Praying for Strength

This week it was fun going to Miri for exchanges! I got to see a member or two that I knew when I served there. ..I'll tell you about it later.

On of the hardest parts of my week was when a member that I love ended up drinking a little under the peer pressure of his family. He felt horrible! When we met with him a few days later and talked about repentance and even the whole gospel of Jesus Christ we shared that when we don't keep our promises we made at baptism with God then we can't have the Holy Ghost with us. He looked at us with a little shock and said that that was exactly what he felt after he drank; he felt alone and sad and guilty, but that after he prayed and repented he laid down in bed and again felt that he wasn't alone, that God loved him, and he felt peace. In this way it was a miracle. It was a miracle that he trusted us as his friends and teachers to tell us that he drank so that we could help him understand that this doesn't mean "the end" to his repentance, but that he can continue to repent and have more strength to make the right choice next time. He's more excited now than ever before to live the gospel!

My faith, honestly, has grown this week as I've prayed for strength. This has been my hardest transfer and it's been really hard for me to stay energetic with every thing that's going on. I've been praying and fasting for strength, charity that "never faileth," and more humility. I've felt a strength that is far beyond my own since I've fasted, and my charity has been refreshed. I know God hears our prayers and loves us, too. :)

We've been working more with the members especially in introducing them to the Light The World initiative! It's my favorite part.
Pictures,

Sister Welling and I on our way here!

Someone got her mission call.
Flying to Miri

A family I met in Miri with a cool story I'll tell you about next week.
One of my members moved! :( She went to KL so we did FHE with her family before she left and played UNO. She kept asking where she could find it because she liked it so much, so I gave her my cards. She was very excited. :)
And we went to the most beautiful island ever and played capture the flag. It was precarious.

Love you! I'll talk to everyone NEXT WEEK! Don't forget me!

And we went to the most beautiful island ever and played capture the flag. It was precarious.

One of my members moved! :( She went to KL so we did FHE with her family before she left and played UNO. She kept asking where she could find it because she liked it so much, so I gave her my cards. She was very excited. :)

A family I met in Miri with a cool story I'll tell you about next week.

Flying to Miri

Someone got their mission call!

Sister Welling and I on our way here!

Last Zone Conference!

Okay, miracles for this week! I feel like the miracles of this week have been meeting so many people who's hearts are truly open, just good humble people who when the see the Book of Mormon immediate ask "Can I have one? I want to read it, and know if it's true!" It's just so much humility! 

Faith-wise, it was really fun to hear the specific ways the Book of Mormon clarifies and corrects doctrine! I knew that it did but it was so nice to see a bullet point outline of so many of the ways it does. I've started using those points more and more to help people understand what was lost in the great apostasy: the way to baptize, when to baptize, when we were created, and so on. Since I've started sharing this way I've seen the great apostasy really click in their minds and they start giving us examples of their own! Which, of course, sets the scene perfectly for the Restoration and Book of Mormon.

We're still meeting with a lot of members to get to know them better!
We also had zone conference this last week!

We're going to play capture the flag on an island today, so I'll have pictures of that for next week. :) Love you!

Last Zone Conference!

Sister Simmons & Alex

Sister Simmons looks AWESOME!

KK Zone Conference

Thanksgiving Dinner!

More Zone Conference

Fun w/Sister Welling!

Smiling Companions! 

Happy Companions!

Photo Op!

Merry Christmas!

Airport Shenanigans 

All hopped up on bunny love!

Singing My Way Across Malaysia

Man, I just want to share with you how happy I am, because I am! I know last weeks letter was a bit of a downer, and I'm sorry, I wanted to be honest, mostly because I really wanted and needed the prayers. Haha, Really needed them. ...And I still do, so they're very appreciated. I don't know how to describe it, but it seems that in the times of greatest darkness there is also the greatest light. Almost as if when the darkness grows thicker around the light becomes more and more brilliant, distinct, and beautiful. It's like what Elder Holland has said "You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life." And again President Monson said, "Our most significant opportunities will be found in times of greatest difficulty." Now, I'm not saying that this is the most miserable experience of my life, because it's not. It's hard, but it's good, mostly because of those beautiful, peaceful, spiritual experiences that can come into our lives in the hard times, if we so chose to bring the light with us into the darkness. I love what Nana said to me today, that when we focus on the Savior joy will flood our lives! I feel that this week I've really figured out what President Nelson said in conference along with many others: the circumstances, while maybe heart wrenching and demoralizing, are only half of the picture. We can be happy in every circumstance! The hard part is probably keeping our focus where it needs to be to have the hope to be happy, but even that's not so hard when you think about it. This week I've found my joy in singing. We walk a lot to get around and often times talking is not an option for one reason or another, so I do the best thing there is to do: I sing! It's reminded me of... oh I wish I could remember her name.... one of our ancestors who sung her way accross the plains and got rides on other's wagons out of it. I'm singing my way across Malaysia and getting rides on the backs of angels as I go. The joy of the gospel is real! And it is never ending!

For the most part things got a lot better in the companionship! AND we got three new awesome investigators! Yay! They are amazing and humble people. Each one of them, when we shared about the great Apostasy that happened after Christ's and the apostle's death, shared how they were so confused by all of the different teachings of the different churches. It was a great opportunity to share that that's because of some truths that were lost but have now been restored! I love teaching.

 :) 

We've also been meeting with a lot of members! We've had a little extra time on our hands so we've taken the opportunity for me to get to know members better! It's great. I think they really feel our love when we meet just to get to know who they are, what they love, what they struggle with, how they met their wife, and anything else I can think of to ask them. We laugh, we cry, and sometimes I dance to make them laugh a little more. We then share a short spiritual though to encourage them and help them see the light in whatever darkness surounds them. I LOVE these people. They are my family. 

The mission is winding down now, it's true. I'm excited and sad. This has been the hardest, most dirty, sweaty, tiring, heart wrenching, year and a half of my life - without doubt. Yet, somehow, beautifully, and in a way only God can make it, it has been more than hard. It's been amazing, and still is. It's been the most beautiful, blessed, happy, joyful, light-filled, sweet, loved, loving, thankful, peaceful, understanding filled year and a half of my life. 

They say that a mission is a sacrifice, then why is it I feel more indebted to God now than I ever have before?

That's all I have time for today! The taxi is here to take us to the airport for Zone Conference in Singapore. I love you all lots, I love my companion, I love God, and - yes- I love love.

I'm so thankful for everyone's emails today! Sorry I'm a hypocrite and didn't respond, but you all know how much it means to me. 

I LOVE YOU!

Companions!

Ward Selfies!

Sis. Lee

Preach!