Miracle Week

Dear Family,

I've seen miracles this week!  We hit the standard of excellence of two new investigators per week for the first time ever!  Our goal was actually zero, because we didn't think we'd actually have a meeting with anyone who wanted to learn about the Church, but as Elder South and I prayed together frequently throughout the week and opened our mouth wherever we went, ... we still didn't meet anyone who would accept our message.  However, the other Elders in our district all met someone who wanted to learn in Chinese, whom they referred to us.  The Malay Elders took us to meet two families full of potential to become solid investigators, and we've got return appointments for this week!  In both lessons, we were able to bear testimony about the reality of the restoration, as well as provide these people with a way to begin to develop a relationship with God.  They both just went so well, I hardly know what to say!

I believe that because Elder South and I have been studying teaching skills and how to begin teaching, out of Preach My Gospel, the Lord gave us the opportunities we'd been praying for to apply what we'd learned with prepared people.  We had to be prepared, ourselves, before we met other people who were prepared for our message.  This made me think, If someone was prepared for the message of the restoration of the gospel, and they met me at a street cafe, but I hadn't prepared myself, they might not recognize meeting me as what they'd been looking for.  I realized the need to let the Lord prepare my heart and mind, just as he will prepare other people to accept the gospel.

Another miracle this week is that even though yesterday was a national holiday, (Happy Independence Day, Malaysia!!) we still had a new record attendance at sacrament meeting, because several less-actives attended our afternoon service.  This gave us such a great opportunity to associate with those who are otherwise very hard to make contact with, as well as a time that they could feel the Spirit.  We'll be meeting with at least one of these members this week, so I'll probably fill you in on how it went next Monday/Sunday.

A final miracle is the ongoing change that is so evident in Wendy's life.  Her whole appearance has changed since the first day we met, and even though she still likes to play around and make jokes with us when we talk with her, she seems to have grown up so much, in some way that I can't quite describe.  The way that she has kept all the commitments we've extended to her, and the way she bore her testimony to us is a witness to me that she is so ready to make the covenant to follow Jesus Christ by being baptized.  Once this week, we went to meet her at a member's home, not knowing exactly what would be best for us to do with her.  We arrived to find the house terrorized by noisy children.  I was about to open my mouth to try to calm things down (does it ever actually work that way?) when Elder South, obviously remembering D&C 42:14, asked "Do we have the Spirit right now?"

I said, "I think Wendy does, more than we do."

Elder South said, "Let's say a prayer, Elder."

After we'd prayed to be guided to know what to do and to invite the Holy Ghost into the lesson, Elder South said to Wendy, "You can be the teacher tonight!"

Wendy didn't know what to teach about, so she talked a little bit about prayer.  "Coincidentally," that was what I had considered teaching that night.  Earlier in the day, I'd read from the Bible dictionary about prayer becoming natural and instinctive when we understand the relationship we have with God.  I'd hoped to testify once again of the nature of Wendy's relationship with God, because I wasn't sure that it was clear in her mind due to much previous confusion about the Godhead.  However, Wendy beat me to it.

As she taught, I asked, "Why is it important to pray to God?"

Her answer was simple, but piercing.  "Because I'm His daughter."

I felt the Spirit just wash over all of us, and I finally knew that she knew and understood.  I can feel it in the way she prays so fervently and humbly, and it just fills me with joy that I wish I could share with everyone!

Yes, miracles are happening here in Sibu, and I'm just so grateful that I can witness them!  What miracles have you all seen this week?

Love and Love,

Brennan

P.S.  oh yeah, to answer your questions about training, it's pretty much like working with other missionaries, but we get a little more study time every day.  We have a suggested training schedule in which we read together out of preach my gospel, review principles of teaching people, and watch clips from "The District."  It's tons of fun, because Elder South is just the best!  I think he's teaching me more than he learns from me!

SB Email (South, Baer . . . )

August 25, 2014

Dear Everyone,

It looks like the family reunion at Yellowstone was a lot of fun!  Thanks so much for taking so many pictures for me!  I hope you all had a great time and I'm glad that everyone was safe.  (When I went to Yellowstone, I was so afraid of falling into a boiling something or other.  I don't even remember if the boardwalks come close to the natural attractions or not.  I'm also glad I didn't hear anything about getting pulled over or having any accidents on the way home. (Was it coming back from Yellowstone that we got pulled over on 200 West?)

I'm still doing well here in Sibu.  Elder South and I are working together very well, and I'm learning so much from him.  He's similar to me in more ways than I thought at first, and we are finding a lot in common and building a great relationship of trust.  I still feel like an inadequate "father" for him, but we press on, trying every day to be better.  Our studies are going a little overtime, consistently, because he asks a lot of great questions and I talk waaay too much in reply.  That's one skill I've been trying to hone on my mission: getting effectively to the point without wordy wandering.

Elder South and I have a vision of finding and teaching through the members of the branch, so we've spent a little more time getting to know them, (actually, I feel like I know many of them pretty well, now, but I just keep getting new companions to introduce to them), and asking for names of their friends or colleagues.  With everyone who will trust us with the name of their friend, we will combine our efforts to meet and begin to teach their friend.  We want to share missionary experiences with the members, not a divide between "separate but equal" member missionary work and full time missionary work.

At times when we're not meeting with active or less-active members, we have been contacting on the streets of the city.  We've focused on beginning to testify immediately - find when you teach, teach when you find.  We have passed out a lot of cards and talked with many people.  As we prayerfully did so, we saw a miracle: A NEW INVESTIGATOR!!  It has been too long without a new investigator in the Chinese branch, so I'm very excited about this.  We met an elderly lady crossing the street downtown.  We talked to her for a moment and explained that we teach about Jesus Christ.  She agreed to have us come to her house the next evening.  With the help of an active member, we met her at her home on Sunday evening.  We found that she wants to learn about prayer, so we'll be teaching her how to pray at our next visit.  I can tell it will be a long process for her to learn and understand our message, but I know that the Lord can bring great things about from small and simple beginnings.

I feel so blessed to see His hand at work every day.  Sometimes it's disappointing that I don't see more rapid progress in the Chinese areas where I've served, but I think that the things I'm learning and the miracles that I have seen far outweigh all the setbacks that I face.  I love being a missionary!!

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Brennan

It's a Boy!

August 18, 2014

Dear Family,

It's a boy!!  I'm now a proud trainer!  My new companion's name is Elder South.  He just arrived in the mission after 9 weeks in the MTC.  His enthusiasm takes me back to great times in Provo with Elder Fletcher and all the MTC gang who are now in Taiwan and California.  Elder South is from Menan, Idaho.  He's the youngest of 9 kids, so he's been looking forward to a mission for a long time, and has learned a lot from his siblings' mission experiences already.  He's worked in Canada, most of the States, and China with his dad's construction company, so he's not living away from home for the first time.  His whole family is musical, and so he knows a lot of the same music that I listened to before the mission, and we love the same musicals.  Cool!

Elder South's energy is contagious, and it will be a big help to us here in Sibu! feel totally unqualified to be his trainer, but I'll do the best I can to fulfill this calling from the Lord.  I think we'll have a lot of fun, and get lots of work done!

Us at Wendy's - Elder South is right behind me.

Elder Zeng thinks my glasses are funny when we come out of 

Wendy's air-conditioned environment onto the rainy streets.

It was sad saying goodbye to Elder Durrant after only one transfer together, but I know that he's going to do great and have fun in Ipoh!  We traveled to Singapore together, and there we met lots of old mission friends.  We all had a great time, exploring and contacting in Chinatown then eating a classic favorite spicy Chinese dinner.  It was so good to see Elder Wang, Elder Fletcher and Elder McCarthy, Elder Wadsworth and Elder Zeng again, among many other friends in Singapore!

So far, this week has been taken up with planning and making a vision for our area.  We'll be continually working with members and less actives.  Our branch has over 150 members, but only about 25 attend church, so we'll be trying to help reactivate those who have fallen away, and look for opportunities to share the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ with them, with their friends, and with their family members.  Elder South commented this morning about how much of missionary work is actually planning and calling and desk work.  I'm sorry that his first impression of being in the field is being in chair behind a desk all day, but we both feel that it is important to have a solid vision, backed up by goals and plans, before we hit the streets.  This way, we'll always be able to answer the question "What is our purpose in doing [specific activity] today?"  In essence, the way we've planned is such that we cover the "Why," the "What" and the "How"  questions of our missionary work, and give us a direction to take as we work.

Recently, with Wendy, we've been reading the Book of Mormon at every visit.  I'm afraid that she won't be quite ready in time for her baptismal date in a few weeks.  However, I want to remember that we're not teaching just to check off boxes in our area book, but to help her gain a witness from the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true and that the Heavenly Father will bless her life immeasurably as she lives the first principles of the Gospel.  We want to help her set a spiritual foundation that will last a lifetime of activity and progression in the Church, so we're taking it slowly, not going faster than she can understand.  She can't read Chinese very well, so we read a verse with her, and then she explains what it means.  We draw connections to her life, and let her ask her questions about Lehi, Nephi, and what it means for her.  Her testimony is beginning to grow, and we hope that we can help her nurture it by reading the Book of Mormon with her constantly and encouraging her to seek a spiritual witness of it's truthfulness.

Thanks for all your prayers on behalf of our branch members and for us to find new investigators!  I love you all so much!!

Love,

Brennan

AAUUEHUGH!!

11 August 2014

 TRANSFERS!

What?  I'm going to be training a new Chinese Elder from the MTC!!  Elder Durrant is going to Ipoh, in West Malaysia.  He'll be opening a new area for Chinese, and training a new Elder!  He only got here 1 transfer ago, and he's never been in Sarawak before, so I thought he'd be staying a while.  Nhope.  Dang.  It's been fun to be with Elder Durrant, and he's just so great that it is going to be really hard to send him away.  but AUUEHGh!  I'm training!!

I've been kind of looking forward to training a new Elder, but I expect it will be difficult.  I think Sibu is a great place to be trained, so I'm actually excited.

And Elder Hobbs is still in Sibu, training a new Elder.  We'll have a lot of fun, I think!  Elder Hobbs has been in Sibu now for 5 transfers, so after these six weeks, he'll have been here for 9 months!