Halo Keluargaku,
This week in Tawau has been really awesome. I'm finally getting a little bit more familiar with the area, and we've actually started to see a lot of success here already! It's unbelievable how the Lord just leads us to the people who are ready to hear the gospel. It's funny, but it's been a trend my whole misson that you work so hard to get good investigators, you knock on doors, you persuade, you plead a little, and yet the investigators who are most ready to be baptized just seem to fall into your lap. We have at least two right now who just look like they're ready for the gospel, and I think it's only a matter of helping them get baptized. In fact, we started to explain to one of them the need to be rebaptized by proper authority (which is almost always a hard idea for people to accept), when she surprised us halfway through our explanation by telling us she already knew she needed to be baptized again, because the first time she wasn't baptized by immersion. "Where did you learn that?" "From the Bible." It was awesome.
We have another two investigators who are kicking word of wisdom problems almost overnight. The guy has gone to having 30 cigarettes a day down to 2 in a week, and the girl has stopped drinking alcohol, even though there's a lot of pressure to at her job. When we taught the word of wisdom they both accepted it without any problems, and the guy told us he was even already planning to stop smoking.
So miracles are happening here in the work everyday. It just humbles you to realize how well the Lord can do his own work. Really, he doesn't even need us. It's the Spirit that does the teaching, the investigators that make the choices, and the gospel that provides the motivation for it all. As missionaries, I think the Lord just allows us the privelage of getting to see Him do His work first-hand. And it really is a privelage. Missionary work is nothing but a blessing!
So, Tawau is doing really good, and I'm loving it here. Malay is coming along, my companion is really good, and I had the best durian I've ever eaten the other night. It's (slowly) starting to grow on me every time I try it!
Anyway, I love you all so much. Thanks so much for all your support. I know this church is true and that I really am out here working with the Lord. The Book of Mormon is amazing! It's funny, I think I've discovered the secret for loving to read the book of mormon, and the secret is, just to read it consistently! It's the best.
Ok, Love you all!
Elder Blissett
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
First full week in East Malaysia
Halo Keluargaku,
The first full week in East Malaysia was awesome! I think I'm adjusting really well here and I love it more all the time. The people here are super friendly, the branch is awesome, and Elder Stewart and I have been getting along really well.
The branch is awesome, although I guess there were a few fewer people there this week "sebab banjir," which happens to mean "because of flood." Turns out it's been raining here a lot for the past week despite all the rumors that I heard that Tawau is a very dry place, and although the regular streets and town area hasn't really had many problems, the "kampungs" where a lot of our members live don't have the best water drainage system. So now I know why all their houses are built up on stilts. Knowing we were likely to have problems, Elder Stewart and I actually went to go get one of our investigators who really needed to come to church this week. So, after wading through knee deep water, enjoying all the time the suprised stares of the people in that kampung (they're not so accustomed to "orang putih" (white people, it's what everyone calls us here) wading through flood in their neighborhood), we finally arrived at our investigators house, only to have her absolutely refuse to come. Many Malaysians are actually kind of scared of rain/flood/water. They're sure if they go out in it, mereka "nanti sakit" (They'll get sick later).
So, East Malaysia is pretty great. My Malay is really coming along. It makes a big difference to get to speak your mission language all the time (fancy that).
Alright, anyway, I'm doing really awesome! Very happy and working hard. Aku belajar macammana cakap Bahasa Melayu! (I'm learning how to speak Malay). Hooray!
Alright, I love you all! The church is true absolutely!
Elder Blissett
The first full week in East Malaysia was awesome! I think I'm adjusting really well here and I love it more all the time. The people here are super friendly, the branch is awesome, and Elder Stewart and I have been getting along really well.
The branch is awesome, although I guess there were a few fewer people there this week "sebab banjir," which happens to mean "because of flood." Turns out it's been raining here a lot for the past week despite all the rumors that I heard that Tawau is a very dry place, and although the regular streets and town area hasn't really had many problems, the "kampungs" where a lot of our members live don't have the best water drainage system. So now I know why all their houses are built up on stilts. Knowing we were likely to have problems, Elder Stewart and I actually went to go get one of our investigators who really needed to come to church this week. So, after wading through knee deep water, enjoying all the time the suprised stares of the people in that kampung (they're not so accustomed to "orang putih" (white people, it's what everyone calls us here) wading through flood in their neighborhood), we finally arrived at our investigators house, only to have her absolutely refuse to come. Many Malaysians are actually kind of scared of rain/flood/water. They're sure if they go out in it, mereka "nanti sakit" (They'll get sick later).
So, East Malaysia is pretty great. My Malay is really coming along. It makes a big difference to get to speak your mission language all the time (fancy that).
Alright, anyway, I'm doing really awesome! Very happy and working hard. Aku belajar macammana cakap Bahasa Melayu! (I'm learning how to speak Malay). Hooray!
Alright, I love you all! The church is true absolutely!
Elder Blissett
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Live From Borneo
Halo Keluargaku,
Well, I made it, and I'm writing now from the *very* loud internet cafe in Tawau, Malaysia. In short, it's very, very different here. I'm starting to think I'll feel like that every transfer. But I think I'm going to learn to love it.
Wow, OK, so, where to start! My transfer went really smoothly, no problems getting on the plane or with weight or anything, and elder stewart had a taxi driver waiting for me when I stepped off the plane, so that was pretty great. Elder Stewart's really nice. He's been here for about four months, so he already knows the area really well and I think we're gonna work really well together.
Did I mention that it's different here? It is, in pretty much every way. Tawau is a much smaller place than Ipoh, which is funny, because I was already thinking that Ipoh was a little small. Another big change is that it seems that about 75% of the people who live here are Muslim, which is a new challenge I haven't really had to deal with before now. It's crazy though, we'll step on a bus and not really be able to teach anyone since every single person is Malay. Wild. It's alright though, and it gives Tawau the positive reputation of having about the best Malay in the entire mission, which is a change for sure, but kind of fun. People here don't speak English really. Somehow everyone seems to know a few random phrases, but, for the most part it's all Malay all the time. So, hopefully before long I'll be speaking better than ever.
I haven't been to church yet, so I don't know what the branch is like, but the members I've met so far have been really nice. I think Elder Stewart and I are really going to be focusing on finding potential Melchizedek priesthood holders while we're here. I guess it's a real issue here, in part because most of the men seem to work at "camp." Which I guess just means they go out into the jungle for months at a time to do logging or something. Most only come back for a few days a month. So, that's another special challenge.
The people here are really diverse! I thought I was getting pretty good at distinguishing between different kinds of asians, but after coming here my confidence has been completely destroyed. I guess the people here are mostly from a few different Malay groups, Indonesians, Filipinos or Kadazan/Dusun, some of the native tribes here in Sabah. We actually spend a lot of time looking for Filipinos, since they're the most reliably Christian group around here.
So, lots of new challenges, but lots of good things to look forward to also. I got to see my first real "kampung." Kampung means village in Malay, but it kind of connotes something different. In different areas of the city you'll just have these large residential areas filled with, what I guess I could best describe as really fancy tree houses. I'm gonna have to take a picture, but they're awesome. Anyway, those are the places that most people have been living in for generations, so kampung is kind of just like the ancestral home for whole families. They're really cool actually, and we do a lot of our door knocking in them. Definitely different, but a good thing.
So, basically things are really different here, but I'm doing well and just giving myself a little bit of time to adjust to life in Sabah. I know that this is the place where the Lord wants me though and that there's a lot of good work for me to do here.
Anyway, I love you all so much! Glad to hear that spring is finally blossoming over there!
Talk to you soon!
Elder Blissett
Well, I made it, and I'm writing now from the *very* loud internet cafe in Tawau, Malaysia. In short, it's very, very different here. I'm starting to think I'll feel like that every transfer. But I think I'm going to learn to love it.
Wow, OK, so, where to start! My transfer went really smoothly, no problems getting on the plane or with weight or anything, and elder stewart had a taxi driver waiting for me when I stepped off the plane, so that was pretty great. Elder Stewart's really nice. He's been here for about four months, so he already knows the area really well and I think we're gonna work really well together.
Did I mention that it's different here? It is, in pretty much every way. Tawau is a much smaller place than Ipoh, which is funny, because I was already thinking that Ipoh was a little small. Another big change is that it seems that about 75% of the people who live here are Muslim, which is a new challenge I haven't really had to deal with before now. It's crazy though, we'll step on a bus and not really be able to teach anyone since every single person is Malay. Wild. It's alright though, and it gives Tawau the positive reputation of having about the best Malay in the entire mission, which is a change for sure, but kind of fun. People here don't speak English really. Somehow everyone seems to know a few random phrases, but, for the most part it's all Malay all the time. So, hopefully before long I'll be speaking better than ever.
I haven't been to church yet, so I don't know what the branch is like, but the members I've met so far have been really nice. I think Elder Stewart and I are really going to be focusing on finding potential Melchizedek priesthood holders while we're here. I guess it's a real issue here, in part because most of the men seem to work at "camp." Which I guess just means they go out into the jungle for months at a time to do logging or something. Most only come back for a few days a month. So, that's another special challenge.
The people here are really diverse! I thought I was getting pretty good at distinguishing between different kinds of asians, but after coming here my confidence has been completely destroyed. I guess the people here are mostly from a few different Malay groups, Indonesians, Filipinos or Kadazan/Dusun, some of the native tribes here in Sabah. We actually spend a lot of time looking for Filipinos, since they're the most reliably Christian group around here.
So, lots of new challenges, but lots of good things to look forward to also. I got to see my first real "kampung." Kampung means village in Malay, but it kind of connotes something different. In different areas of the city you'll just have these large residential areas filled with, what I guess I could best describe as really fancy tree houses. I'm gonna have to take a picture, but they're awesome. Anyway, those are the places that most people have been living in for generations, so kampung is kind of just like the ancestral home for whole families. They're really cool actually, and we do a lot of our door knocking in them. Definitely different, but a good thing.
So, basically things are really different here, but I'm doing well and just giving myself a little bit of time to adjust to life in Sabah. I know that this is the place where the Lord wants me though and that there's a lot of good work for me to do here.
Anyway, I love you all so much! Glad to hear that spring is finally blossoming over there!
Talk to you soon!
Elder Blissett
Live From Borneo
Halo Keluargaku,
Well, I made it, and I'm writing now from the *very* loud internet cafe in Tawau, Malaysia. In short, it's very, very different here. I'm starting to think I'll feel like that every transfer. But I think I'm going to learn to love it.
Wow, OK, so, where to start! My transfer went really smoothly, no problems getting on the plane or with weight or anything, and elder stewart had a taxi driver waiting for me when I stepped off the plane, so that was pretty great. Elder Stewart's really nice. He's been here for about four months, so he already knows the area really well and I think we're gonna work really well together.
Did I mention that it's different here? It is, in pretty much every way. Tawau is a much smaller place than Ipoh, which is funny, because I was already thinking that Ipoh was a little small. Another big change is that it seems that about 75% of the people who live here are Muslim, which is a new challenge I haven't really had to deal with before now. It's crazy though, we'll step on a bus and not really be able to teach anyone since every single person is Malay. Wild. It's alright though, and it gives Tawau the positive reputation of having about the best Malay in the entire mission, which is a change for sure, but kind of fun. People here don't speak English really. Somehow everyone seems to know a few random phrases, but, for the most part it's all Malay all the time. So, hopefully before long I'll be speaking better than ever.
I haven't been to church yet, so I don't know what the branch is like, but the members I've met so far have been really nice. I think Elder Stewart and I are really going to be focusing on finding potential Melchizedek priesthood holders while we're here. I guess it's a real issue here, in part because most of the men seem to work at "camp." Which I guess just means they go out into the jungle for months at a time to do logging or something. Most only come back for a few days a month. So, that's another special challenge.
The people here are really diverse! I thought I was getting pretty good at distinguishing between different kinds of asians, but after coming here my confidence has been completely destroyed. I guess the people here are mostly from a few different Malay groups, Indonesians, Philipinos or Kadazan/Dusun, some of the native tribes here in Sabah. We actually spend a lot of time looking for Philipinos, since they're the most reliably Christian group around here.
So, lots of new challenges, but lots of good things to look forward to also. I got to see my first real "kampung." Kampung means village in Malay, but it kind of connotes something different. In different areas of the city you'll just have these large residential areas filled with, what I guess I could best describe as really fancy tree houses. I'm gonna have to take a picture, but they're awesome. Anyway, those are the places that most people have been living in for generations, so kampung is kind of just like the ancestral home for whole families. They're really cool actually, and we do a lot of our door knocking in them. Definitely different, but a good thing.
So, basically things are really different here, but I'm doing well and just giving myself a little bit of time to adjust to life in Sabah. I know that this is the place where the Lord wants me though and that there's a lot of good work for me to do here.
Anyway, I love you all so much! Glad to hear that spring is finally blossoming over there!
Talk to you soon!
Elder Blissett
Well, I made it, and I'm writing now from the *very* loud internet cafe in Tawau, Malaysia. In short, it's very, very different here. I'm starting to think I'll feel like that every transfer. But I think I'm going to learn to love it.
Wow, OK, so, where to start! My transfer went really smoothly, no problems getting on the plane or with weight or anything, and elder stewart had a taxi driver waiting for me when I stepped off the plane, so that was pretty great. Elder Stewart's really nice. He's been here for about four months, so he already knows the area really well and I think we're gonna work really well together.
Did I mention that it's different here? It is, in pretty much every way. Tawau is a much smaller place than Ipoh, which is funny, because I was already thinking that Ipoh was a little small. Another big change is that it seems that about 75% of the people who live here are Muslim, which is a new challenge I haven't really had to deal with before now. It's crazy though, we'll step on a bus and not really be able to teach anyone since every single person is Malay. Wild. It's alright though, and it gives Tawau the positive reputation of having about the best Malay in the entire mission, which is a change for sure, but kind of fun. People here don't speak English really. Somehow everyone seems to know a few random phrases, but, for the most part it's all Malay all the time. So, hopefully before long I'll be speaking better than ever.
I haven't been to church yet, so I don't know what the branch is like, but the members I've met so far have been really nice. I think Elder Stewart and I are really going to be focusing on finding potential Melchizedek priesthood holders while we're here. I guess it's a real issue here, in part because most of the men seem to work at "camp." Which I guess just means they go out into the jungle for months at a time to do logging or something. Most only come back for a few days a month. So, that's another special challenge.
The people here are really diverse! I thought I was getting pretty good at distinguishing between different kinds of asians, but after coming here my confidence has been completely destroyed. I guess the people here are mostly from a few different Malay groups, Indonesians, Philipinos or Kadazan/Dusun, some of the native tribes here in Sabah. We actually spend a lot of time looking for Philipinos, since they're the most reliably Christian group around here.
So, lots of new challenges, but lots of good things to look forward to also. I got to see my first real "kampung." Kampung means village in Malay, but it kind of connotes something different. In different areas of the city you'll just have these large residential areas filled with, what I guess I could best describe as really fancy tree houses. I'm gonna have to take a picture, but they're awesome. Anyway, those are the places that most people have been living in for generations, so kampung is kind of just like the ancestral home for whole families. They're really cool actually, and we do a lot of our door knocking in them. Definitely different, but a good thing.
So, basically things are really different here, but I'm doing well and just giving myself a little bit of time to adjust to life in Sabah. I know that this is the place where the Lord wants me though and that there's a lot of good work for me to do here.
Anyway, I love you all so much! Glad to hear that spring is finally blossoming over there!
Talk to you soon!
Elder Blissett
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Mandarin Skills
So, this week was really good and kind of crazy. One of the Elders from Sitiawan had to make a trip to Singapore, so his companion has been up here with us since Zone Conference. Long time, but, he's awesome so it's been pretty fun. The best part though, is that he's a mandarin elder, meaning he's got mad chinese skills which is incredibly useful here in Ipoh. There's a certain hand gesture Chinese people here make when they "can't speak english" (notice the quotation marks there, it seems a little unlikely that every Chinese person in this whole city can't speak English or Malay) that has started to drive elder porter and I crazy. I'll have to send a video of it or something, but basically it involves putting your right hand up beside your temple and twisting it back and forth two or three times. It is the most obnoxious gesture on Earth. But this week we beat them. This week we had an Elder who could speak Chinese, and it was totally awesome. Plus I got to brush up on my own Mandarin skills, I can now officially say the following: "Hello" "How are you?" "Do you speak Mandarin?" "This is a thing" "I don't know" and say a very basic prayer. Sweet. I'm totally ready to serve in Taiwan.
We just had our district conference, which turned out to be pretty awesome. The highlights were any time that President Clark said anything. He's really, really awesome, and the missionaries here have a lot of respect for him. Just has a ton of awesome gospel knowledge and a pretty great speaking ability. Plus he's got the Spirit, he's awesome. That's something to be grateful for, I don't know how I'd manage with a really hard-to-get-along-with mission president.
Anyway, things are still going great here in Ipoh. It's a really awesome place to serve. I hear things are warming up a little bit in Utah, hopefully that's true!
Alright, love you so much! The church is true, I learn that more every day that passes by. It's *the* path to happiness in this life and in Eternity.
Love you so much!
Elder Blissett
We just had our district conference, which turned out to be pretty awesome. The highlights were any time that President Clark said anything. He's really, really awesome, and the missionaries here have a lot of respect for him. Just has a ton of awesome gospel knowledge and a pretty great speaking ability. Plus he's got the Spirit, he's awesome. That's something to be grateful for, I don't know how I'd manage with a really hard-to-get-along-with mission president.
Anyway, things are still going great here in Ipoh. It's a really awesome place to serve. I hear things are warming up a little bit in Utah, hopefully that's true!
Alright, love you so much! The church is true, I learn that more every day that passes by. It's *the* path to happiness in this life and in Eternity.
Love you so much!
Elder Blissett
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Zone Conference and New Bikes
Well, it's Zone Conference and District Conference this weekend here in beautiful Ipoh, which means we have twelve Elders staying at our house for three days. Crazy. I can't imagine the mess that's gonna be here after they go home, but it's super fun until we have to deal with that. Get's a little lonely. I still haven't lived in an apartment with more than 2 Elders which is really unusual actually, but I guess I'll just appreciate it more when I get the chance.
We got new bikes. The Elders in Butterworth sent their spare bikes on a bus down here (that's kind of a common way to send boxes here, just stick them on a bus and have the elders on the other side meet the bus to pick it up). The boxes were so big though that all of the taxi drivers refused to take us back home, so we were kind of just stuck out there at the bus station. So, after frantically calling members for about half an hour we finally found one who could take us. That was really only the beginning of the problems. It's amazing how hard a device as simple as a bike can be to put back together, but believe me, there's more to it than you'd think. So, after replacing a few parts, it looks like we finally have decent bikes. Hooray!
Alright, well, that's kind of the news from here in Ipoh! Still doing great. Loving the gospel more than ever. It's becoming more clear to me everyday that this is really the only path to lasting peace here on Earth and Eternal Happiness afterwards. It's the most important message in the world, but also the happiest and more hopeful!
Thanks so much for all your support sending me out here and the years of preparation you gave me to come. Isn't it crazy that we can send out 19 year-olds with no real formal theological training to come out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not really relying on anything but the strength of the message to convince people to change their lives, and that it works? That's been a big testimony builder to me.
Ok, love you so much! Talk to you soon!
Elder Blissett
We got new bikes. The Elders in Butterworth sent their spare bikes on a bus down here (that's kind of a common way to send boxes here, just stick them on a bus and have the elders on the other side meet the bus to pick it up). The boxes were so big though that all of the taxi drivers refused to take us back home, so we were kind of just stuck out there at the bus station. So, after frantically calling members for about half an hour we finally found one who could take us. That was really only the beginning of the problems. It's amazing how hard a device as simple as a bike can be to put back together, but believe me, there's more to it than you'd think. So, after replacing a few parts, it looks like we finally have decent bikes. Hooray!
Alright, well, that's kind of the news from here in Ipoh! Still doing great. Loving the gospel more than ever. It's becoming more clear to me everyday that this is really the only path to lasting peace here on Earth and Eternal Happiness afterwards. It's the most important message in the world, but also the happiest and more hopeful!
Thanks so much for all your support sending me out here and the years of preparation you gave me to come. Isn't it crazy that we can send out 19 year-olds with no real formal theological training to come out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not really relying on anything but the strength of the message to convince people to change their lives, and that it works? That's been a big testimony builder to me.
Ok, love you so much! Talk to you soon!
Elder Blissett
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