Selamat Pagi Semua!!!!! (Good Morning All)
So I realized once I typed in my greeting that none of you would understand it. Haha. I've forgotten what Malay sounds like since it is all making sense now. It's crazy. The hardest is when people speak Iban (a dialect) or they speak half Malay and half English. That gets fun ;)
But!!! Another wonderful week in the world of Elder Kampenhout. It is SOOOOOO nice being back in Malaysia. I never realized how much I missed it being in Singapore until I got back. The things learned in Singapore are great, but nothing beats applying them in the area you are called to serve. The weather has been super sunny and beautiful, and while you get pretty sweaty, it makes it a much more beautiful ride, and all the people are out and are yelling all sorts of things at you as you fly by on the bicycles :D
So one thing I really love about the people here is when they want to learn, they really do. We have this investigator Konok who is very very old and doesn't work, so he sits around at home all day. This makes it awesome for teaching him because he's always there. At first it was hard to understand him and he didn't really understand much, but he wanted to learn. We gave him a Kitab Mormon and asked him to start reading, and boy did he. When we visited him 5 days later, he was in 1 Nephi 25. WOW!!!! He spends alot of his time home reading, and his understanding, his spirit, and his testimony have grown sooo much. I see it happening before my eyes. It's one of the most beautiful things ever. When we do have him read scriptures during appointments and he doesn't understand, he tells us "belum". It sounds like balloon, but it means "not yet". This single word tells me that he truly desires to understand, and that spirit is so awesome to have. It's amazing.
One of the things they asked us to start doing in our apointments is to sing hymns. This is one of the many powerful tools you can use to invite the spirit, and I can testify of that. Our first time doing this, we were teaching a recent convert family where the Dad is not yet baptized. Yet he really does desire to, he just has problems with work on Sunday. However, this past Monday we taught their family about Family Home Evenings, and at the end of the lesson we all gathered and sang "Aku anak Tuhan" or I am a Child of God. I was sitting right next to Richard and his little 4 year old daughter Epiya was sitting in his lap, and they were singing together. Richard had his daughters hand in his, and was following the words on the page as they sang together. I almost started crying as this precious little moment occured. It truly showed me that even though people don't always understand what they are being taught, simple songs like "I am a Child of God" can send the message, and invite the Spirit of Teaching. Its amazing. This work is amazing. I am so lucky to be able to sit and talk with people, and see their countenance change in front of me. This gospel brings so much Joy and Happiness. How lucky am I to see it change peoples lives. I am loving it here.
Don't worry though, I miss you all back home too :D I actually have these re-occuring dreams where I go home for a weekend to visit, but I am still under Missionary rules! It really sucks, 'cause I can't really do much. The dreams are always different, as I am doing different things or with different people. However, this last time, I just gave up trying to go outside, so I just stayed home and played Legos with Lukas (my big brother) in the front room of our house. It was really fun :)
The food here is really, really good. We mostly cook for ourselves, and its either fried rice and meats, or noodles. The noodles they call mee. OH! So they have a Malaysian version of Ramen Noodles here, but they are amazing!!! The noodles are the same, but they use better spices and they have sauces that they include in the packets! I love the chili sauce, it really spices up the noodles. I will have to send some home so Mama and Papa can try it :D
Well I must get going (kami mesti jalan) but know that I love you all and pray for you. Keep the faith, and remember who you are :D
Elder Willem Kampenhout
P.S. The picture attached is me on Hari Merdeka (Independance Day) in Malaysia. We attached the Malaysia and Sarawak flags to our bikes. Lots of people honked and waved. It was awesome
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