Week #73: Knock – November 28, 2017 – December 4, 2017 (Miri)

 

Sister Vranes and Sister Cloud

 

This week has been a great week! At the beginning of the week, Sister Cloud had exchanges with Sister Winters. It was good to be back with the Miri 2 sisters. We were able to serve, contact, and work hard. We helped a member make food for an elder's farewell. We didn't even realize until we were at the event it was his farewell. One of the elders from the branch I work in, Miri 3, was also with the Miri 2 elders because his companion had exchanges. When we left, we found Sister Erickson's bike seat was stolen. One of the members was just dying from laughter. The elders then walked out and said their goodbyes. As they were saying good bye, all the elders all of a sudden started taking off their ties, and gave it to the future missionary that was leaving the next day. It was a tender moment to watch. I ended up biking the bike with no bike seat home. It was just like standing up. It's also a good thing I am pandi bicycling. The elders rode us back most of the way, one was behind me to be the caboose. It was very sweet. 

Early the next morning, we dropped Sister Winters off at the airport. As we came back, we realized the difference in how we felt when we had good studies and exercise to start off the morning versus when we didn't. The investigator that met wayyy early in the morning finally dropped us, and we just felt relief. We tried all that we could. We stopped by and gave her a Book of Mormon before we never saw her again. Even though it was a bit sad, we felt good about our efforts. We realized the importance of good studies in the morning. It was definitely journal worthy. Afterwards,

The missing bicycle seat.

we had our investigator follow us on a bike to our lessons. We were able to have a Relief Society service project with the District Relief Society President. At first, the missionaries were worried, but we all ended up loving it in the end. It was a very precious time and I really connected with a girl with downs syndrome. She was super sweet and I enjoyed being with her for a couple of hours. On Saturday, we had a talent show. It was a very fun-filled night. The missionaries were the opening act and did a dance. There was a lot of talented singing. There was a group of youth that performed many songs, with different solo vocalists. In the end, we were guessing which one would be the lead singer of "the boy band". They were so cute. There is a lot of talent in Miri. Their traditional dancing is so beautiful.

One miracle that happened this week was meeting a new investigator on Sunday. We had a less active member call us a few days before to refer her friend to us. We called up her friend, but they didn't seem that interested. We had an idea to go to a certain area, one that kind of scared me a while back though, but still felt it was right. Our less active member then called us up and told us to visit her friend in the next day or two. I asked where her friend lived and it ended up being in the area we were planning on going to after church. We visited the friend, who was super sweet, and open, had a family, and we got a new investigator.  The lesson was all in Chinese, so I

Bicycling with some members

took most of the lesson, but it was super powerful. I just felt the Spirit so strong in there. We ended up being a bit late to our next appointment, and rode as fast as we could. It took us a half hour to get there, and we planned it would take that long to get to our next appointment, so we were worried about being late. As we were riding, we ended up taking some really random turns, not knowing where we were going, but ended up being guided by the Spirit in finding a short cut. We arrived in less than 8 minutes to our next appointment. These were some big miracles!

We had a member join us for a lesson this week and when it came to Fast and Testimony meeting, she bore her testimony of missionary work. She explained how she had never been invited by the missionaries to go to a lesson with them before. She's been a member (third generation member) for over 30 years, and has never been a member present. She's shared the gospel with her friends, but never with the missionaries. It made me realize how we weren't doing our job properly. It also made me realize how willing and happy the members are to do member missionary work, and to not be scared when they are "very busy". As we were talking to a few members after church, I asked them if they ever helped the missionaries before. I was surprised that some of the very solid members said no. We're definitely going to work harder to allow EVERY member an opportunity to help us. We had been trying in the past, but I realize now we were asking some of the wrong members. I really really wanted to inspire the missionary heart in the members for a long time here, but didn't know how. I thought they were all just too shy, but I was wrong. Some just haven't been given the opportunity to do so. As we were biking home yesterday, I realized how little I knew about member missionary work before my mission. We talked about our experiences, and have come to the conclusion we need to just TEACH them, and invite them. I'm excited for these upcoming last weeks, and what changes there will be in the branch.

 

Miri, East Malaysia

I'm doing well. Sister Cloud and I get along so well. We are working well with our members and investigators. We teach well together and are having a great time as companions. She is hilarious and fun to be around. I'm learning a lot from her. I'm also learning a lot more these past few weeks. This past week, I learned the importance of journaling. I found it was the thing I needed to review my day, write the things that I can learn from, and I find I am guided by the Spirit all the time to pick out the nuggets of gold. I'm learning a lot more from my days, instead of just letting them pass me by. I've learned a lot from Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." As I've studied this out, in the LDS version of the footnotes, I've learned asking means pray, seeking means study/meditate, and knocking means learn. I've been really focusing on knocking. As you come to ask God the things of your heart, to "know the mysteries of God", and you search them out, you are promised you can find an answer. This is what missionaries do, to teach you how you can gain your own personal revelation. Journaling is a form of meditation, that leads to answers. As you journal, you'll find a lot more truth in your day and it turns the days around. Try it :)