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.