Happy Father's Day!

Niah Caves

Climbing in the caves

Hello All:

Crazy past two weeks!

Here's a list of all that went on.

- My birthday!

- First Mission Leadership Conference in Singapore!! (all the Zone Leaders of the mission and the Sister leaders as well)

- bailed out a baptismal font with a trash can, a hose, and siphoning... 3 hours...

- went to world-famous caves at Niah

- FATHER'S DAY! Happy Father's day to all you dads out there, you're epic and thanks for all you do!

- President Mains came to Miri and did interviews!

- Elder Bodhaine (my companion) only has two weeks left on his MISSION. So weird. 

- I gave a last minute talk at Sacrament meeting. That's always fun!

- We found a 4 inch long caterpillar at a member's house. Sometimes there's just stuff like that which remind me I'm in Southeast Asia! 

- Elder Bodhaine and I won every ping pong doubles match at the MLC thing. He's way good and I'm a good doubles partner, so that was fun.

- Discovered that powdered milk is actually WAYYYYY good. I've been drinking it nonstop for the past week. Also found out our grocery store has Waffle Crisp cereal in it - so good!!! 

Lots of stuff has been happening. I didn't really get to expound on much this week and I feel bad - I instead responded to all of your birthday wishes!! Thank you so much for the love and support!! I really love it and wouldn't be the happy and blessed Elder Coleman I am without all of it.

Here's my little message for the week. It's Father's Day, and I think it's important to honor the common Father of us all. God truly is our loving Father in Heaven. I know He exists and loves us so much, despite of all of our weaknesses and mistakes. I think He sees us as mortals with the potential to do so much good, even if we're flawed- so He is patient with us and loves us no matter what. He loved us enough He sent His only perfect child, even Jesus Christ, to come to this mortal world and suffer and die for us. Our Father in Heaven is the most kind, gentle, loving being we know - and I know that He loves and knows us perfectly. I invite us all to take a few moments and offer a prayer of gratitude and love this week to let Him know how grateful we are for His perfect and unfailing love.

I love you all too! Work hard and do what you're supposed to and go forward with faith!!

Malaysia Boleh!!

Love,

Elder Clay Coleman

ulat beluncas and my new sick birthday watch

Why We Want to Share the Gospel

Shout out to Sharon Yeap for these darling videos she sent for Elder Coleman's birthday

Got this from the Tawau branch. Wow, I guess they really loved me.... No greater feeling in this world especially 

when seeing an investigator of mine at church!!!

Hello!!!

Literally NO time this week. Super busy day!! Tune in next week for EPICCCCCC pictures of going to some natural caves.

If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, get a copy of Clayton Christensen's "The Power of Everyday Missionaries." It will change your life.

If you are not a Mormon, just know we try to share the Gospel with you honestly and truly because we know it can bless your life and we truly believe "The Church of Jesus Christ" is not just a title - it's a truth.

Love you all!! 

Malaysia Boleh! 

Elder Clay Coleman

PS LOVE THE BIRTHDAY BOX!! Thanks to everyone...I got over 80 birthday emails and I couldn't even get to 49 of them yet! 

Cleaning House as an Analogy for Life

These handmade ties are SWEET! These members make them and are saving for their temple fund!

The Malaysian versions of my cousins Nick and Gillie--they are so similar, it's weird!

Beetles

Hello everyone again! 

Glad to be here after a full week in Miri, Sarawak! This place is beautiful!! And I'm now back among Ibans, one of the native peoples in Borneo (which is the name of the island that has Sabah, Sarawak, and a bit of Indonesia). They're great and I'm glad to be serving them again!!

Let me introduce you to the missionaries of my Zone:

- Elder Bodhaine: My companion and fellow Zone Leader, he's from Claremont, California about an hour north of my house and goes home in 6 weeks. Pretty nuts. I really look up to him; he's a great example for the kind of person and missionary I want to become.

- Elder Coleman: Me!

- Elder Griffin: From Mapleton Utah, he's a district leader and a great guy overall. He's writing a book that has similarities to Eragon! Impressive!

- Elder Kavapalu: A Tongan elder from Australia! He's a dang good Rugby player from what I understand. He's got 10 siblings, which is epic.

- Elder Flynn: From Utah, played baseball, he's a great guy. He is a Chinese speaking elder and he is finishing Elder Warner's training!

- Elder Warner: A greenie! I love this guy. He's aweomse and cheerful and humble. He's going to be a great missionary.

- Sister Rigby: From Indiana! She's a Malay speaking sister and is working way hard. Has a twin!

- Sister Hawea: A Maori from New Zealand. Lots of missionaries from that area. She's going home soon as well - but is a great, great sister.

- Sister Coward: Also from New Zealand, came in with Elder Yang's group, and is a dancer. She apparently was on the New Zealand equivalent of the Wiggles, the Polka Dots...?

- Sister Nixon: Another greenie! She's quiet but a really great sister. She used to play rugby, too!!

- Elder and Sister Riser: An EPIC senior couple! This is their third (yes, 3rd) senior couple mission. They served previously in Laos/Thailand and Africa. Now Malaysia. Pretty cool, huh?

I love my Zone. They're awesome and I just hope that I can serve them to the best of my ability!

This week was interesting. I developed a bit more patience :) For two major reasons, not as much missionary work was done as possible. 

1) Gawai. Gawai, or June 1, is the Iban's harvest festival - or at least, that's what it used to be. Now it's really just an excuse to gather with your family and drink and drink and drink and drink. Hahahha literally, the Ibans make a wine called Ait Tuak that is rice wine! and it's what they drink ALL THE TIME. Additionally, Ibans always "balik kampung", or go back to their little village in the middle of the jungle. Google "iban long house" and you can see what their original homes are - they're pretty incredible. but anyways, many people just left Miri to go back to kampung and so we didn't have a lot of things to do. Which brings me to my second point...

2) We moved! All the missionaries of Miri switched houses. We closed down three homes, and all 12 of us (including the Risers) moved. So that took a ton of time!! But, while all the Ibans were gone for Gawai, we were able to focus on moving and cleaning like crazy!! Woo. Glad that's finally over.

So! Because we focused on cleaning houses this week, I have a little analogy for us. It's pretty good (at least I think so). Oftentimes in life, we meet problems that are difficult to solve. Like really hard to solve. Even though we work our hardest, we still don't know how to overcome them. It's like a way dirty bathroom sink. Or toilet. Or greasy dish/pan. We scrub and we scrub and we scrub, but no progress is made. Let me give us two ideas that can change such situations to allow us to overcome: 

1) Change the temperature of the water! Everyone knows that hot, molecularly excited water is much more effective for cleaning than cool and complacent water. When we don't actually believe we can overcome, or we get discouraged, that's ADDING to the situation's difficulty! Rather, focus on being upbeat and with an attitude of faith, we can overcome anything. President Monson taught this in an Ensign article I just read yesterday: "So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment. We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude." I love that!!

2) Get the right soap / cleaning materials. If we scrub at a sink without any chemicals that are at the ready to get rid of all that... gross stuff that's accumulated, of course we're not going to make any progress! Now, not to diminish God's help by comparing it to soap and cleaning supplies, but when we work with the Lord, we can do things that just hard work and elbow grease cannot! Divine help is ready when we request it - so if you're confronted with a problem, of course be ready to work until you drop, but make sure you offer a prayer for guidance and direction. The Lord's help and grace can take any problem that just sticks or won't go away and eliminate it. 

I know that these things are true! I know that the Lord watches over missionaries and us all! Just ask Him, and He'll let you know just how much He cares.

Love you all so much! Thank you for all your emails and support - you really do mean so much to me. If there's anything I can do for you, shoot me an email! I'd love to hear from you.

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman

Nasi Goreng Pattaya---yum

Beautiful place, Miri!!

   iban datok dan nenek / grandpa and grandma. you call people that here.
hahah like "hey nenek, dasfdasd" hahah so funny.

Goodbye Tawau, Hello Miri

Saying goodbye to Tawau members (photo from Sharon Yeap)

Hello all!

Well. As some of you now know, I was called by President Mains last Monday and asked to be a Zone Leader. Pretty humbling and overwhelming, especially because I've only been out on my mission for 8 months. Definitely a great opportunity to learn how to lead and to love those I serve.

I spent all of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday saying goodbye to my members and investigators in Tawau. So blessed to have served there and know all the amazing people. I love them so much, and can't wait to see them again. Really convenient that some of the prettiest and best diving in the world is right next to Tawau on an island called Sipadan! so I will definitely be getting back there. Just a short time away from those great people.

Elder Yang and I are finally coming to a close... He's way great and I'm so blessed to have been able to serve with the guy. He is staying in Tawau with a good friend of mine, Elder Harr from St. George Utah! So they'll be picking it up right from where Elder Yang and I left off. They should see tons of success. So happy for them.

Thursday, I left for Miri! Just two flights, so not too bad. In the Singapore Mission, each missionary buys a bike with personal funds and brings it with them when we move! So, that's a little bit difficult because we have to take it apart and then box it up then bring the huge bike box to the airport and pay for overweight fees. The Church will reimburse that, but this time a miracle happened. The worker at the airport saw my bike and looked at her co-worker and started saying something about my bike being free! I looked at her and said really?? I asked if it was already paid for, and she said nope it's just free! So the Lord blessed me to save about 350 ringgit ($120 or so). Miracles every week!! With all that extra cash, I decided to treat myself to a Double Chocolate-y Chip CREAM BASED frappuccino at the Miri Airport Starbucks.(cream not coffee hahaha) She wrote "Elder" on the cup, which was pretty funny. I got a kick out of the fact that I, as a Mormon missionary, got some Starbucks. Hahaha

Elder Bodhaine is my new companion, and he's a GREAT guy. He's going to be one of my favorite companions. I'm really so blessed to be his companion because he is going home this transfer and he has worked so hard and knows how to lead and work with other missionaries and members. I'm going to learn so much from the guy. He's from Claremont, CA, near Chino Hills, and is really close friends with Elder Adams, my trainer. 3/5 of my companions in the field have been from California. I guess the Lord is trying to tell me to go back there when I'm older!! I have so much to learn from Elder Bodhaine and hope I ccan help him finish his mission strong.

I just want to testify to all of you who read this - the Lord is mindful of us. He knows us. He ACTUALLY knows us. Just think of it. If you could sit down with Him for just 15 minutes, He would talk with you about your challenges and your concerns, and with Him you could get the best advice for your life and for His plan for you. He would tell you what He wants and needs you to do. Just think about that for a second. Jesus Christ is our best friend. Now, here's my invitation: apply that to prayer. Our prayers can be an opportunity to counsel with the Lord, and get His priceless advice for all of our problems and shortcomings and concerns and wrongings and whatever else it is. He knows and loves us and wants us to be happy. I will promise you that I'm going to be doing just that and trying to speak and converse with the Lord through His Spirit, and I encourage you all to do that as well! I know that not only does He love us, but that He is waiting - patiently but so desperately wanting to speak with you and me and everyone. I know that to be true and that because He loves us, He still speaks today.

Love you all!! I hope someday I can come home as humble and as awesome as Elder Carson McCusker! Congrats on serving bud!

Malaysia Boleh,

Elder Coleman

Elder Coleman's new companion, Elder Bodhaine, who has only 6 weeks left in his mission.
 (Photo from Elder B's FB page) 

Big News!

I'm going to miss Elder Yang. He's EPIC!

Hello all!!

Another crazy week of blessings. Just so so so many. The Lord is really hastening His work here in Tawau.

I want to testify about a truth and a principle I learned this last week. Elder Yang and I, a couple of weeks ago, worked hard to open our mouths and talk to everyone. As we did so, we noticed that the overall willingness of the people to listen began to increase!! We talked to people in their houses, on the street, on the way home from church, anything can. Well, more people began to be willing to listen, even invite us into their homes and be willing to hear a message about Christ!! We know that the Lord began to trust US more as we began to open our mouths! With that trust, He began to place people in our path to teach.

Bus contacting is usually very ineffective, but one day two weeks ago after noticing this trend, I talked with a man on the bus with me and contacted him. He was shy and a bit timid, but gave me his phone number and agreed to meet sometime. Elder Yang and I met D for the second time yesterday, and we have found that he is truly an amazing man and really has true faith in Jesus Christ - which is perfect for our message. I still cannot believe that we met him on the BUS, because of how ineffective it is normally, but I know that the Lord sends people our way once we demonstrate to him our willingness to open our mouths and not get discouraged. I think that's probably how most promises of the Lord work, and I'm interested to see how that can be applied in other aspects of my life. The Lord will trust us more and more until, just like President Monson, the Lord can know that if He needs an errand run, Insert your name here will run that errand for Him.

BIG NEWS! I'm transferring to Miri! (A city in Northern Sarawak on the island of Borneo, very close to Brunei) President Mains just called and asked me to serve as a Zone Leader...I'm honored and blessed and I can't even believe it!! I haven't even been District Leader!!! I'm still like shaking. I’m so humbled the Lord trusts me to do this. Please ask the Zone Leaders in our home ward for advice on what I should do to become a good Zone Leader..! My new companion is Elder Cameron Bodhaine. He’s also from California and he's like everyone's hero. I've been blessed with the best companions in this MISSION! Wow. I'm feeling so so so blessed. Elder Yang is staying in Tawau and will be companions with one of my MTC district mates, Elder Harr. AHHHHH! So stoked for them! 

Now I will be going to Singapore once a month for Mission Leadership Council meeting!! Crazy. I’d love to go out to dinner sometime with some of the members in Singapore who knew our family and are still living there. :) 

I was reading Mosiah chapters 3 and 4 in the Book of Mormon this morning, really awesome chapters which I would highly invite you to read again.... anyway, Mosiah 3:19 is powerful because we really have to put off that natural man and become a ‘saint', someone way better than ourselves! And like that verse says, it's only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can become that new, powerful, humble saint. So I've been praying for that and would encourage you to do the same!!

And please remember my challenge to begin studying Preach My Gospel! As you do, you will be able to study about your role with the Missionaries in Chapter 13, and also how you can become more Christlike in chapter 6 - one of the best chapters! I will continue to study PMG even after my mission, my whole life. Also, chapter 2 teaches about how to study better, and chapter 4 is all about the Holy Ghost!!! It's a really incredible resource. I know it will bless you as you study it!! Boleh bah, kalau kau!!!

Sorry, but with transfers and all I don’t have a lot of time to write. Please pray for me!

Love,

Elder Coleman

THANKS TO ALL THE MOTHERS

Best gift of Mother's Day was seeing my missionaries

We love our boy! He's still so CLAY!! 

Hello All!

Woooooooooo! The day and age of miracles has not ceased.

First of all - THANKS TO ALL THE MOTHERS OUT THERE :) No matter who you are, you wouldn't be here without your mother. Fact! I know that every mom has a special place in her children's hearts, and my mom basically fills mine!! Momma Coleman is so awesome and not just a mom but a friend and a guide and just someone who is always there for you.  "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." - Abraham Lincoln. It was so good to chat with her and my family today!

This week was full of following up with people from last week - many of whom did not want to learn - but was great.

Santi, the investigator we had been working with a lot before these last two weeks, finally was able to come to church! Yeah, Elder Yang and I had to go and get her - but some crazy answers to prayers allowed us to get there really fast and get her to church even though our plan was kind of last minute!

Also, we had 4 new investigators!! It was amazing!! One of them, Daniel, has now been texting us nonstop telling us about how much sense our doctrine makes in his mind and how he can't wait to learn again. 

Here's a funny story for you. Elder Yang and I have been working together in going contacting (talking to every one we see) and knocking on doors / gates, and tons of new investigators have just been coming out of the woodwork! We know we've been really blessed. We are living the stat that I heard before my mission: "Missionaries who knock doors baptize more people than missionaries who don't - but they don't baptize the people they find knocking." People just come to the missionaries or are found through members and are prepared - because the missionaries are doing what they're supposed to do and the Lord trusts them! Read that one more time, it really blows my mind: "Missionaries who knock doors baptize more people than missionaries who don't - but they don't baptize the people they find knocking."

In accordance with that principle, we've been receiving referrals, relatives moving to members houses - anything and everything that is leading to more people hearing the Lord's message!!

There are tons of miracles and not much time - but what's important is that the Lord is putting His hand over Tawau and we are receiving the blessings of relying on the Lord entirely.

So grateful for this opportunity to serve!! I love you all and know this is the Lord's work!!

Malaysia Boleh!

Elder Clay Coleman

So fun to have Clay's friend Grant join us for part of the call. Grant will be gone on his mission soon so the boys won't see one another until 2016.

Miracle May!!

I helped Elder Chong make 200 cream puffs for the members in celebration of Miracle May!

Elder Yang, Elder Sutherland, me and Elder Chong--love these missionaries!

Hello all!

It's Miracle May, baby.

I'm the happiest missionary in the world right now! Not really, but Elder Yang and I have been SOOO blessed! Just wait. This week was INCREDIBLE. So many blessings and miracles were poured out upon us this week. We are so so so grateful - it was truly the BEST week of my mission.

On Monday, Elder Yang and I decided to be extra vigilant in opening our mouths and talking with everyone. We're both talkative people, and normally we talk to probably 80% of the people we see, but we decided to turn up and work even harder. On Tuesday, we talked to 44 people (more if you include the ones to whom we didn't mention we were Christian because they were wearing the Muslim shawl). On Wednesday, 22 people.

We were blessed to see and meet tons of people willing to hear a short message from the Bible, from which (following the Spirit made the transition seamless) we introduced the Book of Mormon. Last week, Elder Yang and I taught 1 investigator lesson - this week, we taught 12. TWELVE!!! And seven of those had a member of the Church with us, helping and testifying about our message alongside us.

The Sabah Zone decided to turn this May into something we like to call "Miracle May". We're pretty convinced the Lord is with us this week and agrees with us that this month is going to be one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.

We have tons of return appointments with these people (10 of them were new) so we feel that we might have many new investigators this upcoming week. In our mission, the standards for reporting our efforts are pretty high. A lesson is only a lesson if it begins and ends with a prayer. Also, a new investigator can only be counted if they hear one SCHEDULED lesson (can't be spontaneous) and have a specific return appointment. We only had one new investigator this week, but this upcoming week we should have a ton of official new investigators. We had so many appointments one day, we did splits with some members, Sylvester (26) and Jason (18), to meet them all!! We were so blessed.

One miracle - we got to an appointment, and realized we had run out of Books of Mormon that day (we handed out 14 last week). SO we didn't know what to do or what to teach. Suddenly, a little girl ran up with a Book of Mormon in her hands. It appeared out of thin air. It came from NO WHERE! Apparently, an old member who just moved left it in the house, but how did the little child know that we were the ones bringing the message about this book?? And what are the odds she grabbed the Book of Mormon instead of the Bible, as instructed by her parents! The Book of Mormon just appeared. SO cool.

In another house, we taught a woman about how our simple, 10 minute message could bless her family, and she proceeded to go down the street and fetch her two daughters so they could learn with us! And THEY are more interested than the mom is in our message! So that was awesome.

One lady sat and listened while her housekeeper was working around the house - suddenly, she stopped, joined the lesson and listened attentively. When Elder Yang gave the head of the house the Book of Mormon, the housekeeper excitedly asked, "Do you have one for me too??" She asked US for the Book of Mormon!!

In another example, the head of the home invited us in, learned about our special message with modern prophets, and said "I don't want your book. I don't want to hear anything!" But his son, who already is married with a family, accepted a Book of Mormon and an invitation to read and pray. So incredible. So grateful.

Last story I'll tell you about (there are MORE), we rang the doorbell of this nice home, and the automatic gate just opened. No one does that in Malaysia - they ALWAYS check who we are before they open it. Then the family started peeking out the windows and with really confused looks on their faces came out and started to talk to us. We're still not even sure if they opened the gate or if the Lord opened it for us. Then, it turns out that the lady who came out used to be the kindergarten teacher of the member (Sharon) working with us that day!

Every one of the stories above resulted in someone accepting the Book of Mormon and a commitment to read and pray about it. This week, we'll be working way hard to meet with all these people again. The work of the Lord is being hastened in Tawau - that's for SURE! So grateful for all these blessings and the opportunity to be a part of it! I know that it was through continued faith and faithfulness that Elder Yang and I were able to be given all this.

We're praying that we can be guided by the Spirit to follow up with all these people, and see them come (closer) unto Christ.

Also, this past week Elder Chong and I made 200 cream puffs for the people in our branch / congregation as we taught them in a special Sunday about how they can work with the missionaries and find friends for the members to teach.

Love you all! This work is really really really true! Just work hard and never stop until the Lord gives you success!!

Malaysiah Boleh!

Love!!

Elder Clay Coleman

Preparation day pedicure! Check this off my bucket list :)