The Hard Work of Missions

With some Tawau members before Elder LaFontaine was transferred

Hello all! 

This week was GREAT!! A lot of work. Missions are definitely a lot of work. Whether it's just jalan kaki (walking by foot) or biking, we work each day and look for people to teach. On the bad side, it's way hot here. You just sweat. On the great (!!!) side, you get dang tan! I'm semakin orang hitam (gradually becoming a dark person). It's fun and there is a crazy watch tan on my wrist. So! There's an upside to everything. My challenge to you is to look for and focus on it!

As I said last week, President Mains has really been focusing on people to teach. I really like and agree with what Cectpa Coleman and Elder Shane Brown have said: When the members aren't with you, and you have no one to teach, you've got to go out and try finding!! So that's what we've been doing. We go knocking and contacting here... We usually just knock on gates!! Most homes have a little gate in front of the house and then we tap it with our keys or a big 50 sen coin (best method) and say "Hellooooo!" Sometimes more than just one person will come out. It always surprises me they can hear the sound of the gate being knocked!! But whatever. It works!! 

This week, we found a couple people willing for us to come back and teach them, but before our next lesson, they called and said "We already have a church. Please don't come back." It's tough. But these are the times you have got to put your head down and just work, work, and work. The Lord will bless us once we have done all we can - so that's what we are doing. Everything we can!! Since we aren't out here to force people, it can get a bit discouraging, but we just keep it up. 

It's pretty interesting - this mission just makes me way more strong in this church. I really have to think about my motivations when it gets tough, and whether or not I really fully believe in this work and church and in the Book of Mormon, but I really do - and that's what keeps me going, even when the tank is dry, or the doors get slammed or whatever else. I truly, truly, TRULY believe it to be true - and that's because I've prayed about it and received an answer it's true.

But we still manage to have a good time and laugh about all the ridiculous nature of stuff. For example, see the picture of my shoes below. It's pretty great. Lots and lots of crazy fun things. Everyone out here thinks I'm a lot older than I am, like the average is probs 23, but I've also gotten 25, 26 before!! They're all SHOCKED when they hear I'm 18. I guess they just can't guess the age of an orang putih!!

To get members going, we've been using Preach My Gospel lessons with them! We teach them  to get them excited about missionary work. I would encourage you with your strongest members to try it and see if anything comes of it for referrals!! 

Coldplay!!!!!! So stoked to hear about the new album. When you hear stuff like that, it makes being obedient to being cut off from the world pretty hard - but I just pray for strength to resist haha and walk it out. That's what this is all about. Discipline yourself. Obedience is the major test of this life!

I was reading El Libro de Mormon the other day and realized my Spanish isn't completely gone! In fact, this week I gave an entire lesson in Spanish with these two Filipina less actives who speak it!! SOOO funny and great. Also, I can pray in Chinese now... though it's simple and I basically say the same thing every time, I believe I can learn the language if I keep at it. I love the Malay language best of all.

There are tons of miracles around us: this week, we found two members of the church who haven't been back to church in so long! One hasn't come for 7 years. We found them through random, crazy miracles. We know this work to be true. I love you all!! Continue working hard and being awesome!!!

Elder Clay Coleman

Evidence of our hard work!

Another Tawau sunset (I think Elder Coleman is his mother's son haha)

Six Months!

Sister Tina is our pseudo mission mom in Tawau

Hello all!!

This week flew by. I'm grateful for the opportunity to write you again, but missionary work is so great. It seems like there is not enough time in a week to do everything we want/are required to do! That definitely applies to emailing. I wish I had Siri out here! She was basically my best friend back at home because she made texting/emailing so much faster and I probably "talked" to her more than I spoke to any of you (seems impossible, I know). So patience with me as I email you!

Anyways!! This week was great. I'm learning a lot as a trainer - and my trainee is starting to settle into the regular routine of missionary work. Turns out Elder Yang used to be a starter on varsity basketball at 5'4", so that's pretty remarkable. We're actually going to go play some basketball right now, so I'll have a report on how good he actually is in a few hours!

Tomorrow is my 6-month mark. That seems absurd. It hardly feels like any time I've been out here - and it's already a fourth over.

This week we did a lot of work. We visited a lot of members, went contacting a bunch, and saw the ball move a little bit. Here in the Singapore Mission, about 2-5 years ago, the area underwent a massive

explosion. The number of baptisms in a year at its peak was 1200. It was ridiculous, considering the percentage of the population in Malaysia that actually can be taught. (We can't teach people of the I s l a m i c faith.)

Well, in recent years, the focus of the mission has really changed to working with less-active members and bringing back many of the people who were once baptized but have since left their testimonies. It's

necessary work, and rewarding, but what the mission leaders have been realizing lately is that focusing on less-actives has really drained attention from going forward with investigator work. So, they've recently been focusing on working with investigators - whether that's finding, teaching, or whatever else!

In that spirit, this week, Elder Yang and I got out and started wandering around areas, talking to every person we could see - even if they were not Christian! (Don't worry, we don't mention the church until we know for sure if they are Christian.) We found some new people and can't wait to get on the ball and teach! We are trying to work hard first, and find the people the Lord needs us to find and teach them. Pray for us to be successful!!

Love you all! This work is true! Here are some pictures with Elder Yang and Sister Tina, the 'mission mom' here in Tawau.

Malaysia Boleh!

Love,

Elder Coleman

How grateful Clay's family is for wonderful people like Sister Tina who love and care for the missionaries!!

Elder Coleman and Elder Johnson who is his Zone Leader.
(Elder J's grandmother knows Clay's grandmother from the 1950's in Mississippi
when Clay's grandmother's family joined the Church. Small world!)

Training Elder Yang--it's Amazing!

Sunset in Tawau (view from the church building)

My new "son" Elder Hue Yae Yang (pronounced Foo Yea Yang)

Hello everyone!

I know, I know, I should have written last week! Sorry Mom :) But this last week was crazy! So... Transfers got bumped up a little last week because of Mission President Training in Hong Kong - usually, we find out our transfers on Monday, and everyone moves on Thursday! But, because President Mains had to be leaving on Tuesday, we found out the news on Saturday, and Tuesday was moving day. 

So on Saturday, we found out the crazy news. The Zone Leaders called and the four missionaries in Tawau all huddled up around the phone on speaker phone and just listened anxiously. Picture that hahaha. So, Elder Chong is staying here in Tawau and was going to get Elder Sutherland from Kuching (which has since happened, and he's a great guy). The Zone Leaders didn't say anything about the Malay elders, so Elder LaFontaine goes, "Is there a change with the Malay Elders?!" Elder Johnson was messing with us a little bit so he laughingly says, "Yes! Elder LaFontaine is going to Kuching, Kota Samarahan." He then gave details about that, and FINALLY he gets to me! "Elder Coleman is training in Tawau!" Woooooooo! I was so stoked! Literally the night before I had been praying that all the new missionaries and the missionaries moving would be feeling okay with their transfers and stuff, and I had a feeling I was going to be training - and then it happened. Pretty cool.

Saying goodbye to Elder LaFontaine was sad but also exciting. We had a great companionship, and I really appreciated the perspectives on missionary work and life I gained from him. I love that guy, and I'm grateful to have served with him!!

So, the reason why I couldn't email much last week was that on Monday, I had to fly to Singapore to pick up my new missionary! Pretty funny because my area is nearly 1,000 miles away from my mission home and office. Hahaha. So all day Monday I had to fly to Singapore, and then I got to the mission home about 3:30.  By the time I changed and stuff we barely had any time to email before we had to go back for the Train the Trainers meeting with President and Sister Mains and the APs. Very cool - Elder Robinson (one of the APs) knows all the kids two years older than me who live in our neighborhood! He even slept over at the Brennan's house one time with some college friends! So it was fun to talk with him and talk about mutual friends.

So! Last Tuesday I found out my new companion. Elder Yang! He's Mong (native race from Thailand, raised in America), about 5' 4", hilarious, and a stud. I've got the chillest trainee ever.  He already has pretty good language skills, and is way willing and just wants to do the work. He's from San Francisco, CA and is super legit! We make an interesting companionship and every one here thinks he's Chinese haha but whatever. In Malaysia, if you are any Asian race other than Malaysian, they think you're Chinese. Pretty funny. It's a good time. He speaks somewhat like some of my African American friends back home, so that's legit. I have this thing about absorbing a little bit of the habits of people I'm around a lot - so this is going to be funny. 

Whenever a new missionary comes into the field, he gets a trainer, who shows him the ropes and gets him on his feet. That's my goal with Elder Yang! To teach him how to be a missionary on his own, and then to work with him just like any other companion. Gotta be friends and equals in a companionship, right? Anyways, so I'm stoked to be with him. I've been blessed with the Gift of Tongues so much, it's ridiculous. I can understand basically everything anyone says to me now, unless they are using unusually specific language - eg. when a swarm of bees attacked a kid this week, and someone tried to explain what happened, I understood everything but the word for bee. (Which is penyengat, by the way :) ) So I've been extremely blessed. Advice for any prospective missionaries learning a new language: Be diligent in language study, and in every prayer ask for the Gift of Tongues. Then watch the blessings come.

This week was pretty great. We went all over, visiting members and less-actives and introduced Elder Yang to them. They all called him pandai / skilled at something, in this case Malay / because he can already tahan / survive! We had lots of spiritual experiences studying together and teaching together, but one of the coolest experiences happened yesterday. It was fast Sunday, and we were heading over to Sister Lita's house. She's a Filipina lady who has a soft spot in my heart. She calls God her "My Precious Heavenly Father." Man! Gets me every time! We were planning on teaching her a lesson about prayer, when all of a sudden, while on my bike, the Spirit put a thought and feeling in my heart "You need to teach about fasting." I thought a prayer in my heart "Just making sure, fasting, and NOT prayer?" and sure enough, the thought came stronger and said "Yes, Fasting." I then was like "Okay! Can!" So I yelled back to Elder Yang "We're teaching about fasting today!" We then planned to read Isaiah 58 together which talks a lot about the blessings and importance of fasting. Turns out Sister Lita has been having a ton of problems with stuff, I won't go into details, but she said: "Elder, this lesson is exactly what I needed." Both my companion and I bore testimony of fasting, and the Spirit was so strong. Then, though the Spirit was prompting me to challenge her anyways, Sister Lita said "Elder, I'm going to fast every week so that the Lord can bless me." It was epic and way spiritual. Just so awesome to literally watch myself being the vehicle to teach Heavenly Father's children exactly what they need to hear. Instruments in the hands of the Lord!

Well, training. It's amazing. I'm already starting to feel an attachment to Elder Yang like my own son - hence why trainers are nicknamed "fathers" and trainees "sons." You can trace your family line like that! It's pretty great. I've been thinking about just how much I'm going to love my own kids in the future and it's unreal! I just can't wait to learn as much as I can from this experience and Elder Yang.

So if anyone knows Elder Jimmy Jacobs, I've got some funny info about him. He's right now serving his mission in the Philippines Cebu Mission, and just recently got transferred to a place called Negros. Well, turns out that's basically the closest part of his mission to my mission. I'm serving in Tawau right now - which is one of the closest areas to HIS mission from mine! Right now, we are less far apart in Tawau and Negros than the distance between Provo and Coto de Caza. Pretty legit huh?! So stoked about that. Google "distance between  Tawau Malaysia and Negros Philippines" and you'll see hahaha. So awesome!

Love you all! This work is true! Can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me and Elder Yang! I would invite your prayers back at home to help us to find some new people to teach - it's what we're going to be focusing on this week, and I know your prayers will help.

Malaysia Boleh!!

Elder Clay Coleman

The four Tawau elders before last week's transfer (Elders Chong, Tan, LaFontaine, and Coleman)

I'M GOING TO BE A TRAINER!!!!

This week, Elder Coleman didn't send a regular weekly update. He missed his normal email time because he was flying from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu then to Singapore to go pick up the newly arrived missionary whom he will be training. It was a long travel day. He is so excited to meet the new elder and asked for us to pray for him that he can be a good trainer. "I'm stoked! It's going to be legit!" 

It's a Malaysian turtle! And a jungle out there!

Sunset in Sabah

Elder C is going to miss Elder LaFontaine and Elder Tan who were both transferred out of Tawau

Tutoring Math in Malay and Other Great Stuff

The tree is by the church and it's HUGE! I love this pic where I'm hiding. It's like "where's the missionary?!?!? THERE HE IS!" hahaha 

Matsalleh is the nicer way of saying "white person" other than orang putih. So this street is White Person Way!!

The darling kids of the Sini family

The Sini family pet monkey!!

Hello from Kota Kinabalu! I'm here for zone district meeting.

Two people coming to the Irvine mission whom you should know about!!!

1. Camille Nuttall, from Chicago, a friend from summer term at BYU!!

2. A girl named Jaclyn - wait for it - FROM SABAH, GOING TO MY HOME MISSION!!! Woah! So awesome! You have got to meet her. I'm going to try to meet her today or tomorrow. Don't know her missionary name yet, but I'll get it!

Okay. Teaching Primary is honestly the best. It's getting crazy because now I talk to little kids, understand them, and even one time this week tutored someone in MATH in Malay!! Speaking another language for math - one of the hardest things I've ever done. The Gift of tongues is real!!!

This week, we found out an investigator Elder LaFontaine and Elder Johnson had been teaching whom they thought had already moved is actually still here in Tawau! His name is Eugene and we are going to be teaching him in the future. 

We did a lot of work with less active members this week, and we are feeling really good about progress we are making. I love seeing people come back and partake of the sacrament - what an amazing experience. Brother Adai was great this week and came out to church. AGAIN! So grateful!

Also this week, Elder LaFontaine hit his one year mark!! SO cool, so we celebrated at a restaurant with some steamboat - basically, where you get raw meat and stuff and cook it yourself in front of you! So fun and delicious.

BTW, DURIAN--SO GOOD!!! OH MY GOSH you may have seen it. or at least smelt it! SO DELICIOUS. Gotta try it three times! I had it once in the MTC, then twice out here, and by the 3rd time, you love it. So good! (This is Clay's mom: That fruit smells like a mix between rotting onions and soured cheese. I never thought in a million years that the world's pickiest eater as a little boy would grow up to LOVE durian!)

Enjoy the pics, and know I love you all!!!

The church is true, this work is real, and God watches over it!!

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman 

PS As many of you know, my sister Maddy is serving a mission in Russia right now. Here is her email from last week. Really touched my heart and I know what she says is true and I wanted to share it with you!!! 

"Hello hello!! How is life? I miss you all and appreciate your love and support and prayers. I truly feel them in my behalf. 

How are the Olympics!? Sochi!!! I still can't get over that I'm living in Russia while the Olympics are here. Kind of crazy.

Anywho, this has been an amazing week. Guess what? We have two new investigators! They are incredible, and have so much potential. K___ just turned 18 on Feb 1, and she wants to take the missionary discussions now that she can. She has been coming to Family Home Evening and stuff for about 7 months now. I am so excited about her!! I___ is 27. We met in December, and it has been interesting with her. She has a lot of questions. She is so sweet and really smart. 

When I was thinking about what I wanted to write today, I decided to share some of the things I have been mulling and pondering over this past week. Recently, my companion and I have been asked a few simple, yet interesting questions: "Why is religion important? Why should I come to your church when I already have a church I go to? Why are you even here?" 

These inquisitions really got me wondering: Why IS religion important? If people already go to a church, what makes OUR church different and why WOULD they want to change and come to our weekly service? Why AM I here in Russia? Maybe some of you might ask yourselves the same things, and maybe you think I'm crazy for tromping around in the freezing cold here in Russia, with only my companion by my side, trying to talk to everyone, and doing it all for free. What would motivate a 21 year-old to do something like this? 

Well, this morning, after studying and thinking about these things for the past few days, a couple of interesting insights came to me. 

Why do I think religion is important? If I thought this church was just another religious sect, just some other place to worship once a week, if I didn't know what I know about where I'm from and why I'm on this earth and where I'm going after I die, I might think religion is unnecessary, that people are silly for believing in things they can't see. But this religion has answered all those questions in my life. I know I lived with God before I came to earth; I know my purpose here; and I know where I'm going after I die.

The reality is that this church--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints--isn't just some other religious sect. It isn't a "once a week" place of worship. This church is Jesus Christ--the Savior and Redeemer of the world's--church. This is where HIS gospel, ALL of His Gospel, resides. This is where the church he established when he was on earth has been restored. This is where people come and learn why this life is so incredibly important in the eternal scheme of things: "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (Alma 34:32 from the Book of Mormon)

We are here to get to know God and Jesus Christ, and to demonstrate through our choices that we want to follow them. We are living this life so we can show Heavenly Father that we want to return to live with Him. We are here so that we can serve and help others find the light of Christ in their lives. This life is the time to progress, to change, to grow, to become. So to answer the first two questions in one: Why is religion important and why should people come to this church? Because to me, and to millions of others, this church is the place to come unto Christ with full purpose of heart, to have our hearts changed, to live with our families forever, to partake of the eternal joy that comes from having a full knowledge of why we are here on the earth. 

Of course, I do not mean to say that other religious institutions don't have value or that they don't have some truth. They do! That is what I tell people on the streets every day. As a missionary, I am in Russia to strengthen the faith of those who are here, and to add to their faith a fulness of truth. We are here to invite others to be baptized by the proper priesthood authority, to have the opportunity to take part in ordinances that will open the doors of eternal life for them, and to answer the questions of their souls.

In answer to the final question? I am here in Russia because I know this church is true. Plain and simple. I love this gospel and my Savior. 

I love all of you!!!! 

Cectpa C. "

Missions are Sweet!

Missionary work in the jungle (photo cred: Elder LaFontaine)

Hello friends and family!! 

It's been a great week this week, with lots of work and great experiences.

Missionary work is just the best. There are so many times when we just feel impressed to do small things or plan such and such a lesson, and we always feel the Spirit of God confirm what we are doing. So amazing.

One of the coolest experiences this week happened on Saturday and Sunday. We found  a man named Brother Adai  on some old teaching records - he had been referring a ton of people to the missionaries! We were confused because we had never seen him at church, and Elder LaFontaine had never even heard of him. Anyways, we felt prompted to ask a less-active member a couple weeks ago about him and sure enough, she knew him and volunteered to bring us over to his house sometime.

Well, this week we asked the member if she could take us after we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with her. She agreed, and sure enough, Brother Adai was there. Turns out he is really sick with something (he spoke a ton of Malay words that were really medically specific that I had no

chance of understanding hahaha) and had spent the past 3 months in Kota Kinabalu (northern Sabah), and just arrived last week back in Tawau.

We read some verses from the Book of Mormon with him (1 Nephi 15:11) and after he told us "Manusia tidak boleh buang penyakit ini dari aku, tetapi aku percaya Tuhan boleh." (Men can't get rid of this sickeness, but God can.) We then gave him a blessing. I really wanted to pull a Peter or a Joseph Smith and just say to him "Be ye healed!", but I found myself promising him that as he returns to church, he will be healed (with specific reference to church this week). So, we promised to come and pick him up for church and take him with us via bus, but the next morning, he had already left! Jalan-jalaning, or just wandering around. We felt devastated that he didn't let himself demonstrate his faith in the Lord.

Then, at church, guess who shows up?? Brother Adai. It was incredible and a miracle to say the least. I can't wait to teach him again and again in the future and help him reaffirm his faith in Christ!

Missions are sweet.

Elder LaFontaine and I just get along better and better each week! Love the guy.

Today the Zone Leaders are here with us, and they brought my mail from early January!! So thank you everyone for the letters!!

Love you all! Serve a mission if you haven't already (senior couples ARE included!), read the Book of Mormon if you aren't a member and find out why the heck we all are spending two years of our lives in crazy countries and situations! (Hint: It's all about helping others come unto Christ. Read Moroni 10:32)

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Coleman

PS Funny Malaysian things: Elder Tan (who is a native Malaysian missionary) said this week "Electric city" when trying to read "electricity" hahahaha #malaysiarocks

Also, Malaysia has a bunch of words from English that are spelled differently but pronounced the same. Eg ice cream is "ais krim"Hahahah 

Found another funny one this week: Ice cube is "ais kiub"

bahahahaha

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!

Hello all!

Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!!  hahahahah I've never eaten so many oranges. (Oranges are symbols of good fortune and abundance in Chinese tradition and a mainstay in New Year celebrations.)

It was a lot of fun to have many activities associated with Chinese New Year this week, especially since it's a holiday we rarely see in America. One of the Tawau Chinese speaking elders' investigators invited us over, and it was a really great experience. The man even ended up coming to church on Sunday!

My companion and I are probably the only orang putih (literally means "white people," which is what people here call us) in the entire city! So we get a lot of strange glances. Coming home and not being stared at 24/7 is going to be weird.

Right before this photo (below) was taken with the Chinese dragons, there literally were crowds of people standing here, and they moved them all so we could get a picture hahah. Then everyone took pictures of us and said "orang putih!!!!!" So great.

Spiritual experiences are so plentiful out here, and every week my companion and I are reminded again and again that this work truly is that of the Lord. When we met with the investigator family we met last week, my companion and I actually both had the idea (which in reality came from Elder Wilson) to read the Book of Mormon with them. It went great, and we had a member there with us! The next appointment we had was a little bit messed up by the fact that the parents were out of town for two days, so instead of teaching the Plan of Salvation to the family, we read 2 Nephi 31 from the Book of Mormon about the essential nature of baptism with the oldest son (16 years old).

Last week on preparation day we went biawak (monitor lizard) hunting. We did eat the biawak later, and I didn't feel so bad about killing it until the meat it produced was disgusting... then I felt way bad... But now I know! I won't do it again. haha

Sorry the slow internet today is making it impossible this week for a longer email, but just know I'm having a blast and the work is progressing! Truly, the Book of Mormon can change anyone and is really the word of God! If you already know that, don't forget it and read the Book of Mormon often! If you don't know it, just try it once and I promise that you will not regret it. Your life will be blessed immensely. Promise!! (I'm doing a pinky promise, which in Malaysia is about as binding as it gets. For reals.)

Love you all!

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Coleman

PS I hear Peyton Manning got wrecked in that Super Bowl! I cannot believe that!

I thought he was going to do really well but I guess not. Though this

season for him was the greatest QB season ever! Pretty amazing. My friend

Christian Halvorsen has been keeping me updated. :)

The local people cleared the deck for us and then called "Orang Putih" while they all took photos of us. 

Awesome Chinese New Year fireworks!