEEK!

Mom Note:  He will be receiving his physical mail on the 20th.  The Dear Elder service will be printed at the mission home and will be waiting for him.  If anyone wants to email a note TO US, we will pay to get it to him by the 19th.  This will be his mail for Christmas and probably three weeks afterward. Thank you Thank you!  We can send 3 pages for $1.10 so we will combine the notes and get them out. He has specifically asked for an update of what is going on in your life and your spiritual experiences. We would be SO GRATEFUL!  Merry Christmas! Thank you for loving and praying for this boy and for all of the missionaries!  On to the Letter…

Internet's slow today, bear with me here.

Missionary Life:
1 Whole Missionary (perfect mental health not guaranteed)
3 cups Insanity, stir well
1 cup of Hard Work
2 Heaping Tablespoons of Joy
1 Daily Dose of Humor

Mix well in the Bowl of the Spirit, serve liberally. Serving Size: One Week.

Hello Family! This week has been one full of insight and miracles so lets get this train wreck a' rollin'!

Pictures this week: (We didn’t actually get the pictures, but this is a list of what they would have been J.
Elder W and the turtle we ate
Elder Santa Kong
Sting Ray for Dinner
Sister's Baptism
Me Arm Wrestling Christopher
Auxiliary Meeting (bet ya can't guess what we're planning for)
Chinese Christmas Party

Well, after emailing last week Christopher and Davidson asked us to come over for family night, so of course we did. They had a turtle they wanted to eat, and when we arrived they said they had no idea how to cook or kill it. They asked us to do both. It involved a plier, hammer, stove and lots of onions, but we made some pretty delicious Chicken-Turtle Soup. Christopher's daughter accidentally called me 'sister' (in English) since the sisters had taught them, and the rest of the night Christopher called Sisters Elders and Elders Sisters. Good Times.
Anyway, cool stuff this week. We didn't have as much going on this week compared to before (thank goodness), so we decided to try and find some more less actives and investigators. Elder W had found some old hand written records, which elaborated on some Less Actives addresses which only said 'Krokop' in the ward directory. They said they lived in a Kampung that we’d never heard of and nobody had worked in for several years, which was very unusual. So between the Penan's, a Baptismal Interview, English Class, Eating at Pasar Malam and preparing for the Chinese Christmas Party last night and the Zone Activity today, we went contacting in Krokop 7. We literally knocked at every door on the street and asked everybody if they knew these people, nobody had heard of them. It also took about three days of contacting and research. At the end of the 3rd day, we went by these mechanic shops at the end of the street and asked the workers there. The boss only spoke Chinese, but told us to talk to one of his clients about to drive away. We did, and he said they were in the Kampung across the road. We had been there several times, and there was no kampung. We decided to look one more time. In-between a Car Wash and a Private school there was a very narrow dirt road, barely noticeable. We went down in and found an ENTIRE KAMPUNG extending out over the river that we had never seen before. It was truly a miracle, and the Lord worked in a very mysterious way to get us there. We found a less active woman who had married a nonmember and her family has a potential of 3 investigators or so, and they accepted a return appointment for Tuesday!
Saturday night the Sisters had a baptism. All was well except when the power went out for about 20 minutes. Fun times. Afterwards I arm wrestled Christopher.
Sunday we were able to meet Pres. Atos, Pres. Langgie's Father and Branch Mission leader for the first time. He's been in Kutching forever, and we'll be able to meet with him soon. Also, Sis. Katrina brought one of her relatives, James, who's interested in the church. He went around introducing himself to everyone and said he wants to come to church every week. We meet him tonight at Sis. Katrina's Family Home Evening.
Summary: THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN HAVE BEEN OPENED THIS WEEK!
Love you all! I'll get letters and the Christmas Package this week at the Christmas Conference in Kutching!

He also said in a sibling letter: I've had SO MANY Spiritual Experiences! I couldn’t list them all. All the time we have to rely on the spirit to guide us, the strongest one this week was when we found the Kampung.
We asked him how Stingray tasted, and how he knows what is safe to eat and he said: Stingray was really good, sort of like hyper condensed chicken with a better, fishier flavor. Haven't had any problems yet, mostly just bless it before and don't be stupid.
He is also singing O Holy Night in church next week!

Remember last week? Thought that was insane? Well buckle up because this week was much more fun if you catch my drift.

Monday you already heard about last week basically. We also had a baptismal interview that night.

Tuesday was the only relatively normal day this week, with a great lesson with the Penan family (thank you for your prayers for them).

Wednesday is when things started to get a little out of whack. Elder W had an appointment, and there was a trip to McDonalds as a last hurrah for Elder Snyder, who is getting transferred to the newly created Bintulu Zone as Zone Leader! We're sad to see him go, but happy at the same time. That night was English Class, which we've been contacting for and has become our main tool for potential investigators.

Thursday we dropped Elder Snyder off at the bus stop, got lost twice in the heaviest rain I've seen since we've got here.  We had a baptismal interview that night.

Friday we MOVED! TO JINHOLD! It's a really nice maid-serviced apartment meant for 2 people that we're now fitting in 4, because we now have 2 new Chinese Elders, Elder Kong and Elder Chan, who came because (drum-roll) we are getting Miri 3rd Branch starting in January! Elders Fletcher and Mitchel's Efforts have paid off and they are now opening a Chinese/English Group. We also had a baptismal interview that night.

Saturday was the 1st day in 4 that we got our complete studies in, and spent the rest of that day helping the new Elders get acquainted with the area. Elder Kong is a fantastic cook and he made us lunch and dinner. That night, we had a Triple Baptism! 3 more priesthood holders! Christopher and Davidson are two of the coolest guys ever, and the other guy was named Bro. Eye.

Sunday morning we went out to wake up the Kampungs. On the way to Kampung Api, Elder W’s bike's rear tire finally died for good. We walked the rest of the way to Kampung Api to visit Bro. Hitam. He was mysteriously happier then we've seen him ever. We found out HIS GRANDCHILDREN ARE BACK! Thank you for the prayers on his behalf! Someone had seen them walking around somewhere, called the police because they recognized them, and they were brought home (They're names are Samuel and Emmanual, 6 and 2). He was so happy he brought them, himself, and his wife to church (and us). But, he left a little early without us knowing, so we had to catch a bus to Kampung Api. Though during church, we confered the priesthood on the Recent Converts. I was able to confer Davidson, completely awesome gift of tongues experience. The bus was an hour late dropped us off at the same place that the tire had died, so we walked that path again. And who did we run into again but Christopher and Davidson! They walked with us for a while, that was fun. We then went to Darrell's house, which was near Bro. Hitam (who wasn't home). We then spent about 4 hours trying everything we could to patch the bike, but eventually we had to borrow Darrell's bike. It was raining, Elder W didn't have brakes, and it wasn't his bike, so it took about 45 minutes to get home. I sang hymns. It was fun.

This morning we went and switched bikes, replaced the tire after walking to the shop, and then Christopher and Davidson had invited us to go fishing on the beach! It's so beautiful there, looks like Pirates of the Caribbean 2. It was a nice break after this week.

Love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!

-Elder Christensen

Prayers:

Bro. Day (Help us to meet with him when he's sober)

Penans 

 This is Sister Allen, Coy's seminary teacher!

 New Apartment..with maid service!

There was a man who dreamed a dream
to build a castle tall.
He found a place which met his needs
and started with the wall.

All day long, stone upon stone
he labored in the heat
to find a piece of wall which 'lone
was a fraction of the feat.

To see that measure filled his heart
with anger crossed with sorrow.
He walked away, leaving the part
not sure to return tomorrow.

Another man, he had a plan
to build a castle tall.
He drew a sketch, surveyed the land
and started with the wall.

Brick and mortar, foundations laid
the moat dug deep and long
were all needs listed at the end of the day
to make the structure strong.

Day after day, week after week,
month after month it grew
'til at last he lay asleep in bed
in a turret high and new.

So many-a time, we act on our dreams
our visions both new and old,
but simply to work, preparedness to shrink
can make firey hearts turn cold.

The pathwa is there, straightforward and clear
though treading it takes some sweat.
If bends are expected, the future projected
our castle we'll not regret.

Lincoln Hymnal

December 1, 2013

So sorry for not emailing on time, we went to Batu Niah Caves a week early because Transfers are this week! So Exciting! I'm staying in Miri, but apparently every transfer has been getting bigger with the constant waves of new missionaries coming in.

Anyway, the Internet in slow today again, so I'll send what pictures I can. I'm thinking about just copying the pictures onto the other memory card and sending that home, what do you think about that?

Moving on.

This week was fantastic! The Lord has blessed and sustained our efforts sangat banyak (very much) and we've seen miracles this week.

I'm doing just fantastic, so I'm just going to tell some stories quick.

This Thursday being Thanksgiving, we were given an extra hour for dinner. Our District went together to Pizza Hut (a very nice and classy restaurant in Malaysia) and blew over 200 Ringgit together on Pizza's and Drinks. … definitely doesn't hold a candle to the traditional Family Thanksgiving dinners you guys got to enjoy, but it was a lot of fun.

Friday we had New Missionary Training in Miri! I thinkit was because we have one of the only three actual chapels in East Malaysia. It was a lot of craziness, especially because we had 6 extra missionaries sleeping in our house! That was a lot of fun, especially because the 'greenies' were all from my coming group! Elders Blackwelder, Paiwei, and Mix. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them and see them again. Also, it meant that Pres. Mains and Sis. Mains and the A.P.'s came and we had a fantastic training session. The best part was at the end when everyone was asked to bear his or her testimonies. The Spirit was super strong and it was awesome.

Another awesome set of stories pertaining to our work:

Bro. Geraji is an amazing old man with an indecent tattoo, a convert as well. He can't come to church because of heart problems, but we try to read the Book Of Mormon once a week with him. Saturday Morning we were called by his daughter Marina to come and 'help' her father, she didn't elaborate. We went over there to see what was up, and she was there with her father and her 5-month-old son. She said they both were sick and asked us to give them blessings. I anointed Bro. Geraji, Elder W. blessed him to be healthy and peaceful until the Lord calls him back. We then switched roles for the baby's blessing, Manuel Westley. Oh yeah, fun fact, people don't have last names here, they just say 'child of ___' For example, Manuel Westley Anak Marina. He was blessed that he would be healed and live a long life.

Also, Saturday night we visited Bro. Baking, a less active in our branch. He wasn't usually home, but we found him spraying his dog for a skin disease he had. We talked and gave a great lesson, but didn't really commit him to anything. Imagine our surprise when him and his whole family came to church the next day! It was so cool! That day we had about 62 people come to church (people are already going back to Kampong for the Christmas season, we decreased by about 20 or so this week) and 8 of them were less actives, with Bro. Day's children, Bro. Geraji's daughter (whom we were also not expecting), and Bro. Baking's family. The Lord has truly been blessing our efforts here in Miri.

Also, Fast Sunday was a wonderful experience. Many great testimonies were shared, and the Spirit was super strong.

I love you all so much! This week (Because of the training) I got 7 letters! Thank you so much!

Prayers: Bro. Hitam,

The Penang Family has a Baptismal Date! Yay!

Bro. Day, help him to have a desire to quit his Alcoholism.

Pray that English Class (our new contacting technique) will go well and be well attended.

Thank you so much for everything! I feel your love every day!

Love, Elder Christensen

(In our e-mail we told him we loved him and we think of him ninety times a minute and he responded with "I think of you less every day, but I guess that's how it should be!  But I love you!"  So funny, so him.) One more Mom note: The Batu Niah caves are the largest in the world and it is where natives collect birds nests for birds nest soup which sells for $200 a bowl. The bowls are made entirely out of bat spittle, and the natives collect them at insane heights on rickety rope ladders. Incredible images on the internet if you have a minute.