Zoneconferenceyayuhhh

so this past week has been good, getting somewhat back to normal.. We had our house painted, and that was funny in and of itself cuz it was a couple indonesian dudes just ainting our house as fast as possible haha. not that theres anything inherently wrong with indonesians, i actually like them more than most malaysians, but they werent exactly the most skilled workers haha. not to mention they showed little or no care for our stuff or the floor haha. lets just say im glad it wasnt MY house they were painting. but overall the house looks really nice, and we got to rearrange ALLL the furniture so its just how we want it. nice. unfortunately we had to stay at the house until4pm the three days they were here..

As far as our investigators go, we have had some ups n downs. more or less deciding that our peoples' baptismal dates need to be moved back. The way i see it, we could have them baptized within the next week, but it would be before they really understood what they were doing. I think thats how it has been for a great majority of converts throughout Sarawak.. people just go with the flow and get baptized quickly, but just as quickly they fall away. So i am doing my best NOT to follow in those footsteps, and give my recent converts the best chance of staying active and faithful the rest of their lives.

So other than what i guess could be called normal investigator problems we had a really great week. church attendance was back to normal and our sunday school class was higher than it has ever been since ive been here. Since coming here, and finding our branch clerk to be less active, the missionaries are often called upon to assist in using MLS, the clerk program. so its cool to familiarize myself with it, but tough at the same time cuz its only a temporary fix..

We leave for Zone Conference wed morning, and come back Friday night, so we are all looking forward to it greatly. I will get to see my good buddy E Loke, but other than him not many others. my good buddies from my group are in west malaysia/singapore, so they are in the other zone conference. not sure if ive mentioned it, but people are now being called to this mission in english in addition to malay and chinese. so basically the mission is split into west and east malaysia, as all the west malaysian branches are in english. 

sorry but not much else to report. sorry boys to here your summer is coming to an end, but life goes on. hayden have you slimmed out any from growing, or are you going kellen style and just getting bigger? speaking of that pictures are always the highlight of your emails :)

oh ya, testimony :) part of this i sent to g-ma and g-pa a couple weeks ago

I think the biggest principle I have learned is that God has an incomprehensible and personal love for EACH of his children here on earth. He knows us each better than we know ourselves, and he is constantly giving us trials and chances in life for the purpose of making us BETTER. He knows exactly what we can handle, and he often requires us to rely on His strength rather than our won.

I have learned that as we take time to do all we can to serve those around us, we will bless peoples' live, and we ourselves will be greatly blessed. I know this is true, and I challenge you in your waning years to find opportunities to "go about doing good." we'll never know the good we are capable of until we try.

Jesus Christ is our Savior, and only through Him can we be forgiven of our sins, and saved from the eternal damnation that Satan desires for us. I know this is His church, and that through the ordinances performed through the Priesthood power, we can gain salvation. Even though salvation is ultimately a personal matter, we have the ability and the responsibility to help everyone around us. it is hard to have a celestial perspective, but we need to see everyone as our future "heaven buddies" in the celestial kingdom, for we should all desire this for our fellow human beings. when we try to see others as the Savior does, we too can gain that Celestial perspective and start really, truly wanting to help those around us. They need what we have, and what we have is precious and true. The Gospel is the way to repent and receive forgiveness of our sins. The Gospel is they way we can throw off the burden of said sins. The Gospel is truly the only way to happiness. I testify that there is "no other name given" by which we can be saved. 

I love you all, and i want you to know that YOU are the future of the church. I know that sounds funny cuz youre just kids now, but i remember being in your place not too long ago and hearing that. And now I AM fulfilling that in serving a mission. without you the church will not be any longer. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen :D

love you all, have a great week!

Elder Giblette