Harvesting Long Planted Seeds

Hey everyone how is going?

This week was a good week over here in Matang, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. Wow, it has been awhile that I have said that.  It's still hot, and it rains a whole lot more, and it's Christmas time!

Last week for P-day we went to an Archery Tag place for the zone activity and that was way fun. Bows and plush arrows and some janky Malaysian arena and we had a good time!  I went on exchanges with Elder Ngatikaura and Elder Rich this week and it is always a pleasure to work with them! I always seem to learn more than I am supposed to teach on these exchanges....love it.

 

A couple nights ago the entire city of Kuching just went black. Total power outage. You know me I was having the time of my life, haha. As if wasn't dark enough out here in the jungles of Matang, it got darker. Good thing I've got my trusty bike lights and I know these roads up and down and could navigate with my eyes closed. It was a fun night, but I didn't particularly enjoy sweating all night long trying to sleep. But I mean, we do it all day so why not just keep it going??

Sweetest miracle this week. For those of you the remember my investigators Jimmy and Lisa back in Singapore that Elder Miller and I taught....they got baptized!!!!  It was a long process but they committed once and for all this week, and they were 'dunked' yesterday. I love those two and in the spirit of thanksgiving....I give thanks to God for the opportunity to have found and taught them. With no Thanksgiving dinners to be seen here in Kuching.... the celebration of crops ready to be picked was in Singapore this week. Jimmy and Lisa made the step.

That's all! Love you all!

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Draper, Utah Missionary Letters seen thru Nov 26-2016

Zone Conference - Travel to Singapore

(Great to See Everyone)

Hey everyone!

First off I am sad to hear about the tragedy that hit Draper this week. It never settles right with me. It is times like this that we look around us at the ones we love and cherish them a little more than we have. It is so great to have an eternal perspective on life in times of trail as this one as well. The peace the gospel brings cannot be matched. It is a time to lift up our heads and help those around us to see what we see that they may feel that joy as well. God didn't promise us it would be easy, he just said it would be worth it, as is a common meme. Let us be grateful for the loved ones we have and the knowledge we can gain of the great love and amazing grace of our God!

 

 

This week was pretty chill for Elder Thompson. We had Zone Conference in Singapore again which is always a good time. So much fun to see all the past companions and old friends who have become so close to me. Hugs all around and some real good talks. Elder Haslam and I got some time to tour around Singapore as well too. Along with the spiritual upliftment, we also get to see one of the coolest cities in the world. We learned a lot and had some fun times. Other than that, we are getting back into our area! The highlights this week are in the pictures, haha. The mission goes on! 

Elder Thompson

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Draper, Utah Missionary Letters seen thru Nov 19-2016

Sagu , Angels, and Trump

Sorry everyone but this is gonna be a short one! How is everyone doing by the way? I hope you're enjoying the nice fall weather...because I'm still on my 16th month of Summer in a row!

Anyways this week we had a couple of highlights that I'd like to share:

Last P-day we found a field and we played real American football. Like real football. It's been well over 16 months that I have even picked up a ball and thrown one. It just felt awkward for some reason. It didn't feel right. We had a way fun time even though I was dropping more balls than usual and my route running was slower ;)

We ate this stuff called 'Sagu' at a members house. If you can imagine the cinnamon challenge for  Americans, that is what Sagu is for these Ibans. Uncooked rice mashed up with dried coconut and a whole lot of sugar and some other stuff, I'm not sure. It was so hard to get down, oh my, Haha!  Elder Haslam and I were laughing so hard trying to finish it. It tasted just fine, it was just the texture. I think it took me 20 minutes to take like 10 spoonsful. 

 

 

Oh while I am on the topic of food I also had cereal this week. I can't tell you how long it has been since I last did that. I can't remember that's how long. Well it tasted delicious! Again though, it felt pretty weird to be American...

We taught this sweet Indian man this week who is golden for sure. This man sees angels and gets personal revelation and the whole 9 meters. Well, I mean he believes that he can break and bless his own sacrament to himself and friends, but that we will discuss :) .  He paid for our lunch because he claimed "It's on Trump!" Apparently he won a bet, and got some money, so we ate out.  He said that like 10 times and just kept buying more food for us, haha. Good times!

Love you all!    Elder Thompson

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Draper, Utah Missionary Letters seen thru Nov 12-2016

Rainy Season

Yep over here on the island of Borneo it is definitely rainy season!  Everywhere we go and whatever we bring with us you just have to prepare for a monsoon type rain to come at some point in the day! Pack up the poncho and the water proof everything. Say goodbye to your combed hair and your nice clothes. Don't even think about wearing your nice ties, well, I guess you could, it just won't last you long! Haha, I love it although you can't really see where you are going in the rain! Sometimes we are riding in puddles and I feel like my pedals become oars for my bike. Soon enough we will be biking through knee high water here! Gotta love it.

 

Hey guess what, we found a driving range here for golfing, Golfing! I hadn't picked up a club in over a year but this week was that time. Elder Haslam is a way better golfer than I but it means the same to just kick back and hit for a couple hours. It's nothing like golfing up in Bear Lake with Gramps but it did the trick for Malaysia. The range was totally Malaysian style too. Just hitting into a dirt field the ball collector walking around out there picking up balls. The 'Ball Collector' was a man out there. Don't worry he was wearing a shield on his back if anyone was wondering. So funny, haha.

 

To finish off for this week: I love the members here. I love the people here. We have been having a lot more gatherings, parties, and family home evenings around here by requests and efforts of the missionaries, and it has been fun. This branch needs some uniting so there is nothing like throwing in some object lesson and some games to bring everyone closer! We have a good time and the results are showing. Less active members are popping up out of nowhere! So great. I love these people. These are my people. I don't care how 'white' I look in pictures!

 

Love you all!

Elder Thompson

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Draper, Utah Missionary Letters seen thru Nov 5-2016