Zone conference

So zone conference and Singapore were a blast! they did a good job controlling our time, so we unfortunately didnt get to really walk around and "vacation" in Singapore like we normally do. i cant complain though because i doubt theres any other mission who gets to have zone conferences like we have. anyways, a great, uplifting conference in which we DID finally receive the Book of Mormon in Malay! it is a "proselyting" copy, so there are no footnotes and only a brief, 3 page index. its wayyyyy better than the indonesian version though, and I at least have a much easier time understanding it. I can more or less read it and understand everything, being able to catch the meaning of unknown words through context clues. but the best part is being able to study it, and having confidence that I am learning vocab and grammar in Malay, which differs from Indon more than most people say. So hopefully with Pres Mains initiative to hand out a BofM a day, this new tool will increase the work here in [East] Malaysia. 

in addition to being in Singapore, we were able to have some key lessons with our investigators, and now have again 5 people on date to be baptized. all but one of them came to church too, which is the best part. So the work is progressing again here after a couple slow weeks. 

Its exciting to hear about another school year starting, and even more exciting to know that i'll get to see the end of it! Im glad you found my testimony useful, and i hope that Kellen does better than me as Seminary President haha. dont let him slack off!

So the painting was done by the landlord, in an effort to improve the house as part of his contract. the elders have been in this house since about 2007, so its relatively very old. its nice and large, with only two of us using it. and is indeed a house. 

The package is AWESOME! so many baking supplies haha! and the syrup is just perfect. already baked some of the peanut butter cookies last night. speaking of the state fair and deep fried stuff, my Louisiana-ian companion is quite the fryer, and we arent afraid to deep fry oreos on the occasion. haha, seriously so good. ive certainly expanded my cooking abilities on my mission, and my current favorite is a simple, yet delicous pasta dish. involving mixed pasta and cream of chicken. nice. since coming to bintulu, there arent many place to eat around our house, but in former areas there stands that do waffles, and they put peanut butter and chocolate spread on them while still hot. so good. also wayy back in tawau they had these things that were somewhat like pancakes, but they would only cook one side, then out butter, sugar, and some kind of peanut mixture on there. so tasty.

So as good as this week has been, it has also been a very very heartbreaking week for the Singapore mission. Last Friday night, an Elder Wiberg, serving in my former area of Samarahan, met with a terrible cycling accident. he was operated on and stabilized over the weekend, but late last night passed away. We are all still in shock, and he will be dearly missed. His dad, upon being told, faithfully responded with "he has been transferred to a better area now" Before going to Samarahan, he served where i am now in Bandar Jaya, and the membership here is devastated. we will be holding a kind of service tonight in place of FHE. I guess just keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. I cant imagine such a thing happening, but it is truly comforting to have a sure knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. We really dont know when we will be called back home, and we must always be ready. 

So i hope this doesnt damper your week too much, i cant think of a better to time to cross the veil, in the service of God, so in this i found great solace. Know that i sincerely do try to ride safe as we travel around, and that now i will be even more vigilant in being safe. 

I love you all

Elder Giblette

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

so weird to think that another school year is sarting, but this time i'll be home before its over. sounds like normal school preperation stuff as well. 

We had a slow week this week. It was Hari Raya, or the end of Rhamadan, so the biggest holiday in Malaysia bar none. In Bintulu though, and Sarawak in general, there arent many muslims, so the celebrations werent anything big or special, but everywhere else in malaysia ws robly pretty crazy. they get really strict about the fasting over in west malaysia, here not so much. but as a result, many memebers were out of town, as well as investigators being either ut of town, busy with overtime shifts, or in the hospital. also, the keyboartd im using is quite terrible, os bear with me. despite many people being unavailable to meet, we were able to have a couple good lessons with some of our new investigators joshua and sylvester. they are 14 and 16 yr old bros. their younger sister was baptized in feb,  may have told you a little bit about them already. anyway, they have a very very limite knowledge of Christianity, and we have had to go very slow, and teach the most basic principles. like who God is. its fun to teach such simple things, and ths past week i got to hear their first prayers.. EVER! i thin that is when i feel the Spirit the most.. someones first prayer. if they understand wht they are ding, then they are usually very slow, quiet, and its great to see the most basic desires of their hearts. they are set to be baptized at the end of september. 

one of our investigators, lucyana, went to a YSA conference in Sabah. we havent had a chance o talk to her yet, but she probly had a great time. so because of the great exodus of hari raya, our day at church was a bit of an adventure, and a reminder of how young, inexdperienced, and sometimes downright unprepared the members here are. we arrived at the church at 8:30, and waited until about 9:10 until the 2nd counselo arrived with his builing keys. (sacrament starts at 9) setting up took about 20 mins, so around 9:40 we finally started sacrament. our branch pres wasnt in town ,and apparently ddnt tell anyone.. i was called to give a talk, chosen as he announced the speakers haha. Its not that i mind giving an impromptu talk, its just..disappointing sometimes to see such faithful people fail to come prepared to church. i have yet to find a qway to instill the fact that curch is not an end-of-the-week deal, but it should be the central focus of their lives. of course this is a problem everywhere, but its one thing when a minority of the membership doesnt really care about church, and another thing when EVERYone feels that way haha. im not complaining, but just expressing my feelings abuot how young this church still is, despite it being here for about 15 years.

i cant belive i didnt write about this earlier, but with the last transfer, E Trotters group finished. so thats why i have a picture of that E Brown, he was in trotters group. (youll remember that trotter was my trainer)  

So although Robbins is from New Orleans, he doesnt really have an accent at all. but yes dad, he does have some pretty cazy stories haha. Robbins mothers side is guatamalean, and his fathers side is syrian, so he has a pretty interesting mixture of blood. many people here think he is from like pakistan, or that area. even though he has very white skin.. his facial features are pretty middle eastern though. he is a very intersting person and we get along well and share many similar interests, including a love for creating video/editing video, and various artistic things. 

i dont really have trouble speaking english actually. but i will often think of malay before i think of english. there are also several words/phrases that i want english to adopt haha. I have definitely seen that because of my study of Malay, my understanding of english has increased, and i have an infinite appreciation for having grown up in America. ecause virtually everywhere either speaks english, or wants to. americans cant realize how universal english is until they travel to differnet places. 

For Hayden: Dude, you should keep playing football. it will be fun and you will get into such good shape! i know its hard, but its totally worth it. its also really hard to sacrifice the time, but the video games will still be there when you finsih. i promise. and remember, you da man hazey. haha (thats my impersonation of dad) 

welp, zone conference is next week, so thats gonna be great, after this one, i'll only have one more!

love you all

Elder Giblette

Pictures

Elder Brown who just finished his mission came to visit Bintulu. his parents and sister "p[icked him up" from the mission

Elder Robbins

Beautiful Bintulu

Picz

Nothin like fried chicken head.. the brains had a dryish texture. not much meat overall.

all those who were baptised. the chinese lookin kid is Justin, the two girls from left to right are Sylvia and Anglela. the guy next to E Laycock is Bro Mambang, father and grandfather to the girls

a member who got ahold of my camera haha..Kelvin

elder Robbins

New Comp

So this week E Laycock left and has arrived home, and E Robbins came in. He is a pretty new elder. same group as E Hirschi, but he has seen a lot more of the mission than most elders already haha. since coming in, he has been transferred every transfer, so this is already his fourth area! He doesnt seem to be a problem elder or anything, I guess Pres Mains and the Lord cant figure out where to keep him haha. Anyways hes from New Orleans, so its cool to have a comp NOT from Utah haha. (although ive only had two of those so far) Anyways hes a pretty small in stature guy, and is very artistically minded. He has had some interesting experiences that he has shared with me, and overall a very unique and interesting person. We get along just fine so thats all i can really ask for haha. He has served a total of 3 months in Malay speaking areas, but just came from KL, an english area. So he has a lot of work to do on his Malay, but hopefully he can stay in this area for a while and get his language skills solidified. I kind of take this as my second chance to train a young guy in his language, as E Hirschi struggled and continues to struggle. The members seem to be a bit disappointed though haha.. they must have gotten used to two elders who had good language. oh well.

So in business news, I had an interview with Pres ains, and he is not sure if i will be released on the 16th Jan, or the 27 Feb. he says it depends on how many missionaries come in on the jan transfer. may need to keep an elder for an extra transfer in order to keep the numbers even. i told him im fine with either. It would be pretty cool to finish in my birthday, and i'd be a rare missionary who has 3 birthdays as a missionary. Anyways, thats that.

This week we had District Conference for the Bintulu District, and Elder Larry Wilson of the general 70 came to be here. Elder Chan from Kuala Lumpur, an Area 70, also came. I had the great privilege and opportunity of translating for Elder Wilson several times. It really made me think about the great challenge it can be to make sure everyone "receives the Gospel in their own tongue" but i think i did ok and afterwards received many compliments form the members. (this doesnt help my ego as i already feel i may have the best Malay among all the elders in the mission..) 

Most of the messages were about how we can build our testimony through the basic things. praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church EACH week. several of the members gave very impressive and informative talks. Its always reassuring to me when members can speak to their fellow members, and become examples to their peers. there's an unavoidable disconnect when a white guy they've never met before comes for two days, and his messages are translated by another white guy... haha but overall i think it was a very good conference!

So last week, Puyang was NOT baptized dad. but this week we reset her baptismal date for the 31st of August. She is a sweet older lady, who has a member sister. She loves visiting and learning with us, but often has trouble remembering what we teach. As much as we wouldve liked to see her baptized last week, i think it is good that she will take more time. i explained this to her and she agreed.  

This week I hope to familiarize E Robbins with our area and investigators, and he says that he likes it here so far. Its really a great area to be in, especially as a young missionary. because we are able to fill our days with teaching appointments and visiting members. since ive been here I havent done ANY door knocking or that kind of tracting. All the new investigators ive found have been through members.

Im so glad Kellen and Hayden are going to the boundary waters! when i went i had a complete BLAST. definitely the best high adventure of my life!

Girls camp sounded like it was fun mom. i wont be surprised if M and D take some convertible trip this week. it seems like nowadays thats all you guys do haha.

Thats cool that there is a new Temple film. I do miss the temple quite a bit, and I will never again feel to say it is too far away after having been here. I guess I remember most of it, but its hard to say haha.

So crazy about all the people I know serving missions, especially from Burnsville Ward alone! funny about the plaques, guess its time to move the old timers out...

not much else to say i guess. Love you all!

Elder Giblette

Baptisms!

The pictures of you guys in Rexburg were fantstic! i didnt really recognize the place where kellen and kenz were standing.. close to the cafeteria? when i was there they were making some big changes/additions to a couple places on campus, i imagine theyre finished by now and look really nice. Im glad you went to pizza pie cafe, its the best haha. i would kill for unlimited pizza. no matter how poor the quality. i hope you remembered me and ate a few slices in my name :) 

so ya i totally spaced on my package haha, but im sure whatever you put in there will be perfect. i wont worry about asking for anything else haha

So today and tomorrow are E Laycocks last days in Malaysia as an Elder, its been a blast serving with him and this past week we've had a few going away parties for him, where we are heftily fed. love it. it would be awesome for me to finish here cuz i would have already been here six months, and the members would really love me and throw me some big parties as well haha. theres a decent chance it could happen. I think i'll definitely stay here for at lest one more transfer cycle though.

So the baptisms that happened went really well. The lady, Puyang, that we were planning on baptizing was not because the elder who interviewed her did not feel she was ready, but its ok cuz i kind of felt the same way and she is just as willing to learn as she was before. one of the little girls we were teaching, Sylvia,  actually turned out to be 8 haha, so she was baptized but not as a convert. the other little girl, Angela, was baptized along with our champ, Justin. He's 19 and is a pretty solid kid. I did two of the confirmations, and thats always cool. If i end up staying in Bintulu here, the end of my mission will be like the start of my mission. filled with great members and baptisms. so the middle of my mission was filled with trials and tribulations hahaha. it really is different when you plan your days around teaching appointments instead of where you will tract and how you will fill your time. I guess i learned my lesson or the Lord gave up on trying to teaching me how to do that haha. either way, im very happy to be where i am now.

So according to that picture of kellen and kenz, kellen is taller!! true or not true?? dang, im coming home to a family of giants and monsters. whenever i tell people that im the shortest boy in the family, they never believe me haha. monsters... also my pictures of george are always a big hit among the people here haha, they always say hes really big haha, and they love his fur (hair?) the cats here are generally scrawny and boring as far as colors. also almost all of them have stubs for tails.. im told its cuz kids grab their them and twirl them around haha. 

We started teaching one of our members cousins, named Andam. He hasnt been baptized into christianity yet, and he expressed really great desires to do so. saying that he wants to fill his soul, cuz it feels empty. wants to receive the blessings that he has seen others receive. all in all a really solid guy who i am excited to teach! 

today for the last p-day for Laycock and the last p-day before transfers, we're gonna have a bbq with all the missionaries here and then go play badminton. we get transfer news at 12, so i will find out who my new comp is. should be a fun day considering we are going to FHE/party tonight :) 

Love you all!

Elder Giblette