Malaysia - Week 15 - Dawn of a New Calling‏

Oct. 26, 2010

Nama Berita Semau!!!!

   Things have been kinda nuts these past few days, with seeing members and investigators before Elder Steele leaves, and getting everything ready. It was kinda nuts. He even gave a talk on the last Sunday, but that wasn't the only surprise. BOOM! Mission President walks through the elevator with his assistants and attends our tiny branch's Sunday sacrament meeting. We knew he was in town, but were told he was going to another branch for church. Well......people fib sometimes ;) It was awesome though. There was such a spirit and a presence in the room. It was awesome :D

   So the transfers happened yesterday. Elder Erickson (senior missionary) and I took Elder Steele to the bus station where he boarded the bus and headed off to Bintulu, the place where he first served. It was kinda sad to see him go, mainly because of all of the new responsibilities that I will have and in having no 'safety net' in the language. I am not that safety net, as my new companion (only halfway through training) came into the field only 6 weeks after me! And I'm suppose to train him! I just finished my training 2 weeks ago. Well....i guess the Lord calls us in our weaknesses. All I can do is pray and trust in him.

  So one of the great excitements has been with a Investigator named David. He is the husband of a little family that was just baptized, but he didn't want to hear about the church, so just his wife and 2 step daughters we baptized. Every time we would come over and teach, he would just sit in the next room over and listen or text his friends. It was kinda sad to see that he didn't want to learn, when it was helping his family soooo much. Well, we have also been teaching his parents, and the other day went over there and found his family was there! They were helping the Parents plant rice and were resting up before going home for the night. David was a little drunk, but he sat down in the room at the start of the lesson about Prayer, and how we receive answers through the Holy Ghost. About halfway through we invited him to join us, and he came into the circle and actually participated! Even in a buzzed state he answered questions very well. He told us he would come to church the next day :D Well.....he didn't, but the next night we saw their family again and David wasn't drunk this time, and he was SUPER active in the lesson, and you could really see in his eyes the change that he wants. It is incredible. :D We are really hoping that he continues to grows and will come to church this Sunday :D

   Last night Elder Gallinger and I had our first appointment together, and it was in English! Our Indian investigator Magis is a little old Indian man who is wanting to join a christian church, but wants to join the right one. He has so many tiny little questions that he often distracts himself and is very hard to teach planned out lessons, so last night, we just went in with the desire to testify about the book of Mormon, and wanting to answer his questions. and WOW. I already know that Elder Gallinger and I are going to work well. Magis talked most of the time, and when we just let him talk and we listened, his real questions came out. It was amazing. One of them was about the 12 tribes of Israel, and he was rambling about how Christ was a Jew and the Jews wrote the Bible, and how we are not Jews, so how can we become one of the Chosen people of God? He really just wanted to know how he could become a chosen son of God? It then just clicked in my mind what to teach him. We testified of the 12 tribes, and how everyone can be adopted into the tribes through patriarchal blessings, taught about that really quickly, and then testified that he can become one of God's chosen sons. It was amazing so see how his questions were answered through listening to him, and to the spirit, and not trying to 'combat' him with the standard missionary lessons. Listening truly is a skill we all need in our lives.
    Later when we mentioned godhead, Magis flat out told us that "I will not believe in the Trinity. Cannot." Elder Gallinger and I were both surprised, and worried. But, we then asked him in return "When you are raising your children, are you and your wife not one in purpose?" We then testified how God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are 3 separate people, but are one in heart and mind, meaning ONE IN PURPOSE. You could see the chains of confusion lift from his eyes, and he said "Now it makes sense. Thank you." The power of asking questions and testifying is sooooooo apparent, and is the Chosen Way to teach others. Just as Christ did in Jerusalem. Now the hard part is asking questions in Malay. Apa boleh buat, kecuali terus untuk belajar dan ingat.

   I realize that I often talk about the people more than I talk about myself. Well, it's because i'm not here in Malaysia for myself, but for these people, and I am realizing that as I help these people change their lives to follow Christ, that they are in turn changing me. I am still the same quirky, intense and hard working Willem that you all knew, but am just doing everything in a different language, in a different country, working for a different Boss. Let me tell you, He's a good boss :D

   I love you all so very much, and hope that my letters are something you enjoy to read :D

Elder Willem Kampenhout

P.S. Elder Gallinger's name out here is Elder Gergasi (Elder Troll or Giant) LOVE IT!!!!

Malaysia - Week 14 - A New Horizon‏

October 19, 2010

Apa Khabar Semua!!!

    These weeks really do just fly by. Its nuts. I think I'm going to wake up one day soon and be old, married, 4 kids and a big belly. That will be interesting :D
    So!!! We finally got to watch Conference!!!! WOOOO!!!!! Lets just say watching it in another language is a completely different experience. Not hearing the apostles normal voices takes a strange power from the words, but they are still good. I'm still fairly new and the weird accents are a bit hard to get use to, but it was still an awesome experience. President Uchtdorf's talk on Pride? Wow.....talk about rad. We have watched a couple of the conferences since in English (as we have them on DVD's) and they are so inspiring. It's never been so Inspiring before. I was thinking about back home when we would have those big Conference gatherings at the Dalton's house and all i would want to do would be to play with all their awesome toys. Thankfully my parents only let me horse around so much, but now I wish I would have listened better.These words are truly from Jesus Christ to us, and we need them. Bad. Read them and listen to them again and again. You will find power. Oh yeah. The modern prophet is more important than prophets of old. WOAH!!!! Never heard that before. Talk about revolutionary. Simply amazing.
   So we had conference on Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday we bussed up to Sibu for another Mission training session. 3 days this time. Woot! The training thus far has been absolutely amazing. We are going over the same stuff we did before, and while before I took notes on everything, not I am just taking notes on what the spirit tells me to write down. Its really heavy stuff. One thing I have been realizing is in my quest to constantly better myself as a missionary, that it is impossible to be a perfect Missionary. You can't convert everything, share with everyone, or baptize every investigator. Look at Jesus Christ. Even people rejected him. I KNOW that an imperfect soul as myself is no where going to be able to accomplish close to what he did in his ministry. But the Lord doesn't ask us to be perfect. He just asks us to Love him, try our best, and continually remember him. If we do those 3, we will be ok :D
    One of the recent miracles in my Mission has to be with our old Iban couple, Kisang (M) and Imang (F). Kisang has come to church and all the activities since he started learning, but Imang has yet to come, since she already had a church. However, since we have been teaching them the restored Gospel, we have been able to see a difference in Kisang. He has more energy, more liveliness and a spark to his step. His wife has also begun to open up too. The other day we committed them to be baptized, but Imang was wondering "How can I be baptized if I haven't been to your church yet?" So we told her if she comes three times and follows the commandments she can be baptized with her husband. So she agreed. YES!!!! The coming Sunday was conference though, and we were a bit afraid. Sitting a bunch of Ibans with devil children in a freezing room for 2 hours twice in one day did not really seem like a good 1st church experience. However, I prayed that it would be a spiritually uplifting environment. Then came game day. I remember at one point during conference I was frustrated that people were leaving and going so often, and that very few were really listening, but I prayed that it would be ok. A peace came over my heart telling me that things would be ok. When we met them that night and asked them what they thought. Imang loved church, and acknowledged while a bit different, she loved it and wanted to come back! YESSS!!!! The power of prayer is real.
    Well, just as things were starting to get a bit slow in our area, Elder Steele and I realized that we were really wasting a lot of our time on people who really didn't have a large interest in learning, or who were not keeping commitments, so we went through and cleaned out a lot of our bad investigators. This cleansing felt very good and like we are getting ready for the area to get hot with investigators. Then?!?!?! Transfer news. Elder Steele is going back to the city of his birth in Bintulu to become a Zone Leader, and I am going to stay in Kota Samarahan. I had a deep feeling that this was going to happen soon, but its sad when it does. I really have loved my time with Elder Steele, and we have our way of working and talking and working hard and having fun. I will definitely miss him as he has taught me lots. I will need all I can to help me with the challenge ahead. To replace Elder Steele, they are sending down a fairly new Missionary, Elder Gallinger. I was actually in the MTC at the same time as this man (our groups overlapped) so I have only been in the field 6 weeks longer than he has. While I have officially ended my training as of about a week ago, he is still halfway through his. I don't think this usually happens that someone as young as I am starts training (or half training) an Elder. I was a bit....unsure of my own abilities, but I have since realized that I need to trust in my Mission President (whom I love), my new companion (also love) and the Lord's Strength (love him too). Boy do I need his help. This will be a new adventure for me, as I become the senior companion and take upon myself all of the appropriate duties. Am I ready? Well.....Pres. Clark himself said "Well....no you're not, but the Lord calls us before we are ready to fill an assignment, and when we are ready to fill and assignment, he gives us a new one." Oh so true are his words. The only way that I will be able to do my job will be through the strength of the Lord and the power of the Holy Ghost. I am excited for this new horizon and can't wait to tell you more :D
   Well I must get going. People to baptize. I love you all so very much, and love hearing from you. Time is flying so fast, it seems i will see you all so very soon. How odd.

Your loving son, brother, friend,
       Elder Willem Kampenhout

P.S. Hey parents....did you see the guy in conference who had my middle name? :D

Malaysia Week 13‏

Oct. 12, 2010

 

Hello Everyone! <----English? Odd....

 

   Malaysia is doing soooo awesome :D We just had our first Sacrament in the new church in Batu  7 (7 Mile) or Kota Sentosa. Here in Malaysia they like to take off their shoes before they enter houses or respected areas, so when everyone showed up for church they ALL took off their shoes outside the front. It was really cool to see. Talk about a shoeless sacrament :D It was really fun. The new building is so clean and new and beautiful. While there are some growing pains with figuring out where classes are and what not and who goes where, it was still a very wonderful sunday. Another bonus is that we can take the bus to church!!! YAY! No more 45 minute bike ride in the sweltering heat and showing up drenched with rain or sweat. It is awesome :D

 

   This last weekend we also had another branch activity!!! WooT! This time we took a 2 hour bus ride and went to the Pantai Siar (Siar Beach) and played in the Ocean, played soccer on the beach, ate delicious food, and played tug of war. It was absolutly amazing. The beach is so shallow it was about a 5 minute walk on the sand to reach the water in the morning. It was so much fun though. Tons of fish and crabs were stuck in little pools of water, and all the little kids were running around grabbing them and putting them in bottles to take back home (doing what I have no idea). We as missionaries were not allowed to swim, but we could walk around up to our knees. It was really fun running after and chasing the kids and playing soccer on the beach. We had a quick impromptu keep-away game with Orang Tua (Old guys) vs. budak (kids). We played with the old guys, and did well for a while. Konok our 60+ year old recent convert even played some soccer with us. He is still on his game :) He was quite the respected soccer player back in the day, and MVP of his village. That was a LONG time ago though. He can't run, but his passing and dribbling was still in good form.

   The bus we took was absolutely packed, and some people even had to drive cars to make it there. Two of our married investigators who came (Jonathan and Jaeclyn) are still very young and love the missionaries. They were playing with us on the beach, and then would go sit and walk and talk with each other. With the sun rising in the morning, it seriously felt like a scene out of a movie, as those two were so madly in love :D Jaeclyn is moving off to Nursing School in a few days and is going to miss her Military husband like crazy. She plans on being baptized in Bintulu (where she's going) the same time Jonathan gets baptized here. I can't wait :D

   One thing I have been learning out here is how the gospel helps people grow closer together. Many couples that we start teaching are very passive towards their spouse when we start teaching them, but by the time they have been members for a little bit, you can just see the increased love they have for each other. They hold hands, and are so kind to each other where as before that wasn't there at all. It is absolutely amazing. I love this gospel and how it draws people closer together. Everything really does get better through Jesus Christ.

    We also got a chance to go visit some long time members for their birthday party where they only invited their close friends and family. While only a small portion of the people there were members, everyone in the room had such a strong love for eachbother, and you could totally feel it. My heart just wanted to burst I felt so much love with this group of people. Seeing the mother and daughter cook together, the grandson singing songs with friends, the father and I sitting on the couch talking about life. It was so wonderful. I love my family :D

   Well I must be going. Know that I am still doing well, healthy, hearty and strong. Not sick yet. Haven't been hit by a car yet. :)

 

Your loving missionary,

     Elder Willem Kampenhout

 

P.S.

The picture sent are a couple of nice sunsets here in Malaysia. Seriously the most beautiful I have ever seen.

 

One is of a very dark rain cloud we got here. That was about 5 o clock in the afternoon. Summer time. Yikes!!!!

 

The other is Elder Steele and I standing next to the Governor of Sarawak. He tried to hold my hand :D Talk about an honor to meet the man. He used to be Christian too.

 

Elder Kampenhout

   

Malaysia - Week 12 - No Longer a Newbie

Oct. 5, 2010

Nama Berita Semua!!!!

   So many many new missionaries are often referred to as Greeny ( Hey Greeny, grab me this!!) but from Day 1 I didn't take that kind of talk. I told Elder Steele he could can call me Newbie (cause its true, I'm new) but not Greeny. It stuck ever since :D Never really came around though. He's a good companion like that :D But!!! As of Yesterday I have finished my training!!! Woot! No longer a trainee!!! Its really not all that different. The change is slow, and if you need a title to tell you who you are.....well...i guess you need a title.

  Things have been great out here! Elder Steele and I finally found a bank!!! And a Post Office (or Post Laju)!!!! We can finally survive! haha. Our money has come in for the month and we feel like rich men. Its quite fantastic :)

  The language is really really coming now. My Malay is really getting there, and I will teach large parts of lessons at times. The only time when i'm quiet is when we are teaching some really old Iban Grandparents, and they can't understand Malay. They its mainly Elder Steele and a member we bring. The Members are SOOOOO important in these lessons, and are largely responsible for their teaching. It's quite amazing. The fellowship and testimonies are what really brings these kind of investigators into the church. No fault on our part, its all in the Lord and the Members. It's quite amazing. The members here are the best :D Many people can't read or write, and have never been able to understand the Kitab Mormon (Book of Mormon) but they have a feeling that it is true, and they know in their hearts that it is. Talk about a leap of faith. It really is something extraordinary.

   So last Sunday was our last Sunday in our old shop lot at the Kingcenter Building. The Kota Samarahan branch (ours) and the Kota Sentosa Branch are receiving a new building in Kota Sentosa! Talk about rad!!! There are actually buses and vans that go to Kota Sentosa, so a lot of our areas will be able to have public transport when they don't have their own. This includes Elder Steele and I. We will no longer have to ride our bikes in the blistering heat or the pouring rain and freeze in the Air Conditioned Church. We will get to take a nice bus ride there :D Now, when I say bus ride. This is nothing like American Bus rides. These buses largely have no shocks, and launch you in the air with every pothole. And there are many. Wooden and metal seats. Engines that roar so loud you can barely hear. No AC. People smoking on board right underneath a no smoking sign (Jangan Merokok). But this really is wonderful :D Makes you really appreciate cars, and we can't wait to make this a regular routine.

  That being said, the work is still moving along. While some investigators still and fall, and others push forward with faith, all I know is that Elder Steele and I are doing our best, and loving every minute of it. Last week on P-Day (after emailing) we went out to one of the Villages and played soccer with all the children on the village. All 40-50 of them. It was the best soccer game I ever played. I've scored goals, made saves, and won tournaments, but nothing compared to this day. As we arrived all the children crowded around us and were screaming and yelling and soo happy to have some people to play with. As we got of our bikes it started to rain. Most Ibans ran inside to get out of the rain, but the children still wanted to play soccer. So we played :D There were huge puddles of water, deep moggy patches of grass, and hard patches of dirt and rock, but it was still the best playing conditions ever. Everyone was drenched, everyone was muddy, and everyone was happy. Kids would switch sides every 2-3 minutes, mainly cause they just wanted to kick the ball. Elder Steele and I had a following of about 7-10 kids at all time, and all the girls were screaming and yelling from the sidelines. We would slip, fall, miss the ball, miss the goal, slide off the field into the jungle, but we did everything with a smile and a laugh. This was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I loved every single one of those kids, and I could feel the light of Christ in All of them. I now know how Christ could love children so much. Who couldn't? It wasn't the game we were playing, nor the country we were in, but it was the people we were with, and the joy we had together. This was true Love.

Your fellow brother, son and friend from Malaysia, 
             Elder Kampenhout

The Famine - Part II

So I forgot to add the part to my email why it was called The Famine:

   The other day I accidentally lost my wallet, which contained about 140RM ($50) which was the rest of the money Elder Steele and I had for the rest of the month. With this event, we had about 20 RM ($7) to survive for about a week. Lets just say food got pretty low, and we couldn't buy everything we needed. We normally would be able to pull out some personal money, but our area only has Islamic banks, which don't support VISA. Haha. So we have been trucking along like poor little white boys. We get along though. The members and investigators gladly feed you at appointments, so no worries :D