A Poignant Easter Lesson

My first Malaysian rainbow

Hello!

Wow. What a week. I'm grateful for all that has happened and know so much of it was heaven-sent, even when I did not fully understand why. This week definitely had its ups and its downs.

Let's start off with the good stuff!

On Monday, I finally played the much fabled national sport of Malaysia: Badminton. I'm gonna be pro before I get back. Not really, I'm not good hahaha but I'm working on it on preparation days!! When it's dang humid outside, it gets pretty nuts. We got some good deals on rackets, and it's basically going to be my future family's favorite sport, just a heads up to any potential candidates out there. Take it or leave it. Hahaha

This week, President Mains visited Tawau with his wife! It was great to see him. He is the man in charge of all the missionaries in Singapore and Malaysia. He is so busy, and I was grateful he took the time to come and visit with us.

Also this week! We got some RAIN! In Johor, there was always rain, but for the past 3 months, it's only rained about 3 times. Not so great! I was glad to see it and my first Malaysia rainbow which was huge!! hahaha Pretty cool.

I also went on splits this week with Elder Chong, a native from West Malaysia who is a Chinese Elder!! We are pretty good friends because we have been in Tawau together for the past 3 months. He's been teaching me Chinese and it was fun to contribute in lessons in a different language than Malay! Fun. Working on my Chinese every week.

Okay. Some of the not so great stuff. First, while I was on splits with Elder Chong, on the way home, we were biking when two reasonably sized dogs started chasing me. Well, Malaysia dogs are SKETCHY. I was going around 15+ miles per hour and I was having none of it. So. They continued chasing, and I kicked one away! However, that same action knocked me off balance, and my bike and I hit the ground with a satisfying thud. I was okay and the dogs took off, but my arm has a big wound (not really, but whatever). So, that was fun.

Also, on a more serious note. One of our main investigators, Brother Euphracio Sagario, passed away this Sunday on Easter. We received a call from his son, Brother Kenneth, around 3 am. It was pretty heartbreaking. We spent our Easter Sunday spending time with him, his mother Sister Evelyn, and their family. It's pretty crazy and it happened very abruptly. Here they have the funeral within 24 hours, so it was all handled quickly.

The overall feeling I had throughout the entire day is that I'm glad for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He lived and died, and today lives again, I have no doubt I will see Brother Sagario again. None. The Spirit testified to my heart so strongly that their family will be reunited once more because of Jesus Christ. #becauseofhim (Thanks, McKelle, for telling me about that!)

This week I stumbled across a memoriam of President Hinckley, the previous President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an important and beloved man of incredible ability and faith. Whatever problem came to him and the Church at large, he would simply smile and say with confidence, "Oh, things will work out." President Hinckley would then go to work and press on in faith, doing all he could and trusting in the Lord to do the rest. What an example for all of us!

Okay. Time to get going. I love you all, and I would challenge you to look to the future with faith!

Love,

Elder Clay Coleman

The Sagario family. Brother Sagario was just 54 years old when he died.
Kenneth, on the left, recently returned home after serving a mission in the Philippines.

Jon and I attended a missionary choir concert in Mission Viejo on Easter Sunday and were able to meet Sister Chua, whom Clay mentioned in his email last week. She just arrived from Sabah three weeks ago and is serving in our mission here. She said she had prayed we would attend the concert so she could meet us. Such a sweet girl!