A Poignant Easter Lesson

My first Malaysian rainbow

Hello!

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

Let's start off with the good stuff!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love,

Elder Clay Coleman

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

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

I Want to Do This Work Forever

Launching sky lanterns at Chinese New Years a few months back

It's Adrianne, Clay's mom here. This week he didn't send an actual weekly update for family and friends, but this little note was part of what he sent to me. 

Mom!!! I'll be honest, it's the worst when I don't “talk" to you on P-day!! You're just the best.

In related news, Sister Tina (the one who always takes care of the elders) was born in 1966, just like you. So literally, she's basically my mom here. 

Also! Sister Chua from Malaysia finally arrived in California! She's in Irvine right now. Oak Creek ward.

Fun that you and Jess saw Les Mis in NYC... Haven't even thought about that in forever! Man! Touched my heart that you and Jess cried with memories of me! Don't worry. I'll be back sooner than you can imagine or desire! I don't really like the sound of that--I want to do this work forever! And I'm saying that after having tons of people just say no and no and no because they already have a church. We get referrals, and they just say NO, we already have a church! Man. We're burning through potential investigators out here like crazy. Well, sometimes this work just wants to make you pull your hair out. But I think I'm coming to the conclusion that if you're doing life right, you're going to do hard things - it's just a part of real, worth-it life.

Love you more than you can know! Thank you for just doing the simple things like singing the church hymns to me when I was growing up! (see President Eyring’s recent General Conference talk.)

Sorry for not sending a big letter. Going to play badminton! That's a thing here! 

Love you!

Elder Clay Coleman

Back in Tawau

Flying across Malaysia

Hello all!

Sorry I didn't get an email off last week. We've had a very busy last two weeks that involved being out of our area for 6 whole days! Yikes. I'll get into the details in a bit.

First of all, transfers just came out! Elder Yang and I are staying here in Tawau, along with Elder Sutherland and Elder Chong, the Chinese speaking elders. It's going to be great, and we have high hopes for this upcoming transfer.

Last week, we had some great lessons. We have some new referrals that we haven't contacted yet, but we feel really good about it. 

I don't remember how much I talked about Brother Sagario before, but he is the one with the injured leg. Well, he's doing way better and can now walk around and the wounds are getting smaller and smaller!! He's great. We taught him the first lesson last week, and he was very interested and really wanted to learn! We feel really great about him. This past Friday, we taught him about the Book of Mormon, and he has been reading it!! He has agreed to be baptized on May 17, so that will be this transfer! We are so excited. 

So! Out in Malaysia, where the Church is still new, we have Districts and Branches instead of Stakes and Wards (which are terms we use for congregations in the LDS church). The District is based in Kota Kinabalu, the biggest city in Sabah. For district conference, the Tawau Elders flew to Kota Kinabalu! It was really great. The members came up in a 10 hour bus ride from the Southern bit of Sabah to KK and met us there. President Mains gave great trainings about members working with missionaries. I really connected with what he was saying, and so did the members. We think we're going to have even more success soon.

After District Conference, we flew to Singapore for Zone Conference, a missionary meeting! It was also really great. We got some great training from President and Sister Mains, and the Assistants to the President. President Mains spoke on being a Preach My Gospel Missionary, and his trainings were so on point. It was really a pleasure to be there and learn from him.

Finally, we got back on Wednesday - after flying from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to KK to Tawau. Apparently, it's 2700 miles total travel. I signed up for a frequent flyer card! hahahaha

This last week, Elder Yang and I have been going out finding a lot, trying to find those people in Tawau that are willing to listen to this message that will change their lives forever. I have been trying to focus on my motives for missionary work a lot lately. I think it's important to really try to love the people here and desire their happiness. That's why Elder Yang and I sweat and work and sweat some more out here. That's why we go hard - just to try and help these people find true and lasting happiness for their families and themselves. It's hard work but the most fulfilling work, too. I would ask for your continued prayers that we might have success bringing people unto Christ, to find out what this Church can do for them.

Here's a quote I read recently from a past leader of our Church: 

"If we will always look for the best in others, in our friends, in our

neighbors, in our wife, in our husband, in our children, they will

turn out to be the most wonderful people in the world. On the other

hand, if we are looking for their weaknesses and faults and enlarge

upon them, these same people may become even despicable."

- N. Eldon Tanner (an apostle in our church)

It's so true. I really wasn't good about focusing on the good things about others while I was at home, and I really can't wait to come home and focus on the positives of my family and friends. I think this is a powerful lesson for all of us to learn - and it really hits me hard when I think about how we usually act the worst around the people we care about the most - our family. Anyways!! Hope you can find a way to implement that in your life this week!!

Love you all!! The work of the Lord will go forward, there is no doubt in my mind - but we, as members and missionaries, have to do all we can so that we can help it along. Pray about whom you can talk to about the Gospel and the Lord will tell you who needs it.

Love you all again!!

Elder Clay Coleman

Malaysia Airlines' Newest Frequent Flyer

Tawau to Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, and then back the same way 

Elder Coleman spent his weekend flying across Malaysia and then on preparation day making his way to Singapore for Zone Conference. His mission necessitates a lot of flying between areas; this past week alone he flew 2700 miles (2394 nm).  He didn't get time for emailing much this week but sent us this sweet note:

Zone conference took my day for email so sorry maybe email tomorrow or day after, love you!!! (Wooooof.... I fly so much I went and signed up for a frequent flyer account for Malaysia Air.) Your prayers and fasting and putting his name on the temple prayer roll was not in vain. Brother Sagario is healing and walking and is now beginning to learn the Gospel! So sick!!! Love you so much! Keep praying! 

I got the Easter package! BEST THING OF MY LIFE! Every one keeps calling me spoiled, but I just know that every day I'm learning how to love my future kids and show them I really care! Thank you thank you thank you! I always pray and just thank Heavenly Father that I have a mom and dad like you. Thank you for everything you do for me and KEEP DOING MISSIONARY WORK. We've got to get as many people as possible ready for Christ's coming!! Love you again!

Elder Clay Coleman

Healing Blessings

This week we flew to Miri in Sarawak for a training

A shark!! Pretty EPIC!!!

Catch of the Day at a Miri fishmonger's stall 

Hello all!! 

This week FLEW by. It just seems to do that out here - you go out to work, and soon enough it's Monday again and I'm here writing you all!

This week was pretty great. On Monday, we played some basketball for the entire rest of P-day! The four elders in Tawau (Elder Chong, Elder Sutherland [the Chinese Elders] Elder Yang, and I) have some great team unity, and we can play hard and take on mostly anyone. It's pretty fun. 

I kinda forgot to mention this two weeks ago, but I got tonsillitis! I was feeling pretty sketchy at the end of preparation day on 10 March and so I just went to bed early.  In the morning I had a 102.8 degree fever. We called Sister Mains like we are supposed to when we are sick, and then she told me to go to the sketchy Malaysian hospital! So that was interesting. Turns out I just had tonsillitis and I got a couple of antibiotics. The crazy part was that the next day I was basically able to do missionary work, and then  the day after I was completely fine! So I guess missionaries really are healed fast. I'm down with that!

This week, I found out that Elder LaFontaine and I were the tools in the hands of God in healing a man, Brother Adai. Pretty legit. We met him weeks ago - and gave him a blessing that said if he would show the faith to go back to church, he would be healed. He's been coming regularly and about a month later, we visited him again this week and found out that rather than being still sick and close to death, he's completely healed. It's remarkable and miraculous. I know the hand of God was with us that night.

Well, in that same spirit, Elder Yang and I received a call on Tuesday night from Brother Kenneth - a very strong member in our branch who returned in November from his mission in the Philippines. He gave us a call and began to cry. His dad has a pretty bad infection and is getting worse and worse - he hasn't been able to go to work in over a week. We knew there was an issue but not to that extent, so we promised to come over that night. When we got there, I saw perhaps the most heartwrenching thing I have EVER seen. This poor man's leg was just rotting. It's puffed up and swollen and a lot more that I don't care to remember. But it was horrible. Brother Sagario said that he can't sleep because of the pain. I have rarely felt so much pity in my whole life. He is not a member of the church, but has recently decided he wants to learn. This week, we are going to go over and teach him for the first time so he can join his family in the church. We really feel this will strengthen his family, too. In the blessing I gave him, Brother Sagario was promised as he demonstrates to the Lord that he desires to follow Him, the Lord will pour out his blessings and heal him. I know that to be true after seeing Brother Adai healed as well. 

Our week this week got a little bit kacau-ed, or messed up, because of New Missionary Training in Miri, Sarawak! It was incredible to see tons of Christian people around - in Sabah (where I'm serving), the vast majority is Muslim, but in Sarawak, Christian natives called Ibans are most populous. So it was cool to see all of them. We had a great training meeting, and Elder Yang and I found many ways we can improve as a companionship and help Tawau Branch to grow.

We got back late Saturday night, after following the Miri Elders and the Assistants all day Friday.  We got two referrals from a less-active that Sister Tina, the "missionary mom" in Tawau, helped us find. We didn't see any new investigators this week, and we only have a half week this week because of District Conference in Kota Kinabulu followed by Zone Conference next week in Singapore haha but we are hopeful the break will do us some good. Pray for us to find more people to bring unto Christ!!

Love you all! I really appreciate the verse Doctrine and Covenants 123:17: 

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we  stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

I especially like this verse because it was given to Joseph Smith while he was in Liberty Jail! He had been suffering so much while staying there, and though his faith began to dwindle a bit, the Lord comforted him and humbled him as well. I know that as we do all we can, we will see the Lord extending His arm and working alongside us. No matter where you are, or if you are member of our faith or not, pray that you can lift people around you up and serve them as Christ would - and I know you will find ways to do just that.

Love you all again!

Elder Clay Coleman

PS: Funny Malaysian find of the week: "Arabian Fried Chicken" instead of KFC. Hahahaha!

Something I sent Elder C to make him laugh. He replied, "I'm dying over here!"

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!)