Hello From the Land Where Hot Wheel Cars Are Made

Hey Everyone!

This week was craaaaazy! Elder Johnson reminded me that Hot Wheels cars are made in Malaysia, so that's pretty cool.  I wasn't in my area from Monday to Thursday night, so I felt like the week just disappeared. Elder Johnson was with the other trainee and a missionary named Elder Loutzenheiser. None of them can really speak Malay, so it was a struggle I was told. But that's ok! Because none of them died!

Monday, we pretty much spent the entire day in the plane. Two-and-a-half hour flight over to Singapore, but we made it, and it was rush hour.  We were 45 minutes late to our meeting that night. We walked in, and it was starting to end. So not a ton happened.

Tuesday, Elder Christofferson came to Singapore and talked to all of us missionaries! It was mega awesome. He said a ton of super good stuff, and I took a bunch of notes. He basically just told us to start firing questions at him, and he'd do his best to answer the questions. One thing he talked about was that not only our actions are judged, but our desires are too. Then he said something along the lines of what you really want, you will receive. So be careful what you want. It kind of hit me. It brought to remembrance the scripture that says blessed is he who is compelled to be humble, but even more blessed is he who chooses to be humble. If our desire is to be humble, we'll receive it as long as we work. If our desire is to do good, we'll receive our reward. If it's evil, we'll receive a different reward. So be careful what you want! Another thing he talked about a lot was our relationship with God. He talked about it in the fire side he did for the entire Singapore stake.  He said a lot of really profound things, and then pretty much said that if we saw God, he'd look really familiar to us, because we spent a long time with him. So the song “I lived in heaven a long time ago it is true” (don't know the title. Probably” I lived in Heaven a long time ago”) has been stuck in my head because he was talking about that. On top of those, he said a lot of super awesome things, and I didn't bring my notes with me.  We were in meetings with him all day, so it was pretty awesome. We ate Subway too, and it was mega good.

Wednesday, we had meetings all day. Literally.  We did studies outside before the meetings.  Elder Boud and Mickelson took Elder Howell and me over to some durian shaped buildings that surround Marina Bay, and we went to the top of the buildings. It was pretty cool. I got some pictures with Elder Howell. In MLC, I got to check out the mission's stats and stuff, so that was cool. President Simmons analyzes tons of stats, because he did it for a living.  He's got some crazy graphs. Super interesting.  They basically just taught us how to inspire all the missionaries, and made plans for our zone conferences.

Thursday, we went back to KK! In the Singapore airport, we went to the butterfly garden, so that was pretty awesome. Butterflies are super cool. Not a ton happened though, because we got back late at night. I got to watch the sun set from the plane though. So that was cool.

Friday was a little crazy. We found 152 potential investigators that hadn't been called.  We called about 50 of them, did weekly planning, and taught Binus. Binus is still progressing, but he wasn't able to make it to church this week. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and he had some questions about the Atonement. So that was good! In Malay, there's no word for atonement, so you just have to say the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Super long name, and it's hard for people to understand.  We taught a lot more about that than I was planning, but it was really good! That's a great thing to talk about! We also went to English class. We thought it started at 7:00, buuuut it actually started at 6:00. So instead of being 30 minutes early, we were 30 minutes late. Oh well. It ended up being ok.

Saturday, we met with Johnny and Lodeline. Lodeline is pumped to get baptized in 2 weeks! She's a way good investigator! She really is converted. It's awesome.  She and Johnny are mega pumped to get sealed in the temple in a year. It's way fun to go over there and teach her. AND they make super good Filipino food for us. Every time.  I don't eat breakfast before we go over there. Other than Lodeline, we had some appointments fall through since they weren't confirmed all week, and we called a TON of PI's and got some appointments set up.

Sunday... Let's see. I remembered a ton of the members' names! So that was super good. They love it when new missionaries remember their names. I got to talk with a ton of them, we got lots of appointments scheduled, and we got to know them all a lot better! We had branch council after church, and this branch is so organized! I could hardly believe it!  Everything here is moving great, everyone has responsibilities, and they all fulfill their callings.

After all that, we had choir practice (for district conference. I was forced to do it), did half an hour of personal study, and then went to find an inactive member named Ivy.  We found it. Her house was on the top of this HUGE hill.  Mega steep, but we made it up, and her house looked over all of Penampang. So that was super cool. There was this Chinese temple/tower thing that looked super cool, and a bunch of other stuff. It was pretty awesome. She was cool too. We shared a scripture and got to know her a bit!

Not a ton happened this week since I was gone for most of it, but KK is picking up! My Malay is great, and Elder Johnson's is coming! He's getting there. Haha! I think he'll be able to teach all the lessons by the end of this transfer! He just needs to get a little faster when he speaks so that people don't get lost when he talks. I remember when I spoke like that... But now I'm up to speed! It's super crazy to walk away from a lesson and realize that it was all in Malay. And it's even crazier that I understood it all! Haha! It's mega crazy to be able to speak another language! I didn't think I would ever learn a language! I didn't even think it'd be possible! But it is! Pretty crazy! People will mix Malay and English a ton in sacrament meeting, because there are people who don't speak Malay.  It's super funny when every other word is Malay. It just makes me laugh. The craziest thing is that it's still understandable. I dunno. I love KK. The people here are mega cool, the food is way good, the Malay is super to understand.  The land is beautiful, and biking here is AWESOME. I love biking here. There's so much to look at while you bike, it's not mega crowded, but there are still people, and lots of hills to ride down (I control the pace, so we ride up the hills nice and slow), and it's amazing. I love it. I really hope I stay here a while.

Love,

Elder Ben Mullins

Elder Johnson

Marvel

Marina Bay in Singapore--see the boat on top!

Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino

Elder Howell

Puchong squad

Sunset

Bolehbah Kalau Kau (if you can)

Hey Everyone!

This week was craaaaazy good! I had tons of fun! The Sabahan Malay they speak here in KK (Kota Kinabalu) is SUPER easy to understand, because they speak really clearly, BUT they have a lot of slang. Like Bolehbah Kalau Kau. Haha!  it just means ‘can if you’. They say it quite a bit. I'm sure they have other phrases, and I just haven't heard them yet.  It's really fun here. I love it. I got a trainee too. His name is Elder Johnson. He’s the 4th Elder Johnson in the mission.  He might have to change his last name so that people don't get the 4 elder Johnson's confused. Pretty awesome. It's happened already with a few missionaries here.  He's from South Jordan or West Jordon (not sure which one), and likes Ultimate Frisbee. He's tall, mega white, and blonde.  People here are gonna love him. Haha! He's a super funny guy. He's definitely got MTC Malay.--Terrible white person accent and a lot of wrong pronunciation, but nothing we can't fix! I've been working on switching over from the Sarawak pronunciation of some words to the Sabah way of saying them, but I'm pretty much adjusted already!

Monday and Tuesday were kind of a blur. I think I just said bye to members. Not really sure. I don't have my planner with me.  I remember it was a ton of fun, and Satam made me a super good goodbye dinner. Also, her daughter is in KK right now too as a missionary!  I know her family better than I know her!  It was good to finally meet the rest of their family. Haha! I was sad to leave Miri, but super excited to be getting to KK!

Wednesday, my flight for KK was going to leave at 11 AM, so I woke up, went over to the airport with the senior couple and two sisters who were transferring, one to KL and one to KK with me, and they dropped us off. We got our tickets, checked our bags, and then the lady that helped us check our bags said, "OK, your flight leaves at 11 tonight!" and then gave us our tickets back.  I asked her if she meant 11 as in an hour and a half. But she said, "Nope, 11 tonight! The ticket says 23:00, not 11:00."  I just turned around and looked at the sister that was going to KK on the same flight as me, and said, "Well. We get an extra day in Miri!" SO. We camped out in the airport 4 hours since we didn't have the senior couple's phone number to tell them to come pick us up. We used someone's phone to call the elders in Miri so that they could tell the missionaries in KK that we wouldn't be there until midnight, and then just sat and waited. The senior couple came back at 1 to pick up a missionary that was coming into Miri, so we caught a ride with them, and I hung out with the Miri Elders one last day! We mainly cleaned the house that I didn't live in, because it had trash everywhere, but it was really fun! Haha! We went back  that night to the airport, got through security, and got to the terminal. It was dumping rain, and the screens said our flight was delayed an hour, so we were going to get to KK at 1 AM. BUT it ended up only being 15 minutes delayed, and we got into KK at like 12:15, had to go through immigrations, and then grab our bags.  I met Elder Howell at about 12:45.  The member we came with drove the sister to the house, then we got to our house at about 1:30, and I got into the house, got settled in a bit, and we were in bed by 2:00!  We got permission to sleep in. Haha! We only slept until 8:00, but it was good enough!

Thursday, we visited some PI's (potential investigators) after doing weekly planning and studies, and I got to know KK a little bit. The city has tons of people, but lots of them are Muslim. Super pretty place though, and tons of potential! We picked up our trainees that night!  Elder Johnson is with me! He's way funny.  I really think we'll have a ton of fun!

Friday, we went and visited a member named Jonny. He was just barely reactivated, but he was the first missionary from KK! He's way cool, and we're teaching his wife Lodeline, and another lady there they call Inday. That's Tagalog for something, but I can't remember. Anyway, they're all Filipino. Super awesome people. After that, we also visited a member named Roslina, who had just referred her neighbor who moved in. His name is Binus, and he's wayyyy cool! Super cool guy! I got a picture with him! He's gonna get baptized. I'm pretty confident.

Saturday was super good too. Elder Johnson and I made sure we knew where some places were, and went around talking with people. We got my bike that had just been shipped here, and put it together too. We got some way good food (the food in Sabah is better than in Sarawak), and we got to help him try out some Malaysian stuff. He likes it all. So that'll be good for him when members feed him gross stuff!

Sunday, we met all the members, and it was tons of fun! The members here are super nice. I got a bunch of appointments set up, and I'm super excited to get to know everyone here! There are tons of different cultures here, so that'll be fun to get to know them all! Someone told me that I sounded like a Malaysian when I spoke Malay (my accent), so that was way cool! Most missionaries don't even try to fake the accent, and they just sound like a bunch of white people speaking Malay, so I'm glad I faked it until I made it! Haha! They said I have a .5% accent. Exact words. Haha! I definitely sound less like a white person than most missionaries, but I think they might've just been being nice.  It still made me happy! People here are just mega nice.

It's super weird to be able to speak Malay better than my companion, because that's so different from how it has been! Luckily, the people here are super easy to understand. I don't know what everyone was talking about when they said it was hard to understand people here. They speak so clearly, so it's super easy to understand. BUT. The Malay they use is a little more complex. I can still understand, but I have a lot I still need to improve on before I can speak it like them! I love it here in Sabah! Next week, I'll send more pictures! The internet here is mega slow, and I don't have most of the pictures that I took this week, because I took them with Elder Johnson's camera.  His camera was already out when I wanted to take the pictures. SO. I'll make sure to start uploading them early next week. ALSO. No hoses in the bathroom here. Toilet paper. Not gonna lie, the hose is definitely better.

Thanks!

Elder Ben Mullins

The have 6 Elevens here!

Binus and the Elders

Saying goodbye to Simon

Kevin

Transfers This Week!

Hey Everyone!!!

This week was GREAT! I had a ton of fun! Lots happened, but I can't remember it all.  It was a great last week of the transfer!

Monday, Elder Asah and I went to a crocodile farm, and it was AWESOME. It was more like a little zoo. We had tons of fun. Elder Childs, a senior couple missionary, brought us.  We saw a bunch of small crocodiles, and I was a little bit disappointed, because they were all so small. BUT. Then we saw some monkeys, and they were wayyyy funny. They would lean up against the cage.  Elder Childs and Asah kept poking them, and they'd turn around, and make this suuuuper funny face. I was dying laughing, and I took a picture.  Then Elder Asah had this little mirror that he showed them, and they LOVED the mirror. They were so interested. It was wayyyy funny. I was literally crying I was laughing so hard. Pretty epic. I loved it. Eventually, we went over to the other crocodile pits, and there were HUUUGE crocodiles…like 31 feet long---huge.   They told us it was their biggest one.  I totally believe it. They were MASSIVE. I had no idea crocodiles were that big!  They gave us a pole with a wire attached to the end, and stuck chicken on the end.  We dangled it over the crocodiles.  They literally sit there and do nothing for HOURS at a time, but once they saw the chicken, they would wait until it got super close, and then they would all lunge for it at the same time. The first time it happened, we all jumped a mile. It was awesome.  We would yank it away from their reach, so they would miss it.  It was WAYYY FUN just playing with the crocodiles.  When they got the chicken, it was super cool, because they'd swallow it whole. It was seriously the best P day I've had in a long time. Super epic. Oh yeah, and we saw some crazy birds. They had large talons. It was "the most dangerous bird in the world". But this IS Malaysia, so they could've just been making it up; I’m not really sure.  It was freaky looking.  Pretty awesome. Oh yeah, and we went to the pit with the HUUUUGE crocodiles right as they were feeding them. It was way intense. They'd throw a bunch of chickens in, and the crocodiles would go CRAZY getting them. They'd be hitting each other and snapping their teeth. When they snap their jaw shut and don't bite anything, it makes a super weird sound.  It was tons of fun to watch.  If they're hiding under the water, you can't see them… at all. They threw a chicken into the middle of the water, and about 6 crocodiles shot out of the water and fought for the chicken. I thought the water only had crocodiles at the banks, because those were the only ones I could see, but they were all over in the water!

On Monday night, we went over to Brother Sait's and had an awesome Family Home Evening. After that, we went outside, and OUR BIKE SEATS HAD BEEN STOLEN. I couldn't believe it. They literally stole our seats just to harass us. We even know who did it. There's always this group of kids outside their house. SO. That was annoying.  We biked home standing up.

Tuesday, we biked to district meeting standing up, and it was exhausting. It changed the 15-minute bike ride to a 30 minute bike ride, and we were dripping sweat by the end. We had a good district meeting.  Two missionaries here finished their missions today, so they bore their dying testimonies at that meeting. Then we got some okay food. We literally ate at a restaurant in a bank. So. Just ok.  After that, we biked to the Chinese speaking elders’ house, and stole one bike seat from an old bike that didn't work, then biked to the sisters' house and stole 2 more seats from broken bikes, then biked back to the Chinese house to return the one seat. It was a lot of biking. BUT we got bike seats for free. Totally worth it. Bike seats are way expensive here...  After that, we went and followed up with all our investigators. Some of them went back to Kampung, sooooo we dropped them for now.  We also biked down to the hospital, because an inactive member's grandpa is super sick, and requested a blessing.  We went down there (an hour straight biking in the BLAZING sun. I got a sweet helmet tan line), and gave the blessing after searching for like 30 minutes for him (he wasn't in the bed they said he was. It was some random Muslim dude), and then biked 45 minutes back to the church in the BLAZING sun. We were exhausted. Buuuuut we kept going on. We got some super good drinks from a night market, and then visited members until the day was over.

Wednesday, we had exchanges. I went with Elder Johnson. He's a Chinese speaking elder, sooooo I just taught everyone while he listened. Haha, he's hilarious!  And he's a magician, so he did magic for everyone, and they ATE IT UP. It was hilarious. Ibans love magic tricks. They even understand the word magic in English. That's how much they like it. We also talked with some inactives and set appointments with them, got lost a few times, because I don't know the area too well (just ok), and had a lot of fun. It rained a lot too, so we had fun getting soaked.

Thursday, we met with a new guy named Diro.  He was a referral from a recent convert from the English/Chinese branch here. He's Indonesian, so the Chinese Elders couldn't teach him, but we got to! Oh, by the way. I'm trilingual now. Haha! Indonesian and Malay are basically the same language, so I can speak both!  He's kind of a funny guy. I don't really know what will happen with him. Indonesians are just super funny people.  After him, we met with Brother Lerang, because he was going to baptize his daughter on Friday! We had a nice quick lesson, and then headed over to Sayu to finish off the day! It was a good day...

Friday... We visited a million inactives again. At one of the houses, there were about 6 people passed out drunk, and 2 that were still drinking. The worst thing was, 4 members lived in that house.   I'm not sure which 4 were members. They've been inactive for a long time. Haha! SO. We'll work with them for sure! We met with Lila and her husband and sister too. Her husband is way cool. He's got mega long hair, and is super funny.  We taught the restoration, and they loved it.  Hopefully they'll start coming back to church.  Lila just had a baby about 2 weeks ago, and it's a super cute baby. It had a ton of hair too. After them, we ran over to the church and filled up the font super quick, then had the baptism. Brother Lerang baptized his 8-year-old girl, and it was WAYYYY funny how he did it. He slammed her into the water, and yanked her right out. She was probably actually under the water for like .1 seconds. It was wayyyy funny. I literally laughed for a split second before stopping. His daughter was scared to go under water, so he promised her that it would be super quick, and it was definitely quick. Hahaha!

Saturday... Let's see. OH! We went to Satam's and built stairs up to her house! It was lots of fun, and after, we had a mega good barbecue, and played with their monkey. Tons of fun. Oh yeah, and she finished my beaded tie!  I took a picture with her while I was wearing it!  I can't remember what else we did... That night, we helped Sidar write his talk for church. So that was good.

Sunday, I gave a talk in church.  Sidar did too, and also a few more people.  It was really good! The Miri Branch has this problem where all the people when they give a talk read the gospel principles book.  I took it upon myself to fix that, because literally nobody was listening in sacrament meeting. They literally read the book. That's it; none of their own thoughts or anything. Apparently Elder Asah and Elder Gara talked with the branch president about it before.  When I talked with the branch president he said that it was the speaker’s choice to read the book, and he didn't want me to talk to him again about it.  Last week, I talked about it with him, and told him why that wasn't ok, and came up with a plan to help.  It worked! They didn't just read the book! Everyone who gave a talk actually shared from their heart and didn't read a word out of the gospel principles book! So that was awesome! I was super happy about that.   We met with a bunch of members after church, and had a good time searching for those referrals.

That night, I texted President Simmons and told him to give me a call when he had time.  He called me eventually, and I talked to him about housing arrangements in Miri next transfer because a bunch of things that were happening.  I was assuming we were all staying.  After we figured it all out, he said, "It doesn't even matter for you anyway, because you're going to KK next transfer." ,so I got transfer news last night instead of this morning! Everyone else is waiting for it! I don't know if I'm training or what (I think I will be), but I'm not staying in Miri!  Kota Kinabalu is probably the most touristy spot in East Malaysia. I'm way excited to go over there and check it out and get some work done! I love Miri, but I'm also excited to go to a new area! New is always good, because new is fun! Haha!   I'll be going there, but I don't know anything else besides that!  I'll try to update you on who my companion is before I stop emailing!

I've loved Miri, and I'm excited to check out Kota Kinabalu (KK)! I'm going to miss the members, the Ibans, the culture, the no hills, and a lot of other stuff, but I'm way excited to see all the new cultures over in Sabah! Elder Ng (my trainer) told me last week that when people in KK talk, it sounds like they're singing! Haha!  So we'll see on that one! I'll let you know next week! Thanks for all the emails! Have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Ben Mullins

 

Angry Monkey

Kittens

Baby Crocodile

Crocodile Farm

I always love the kids

Elder Asah

Satam

Doing Service

Smaller Crocodiles

A Wrecked House