Johor Bahru Survivor of 3
days! I've only been here a few days, so I don't know much about the
place, but it's pretty different from Singapore. The first and obvious
difference is in the cleanliness. Singapore was really really clean, and
JB, just across the river, is a different world. It's probably a lot more
like the rest of the world, but it's been a while since I was there.
Walking down the streets of JB is a whole different experience - different
sights, sounds (or lack thereof) and smells, some not so dissimilar to the
dairy farms of Cache Valley. That's one thing I actually don't miss too
much about home, but it was something familiar. Singapore seemed to have
so many people and buildings all crammed into a small space. JB is a lot
more open. there's a little room between houses, and there are grassy
places amidst the buildings.
My new companion, Elder Loke, is a
big, strong, friendly, and hilarious missionary, native to Kuala Lumpur.
He's only a couple hours' drive from home! Even though there are a lot of
things that I think might be disappointing or challenging about the mission for
him, he maintains a great attitude, a friendly demeanor, and demonstrates great
discipline as well as charity. I love working with him!
It is hard, transferring from an
area and from people I had come to love, to a new, completely foreign place
where people have warned me I will have to watch my every step and I will have
to struggle for success. At first, I was disappointed to be transferred
from Singapore, but my excitement is growing to get to work in this vastly
different branch of the church. At church, the attendance was a whopping
28, including the 4 missionaries. I gave them an opportunity to apply
"enduring to the end" with a 30-minute talk I prepared on 13-hours
notice. During the Church service, which switches from Chinese to English
intermittently, because the people here speak a mixture of simple English and
Chinese, Elder Loke noticed a face peeping in through the window at our
meeting. We went out to the Foyer to find a small Chinese-Malaysian man
who was curious about the Church. He had been walking down the street and
somehow decided to come into the Church, which, from his perspective is just
another door in a shop lot, with no Logo or sign. We were able to give
him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and set up another time to meet with
him! I'm not sure what fruits to expect from our encounter with him, but
it was a testimony to me that God hears and answers prayers.
To explain a little, I had heard
that we hardly ever get to teach Chinese-speakers here, either because their
Mandarin is not very good, they can't read, they speak a dialect, or they only
understand English or Malay. I had begun a fast, asking for help to find
Heavenly Father's prepared children and Mandarin-speakers. I think that
my meeting with this man was an answer from Heavenly Father which gave me a lot
of comfort and support.
Another miracle that I witnessed yesterday
was seen in a lesson I had with a brand new investigator. He and his wife
are from KL [Kuala Lumpur], of Chinese heritage, but they have recently moved to Johor
and have been married for about a year. His wife is a recent convert of
three months, and he says he'd like to become one as well. He is the most
perfect example of humility and real intent I think I've ever seen in my
mission. He is willing to read the Book of Mormon with his wife, to pray,
to ask real, important questions and seek answers, to come to church against
opposition, and to be baptized in a month! After my first visit with
investigators, things often change, but I have great hopes for him! He
even explained (before we even taught him anything) that he wants to become
good, informal friends with the missionaries, have us over to his house many
times, and that he wants to learn everything we can teach him. I am so
grateful for the opportunity God placed in my path to meet with someone so
accepting of the gospel. I feel strongly that this experience was an
answer to my sincere prayer, and one that has truly strengthened my faith and
confidence in teaching.
One more thing that has strengthened
my confidence in a way that I can't fully explain, is beginning a serious study
of the Book of Mormon. Larry Y. Wilson and his wife came to tour the
Singapore Mission this week. At our zone conference, they both spoke
powerfully of the converting power the Book of Mormon has. I know this is
true, and I think I've always known it, but I had become distracted by my many
other study-worthy materials as I prepared for lessons and activities. I
have been made more confident and my faith has been strengthened, as well as my
teaching ability as I have laid aside my other "good" sources and
gone back to the "best" study source. I think the reason
it strengthened my faith is because it was an act of trust. I really
liked reading my conference talks and MTC books and other missionary tools,
but by relying on the Lord to fulfill his promise, through {Elder?
President?} Wilson, that studying the Book of Mormon and reading from it with
investigators will be the most powerful source of conversion for missionaries,
members, and investigators, I found that real and unseen blessings have come
flooding back into my life and teaching. I've been able to see it in only
5 days! I'm amazed and re-converted. I know the Book of Mormon, when read
as a family, and understood through the witness of the Holy Ghost, brings
temporal and Spiritual blessings to the family as well as individuals. I
wish that my love of the Book of Mormon, and my anxiousness to read it every
day could infect every one of you. I hope you can, while the year is
still new, commit, recommit, or continue to improve, your personal and family
study of the Book of Mormon along with me. This is not a new opportunity
or a new possibility, but as I have begun to read with new, hungry eyes, it has
brought so much brand new life and vigor and confidence to my every day and I
wish the same for you!
Love,
Brennan
(later email)
I can't upload any pictures. It's too slow here. I'll
try next week.
Instead, I can tell you a little
about "Singlish"- something that I've picked up to an extent, and is
a defining Characteristic of my mission, but of which you may not be
aware. It was hilarious the first few times I talked to people in
"English" but then I realized that's just really how everyone talks
here.
Basically, talk over anybody who's
talking. Whenever you want to say yes, in any form, just say
"can." If no, say a drawn out and dramatic "cannot!"
Put "Lah!" in varying durations and emphasis at the end of every
sentence in which you want any emotion. Change all "th" sounds
to a "d" or "t" sound, interchangeably. The one that took
me longest to figure out: Replace all consonants, (except for the
"st" as in first, and the "n" as in "can")
that occur after the last vowel of a word with a hard glottal stop.
So,
"soup" becomes "sou'
"
"apartment" becomes
"apa'me' "
"bus stop" becomes "busto' "
The last one is really quite strange to me: say "really
quite" instead of any other intensifier such as really, very, super,
extra, highly, etc.
These are the beginners guidelines
to speaking "fluent" *ha* Singlish. I'm really quite positive
that by applying dese suggestions, you all can become expe' quickly.
Love and goo' lu',
Brennan
