Week 42 - Malaysia - Active in Activities!‏

May 3, 2011

Hello Family!

   Well life has been pretty active here in Kota Kinabalu. I did my first reporting last Thursday as a Zone Leader, and it was pretty interesting how the system of being accountable for one's work is. It is definitely a good system of return and report :D

 The following Fast Sunday was really awesome. It was my first Sunday and two sister missionaries last Sundays there. That combined with some very strong member testimonies combined for a very spirit filled sacrament meeting. It was very different being in an actual church building, and having a larger congregation (132). And it was a pretty big relief not having to translate in church. Well....at least most of it. We had some American visitors from KL and from Seattle who were there and I sat in and translated the Priesthood lesson while our branch translator (David Chong) was teaching his young men. It was MUCH harder to translate from Malay into English. Wow. Talk about a tough one. I may have to work on that skill a bit. I have the English to Malay down ok, but the other way is pretty tough. Malay tends to leave out a lot of connecting words that English uses. It's crazy. I will have to do some for you sometime.

   Then on Monday the Priesthood had a Futsal match playing each other, and boy was it fun to get to know the boys pretty well. No better way than duking it out in a match of good ol' soccer. But the best part of that day would probably have to be the appointment we taught that night though. We went to a members house who has a couple wayward and inactive youth, and as we were sitting around, I saw one of the wayward kids in the back moving around. I asked one of her cousins to go grab her and bring out front to meet us. This wonderful girl had drifted pretty far from the path, and her status as a model and the world that comes with that has driven her pretty far from church. Everyone I had talked to about her had said that she was hopeless, but the Spirit told me otherwise. She actually then did come outside, and I could just feel the spirit pull me to focus on her and her cousin, and naturally our conversation about my family and my siblings turned into how our choices bring us towards our destiny that we choose. Suddenly the spirit just burst into the room and as we read scriptures, asked and answered questions, and shared stories, I really felt that this girl was realizing what she was doing with her life. She certainly felt the spirit, and her cousin even asked "How can we get the Holy Ghost to come back?" "Repent, and turn your heart." It was sooo uplifting. I looked back on my life and realized how it is so easy to get lost when you don't have the Holy Ghost as a guide. As a missionary I have been able to feel the presence so strongly when I am doing the right thing, and the absence when something is not right. This gift....as it truly is....is so important to me. I never want it to leave. One apostle once said that he would be afraid to walk across the room without the Holy Ghost with him. I second that notion. How much do you recognize the Holy Ghost in your life? How often does he guide you? He can be with you always....you just have to bring him with you. It is our choice.

    The way this mission is changing my life has truly been outstanding. I feel so more in tune for what I need to do with myself than ever. I have never been so happy. This has truly been the greatest time of my life as of yet in my life. I hope you can feel a fraction of it from what I send you weekly, and try to find the same joy that I am finding. Its out there for the grabbing.

Your Loving Friend, Brother, and Son,

      Elder Willem Kampenhout