WEEK #25 - Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

It is ironic that this is the 25th week that I've been on my mission, and also the twenty fifth day of the month! Christmas is a great time :)

This past Monday we traveled to Miri for a Christmas Party with the missionaries serving in the area. We did a white elephant gift exchange with the whole zone. I brought an electric fan that can plug into an outlet and a blow up teletubby :) I ended up getting a really cool Chinese hand fan!

We all stood up and said the Living Christ. It was a very spiritual experience. I encourage you all to read the Living Christ, and ponder the meaning of His life in your own life!

I arrived in Cheras on Tuesday! We live on the 23rd floor of an apartment. It is a two elder home, so I get my own bathroom :P Here is the view from the window!

We have a wide range of investigators. One of them is named Mesvern. He  is quite a character! When teaching the Plan of Salvation, we shared with him about after this life. Normally most Christians believe in just Heaven and Hell. Because God is our Loving Heavenly Father, He has revealed his merciful plan for us. There are three Kingdoms: Celestial Kingdom (compared to the glory of the sun, where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, also the highest Kingdom), the Terrestrial Kingdom (compared to the glory of the moon, where those who have lived a good life but have not received fully Christ's gospel), and the Telestial Kingdom (compared to the glory of the stars, where those who have chosen not to repent and will remain in their sin and guilt). When we asked Mesvern where he wants to live he said, "the one with the moon." When we asked why he replied, "Because the one with the sun looks too bright for me." We had a good laugh.

Some nice yoga with my fellow friend

On Wednesday we visited Brother Kong. He had a really cool conversion story! For about 5 years he had been searching to find God's path for him. He went to many churches. Asian Pastors, Priests, and Fathers came to teach him, but he really didn't find connection with any of the churches. He decided to pray in frustration to God and said, "God I haven't found what is right for me yet. All of these local people are trying to help me but it is just not working. Why don't you just send some white people to my door step and tell me what to do." Guess what happened? Later that evening the Sisters knocked on His door. He was more than just a little shocked. He and his family were able to be baptized a short time later :) God truly works in mysterious ways!

New Comp! Elder Tan is a native from Singapore! He has served in the army and will be heading to BYU Idaho after the mission!

Church this week was great! There is surprisingly a good mix of Indian and Chinese church members! Who would've thought? They did a Christmas program and the children sang the familiar Christmas primary songs. It was wonderful! Afterwards we had two dinner appointments and I was stuffed. It was a great way to spend the Sabbath :)

Some chinese thing....

I just want to take some time and show my gratitude for Christmas! The literal translation for Christmas means "more Christ." I am grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ. On that humble night, the world was changed. A Savior was born. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, He is the Great King Immanuel. I know that this Christmas season is most enjoyed, not in the presents, but in His presence.

I hope each of us can have a wonderful Christmas!!

Love, Elder McKayd LaRose

AREA #3 - CHERAS - December 19 - January 31, 2018

COMPANIONS:

MEMBERS:

WEEK #24 - My Spirit is Full of Christmas Cheer...and so is My Stomach

Hello everyone!!

Don't really have a whole lot of time to talk, but will share a few experiences! 

We went on a pretty fun hike for P-day!! People over here call it "jungle trekking." It is so humid in the jungle! There was a little path carved into the jungle that we followed for a while. It was the first adventurous thing we've done in Binutulu! It was a great time.

On Wednesday we did exchanges. I went to TJK (my previous area), and Elder Bowler came into my area with Elder Haslam. BOTH of us were sick the whole day. Elder Chngh had problems with his lungs and I just had a good fever. It was fun! Normally after an exchange, the District Leader does an exchange review of the day. We normally talk about what went well and how we could improve. When we did our 10 second exchange review we said to each other, "Ya, you used your skills as a missionary to sleep really well today. The only thing to improve would be your health." Haha!

On Thursday night we did caroling as a Branch! Normally, caroling consists of having a group of church members go and stand outside the door of a members house. They do the same thing with the next house and then go back to the church for some hot chocolate. Uhhhh, yeah. That didn't comply with malaysian mormon standards!! Tuesday-Sunday from 7p.m to 10p.m. They have a schedule for who they are going to visit, and when they are visiting. The ENTIRE branch comes to each house, packed in like sardines. We sing 2 songs, have an opening prayer, sing 2 more songs, have a prayer to bless the food, eat, then sing 2 more songs, and then say a closing prayer haha. They probably visit around 20-30 houses, each taking about 30ish minutes to do! The culture of Malaysia is much different! But hey, the more Christmas Spirit the better! We had a Christmas party on Friday as well. They made so much food. When everyone was almost done eating, they brought out the food and started going down the aisles and putting more food on peoples plate. They came to the Elders, and Elder Haslam had already thrown away his plate. He turned to me and said to everyone, "I heard Elder LaRose was very hungry. Can he have extra?" Sometimes your companion sets you up for destruction. This was one of those moments. I had banana tree/vine which was interestingly good!

We got some transfer news on Saturday! I am getting TRANSFERRED! I am heading to Chermas, Kuala Lumpur! This is the largest city in West Malaysia. Moving from East to West Malaysia is a huge change! There are no Ibans in West Malaysia, so I will finally have some clue of what people are saying haha. The majority of people there speak English. There is a mix of Chinese, Indian, and oh yeah, about 90% of the population is Muslim! They have a really cool culture and the traditions are always interesting to see! I leave this Tuesday. It is such a big change! Going from the jungle with Ibans to the city with so many different people! I'm excited. My new companion is Elder Tan and is a native Singaporean. That makes two native companions from two different countries!

I was able to give a talk on Sunday! I talked about faith and repentance. There was a cool pattern that I recognized as reading from King Benjamin's address. Verses 1-3 of Mosiah chapter 4 states: 

"1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them."

There is a pattern in these set of verses that if we follow, can connect us with heaven on a daily basis. They were given an opportunity to come unto Christ by King Benjamin. After hearing the inspired words of King Benjamin, they did an inner cleansing and were brought into the depths of humility. When they realized how depended they were upon the Atonement of Jesus Christ, they sought for forgiveness. How many of us just expect forgiveness rather than searching for it? It was then that the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy. A remission of sins. A peace of conscience. These feelings are from above. We can relate this to our own life!! With every King Benjamin address in our life (any opportunity to draw closer to Christ (church, scripture study, reading talks)), we must immediately be humble! If we come back from these experiences with the attitude of "I already know this" or, "wow this would be really helpful for so and so because they have an issue with..." We must view our own "carnal state." We must realize how dependent we are on divine help. It is then that we can have the Holy Ghost constantly in our lives. 

Always remember that by ourselves we are nothing, but with God we are something.

Have a wonderful week!!

*pictures weren't able to load. There happens to be a virus on my camera. Yikes.
*****The mom snuck on McKayd's google drive and found some old pictures to enjoy****

Love, Elder McKayd LaRose

ADDITIONS FROM OUR CHAT:
-"KL has the largest population of Muslims in Malaysia. My apartment has 5 or 6 Mosques within 10 blocks.  Its like the Utah for muslims! haha. I will leave from Miri tomorrow and head to KL!"
-" I will be in Singapore January 10th. PACKING WAS THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD!!!" 
-"Really the only thing is space!! The red suitcase as brought our family such great joy and pleasure, but it is really small and is getting abused in Malaysia. Sorry :") I just need a bigger suitcase! I stayed up till two am trying to figure out how I am going to pack it all. Then we woke up at 5 to catch a bus at 7. It was so fun! Haha"