Hello,
This has been a very busy day, and I'm pretty tired, but still a lot better than most of the times we have activities. As a nice gesture to Elder Niederhauser, who is going home next week, Brother Ian (the Elder's quorum president) and his wife Sister Junnifer (the Relief Society president), as well as Brother Curdy and Sister Christine, decided to take the missionaries to the Lok Kawi wildlife park. It was a pretty cool zoo. I think the coolest part for me was the pigmy asian elephants, which are indigenous to Borneo. It was fun to go to a zoo again. It's been so long since I've been to a zoo. I did get to hold a snake. I'll send pictures some time. It was just a little baby python. They had a little show, then let people see the animals more closely afterwards.
I didn't do much for my year mark. I did have spaghetti and ice cream for lunch.
Last week, Elder Compton and I bought a big case of mandarin oranges. 22 pounds worth, and they're almost all gone.
Sunday was a terribly disappointing day. A lot of people encountered problems, so the only people that ended up at church were Gemimi and her son. They're doing very well though. They're practically members of the branch already. They stayed at church longer than us talking to people.
Our search for Eliah, a less active member, finally ended last week. We had been teaching her parents, but it was really good to finally meet her also. The first meeting we had with her was less than magical. I think she didn't really want us there. She grudgingly decided to dig out her book of Mormon from below a pile of stuff, then unenthusiastically read with us a few verses. Well, the next time when we went, and we asked her to bring out her Book of Mormon, she went with a smile on her face to her bedroom to take it (as did her cousin Jito, who we are also teaching). She was happy to have us there, and I think she really felt the Spirit.
We're having a meeting with President Skelton tomorrow. He is visiting every area of the mission this month to discuss the challenges on an individual basis.
I marvel that every time I get over a challenge, the Lord sends me another bigger one. The biggest challenge I'm having is again social. Elder Compton and I are both quiet people. We do not know how to make people laugh, how to help people have fun around us. That's a problem on a mission. So that's what I'm working on, getting out of my shell even more.
You know, nearly every time I seek to find out how I can help the area or how to do the work better, the Spirit tells me not to go do something creative, or to switch anything that we're doing as missionaries, but rather change who I am just a little bit, which will trickle down into the missionary work.
My favorite verse of scripture is Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness". Funny thing. If we don't see our general state of weakness before God, we have not come unto Him.
"I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me." Grace is an interesting subject. It's at the very center of Christianity: the concept that God can do things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. This is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If we humble ourselves before Him (perhaps by ernest prayer, diligent scripture study, or meaningful partaking of the sacrament every week), and have faith in Him, then He can make weak things become strong unto us. I know that this principle is true. I've seen it time and time before in my life, and I suppose I will continue to see it as I humble myself more. Humility is a hard state to work towards. It involves a very difficult change. But that change is possible.
Happy Birthday Ben!
Love,
Elder Muffler
Whats been going on?
11 years ago
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