This week was so crazy but great at the same time!! I don't have much time, but will share some great experiences we had this week. I am still having problems uploading the photos, so hopefully I can figure something out soon!
This Wednesday, Elder Christofferson came to the mission!! He is ANOTHER Apostle of Jesus Christ! What special and sacred experiences I have seen this week! He went to Singapore, and we skyped in from Miri, a city in East Malaysia. It was hard to get a good connection, but this is what I got! Someone asked, "How can we experience the blessings of the Temple, even though we are so far away? To which He replied, "Keep the Sabbath Day holy, and you will feel the Spirit comparable to the Temple!" Really cool! I encourage all to truly understand the Sabbath. Try your best to honor the Sabbath by taking a break from the world! Your phone, the movies, the shopping, all can wait. Make the Sabbath Day His day. You will experience greater spiritual nourishment and direction in your life! Elder Christofferson also said, "Come to love your service to God. If you love evil you will serve evil. If you love good you will serve good!" No one is predestined to have less! Anyone who strives to choose the right will receive the blessings of Heaven!
What a remarkable experience!
On Thursday, we taught Brother George, who is a returning less active, meaning he hasn't gone to church in a long time, but now is coming back! We taught Him about the Doctrine of Christ, found in 2 Nephi chapter 31. Through Christ, we can be made whole!
On Sunday, we went to District Conference! That is where the members of the Church from different areas gather for one big Sunday service! We were privileged to have Elder Meurs, of the Seventy come and visit us! In the Bible, we read that the Lord sent out "other seventy" to strengthen His Church, just like the 12 Apostles. (Luke 10:1-17). So, because we believe to be the restored Church of Christ, there are also 70 leaders that represent the Church worldwide! Elder Meurs spoke about Sacrament last General Conference, the one with the Australian accent :) He is a really humble and spiritual person. I know He has been called of God! He encouraged the missionaries to think in this way: "My mission belongs to Him, because I love Him: to make each day His, not mine." I encourage everyone to make each day, a day to the Lord! We truly cannot last in this world by being Sunday Christians. Being called Christians, gives us an opportunity to bear His name for the rest of our lives. What an honor.
Later in the week we went to visit Sister Shera, who is a member of the church in our area. Elder Chungh, my companion had a prompting, or a thought from God, that we should go visit Brother Gunnong, a member who hasn't come to church in a long time. But we didn't know where He lived. Turns out He lives ACROSS THE STREET from Sister Shera. We were able to visit Him and teach Him and His family about the importance of Church. We go to church, not to visit with friends and make it a social hour. While that is a benefit, we go to church to: receive revelation (inspiration) from God about how we can live better lives, we receive a remission of our sins (meaning we are forgiven) through the sacrament. Eating the bread and drinking the water remind us about our Savior's sacrifice, and we recommit for the following week to become more like Him. BTW, this was all in Malay. My companion said most of it, and I couldn't really understand what they said. Afterwards I looked at my companion and said that I felt they didn't care about church and they didn't look interested in coming back. He told me, "that was one of the most powerful lessons I have ever been in." He explained to me that they all had their excuses for not coming to church at the beginning of the lesson. But afterwards, the mother was in tears and told us she felt peace when we walked in. That is the power of the Holy Ghost. The Father explained to us that He had a dream the previous night. Someone put their hand on his shoulder, and told Him He needed to come back to church. He didn't know who it was though! And then the next day, we showed up at his house. They said it was a miracle, and I testify we were sent by Heavenly Father to Brother Gunnong and His family. So cool!!
Another cool story: We were teaching Francis, our investigator, at Henry's house. We taught the Restoration: how Christ established a church, is was lost because of the wickedness of the people, but is now back on the earth again through the Prophet Joseph Smith! When we began talking about the Apostasy, meaning when the people began to change and reject Christ's teaching, all the electricity in the house completely shut off. Nothing was working, and we are in Malaysia, so it would take a long time for it to come back on again. We decided to keep teaching in the dark. I kid you not, as soon as we said Joseph Smith's name, the power came back on. How can anyone deny that that was the hand of the Lord? I felt the Spirit so strong, and knew that God was helping us explain the Restoration haha. I testify that this Church is true. If for an instant I doubted its validity, I would pack up my bags and go home. But that is not the case. It will never be the case. This is God's work. This is the work of salvation. It is my greatest honor to bear the Saviors name, and stand as a witness of His true Church
Elder McKayd LaRose
ADDITIONS by the MOM...
McKayd is in Sungai Plan which is part of the city of Bintulu. Which is in EAST Malaysia.
Here are a few interesting things he has shared with us that you would enjoy too...
"Singapore is very different!! I am probably going to stay in Malaysia for the majority of my mission though! The Singapore part is more Chinese and English speaking missionaries. Guess what. I will tell you one thing that is different: WE DON'T HAVE TOILET PAPER! Yah, just thing about that for a second haha. We use a hose! The water shoots out and it gets everywhere. Pretty gross haha."
"Mom, I will never question your food again"
"We have a MILLION lizards in our house and they poop everywhere!! I went to trap one and accidentally cut off its tail. The tail was still moving for three minutes aaaahaha. What else do you want to know? Everyone is really poor and people over here TEASE SO MUCH!!! So "selamat pagi" is "good morning", but "selamat petang" is "good evening". They always say that to me to confuse me. And they say "orang putai" which means "white boy". fun fun haha"
