19 January 2015
Hi Family!
Well, I'll just begin at last P-Day
and walk you through my week from there. We had a fun zone activity: the
Elders came in from Masai and Melaka to play fun minute-to-win-it games at the
church and then we watched 17 Miracles at the Schollenbergers'.
(If you haven't seen it recently, I highly reccommend it!)
Tuesday was the long-awaited Zone
Meeting of Destiny. It was a great learning experience for me! We
gave a training about how to use our time more effectively, maintaining our
Area Books to keep a record of our area, and finding new people to add to our
teaching pools. The Schollenbergers helped us out with a fun half-time
break, and we invited a few other missionaries to train us, in two break-out
sessions, about goal-setting in faith, and accountability and the
atonement. I feel that I have learned a lot about accountability this
week. I know I'm not the expert on the subject, but I have really seen
that things like commitment without follow-up, goals without plans, or work not
reported are useless. I have pondered the reality of me giving a personal
accounting to the Savior for how I use His time each day of my mission, and my
talents throughout my life, and it kind of scares me. Actually, it
motivates me to be better. I've started to give an accounting of my day
to God in my prayers at night.
On Wednesday, we took a three hour
bus ride to Melaka to conduct exchanges with the Elders there. At one of
our teaching appointments there, I learned a valuable lesson about helping
people understand your expectations and being bold and loving in inviting them
to come unto Christ. It was also fun to see the colorful city of
Melaka. You may be able to get a better feel for it if you Google it, but
from what I understand, it is a famous port city, with a heavy Portuguese
influence. [Also spelled Malacca, it's a key port on the Malacca Strait, between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra; the strait connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans.]
After we returned to JB on Friday,
we struggled to make plans for the coming week - mostly because we were really
tired and because nothing is really certain in people's schedules as Chinese New
Year approaches. We spent several hours on the weekend street
contacting. We met several nice people, including a big Hindu/Christian
Indian family, and an elderly Chinese man out for his afternoon walk. As
we spoke to the man, he said he has nothing to do with his time anymore so he'd
love to come to church with us. We didn't think he'd remember, but the
next morning, he arrived at church right on time! He stayed for all the
classes and seemed to enjoy reading from Gospel Principles, but he
doesn't want us to come over to his house to teach him, yet. I'll keep
praying that he opens his heart to the gospel message.
Yesterday, we were surprised to have
two couples, the Balls and the Bloxhams, from Pocatello, Idaho, and one couple
from Brazil, drop in on our sacrament meeting. Purely by coincidence, six
foreigners somehow arrived at exactly the same time at our small shoplot church
building in JB! When I walked over to talk to them after the meeting, I
was stunned to hear Sister Balls say, "Elder Baer...well, the only Baer I
know is Steve Baer from Pocatello." 
On the bus rides to and from Melaka
I searched the scriptures for ways that I can become a better missionary.
I read Mosiah 11-18, specifically, to learn about Abinadi's mission. I'm
glad mine hasn't been as hard as his, but I really admire how bold and faithful
Abinadi was. I have a hard time putting myself in the position of people
in the scriptures, sometimes, but I know that if I was in Abinadi's shoes, it
would be really hard for me to declare repentance as boldly and plainly as he
did. It was definitely not socially acceptable to do and say the things
he did, but he was more concerned about what the Lord wanted than what he
wanted. He knew the scriptures well, and qualified for the presence of
the Holy Ghost, which brought indisputable power to his preaching. I have
such a desire to improve and do what the Lord wants me to do, but most of the
time I don't know exactly what steps to take or what the future will
bring. When I feel this way, I hope I can remember and learn from
Abinadi's example! Who are your favorite scripture heroes? I'd love
to hear from you next week!
Good luck with all the business of
the coming week, and tons of love,
Brennan
P.S. I've just gotten word
that a fantastic investigator whom I taught in Ipoh was just baptized!!
Yaay!! She is one whose gate we knocked on our "one last
street" of the day. I think it was a miracle that we met, and an
even bigger miracle that she was able to feel the Holy Ghost teaching her the
truth of the gospel. She has accepted it whole-heartedly, and I can't
express how happy I am for her!!
.JPG)
Freshly Harvested Cocoa beans at an investigator's
house in Melaka. Chinese Elders.
Me and a real live duran tree in Melaka!
Minute-to-win-it.
Hey dear! It seems like you had a great fun in this event. Loved watching these photographs! Well dear, I am also searching for a good meeting room for my annual business meeting. Most of the meeting rooms don’t provide catering services but I would prefer booking a meeting hall including catering services. Can anyone help me in this?
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