Active Patience

Trimming weeds!

Hello Everyone!! 

This is Elder Coleman from Kota Kinabalu. :) Sorry I didn't get a great email out last week.

Sabah is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. I'm literally in paradise. I'm so blessed to be here. It's a great place and a great time of my mission.

Elder Ormsby and I are working hard here, and though we've got a long way to go, we feel confident we can work with the Lord to find those people that will help build up the kingdom! We're out here working every day and waiting for those blessings to come upon us.

This week wasn't particularly the BEST week in terms of visible success, but we feel things are shifting to help us out! Slowly but surely we're feeling things change. 

The biggest positive of this week was that Win, who just got baptized 3 months ago here, introduced us to her younger brother. We had a fantastic lesson with D___, and he's got some GREAT potential. He told us that he didn't understand who Jesus Christ was - a prophet, or the Son of God? We taught and testified that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, distinct from God the Father. He told us "everything was now clear" but he had been confused about that his WHOLE LIFE. It was pretty cool. After that, his heart was open to learn and absorb what we taught, and he was so excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Pretty awesome.

Good things are happening!! Slowly but surely. One of the days this week, I had the impression to open up the binder of talks my parents have been sending me throughout my mission. I stopped at a talk by Neal A. Maxwell about Patience. It really applied well to my situation here in KK - we need to work hard here with patience. I often think that patience is associated with a passive feeling!! Same with the word "endure," as in "enduring to the end." I learned that it takes a much more than just passive patience. We need to work diligently, proactively, then keep our faith patiently! We work hard - and though results are not immediately noticed, we need to keep working hard and stay faithful. They will come according to our patience and faith! So that's what we need to do here in KK. Work hard, and even though things don't immediately work out, keep going in patience. 

I love you all! God can do His work, and He will do it through us! As long as we work hard and stay strong, we will become instruments in His hands to accomplish great things.

Malaysia Boleh!

Love,

Elder Coleman

Last week Elder Stewart baptized Fillomena (one of the many investigators we had been teaching together in Miri
--she was a referral from Florena, her friend pictured here) MEMBERS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE TO MISSIONARY WORK

Transition week...from Miri to Kota Kinabalu

Hated to leave this kid and his family. Love the Sylvesters!

Goodbye texts from members 

Such a privilege to serve these people

Gotta love the Malaysian youth!

I really grew to love these people

Hard to leave these awesome families

Families are what make this work worth it

My new companion in Kota Kinabalu, Elder Ormsby

Hey!

So this week...It was pretty sad to leave Miri. I loved so many people there. Several people cried as I left...it's amazing to know how much they love us as missionaries - and the best bit is that we really really really love them, too!!

In Miri, the work was going amazing...this week Elder Stewart (my last comp) just baptized 8 people he and I taught together. They got baptized on Saturday after I left on Wednesday and then confirmed yesterday. So cool to hear about it. They all called me and just talked about how much they missed me. Eight others are going to be baptized soon. I'll send some photos next week. So great.

Compare that with... Kota Kinabalu or KK for short. It's one of the greatest places in the whole mission. Everyone wants to go to KK. It's the promised land. I'm so grateful to be back in Sabah (the place with the best Malay) and to be working here. The only issue - when I arrived they had no investigators in the area. Literally none. So my new companion and I are trying to work more with the members and get things here going. The Lord is really with us!!! We already found 1 new investigator in the 4 days since I've been here. Literally, the Lord just placed her in our path.

So overall I'm really excited to serve here in Kota Kinabalu. I know it's going to be amazing. I really have great feelings about the direction and feel of the work here. My new companion, Elder Ormsby, is from Provo, Utah and is half Kiwi (New Zealander). He played rugby at BYU and is a big guy! He's also good friends with Elder Stewart. Elder Ormsby and I have already hit it off and feel great - and I really think that, though we are working with just one investigator right now, there are great things coming to Kota Kinabalu 2nd Branch. I hope I can stay here for a while and see the work get turned up.

I'm also so excited to be here in Sabah because I will be able to go visit Tawau! There's really nothing that compares to going back to see all those members who mean so much to me.

The mission is having some visa problems for missionaries coming in and out of Malaysia, so we're getting Skyped in to Mission Leadership Conference.... lololol no going to Singapore for us!! My visa is fine but the rest of the Zone has been given 30 days to get out of Malaysia, maybe for good...who knows....no one knows yet... Elder Harr was supposed to replace me in Miri, but he got held overnight at Immigration and now he's staying in Singapore. So Elder Plazier replaced me in Miri. Crazy stuff. Keep the missionaries in your prayers!

Malaysia Boleh!

Love,

Elder Clay Coleman

Funny picture that sums me up because ​I'm energetic and moving all the time!​ Hahahaha

Transfers, Baby!

Zone Conference in Singapore = MTC district reunion one year later! (just missing Elder Chang who is in a different zone)

The work goes forward!

Going to miss the Sylvesters so much

Email exchange with Elder Coleman this week:

Elder C: Transfers, baby! SO STOKED!

Me: When do you think you will hear? And just know that I love so many missionaries there that I'd love to hear where your friends are going as well!

Elder C: Already know where I'm going :) 

Me: Where??? 

Elder C: Sorry, my internet just crashed! Perfect timing hahaha

Me: Why are you keeping us in suspense?

Elder C: KOTA KINABALU ZONE LEADER WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOM KK is the BEST!! It's hard missionary work and my area is going to be way hard, but I can do all hard things because I'm just the tool in the hands of the LORD!!! 

Me: Wait! Was that your former zone when you lived in Tawau?

Elder C: YESSS I GET TO GO VISIT TAWAU. And now I'll be in KK--the "promised land" of Bahasa skills!! And just in general! It's amazing!!

Me: What's happening in Miri?

Elder C: Elder Harr is replacing me AGAIN!! (He replaced Elder C. in Tawau, as well.)  He's becoming Miri ZL with Elder Stewart! He's going to baptize the 14 people we have on date here!!!! hahahah But I don't mind!! I know the Lord does what He sees fit! Just glad I could be a part of it! 7 people getting baptized this week!!! 

Me: Who is your new companion?

Elder C: Elder Ormsby. He's been serving as a Zone Leader in Kota Kinabalu since the last transfer, so I will join him. I've never interacted with him during my whole mission. I'm just going to go in and be as humble as possible and try to learn as much as I can from him. SO STOKED!!

So great to see friends at Zone Conference!

Zone Conference September 2014

While in Singapore I got my hands on one of these...the new iPhone 6

Journal entry from my year mark (11 September 2014)

Wow. Great personal study today. There's too much to LEARN, and I'm just scratching the surface of it all on my mission.

Today, I started my study with a single sentence, a quotation from scripture, found in Mosiah 5:2: "No more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." I had been pondering how I could root any and every desire or tendency to sin - in other words, how to repent completely! Preach My Gospel defines repentance as changing our thoughts, desires, beliefs, habits and behaviors, and bringing them in line with God's will. To lose my desire to sin! To put off and overcome the natural man! And so I thought of the above line from Mosiah. For the past hour, I studied this topic, and I have learned a TON. Here are some of the things I discovered/connected, or that the Spirit taught me.

Mosiah 5:2 also states "the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent... has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts." That mighty change of heart is what makes us lose our carnal natures and to put on Christ-like attributes. That same phrase is used by Alma the Younger, who truly did experience a mighty change, forsaking his old church-destroying self as one of the "vilest of sinners" and becoming a powerful prophet, a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord. He asks, "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have you been spiritually born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye ex[erienced this mighty change in your hearts?" (Alma 5:14). It seems that the "mighty change of heart" is a synonym of being "born of God". We must undergo a change that is so dramatic, to compare our old natural self to our new spiritual being would show a stark contrast - as if we have been born anew.

Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, discusses baptism as a symbol of being born again, being born of God. In the 6th chapter of Romans, he explains "we are buried with Him [Christ] by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Baptism buries our old, sinful self, and we come up a new man (or woman), this being born of Christ.

But now, after being born again, how do we "walk in newness of life"? How do we ensure the mighty change of heart takes place and forever alters our behaviors? After all, Paul writes, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin [or at least should be], live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2). What is necessary to touch our souls enough to forever change us?

Again, Alma the Younger offers us the answer. Immediately after repenting in his death-like sleep/vision thing, he bids those around him "to be of good comfort: for, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; [Sounds to me like he has forsaken his old self] behold, I am born of the Spirit (!!!)" (Mosiah 27:25). That state of righteousness must be the same circumstances when we have "no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2 again)!

How is it done? By being "born of the Spirit". Again, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is HUGE! Here I learned another of His many roles: to work in the hearts of men until they put off the natural man and the desures thereof! The Holy Spirit will bring us access to the changing power and grace of the Atonement of Christ. Look for further evidence of this in the following verses: (Focus on "Spirit", "spiritual", etc)

- Mosiah 3:19    - Mosiah 5:2,7    - Mosiah 27:24-26    - Romans 8:1-9    - Alma 22:15    

- Alma 36:23-24    - Moses 6:65    - Moroni 8:26    - 1 Peter 1:22-23.

Truly, it is the Spirit that will work in us to bring this mighty change of heart. Indeed, we cannot be born of God or expereince the mighty change of heart unless we are filled with the Holy Ghost! Christ sends Him to change and mold us anew. But how can we allow / cause the Spirit to do so? Look for the common thread in these verses.

- Mosiah 4:1-3    - Alma 22:15-16    - Moroni 8:26

We must maintain "diligence unto prayer" (Moroni 8:26) which will allow the Holy Spirit of Christ to work within us and change our very natures. Through prayer, we have access to the grace of Jesus Christ, which will change our hearts and dispositions. Through prayer, Christ can send His Spirit to "make weak things become strong unto [us]" (Ether 12:27). BEAST.

"Don't you know leopards can't change their spots?" - "I don't work with leopards, I work with MEN, and men change every day."

Elder Clay Coleman

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Future missionaries

Love this kid

A day to remember

Hello everybody!

Time flies by when you're having fun. Or working hard. I've learned those to be the same on my mission :) 

Anyone considering serving a mission, listen to someone who's doing it right now. I thought I knew how to work hard before I came out here. Now I LAUGH at how little I knew about diligence. There's a Malay word I learned this month that I really love - it's giat. It means not only to work hard and be diligent (which is rajin), but to be actively diligent or zealous or to strive to do something. To be basically overall ridiculous. In the Malay Book of Mormon, the people of Ammon in Alma 27:27 and 30 are praised for their kegiatan, or  giat - ness. 

27 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal (kegiatan) towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.

30 And thus they were a zealous (giat) and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord.

This word reminds me of being "anxiously engaged in a good cause" and bringing to pass much good of our own free will. We've got to be giat, baby!!! That's what Elder Stewart and I are doing right now, and the Lord is working with us every second of every day. I'm loving it. And time is flying by. Next week is transfers ALREADY. Absolutely crazy!

Those families and our investigators are doing great! Progressing towards their baptismal dates. By October 18, we expect to have 13 (and hopefully more) baptized. Pretty excited. I'm so grateful I got to play a part in helping them receive the restored gospel and the blessings thereof!! Nothing makes me happier than this. Sometimes I think about the fact that I'm literally just doing church stuff all the time and basically have no life outside of this, and then I usually start laughing about it. It's a pretty funny gig here on a mission, but I love it. I'm learning how to bergiat and love and so much other stuff.

This week, we had another baptism! J_____ entered the waters of baptism. So excited for him. He's the first of a group/family of 8 to be baptized. He is going offshore to work this next week, so we expedited his learning process. He's awesome and basically promised in front of everyone at his baptism to endure to the end!! hahaha We laughed and told him his promise is to God, not to us hahaha. Funny stuff. And this week we broke Miri 2's all time sacrament meeting attendance record (135). Things are looking up for us right now, and Elder Stewart and I are rejoicing in the opportunity to be used as instruments in the hands of the Lord. :)

I know this Gospel is the way to happiness! We have the fullness of truth and doctrine - and that's why I'm out here sweating and working to bring people this happiness. We don't do it out of any other reason except we know our message can bring happiness to those who are willing to receive it. Don't believe me--ask any member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who actively lives their faith!!!

Malaysia Boleh!!

I love you all and hope life is going swell for you all!

Elder Clay Coleman

Awesome families!

More Blessings Than Ever Before

So stoked to meet Elder Stephen B. Allen and his wife

One more from last week's baptism! 

Hello all!! I want to apologize for the lame weekly update last week, but I promise to make it up this week. The Lord has been laboring with Elder Stewart and me, and we are so grateful. We are seeing the blessings more so than we have ever seen on our missions.

So this last week, we had three investigator families come to church. Let me give you a run down about them. We know the Lord is preparing and sending us prepared people because of the way we found them. We're just so blessed and being instruments in the hands of the Lord!!! 

M____ and Family : So we got a text from some elders in Sibu that a member named Edwin brought the rest of his family to church! Edwin stays in Sibu, but his family is all in MIRI!! Stoked! Turns out Edwin was so excited that his family enjoyed church he decided to get work off for the week and come to Miri to introduce us to his family. So we met them two weeks ago, and taught them twice, then they CAME TO CHURCH! We even convinced Edwin to delay going home and come with them, which he did! It was perfect. They are so excited and are planning on getting baptized on 4 October 2014!! In their family is: Molong, mom. Lagil (works offshore for an oil company, may be baptized when he gets back), dad. Korina, 23. Augustine, 25 (also offshore, but will be baptized when he gets back). Boniface, 19. Sylvester, 17, and Diana, 9. They are so excited to be baptized and already talk about the church as if they are members! They always say "di gereja lama kami, (in our old church) blah blah blah." We're just so happy.  

S___ and Family: S___ is a referral from some members in Miri!!! Here's the story. Her husband, Brother Star, works offshore as well, but one of his coworkers is a member named Brother Jarop. So after our huge push for Amazing August, Brother Jarop told us that Star had seen him and his family change a ton, and asked him why. Jarop said it was because of his church - and then Star said "Can I follow your church??" hahahah WHAT THE HECK. Perfect. So they are both still working offshore, but Elder Stewart and I have been teaching S___, his wife. They will be baptized in October when her husband get home! Their family: Star, dad. Iping, Star's mom, total Iban grandma, Susan, wife! Agnesia, Susan's niece, 19. And they have a boy named Samuel who is the CUTEST but so naughty, throwing-around-an-oreos-container-during-sacrament-naughty hahaha. Solid!!

M_____ and Family: ALSO SO SICK. So M_____ was a SUPER strong member here in Miri from 2003 until about 2009 or so. Something happened, and she fell away. All this time, she was the only person in her family going to church - no family support at all. Well, two weeks ago, she felt pricked by the Spirit to contact the missionaries in Miri and return to the Church of Jesus Christ. She emailed Kelvin Tan, the missionary I replaced in Miri who has already gone home, who then forwarded to us her contact info. She has two children she wants baptized - also, her sister-in-law is down, and one of her good friends and their family are also learning. The best news of all is that her husband, John, who has never had any interest in the church, is now being baptized this Saturday. We are so excited and so blessed!

Also...

F_____: So, after Amazing August, one of the recently baptized members decided to talk to her friends at school! She wanted to invite them and be a successful member missionary. Well, one of her friends responded "Your church is sesat/misled/not true." The new member replied "How can you know if you have never been? Come and see." BOOM! Her friend came, felt the Spirit, and loved it! She's been reading the Book of Mormon and has felt the Spirit so strongly as she has done so. She texted us yesterday to say, "I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true! Can't wait to be baptized!!" Wow.

So. The Lord is really helping us out with sending some great prepared people. But I have a little story that correlates with this!!

A couple weeks ago, both of my parents emailed me about the importance of SPECIFIC prayers - not just asking for general blessings we need, but asking for specific ways for them to be met. Well, around the same time, I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Bahasa, and two verses really stuck out to me: Alma 13:24 

For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

and Alma 19:36

And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name.

Both of these verses mention ways the Lord can prepare the hearts of men for the message of the Gospel! Through His angels and His Spirit. So, for a couple of weeks, I prayed that the Lord would send His angels to the people of Miri and pour out His Spirit on the people here so they would be prepared for the message. I kept that up for a couple weeks, but I didn't really make any connection between that and the above experiences - I just knew the Lord was blessing us. Well, last night in my prayer before I went to bed, as I was thanking Heavenly Father for the opportunity to teach such wonderful people, the Spirit flooded my mind and heart, and I had the overwhelming thought that those people (specifically M____) were prepared as a DIRECT RESULT of my prayers and specific requests. I was flooded with gratitude. I know the Lord is over this work and is helping so many people come unto Christ!

In other news, at Mission Leadership Council in Singapore this week, Elder Stephen B. Allen, the head of the missionary force across the world came! He is the man who helped a ton with the production of Preach My Gospel, and the "I'm A Mormon" Media Campaign is his brainchild. Pretty legit, huh? He stirred up the Zone LEaders at MLC and we are STOKED to get down to work and get this mission going!!!

Also, I went to the American Club in Singapore this week with some old friends of our family's from when we lived in Singapore. It was so awesome/weird to have the memories flooding back from when I frequented the place with my family many years ago. So blessed! Also, I had the nicest meal of my mission while I was there!! #thatbuffetlifestylethough I ate a Caesar salad and pizza and nice food and finished with creme brulee!!!! SO GOOD Oh man, it really defeats the simple food of Malaysia that we normally eat. I wanted to take a picture but figured it was probably impolite hehe. I'm losing all social norms hahaha.

Life is great, we are working hard, and the Lord is working with us - which is the most important factor of all. As missionaries, we are merely instruments in the hands of the Lord! As of our own strength and ability, we are NOTHING.

Malaysia Boleh!

Love you all! Know you are in my prayers!

Elder Clay Coleman

Family friends Jim & Dora Ellis treated Elder Stewart and me to the best meal of our mission!
The Singapore American Club holds so many memories from my childhood.

Bishop Schroedter joined us for dinner. He was my bishop when I lived in Singapore as a child.

BEST WEEK OF MY MISSION

THIS WAS THE BEST WEEK OF MY MISSION SO FAR.  Last week, a whole new family was found and came to church. This week, we taught them twice and they came again. They're going to be baptized. This week, we found 3 more families through referrals. We are being blessed out of our minds!!! Soooo stoked!

Also our investigator J was baptized! Life is good! AHHHHHHHH!

Malaysia Boleh!!

Love,

Elder Clay Coleman

LASER TAG--preparation day fun with the Miri Zone (guess who won hahaha)

Mission Learnings and Perspective

Elder C loves serving in Miri!

Sister Hawea finished her mission recently and went back home to New Zealand.
Elder C describes her as a really, really great missionary and will miss working with her.

A mission is all about the people!!

(A friend of Elder C's who is preparing to leave on a mission asked if he would answer a few questions for her. This may be my favorite mission email yet :)

Why did you choose to go on a mission?

A mission has always been part of my plan - but the key thing that motivated and still motivates me is that I have been given so very, very much. I know God has been so merciful to me, blessing me with a loving family and the Gospel, and has given me so many opportunities to learn and grow. I think this desire to offer myself to bless others for just two years is why I chose to go and stay on a mission. 

How has your mission changed you?

The biggest thing I have learned on my mission is what real humility is. Usually we think of humility as the opposite of thinking we're better than other people - but I have also learned that a major bit of humility is giving the glory to the Lord. He's the one who touches people's hearts through our words and efforts, and He's the one who lifts our weakness and turns it into strength. Being humble and realizing you never ought to compare yourself to others, but you need to give the credit to the Lord and be willing to accept what He sees fit to give and inflict upon you. That's been a huge change for me.

What is serving a mission all about?

It's all about the people! The people the people the people and love for them. The second you worry about yourself and what people think of you, or desire to achieve mission leadership, or you try to get baptisms to lift yourself up or to make yourself important, that's the second the Lord withdraws His power and help. Instead, focus on loving these people and bringing them to Christ through the Gospel. The Gospel will bring any person greater peace and happiness - that's a guarantee! So that's what it's all about. Loving the people and praying mightily and fervently for the charity needed to love the people better and also the power to bring this amazing message to their hearts!!

How does Christ play a role in your life as a missionary?

Without Him, it's all useless! He's the one who makes everything possible. I learned last week just how crucial it was to have His grace to work with and work through us! That was something that I didn't fully understand - but we really can't do it without His help! It's funny - we try to do this work to demonstrate our love for Christ / to pay Him back in some way, but without His blessings, we can't do it - so basically we're just useless hahaha.

If you could tell all the people preparing for missions one thing what would it be?

Get in the habit of daily personal scripture study!! Every day. That's the biggest thing that most missionaries have to learn!! Just get in the habit and then there's no difference. Also, don't go too hard in the MTC. It's a ridiculous place and doesn't have that much of a connection with the field. Don't go too hard in there.

What would you tell someone who doesn't want to serve a mission?

You'll never regret serving. All the things you learn out here are amazing. Daily personal study, depending on the Lord, learning to pray, learning to be patient, the benefits of actually having a legitimate sleep schedule, working in behalf of someone else - not to mention becoming buds with some of the sickest people in the most random places and seeing the world / different parts of the country - it's awesome. You'll never hurt as much as you do while working as a missionary, but you'll never have as much joy either in the service of the Lord.

What's your favorite part about being a missionary?

Missionary work is the best because of all the people you get to meet and all the lives you can hopefully touch. You're probably not going to be a game-changing missionary for your whole mission, but you can be a great missionary for those people you teach! You can make a contribution, and little by little, you can help the church progress. You can be satisfied with the work you do as you love and give it your all. There's nothing like going home after a long, exhausting day and feeling dead but knowing that you did all you could. This work is the best. You also do ridiculous things that you're not expected to do at any other time in your life - eg riding your bike through torrential downpours! hahaha

What's the hardest part of being a missionary?

Dealing with a lack of success. That's something that can cut to the core. That's something that really has been difficult for me to deal with - what if i'm not helping enough people, time's always pressing on, I'll have wasted my mission, etc. But the thing that helped me work through that is making sure that I'm keeping the right standards of success for my calling as a missionary. Understanding the limits of my job description, in a way. I'm not out here to baptize - that's basing my success off of someone else's agency/ ability to choose. I'm out here to do EVERYTHING I POSSIBLY CAN to help people be baptized - which includes getting the Spirit, working with members, etc and then I can know I did what the Lord asked and have faith He will grant unto me the success that He wants me to have. Then, according to your faith, He will do just that!

What have you learned on your mission that will affect your life?

Personal scripture study and to focus on the needs of other people. I've talked already about the first one, but really putting others first and not thinking about myself all the time is a huge thing for me. By thinking of others before myself, I'm more motivated to work and be diligent and be selfless and Christlike. When it's all me me me, there's none of that. I know that will help me be a better son, brother, friend, and (one day) husband.

What did you learn while in the MTC?

Malay! And beyond that not as much as I wish - mostly about Preach My Gospel ch. 1 My Purpose. If I could go back, I would change how intense I went there. The white handbook is great, a book of blessings - but you can't force anyone around you to follow it!! Just make your personal decision to be obedient, and then stay true to it, and love those around you whether or not they follow the rules.

Do you feel your call was inspired?

100%. I know that the Lord's hand is in my call and is still involved in each of the companions I work with. The Lord is involved in the details, and if we pray for that to be shown to us, we can see it as well.

Getting soaked to the skin while riding bikes-- all in a day's missionary work!

Preparation day fun

Elder C loved working with these amazing sisters in his zone. What a jump shot!