The Future of Klang Branch Looks Bright

Hey everyone!! 

This week has flown by with lots of hard work and sweating and talking to people and teaching people. I'm so excited for the future of Klang Branch!! There aren't a lot of members out here now, but the way that the immediate future appears, it's very possible that's going to change.

I'm so grateful for this opporunity to help people change. We've been in many homes this week of new people trying to find happiness and goodness in their lives, trying to live well, but despite their efforts not knowing where to find truth. I'm so blessed to be working with those who do not know Christ yet, those who say they do but need a bit of repenting, and those that really have strong faith in the Savior.

I know this work is true, and that all comes from my personal experience reading the Book of Mormon and diligently enquiring of the Lord of the truthfulness of this message. 

For you future full-time missionaries and those who are member missionaries (that includes basically everyone), the most valuable thing you can do to prepare yourself as a tool in God's hands is to read and obtain a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Once you do, though you may not know much history or anything else, you will know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, the Church of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ's church on the earth today, and so many blessings await the honest seeker of truth. Get that testimony now so you can look people in the eyes while you serve God and with no hesitance at all, testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ.

Love you all!! 

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman

When God is On Your Side

Clay's sister McKelle and her husband David visited KL on a cruise this week.
Their port was Port Klang, the very place where Clay is serving.
They didn't see him, but did leave a note at his apartment for him.

Hello! 

SO...my sister McKelle was in my area this week. That's weird. (I didn't see her, but I did meet other people who were on her cruise.)

More people want to learn. More people came to church. There is a baptism coming soon. My companion and I are great friends. Life is just the best.

Don't ever forget!! God answers prayers!! But, He can only do what He really really wants to do according to our faith. And, He does things in His own way according to His own plan.

For example, this week we had an appointment with a man named Raja. He's great. It started to rain near our apartment and by the church, and he told us if it rained, he couldn't make it. Well, we had a member going to the church to meet him with us, and so we really wanted that appointment to go through. So, I looked at Elder Misa and here was our conversation.

Misa - "Dude.... look at those clouds, there's no way we're meeting them tonight..."

Coleman - "Yikes. Hold on man. If God needs us to make this happen, it's going to happen. He'll get rid of the storm."

Misa - "Well, yeah, but look at that thing!!!"

Coleman - "Let's pray, man. Let's turn it over to His hands. We can't do anything now. You think this can happen?"

Misa - "Dude, what can't God do? Let's do it."

So, we kneel down and pray. 15 minutes later, the black clouds were gone and blue was beginning to show. We laugh and just comment how it's sick when God is on your side. 

In the appointment with Raja and VJ, we tried to commit Raja to come to church. We talked about how if we really love God, we prioritize Him above everything else. We allow Him to take care of the details. Raja was sketchy, but  VJ (who was going slightly less active) was being more and more convinced that he needed to do more than just say he loved God. So, Sunday comes around, and VJ shows up for the first time in the last two months!!! And bring his investigator friend and her granddaughter!! And now that friend is going to bring her whole family next week! Raja, on the other hand, didn't show up. So!! God has His own plan and as long as we do all we can, He will work according to his own purposes through us. Pretty cool!!!

Loving life and this work. Weird to get a handwritten note from McKelle but hopefully now she and David get to see a little of why I love Malaysia so much. :)

Love you all, too!! I pray for you all!!

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman

We do service for these elderly people every week!
And below is a video of a little pick up baseball Elder Coleman joined in with some local children.

How My Mission is Changing Me

Finally got to see the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Hey everyone!!

This week, as normal, has been full of challenges to our faith and patience, but as we put our trust in God and worked harder, we were able to see many blessings. We found that we were lifted up as we in patience kept going in spite of the problems.

Unfortunately, the Iban family we met last Sunday really doesn't want to meet with us anymore (spoke to some pastors and stuff hahah) and they sent us a message like this on Thursday:  "Hey sorry for getting back to you late. I've read a tiny bit. We don't believe in that. I believe in the Bible and Jesus Christ, not in any other prophets. Good night." hahahah woof. We felt pretty down after that but then!! In my study of Hebrews, I found some verses (ch  6) :    

23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;(for he is faithful that promised;)

So I really like verse 23, God's always faithful in his promises. I connected that to this verse - about Abraham in Romans 4:20-21:

 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

God is able to fulfill his promises!! Any promise he makes, according to our faith, He will fulfill. Then the Spirit got me to think of this Book of Mormon verse in Alma 26!!

 26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

What God is promising Ammon and his brethren (and any other missionary, for that matter) in verse 27 is that if they are faithful and push on despite of and in spite of their afflictions, they will be given success. Or the Lord promises them that if they do not lose faith though they have been going through some really hard times, they will be instruments in the Lord's hands in bringing to pass whatever the Lord desires them to accomplish.

Then I read on in Hebrews and found this verse:

10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

And, oh gosh, Elder Misa and I got picked up and went out and the Lord led us to like 4 families and these ones actually are willing to try out what we teach. Pretty cool. The Lord wanted to test our patience and faith (see Mosiah 23:21), and then the Lord picked us up and led us to a bunch of new people/families. So great. Elder Misa and I realized that in order to test our faith, He took away one family (who weren't prepared anyway) - and then, in response to our faith and strength, led us to 3 or 4 more. That's pretty cool, and definitely a faith promoting experience.

Furthermore... Mahendran! He is a guy I mentioned last week whose work didn't allow him to come to church for more than a hour, and his wife is very sick with cancer!! Well, we finally met him this week (for some reason he could stay longer this week), and he proceeded to tell us that he has finally been able to change his work schedule so he can now come to church every Sunday. He told us he is finally ready to be baptized. He also said that he is ready to bring his wife and son to the church as well. WOOOOOOOW. SO MANY BLESSINGS!! I'm just here in the right time when the Lord needs me here. Mahendran will be baptized in three weeks. Who knows! Maybe his wife will eventually be baptized as well - by Mahendran himself!! We really didn't see that coming so we are way blessed and just doing what the Lord wants. We are literally just trying to be conduits for the Lord to do his work.

So grateful to be on a mission and here are some things that some converts asked me to write up for them! Hopefully you get a better insight of how I'm doing from here.

1. Why did I want to become a missionary?

While I was in Johor, the first area of my mission, I thought a lot about this. Why did I come on my mission? Why did I want to become a missionary? What motivated me to come out here and turn over two years to the Lord? Well, I came to several conclusions. The main reason I wanted to become a missionary was because the Lord had blessed me so much. I wanted to serve the Lord because I wanted to give something back to the Lord, and I hoped that as a missionary I could demonstrate my love for the Lord. I wanted to express gratitude by dedicated and hard work as a missionary, striving to bring others to the same knowledge and blessings I enjoy every day. I needed to spend time trying to share the amazing things that have been given to me. 

Of course I was also motivated by the fact that LDS young men are expected to serve missions, and the chance that I could go to an exotic/cool place on my mission, and because many of my friends were going. I can honestly say I never considered NOT serving as a missionary, thanks to great parents who taught me to serve the Lord and great leaders who set my sight on the mission field. 

I also had the desire to help save souls, of course. I really wanted to get involved and get to work and bring people unto Christ - these are probably the best motivations to desire to become a missionary - but I think that desire was outweighed by the more simple motivation that I wanted to give the Lord something back. Because I had been given much, I too must give and serve as a missionary.

2. What are the differences in you before and after you became a missionary?

Well, there are very very very many differences that I've been able to notice in myself, but even more differences that have been noticed by others (fellow missionaries, friends, family through skype and email). I probably won't be able to give a full explanation of this, and after my mission my family would be able to give the best answer, but maybe I can share some of the things I now know. 

Something to add though before I continue - what I have learned from President Mains is that a mission has a very different purpose than meets the eye. Each missionary's purpose, as we often recite, is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Or, to strive to baptize individuals and families in the restored Church of Jesus Christ. To help people find peace and direction and happiness through Jesus Christ. That is MY purpose. I am to find and teach and baptize!!! But the MISSION's purpose is different. The mission's purpose is not just to be (some of ) the best two years of a person's life, but to be the best two years FOR that life. The purpose of the mission is to change missionaries and help them grow. To allow them to become powerful tools and dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ. To throw young men and women up against challenges and to teach them to depend on Jesus Christ to overcome them. 

Oftentimes, missionaries ask, "Did I accomplish enough on my mission?" but a VERY VERY VERY good question for them to ask is "Did my mission accomplish enough on me?" So, here are some ways the mission has changed me.

First of all, I know myself a lot better now. I know what gets me upset, I know what things I do that make others upset, and I can try to avoid those situations that usually result in me acting below my ideal self. One of those things (very simple thing, don't tease haha) is that I can now feel a HUGE difference in myself and my own happiness/cheerfulness level when I don't get good rest. If I am ever late to get to bed (from staying out a little to late teaching a lesson or by writing in my journal etc) there is a definite difference in my ability to be happy! I just am more snappy and crabby and just lash out over dumb things that don't really matter. This is something I WISH I had known when I was at home, because I would have changed my behavior and gotten more sleep to be happier and make everyone else more happy around me. But I have learned this on my mission and hopefully I can make the decision to be more wise with my time to get more sleep and be more happy and cheerful and less irritable.

Another thing is that I have matured a TON, especially regarding controlling/correcting other people. Before my mission, I was of the opinion (perhaps due to pride, or just this is the way I was?) that if someone was doing something wrong, or was misinformed, or was saying something incorrect, it was my duty as a human to immediately tell them of their mistake and correct them!!! If someone was doing something wrong, without any impetus, I would go over there and tell them what they were doing wrong and tell them to stop doing it (think MTC). If I knew something more about a particular skill or talent, I would offer tons of unsolicited advice that I assumed the person would greatly appreciate and receive well. Here's a funny example from my childhood. One day, a little kid was seen sprinting down the church hallway, making tons of noise. My parents then heard me, walking as fast as I could, yelling "NO RUNNING IN THE CHURCH," making quite a bit bigger disturbance than his running hahaha. That's just how I was! I would tell you what I knew to be true and right and correct. If someone was wrong, they would be talking and I would interrupt and say "NO, it's actually like this..." Well that did a great deal to make people like me!!! I blew it!! I aroused resentment and dislike and wondered why in the heck they felt that way. Since I've been on my mission, I've realized that everyone has their own agency, and though we CAN in some circumstances influence the way our friends and colleagues make their own decisions, we CAN'T choose for them and if we try to tell them what's what it just results in bad relations/situations. I'm definitely not perfect now in this regard, but I have learned to lessen that terrible habit to a dramatic degree on my mission. Sorry to everyone who had to deal with that one :P

Last of all, I think I have changed a ton in being humble and led by the Spirit. I went on my mission thinking "How is Elder Clay Coleman going to wreck it and change these people and bring many people unto Christ" when in reality I am just a tool. As I have humbled myself and instead thought "How can I change to become a better tool in the Lord's hands" or "What would God have me do here to help them?" I have learned that the Spirit often whispers to our minds and hearts when we ask questions like this. It's been pretty cool and humbling, but I'm so grateful to know I am just a tool/instrument in the Lord's hands and not actually worth anything at all. 

Tons of changes!! I pray each day that my changes can become permanent differences in me!!

3. How has missionary work helped you change to become a better person?

Here is an interesting question. How has the work itself, the day to day labors of a missionary changed me. I think I am much more able to confront challenges / uphill battles with faith and hope than I was before. As I have served in areas that required great effort, I have been able to see great changes in my own efforts. Now I have faith that as I diligently and patiently work, relying much on the Lord, over time, situations that seem impossible to change CAN become different! Of that I have no doubt!!

Another change: I think I'm more loving. I'm learning it's ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE and that if I really want to help others, it's about focusing entirely on them and getting all motivations off of myself and working hard to love them. As the Apostle Paul says, "Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." We stop seeking the profit of ourselves and strive to push ourselves outward to love and teach because we love.

I know God is with us and this is the message/church that will bring us most happiness!! And that's why I'm here in Klang. To bring as many people as will receive it more happiness, peace and direction from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman

The Petronas Twin Towers are 1,483 feet tall, with 74 stories

Our Awesome Investigators

B and C

These guys are two Zimbabwean dudes living in Malaysia. In our branch, we have an African member also named B hahaha, but he was baptized in Botswana. They are fantastic, and it was kind of a miracle that we met C!! We met him this week, and when he was a teenager, he had received a Book of Mormon but didn't know what it was, so didn't ever pay any attention to it. But now, we taught him as well as B and read with them, and now they both have a baptismal date of the 28 February!! They are so excited to read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it's really true. 

R and C and son, and R and N and kids

These guys are Sabahans! Dusun and Murut (just two tribes in Sabah). We found them by accidentally going to the wrong flats and knocking on their door, trying to find some other potentials. They answered, and they invited us to come back the next day and teach them. We taught them the restoration and how Jesus Christ's true church has been brought back, and they decided to come to church that week!! (last week). We taught them again this week and they came to church AGAIN! we have really high hopes for them and they are reading and praying about the Book of Mormon now. If they get an answer, they will be baptized very soon. 

D and M and Family

Just last night I went over and taught this Iban family. It's fun just speaking Iban with people (but I have to teach in Malay bc it's way too hard right now in Iban. They were very receptive except for the dad, who had a bit of an issue with the Book of Mormon. Again, they're all committed to read and pray!! SO that's good. We really need these peoples' names on the temple lists that if it's the Lord's timing that they should receive and accept the restored gospel now, that they will receive spiritual confirmation that this is true.   

S and Family

S is the Indian man whose picture I uploaded a few weeks back. Well, he's been possessed and bothered by evil spirits his whole life through, and my investigator in Miri had the similar thing, but when he came to church (Christ's true church, mind you) he found that the entire problem went away. So I testified to him that this would happen in his life if he would come try Christ's restored church, and he ALMOST made it to church this week. His Father from the RC church got really upset with him to hear that he wanted to visit our church, but this morning through a Spirit-led phone call I persuaded him to try to come to church again next week. If he comes, and it's God's will that he needs this gospel right now (because he really really does), he will come and see it's right for him and he will be baptized along with his whole family!!

T and son

An investigator who has a hard time getting work off. Very nice lady who really wants to be baptized. Maybe it's just not her time yet if her boss and work is this sketchy. Gotta accept that God has his own timing with everything.

R

R!! He's a seriously funny Indian guy. No picture yet but when we meet him tomorrow, I will take one with him. So great! Just trying to get him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Lots of people need to do that!!!

D

Way sick. Corporate lawyer for top 3 firm in Malaysia. He might work with the church in getting visas for the missionaries in Malaysia!!

M

A great guy whose poor wife is dying of cancer. He comes to church every week though, and even though he sleeps through all the services because he works nearly 24/7 for his family, he's just great. He really feels the peace and good feeling that comes from our restored church - otherwise he would just stop attending!!

Faith

Elder Yang sent these photos to me (Clay's mom) from when Clay and Elder Yang served together in Tawau

This week my update is going to be some excerpts from my personal study and some thoughts I wrote down in my spiritual journal. Some pretty interesting stuff. I'm learning so much!

From my work, however, it's enough to say that we're starting to see the beginnings of something truly incredible here. It feels like my time in Miri all over again. We've got high hopes with several families we are teaching, and we're starting to involve the local members by getting them to pray for our investigators every night. So my invitation to you would be to meet with your local missionaries, and have them tell you about some of their investigators. (If they don't have any, it's probably a good idea to pray so that they can find some! haha) Then make a commitment as a family to pray every night for the local investigators - that they will receive a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and most of all that the investigators might know God's will for them at this time, whatever that may be!!

Please do that. It will mean a lot to the missionaries and your faith will help bring about a change in the investigators' hearts - see Ether 12 :13-16. Also, I can promise that you will have a greater desire to do missionary work yourself and get involved in the work of Salvation.

Now onto the good stuff.

31 December 2014

Faith and Trust

I've been thinking a lot about faith and trust - how they relate, what God understands about their relationship, etc - and I've come to some conclusions I want to record.

When I write the word 'trust' here, you can also replace it with 'confidence'. Another interesting and applicable perspective. 

First off, a little tidbit from Bahasa/Malay which sparked this thought initially. Oftentimes, when teaching people new to religion about faith/iman, we say it is "kepercayaan kepada Tuhan" - belief in God. Pretty simple. So the word "percaya" means to believe. Well, here's the part that got me going - percaya also means to trust or to have confidence in. So, faith is defined also as "trust in God." Hmmmm....

The second thought which triggered this pondering came when I got transferred from KK to Klang. It was tough not being a zone leader anymore (something that is normal in the Singapore Mission). Also, I was going from one of the best parts of the mission to one of the "worst" - Kuala Lumpur. Missionary work here is (supposed to be) hard and slow. Worst of all, it was completely unexpected. I thought I would never get sent to serve in West Malaysia. I was struggling with this, and struggling to know the transfer was right for me. I wanted to KNOW it was God's will for me to get sent here. You could say I was struggling to trust God. My will was far off from what was supposedly God's. As I prayed, pouring out my feelings to God, I got the impression to listen - and was consequently directed to read Ether 12 from the Book of Mormon.

I read in verse 6: "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Think also, "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your trust." WOAH. 

So when I read these words earlier this month, the thought came to me that though I knew not, or had no witness from God that this transfer was what was best for me, I hoped it was! I honestly hoped President Mains was inspired in sending me across the mission to KL - and therefore I could have FAITH it was inspired. I could TRUST God's will / believe it was God's will - and that faith would allow God to make it exactly what I needed. With that faith, fully aware and realizing it wasn't a perfect knowledge, I could go forth and work diligently to accomplish the Lord's purposes here.

Here's something more. God wants us to press forward, to Go Forth with Faith - with TRUST!!! He wants us to understand that not only does He desire us to push along without knowing everything, or knowing what is going to happen, He expects us to!! That's why He inspired Alma to write verse 21 in chapter 32 - He understands we don't need to and sometimes even ought not to know the whole story or see the full picture from the start! This world will only be the learning experience we need it to be for our eventual exaltation if we move/act with faith, or trust(!!!), and NOT with knowledge. 

But let's be honest - that's HARD. Walking to the edge of the light and then, at God's command, taking a few steps into the dark can be hard. Our natural bodies/minds reject that idea, calling it foolish, ridiculous, absurd. But that's what God expects and wants us to do. So, knowing and fully understanding the weakness of mankind, God has revealed Himself to prophets (many times, through angels), specifically His attributes that will help us have faith in Him! Or, in a more applicable way, the attributes that will help/make us TRUST Him, to have confidence in Him. That's why throughout the scriptures He tells us things like the following: 

- Romans 8:35, 38-39, and then Romans 8:28! " All things work together for good to them [us!!]". See also D&C 100:15, 90:24. 

- Matthew 28:18-20. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." See also 1 Nephi 9:6, 2 Nephi 2:24. 

- Isaiah 55:8-9. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways" SO TRUST ME DANG IT!!!See also Proverbs 3:5-7.

- D&C 101:16. "Be still and know that I am God" and flipping trust me!!

Again and again, "He has revealed himself so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence/trust/kepercayaan in Him without reservation/doubt/lack of faith.... to have faith is to have confidence = kepercayaan = trust in someone or something." (BD Faith)

It can be hard to take a step of faith. However, with faith or trust, it can be so, so easy. Think of this example. You are walking along a path when you come to a cliff. There's a note waiting for you, saying "Step off the cliff. just walk over the edge. Trust me. Love, God." Well, that's HARD! You look over the edge and you can't see the bottom. You try to reach out with your hand in the air over the cliff where the path leads (to check if there's one of those invisible platforms from Zelda), and you feel nothing. You're positive you're going to fall. All you know is that you're trying to do what God says because that will lead you back to Him - but now He's asking you to walk off a cliff? You will worry. You will doubt. You will fear. When you feel this way, it's hard to get yourself to take that step. However!!! If we remember the things God has revealed to us, and have more faith - TRUST - in that which we know, if we remember the times in the past God has supported and upheld us, we can trust God's plan for us and that if we do all we can, all things will work together for our good. We can trust God, and lean not unto our small and simple understanding. We can throw away our doubts and fears by just saying, "God, you've helped me this far. I believe you are all that you have told us you are. I trust you." And with that, you can take that step and turn your all over to the Lord. "Trusting my all to thy tender care, and knowing thou lovest me, I'll do thy will with a heart sincere, I'll go where you want me to go" or do what you want me to do!! Because I trust thee, because I have faith in thee, EVERYTHING ALSO CAN. (Malaysian speak)

To trust is to have faith. We can replace that phrase in the scriptures each time we see it. "To have faith" or "having faith in Christ" is believing, or even more simply, "having trust in Christ." Trusting Christ. According to thy faith/trust/confidence, be it done unto thee.

I know that a mission is among the greatest things I will ever do, and the things I'm learning alone

make it well worth my time. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Love you all!!!

Elder Coleman

New Year...what?!

Although on Christmas Eve when Elder Coleman called us the video conferencing wouldn't work, he was later able to get the right equipment to make it work, so knowing how disappointed his mom was that she didn't get to see him, he later sent us this video. Bless him!

Hey everyone!

I know. It's nuts. How can it be 2015 already?! I feel like we all say that every year. I think it's time we just accept the fact that time waits for no one and just keep moving along! And enjoy it as it goes. :) Let's go forward, and not backward!! I don't like to think that I have to come home in 2015, but I've got plenty of time to be a force for good in the hands of the Lord. Just gotta accept what you can't control and do everything you can with the stuff that is in your power!

This week was another good one. Stuff is ramping up. It's all about that slow but steady progress. That's the way most things in life work! We have a couple more families we should be able to teach this week or in the coming ones. We're really excited. 

Something very interesting about missionary work is that even if you are teaching tons of lessons every week, you and your companion are going to have down time. It's unavoidable! When Elder Stewart and I were seeing an explosion in the work while serving in Miri, we even then had time without any appointments. During down time, most missionaries struggle to find effective activities to do. I imagine Christ also had down time when he was out there - we know He ministered for around 3 years' time - and He's just lucky because the Biblical account only writes down the important teachings and events haha. I'm guessing what He did during that down time was strive to prepare Himself for future teaching opportunities and to minister to those around Him as well. Interesting thought. 

This week was one of those weeks. Though we had several lessons - a good week actually for Klang - we had lots of time without any clear purpose. During those times, I have found it extremely important to rely upon the Lord by praying and seeking direction - perhaps even asking Him to give us direction - and then getting out and going with the first thought that comes. If that means knocking doors, then go do it! If that means visiting members, then go do it! Just going with that thought and sticking true to what we hope is revelation. 

This week, Elder Misa and I felt prompted to get out of the house and to wander around some areas. In some of those instances, we found nothing and no one. In other instances, we found people really really interested in hearing the message of the restoration of the gospel. It really just takes causing ourselves to be diligent and focusing in on our purpose as missionaries. One impression we had was to go to the mall and visit a certain store. Neither of us had any idea why. So we go there, and once we get inside we remember that this particular store is where an Iban from Sibu works! So we think maybe we will be able to find him and get his number. Sure enough, within 10 seconds of going inside, we find him, chat him up in his native tongue, and then get his number. We will be trying to meet with him tomorrow. Pretty cool, but again it just takes faith and constant focus on our purpose to motivate us to get out, especially when it rains.

Another cool experience was teaching a recent convert and her family (who were celebrating their first Christmas this year) a little bit about what we do on Christmas day and why we celebrate. We helped them read Luke 2 and sang some Christmas songs with them. After the hymns, we felt the Spirit, so we paused to testify and confirm it was the Spirit's influence we were feeling. 

I'm learning a ton and the Lord is starting to hasten His work here in Klang. I feel like He is beginning to entrust some new families to my companion and me. We're going to do our best to remain humble and strive to do His will, so that we can see good things happen with these families. 

I'm being reminded as of late from my sister Cectpa/Sister Coleman and her emails - it's all about the people. I love these people here and really desire their salvation and happiness. I'm working hard and from what I can see, good things are coming. :)

Stoked!! See you next week!!

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman

Looks like the boy in green has been well trained in posing by Elder C!

Gotta love the Malay Santa Claus! 

Why I Love KL / Klang

With my new companion Elder Misa' alefua

Flying from KK to KL

Goodbye to good friends in KK

Goodbye to the elders I was living with in KK 

So. Transfers last week. Big deal. Going from KK to KL. From the east-est of the East to (what I thought was) the dang West.

I was very pleasantly wrong. :)

Why I Love Kuala Lumpur / Klang. 

Klang is very, very, very different from Kuala Lumpur.  It's about 30 minutes to the southwest of KL There's a nice little branch, which hovers around 35 people at sacrament meeting. It was just made into a branch from a group (and is about to explode in growth). But! Klang is not a big city, and that's GREAT.

It's a biking area, which is the best. So I'm not going to be sitting on the train all day :D

I get to ride a fixie!! Or a fixed gear bike, and it's way fun. A lot easier to ride!! That really doesn't matter, but it's fun, so I'm enjoying every time I get on my bike again :)

The place looks a lot like Johor Bahru - my first area, which I loved - so I'm feeling right at home here. In fact, surprisingly many people here speak pretty good Bahasa. There is a decent size flat complex where basically only Sabahans live, so that's been way fun to speak Bahasa with them. The looks on their faces when the orang putih (white kid) speaks their native tongue in their accent. Way funny.

Okay, remember the Sini family from Tawau, the HUGE one with a bajillion kids? One time their grandparents visited them while I was serving in Tawau. The grandparents said they lived in KL. I didn't think anything of it - then I got here and discovered they live in my area!! They are in my branch!!! I'm so super stoked. The grandparents and Brother Sini's younger sister all live here, and they're way awesome. I'm hoping to get pretty close with them, too, just as I was with the Sinis. Think of it, I know both branches of the family!! And they knew Yunus and Aspine! They saw them in a picture on my camera, and then I was pleased to tell them that they have been baptized (Elder Yang and I taught them). Wayyy awesome. At church I translated for them, and so my Bahasa skills are going to probably improve as I translate every week! You don't realize how much room for improvement you have until you have to speak at the speed of lightning because the people you are translating are going way hard in English. I just have to remember to write down the words I don't know so my random vocab can increase!

Well, I guess I'll be agak honest here. In KK, I was not doing many of the things in Miri and Tawau that were leading to success. I would definitely say the little things counted, and after a while, I was not operating at my best self. The last two weeks there, I was doing a lot better, but I was definitely a little bit lax!! So I was thinking this transfer was almost a "well, you get what you pay for!" If I wasn't working fully with all my heart, might, mind and strength, then why would He give me the transfer I wanted? Well, I get here, and within the first two days I'm operating at full Elder Coleman. I'm just all in again. And for that I'm grateful. I'm getting back to my fully operating Elder. So, I love KL because it fixed me in a sense! It has put me back where I needed to be. 

My new companion Elder Misa is a really sick kid. He's from San Jose, California, and a Samoan! I've never served with a polynesian before, and he's pretty legit. I'm excited, he's excited, we were both Zone Leaders, and we are hopeful we can really hit our strides together. Missionaries always drag each other down or bring each other up. Trying now to do the latter :) We're excited and ready for the work to BLOW. We've already been blessed with a new Indian family to teach that only speaks Bahasa. YAY! 

Lots of good things on the way. And although I never expected it, this is definitely the place God wants me to be.

Malaysia Boleh!

Love,

Elder Clay Coleman