Hello wonderful family! Patiently waiting for Transfers is killing me here.

This last week was absolutely wonderful. Most of it was taken in three days of Zone Conference down in delicious Singapore, and we had an amazing time. I wish I could just send you a transcript of the whole thing, but President Mains is definitely an inspired man!

The package had arrived fine, but we had some troubles with our airlines with the effect that we were not allowed to bring checked luggage. We had been staying with the Chinese Elders there, so I ended up giving them all the Butterfingers that we couldn't eat or take home (thanks for the Doctor Who stuff by the way, wasn't expecting that. I carry a Sonic Screwdriver now :-).

The only other big news is people! Senia was baptized by her father this last week, and in the last few weeks the effect of the Atonement has been very evident in their lives and personalities.

We have a new Senior Couple here in Sibu, Elder and Sister Bodell. This is their first mission, and they seem to be doing great so far.

Also, Merang continues to do well. This last weekend he quit smoking and his family is on track to be baptized in about 2 weeks. Please continue to pray for him! We had a great lesson this last Saturday, where we changed our original lesson plan when Doo Abun, the mother, said she had been reading the Liahona about the temple and "just wanted to go there"! They are so spiritually in tune it is almost ridiculous.

Sorry it's a shorter letter, but we will be meeting lots of people again this week for sure! Love you all!

-Elder Christensen

Transfer News: Coy will stay in Sibu and train a new greenie!  He is so happy to stay, very sad to let Elder Sutherland go.  

So, do you know that Malaysia doesn't have speed limits? It still seems to work pretty well.

Hello family! I'd be lying if I said that this week was one of the better ones, but miracles did indeed occur (as they always do). It was definitely a

more of a humbling week, where many appointments fell through, many hardships came, many things were not as good as they could have been (or seemed to usually be), but as in all of those things, many things were learned and ways to improve were presented.

Here's a quick rundown of the most significant events.

Zone Meeting was awesome this last Tuesday, Elders Misa and Jackson were great as they reiterated many of the things that Elder Allen, the head of the church missionary department, had said at the last M.L.C. He had basically, in many ways, called the entire mission to repentance. Which was much needed. It was great, and all the missionaries have been going through some growing pains this week with many new standards of excellence, but to the credit of our District, we have been pulling through and succeeding pretty well.

I randomly got a gash in my tire (somehow), but I apparently rode on it fine to Permai Jaya and back. An Angel must have been helping somehow.

Sickness struck for a little but for me this last Thursday, but was easily fended off with oranges and soy milk.

Saturday was a massive get-together social from all branches, to say farewell to our wonderful Elder and Sister Beus, and to welcome new Senior Couple, Elder and Sister Bodell. The reaction of the branch was amazing to see, extremely heartfelt.

Among other things, Janggu came to church and stayed all three hours this week! It was so great to see him there and so many people were happy to see him as well! Entalai also came, although he was able to stay for Sacrament only (which was extremely reverent).

Merang's family is doing great. We met with them after church, and we discussed their baptismal date. Merang told us that he believes in this church 100%, and only wants his faith to grow sufficient enough to reflect that.

David's family wasn't able to come to church, as his wife's sibling entered the Hospital.

Jerry is still doing well, but we can't really tell what kind of desire or progression he wants to make or is making. The family is still being blessed though.

Today we were late to emailing because we had a Zone Trip to Kapit, a little river town about three hours of travel from our house. We left at 5 this morning, with the purpose being to meet some members that live out there (not yet enough for a group). It was a fun place, quite beautiful, and a very fun time that took all day.

One other miracle: while we were there, we ran into a man that we hadn't seen since that time a while ago that we gave the blessing to the dying lady at Bukit Aup. He had told us if we ever came to  Kapit to contact him, but we had lost his number. Lo and behold he was at the central market when we walked by, it was awesome. He said we could meet him in Sibu on Friday.

Well, Zone Conference is coming up! Love you all!

-Elder Christensen

Well, to be honest, so many amazing things happen each week that I'm going to stop trying to tell them all, takes so long because I hate writing without details. Only the best parts from now on?

Tuesday was a great day, Elder Misa and I spent the entire day on splits in order to do Lena's Baptismal interview (which she passed!). We got caught out in the rain, and isolated during the hardest rainstorm with the most lighting I have ever seen in my life. It was absolutely crazy, like a movie scene or something.

Merang's family is still going fantastically. They have decided that this church is the truth, and they want to be baptized  Accordingly, we are currently helping them overcome their Word of Wisdom issues right now, and the mother, Doo Abun, feels she has already quit smoking. Merang is the only one with any issues, but he is completely basing his faith in Jesus and his desire is sincere. They're on date for a couple weeks from now, but they are already so ready it's amazing.

Jerry has also come a very long way, as it seems his only hang-up is that he says he doesn't feel worthy, as he doesn't think he's at the same level as we are spiritually wise. We had a very strong spirit there as we testified that we are nothing special, that we all depend on the same savior and the same Christ to save us all. It's still hard to come to church, as he is called in randomly sometimes and can't really control his schedule.

Splits with Elder Baer, the Chinese Elder, went really well this last week. They live in a ridiculously nice apartment  which used to be an office, and they have been finding many new people to teach through personal finding. They realized this week that Winnie has been taught this entire time without permission from her step-mother, who is hardly being a mother to her at all. In complete humility and obedience, they stopped meeting with her. But she still comes to church and they still read the Book of Mormon with her after church on Sundays. Her situation very much resembles Cinderella right now.

Saturday night was great, as Kanyan was able to baptize his wife. It was very sweet, as also Merang's family was able to attend. They also had a birthday party for Winnie afterwards.

Sunday, we had a very interesting conundrum. We are running out of available classrooms for all the classes that are starting! We had a record number of 78 at church yesterday.

Then to finish off, a very cool miracle. That family that Elder South and I contacted, we tried to meet them twice this week. Both times, the father called us before and asked us to come at a different time. We finally met them Sundaynight, and they are the most prepared family we have ever seen. It's a man, David, his wife Siti, and their 8 year old daughter Julia and their 2 year old son Aui. They basically told us they had been discussing and decided they wanted to attend a church and follow Jesus as a family, but they didn't know which church to attend or how to get there. They basically asked us if they could attend church and be baptized before we taught the first lesson, and after the Restoration we asked how they felt. The dad thought for a second, and basically told us he felt good about it and that it must be true. They want us to come and lead them to the church Sunday morning (it's not far), and come back thisnext Tuesday. There are literally so many people searching for truth, and God is so aware of them. I LOVE THIS WORK!

I love you too!

-Elder Christensen

Sorry you won't get a normal Family Letter, and we had too leave too early to write a written letter this week, but here's my letter to President!

Dear President

This week has been amazing, trying, hard, and utterly miraculous. Part way through, I personally realized that it was a test of something beyond obedience, as with Elder Sutherland, I have been so blessed in obtaining a much stronger testimony of exact obedience. This week has been a test of consecration for me personally, and I'm still not sure if I have passed or failed.

We did not get the 21 investigators at church this week, for two reasons I can list. One being that last Wednesday there was a spiritual impression that I did not follow, the other being several unprecedented circumstances a holiday that nobody in our District knew about, National Day, because of which all of our members and many of our members all went back to kampung. With all that though, we also have put a miracle family on date for about 3 weeks from now, after they discussed as husband and wife and decided that this church was true. The Spirit has worked on them immensely, and it has been so amazing to have been blessed with such an opportunity.

Also, our Zone focus on finding and teaching has yielded much fruit across the District this week, and many people have opened their hearts through door knocking of all things. In our District Training, we decided that if we valued and planned our contacting time, the Lord could put value in it for us. And that has indeed happened, every companionship has been finding FAMILIES to teach! Our baptismal goal is within reach!

We had splits with Elders Jahali and Daily, and they are doing fantastic. This last week they have seen amazing success in a previously dead area, and they attribute it to Obedience and Diligence. The work is progressing indeed.

Your Questions:

1.What did I do to fulfill my purpose?

Our contacting has yielded fruit every time this week, and we have a family now on date.

2. What did I do to show my love for the Lord?

This week has been the hardest of my mission for sure, but miracles have literally been shown at every turn. 

3. What did I do to improve my obedience?

Honestly, this week I have been trying my darnedest to maintain the testimony of obedience I've gained so far, as I have hardly had time to contemplate trying to be better. Hopefully I can have time to contemplate the state of my own soul sometime, but for now we are very busy with so many people to work with.

I love this work, we got reporting done late last night because we were on temporary splits with Elder Baer and Elder South to lead them to a family we contacted, who were very open to the Restoration and accepted a return appointment. Also, although we had a big decrease in attendance at church due to the holiday, it did not show in our numbers because it was the multi-branch primary program.

Today we are emailing late because we had a district youth activity for which we had to leave at 7:30 to be at the Y.M.C.A. It lasted all day, and we only got back about an hour ago. It was really fun, and to be honest after this last week I was not looking forward to it. It was really fun though, and I'm really glad we got to do that. Our Investigator's families kids also attended.

Well, things are looking up, we are hoping to renew our District focus on goal setting and planning starting tomorrow at District Meeting.

Thank you for your continued prayers and guidance, I loved your weekly message (as always).

Sincerely,

-Elder Christensen