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| Elders Steele & Kampenhout |
Aug. 17, 2010
Hello Keluargaku!!!
So Good to hear from you. Emails really do make a difference :D Especially when you have weeks like we did this one. We hit some pretty bumps in the road of missionary work, but we just gotta keep pedaling. Right? The work was seeming to come pretty easy at first, but now that its getting hard I definitely know that this is work and not play. Really makes you appreciate the work you do do.
In the first few weeks Elder Steele and I were here (before we moved) we spent alot of time finding new investigators because we really didn't have too many. We spent a couple days doing alot of tracting. When we go tracting here, we can either knock some apartment complex's in Desa Ilmu (our soon to be new home) or we can knock terrace housing in the same building (harder because people are more prideful) or we can go out and knock in Kampungs (villages in the jungle, further away). This has been pretty tough to do in the past because we are about a 45 minute bike ride along 2 lane highway to just reach out area, and from there our area is pretty big. Just along the main road its about 30 minutes biking fast from one end to the other, and from the main road it could take anywhere from 10-20 minutes to reach the Kampung you need to go to. That being said, we have to bike alot. However, once we move to Desa Ilmu (2nd move in 2 months) we will get ride of the 45 minute ride to and from our area, and we will have tons more time to teach and tract. I can't wait :D I will kinda miss all the kids who yell at us from the side of the road or buss and practice their English. It's always fun to see people excited to talk to us. Sadly we can't teach most of them cause they are Muslim, but! Boleh Tahan.
So with all of our tracting done, we only had one real investigator who wanted to learn, but she dropped us this week after she said "reading the book of Mormon makes her question the faith she has in God." We were a bit confused, but she really wanted to stop. So we had to let her go. It was Sad, but Elder Steele Read Alma 8:12-14, and I felt alot better about what we are doing.
We have also battled some sicknesses this week (none for me though :D) and our beloved roommate Elder Skanchy left for Singapore to become the new AP. He is my Grandpa (trained my trainer) and we grew really close. I will see him soon though when we go training in Singapore next week. They are completely changing the way missionary work is being done, so I can't wait to start. It pretty much is going to encompass more planning and specializing lessons for the needs of the Investigators. Its really easy to fall into "routine teaching" where you teach the same to everyone, but we are trying to change that even before we get to Singapore. It's been hard, but since I haven't been out long it will be easier for me than for others :D
Another Baptism this coming weekend!!! The investigators being baptised this week are sooo strong and are going to help support this branch a ton. They are so ready. The other night when we were at Anita's (one of them) her kids were practing being baptized, and holding their hands and noses and leaning back. They learned from the pictures in a Gospel Principles book. It was really cute and adorable to see, but I had to sadly tell two of the three that they are not old enough yet. One is 7, so he will be soon, but the little girl who absolutly loves me is only 4. Shes awesome though :D While the kids are pretty wild, I absolutly love them. They are so funny, yet so naughty at the same time. One of our recent converts brother Aaron (3 years old) is the worst! He is always smiling, and the only English he knows is "B"BYE!" So he will climb all over the couches and chairs, mess with the fan, and when we try to quiet him in the lesson he will run away giggling ans yelling B'BYE at the top of his lungs. It's quite funny when you think about it. The thing to do is just ignore them, and then they will eventually wander off or get bored and listen. LOL. You definitely cannot be an up tight person and survive here. It's crazy. But you still need to have discipline. Its very easy to become lazy, but when we try our hardest, the Lord blesses us. Sometimes he gives us hard times so we can remember why we need his help and why we are here, but every time we overcome adversity, we are always better because of it.
Still loving the work out here though. I am getting more of a hang of the language, and just yesterday when Elder Steele was really sick he had to rely on me alot more, and I taught about half of the lessons. It was awesome!!! It's quite amazing how at one point you just start to understand what they are saying. Its really hard to directly translate Malay into English because there are no tenses, and no articles (like the, a,) and there isn't really a 'to be' verb. Its funny. Its like cave man talk. It's funny. But as it comes it gets easier and easier.
Well I must be going. I love you all and love to hear from you. I can only attach so many pictures, but DVDs with all my pictures will be mailed home, so they can be put up on my blog. What is my blog website anyway? Never really got that one....
Nama Berita!!!
Elder Willem Kampenhout
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