God Be With You Till We Meet Again

This past week was GREAT! We went on exchanges to Melaka and Masai, and got to be with the good elders there. The Lord's work is hastening in each of these different places in unique but good ways. I love being a part of this work! It's the best! We also had a baptism this past Saturday night, as well as the other elders in our district! It was awesome! Our recent convert, Hady, is SO AWESOME! She's a 16-yr-old from Korea, and this is her first time learning about God. She is so open and willing to learn--she's incredible, and the Lord really has prepared her. She went back to Korea to visit her father there; she'll come back here to JB at the beginning of May, and then her journey as a recent convert will continue and move forward and upward. Hooray! :)
Well, elders, brothers, and sisters--the time has come.

This is my last P-Day as a missionary. Tomorrow morning/early afternoon I head off to Singapore for a final interview and fireside with my beloved mission president, and then the next day, at a VERY early hour, we board the flight bound for home. It's a really weird thing to think that my mission is coming to a close, that things are wrapping up. I don't think that I've fully and completely processed it yet, mentally or spiritually. I don't think it will fully process for a long time. As I was sitting down and doing my Personal Study this morning, I took a step back and looked at what makes me most happy at this very moment. Honestly (and I'm not saying this to be cliche, either), one of the things that makes me the most happy is sharing the Gospel with other people. Being able to see the Spirit touch their hearts; the light that clicks on in their eyes; the happiness that just pours into your own spirit as you tell them about the Savior and His happy message with every bubbly bone in your body--man, it's the best! A part of me feels like I'm going to miss it a lot; but as I sat back and thought about it all, I realized that these feelings NEVER have to end. I realized that the point of this life is to change and to become something more than we originally were/are. The best and only really effective place to receive and apply that time of refinement is in the service of the Lord. Being a full-time missionary truly has been a refining and changing process for yours truly, but hopefully it's not the only chance that I'm going to get for that type of refining. If it were, I'd probably be bound to not the Celestial Kingdom at this point--but thanks be to God for the matchless gift of His Son Jesus Christ! Through Him we are redeemed from our sins. Maybe even more importantly, He doesn't just redeem us (Helaman 5:10), but He also RAISES us to life eternal (Moroni 7:41). He enables us! He empowers us! We'll continue to be refined and perfected all throughout this life, for THIS is the time to prepare to meet God, and He's going to give us as many chances as we need--and even more than that--in order to get us ready to see Him again. He WANTS us to be with Him. I testify that that is true.

I testify that the love of God is real. I testify that the gift of tongues is real--I have no idea how people understood my words and decided they wanted to be baptized if it isn't true. I know that it exists, and I know that the Holy Spirit is the REAL teacher--not us finite mortals. I'm so grateful for the wonderful Saints of Malaysia and Singapore--I love these two little countries with all of my heart! I love these people with all of my heart! I wish that you all were as lucky as I am to know them and associate with them. They're wonderful, and I pray that God will bless them always. 

This Church is true; the Gospel is the path that the Lord has set for us to help us be able to return to Him. It's sort of the individual Plan of Salvation that each of us chooses whether or not to follow. For now I bid you all a fond farewell. To those still in the field, keep on keeping on! This is the greatest work EVER! To those back home, get ready--things are about to get real ;) :) I love you all, and hope you have a fantastic week! Keep the Faith! :)

God be with you till we meet again,

Elder Mitchell. :)

#singaporemission

#jbforlife

Rumor Has It....

Rumor has it:

1) That there's a temple coming to Thailand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's such AMAZING news! Thailand is our neighbor, and this means that all the members in Singapore and Malaysia will have greater and easier access to the temple! Pretty much everyone will be able to go too, because the Thailand baht isn't as strong as the Malaysian ringgit or the Singaporean dollar! Hooray for the revelations of God! Of all the many things to be happy about, I am SUPER STOKED about this! There's a temple coming to Thailand! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

B) That was pretty much the only rumor that I've heard lately. :)

So life here is going pretty great. For any that may or may not care, I am finishing up the mish in about 2 weeks. It's a sad thought, but exciting and happy and scary all at the same time. Because of it, I ask my adoring fans to refrain from sending mail, because I probably won't see it...ever. So yeah. Emails can! Handwritten letters (unless they're sent like today) unfortunately cannot anymore. No worries, though--emails still can! :)

Today's email is going to be a wee bit shorter, but no worries. :) This morning as I was reading the 25th chapter of 2 Nephi, I kept coming across the phrase "they that believe in His name [Jesus Christ] will be saved". As I was reading, I couldn't help but think: What does that word "saved" really mean? I compared it to its opposite: damned. When something is damned, it is kept from progressing and or from improving. Therefore, when something is saved, it is enabled to continue progressing and improving and renewing itself. Those that believe in the name of Jesus Christ will be enabled to continue progressing and growing. The only place in the eternities that allows us to be able to continually progress and eventually become like God is the Celestial Kingdom. 

[My mind started blowing up right about this point with all of the kool little trajectories and tangents you can draw from this fact]

So: If we believe in the name of Jesus Christ, we will do the things that He commands us to. He will enable us to enter into the Celestial Kingdom, even the "mansion of my Father". Isn't that exciting?! It certainly says a lot about the power of belief and faith in the name of Christ. If we truly are converted to Christ, we will keep all of the commandments that He has revealed to us through ancient and modern prophets--and then we are assured by God Himself that we will partake of His glory, enter into His rest, and and inherit His kingdom--"joint-heirs with Christ" in the Celestial Kingdom of God. :)

I sure do love you all, and I hope that you have a marvelous week! :)

Sincerely,

Elder Mitchell

The Cockroach and The Flies

So the title of this week's email is certainly not the most appealing, but it sure does provide a fun story (or at least I think it does). Are you ready? Good, here we go:

So once upon a time we were on exchanges last Friday night in the wonderful, historic town of Melaka. I had a bed of pillows on the floor, and was just about to sleep when I felt something crawling along my foot. Here in Malaysia we have lots of geckos all over the place--we lovingly call them cicaks, and I thought it was just a cicak crawling on me. I flicked my foot and felt whatever it was fly off. Murmuring under my breath about how "wonderful" cicaks are, I grabbed my watch and turned on the little light on it to see where the little devil had gone to. The light brought to my view not a cicak, but a cockroach! It had been crawling all over my foot! Aaaaaaaaaaah! Yuck! The other elder by me also saw it. I didn't have glasses on or contacts in, so I was essentially half-blind for this whole story. The cockroach darted underneath one of the pillows that made up my bed; I flipped that pillow aside, and he darted underneath the next one. We played this game till all the pillows were flipped over; he then started crawling through the beds. Me and the other elder awake at this point--having lots of adrenaline pent-up inside of us, and fighting the urge to scream like little girls over the whole thing--chased after it, and finally found it nestled beside the sandals of my sleeping comp. The other elder grabbed some roach spray and managed to strike at the roach once, but then it skittered away. We spent the next ten minutes looking for it, but to no avail. Hopefully he crawled somewhere and died :)

Anywho, that was quite the highlight from our trip to Melaka this time :) What else happened this week? Well, my shower is infested with this little fruit fly things. It probably doesn't say to much about the overall cleanliness of our shower, but we certainly do try to keep it looking nice. Nevertheless, this little colony of flies manages to live on, and every time you get into the shower they get stirred up and are flying all over the place. As they do this, it gets a little distracting, and you can't help but focus on them and utterly destroying them. It's helped provide a spiritual insight, though--Satan likes to fly around us and get us stirred up too. He provides lots of different little ways to attack and annoy and disturb us. But when we focus on the things that matter most--in this example's case, actually getting the shower done and out of the way--we find ourselves happier, more effective, and more open to revelation (some of the best revelation comes in the shower!). Although the example is a little strange, I know that the principle is true. As we put our minds into focusing on the things that matter most, all of the other little distractions melt away. As we strive to come closer to Christ, we see all of our little sins and mistakes and weaknesses fading away--because He can heal them, take them away, make them strengths. I love our Savior, and I know that He lives and that He wants to help us. I love you all! Have an amazingly great day! :)

Sincerely,

Elder Mitchell

p.s. Our branch had a big BBQ this past week--go Team JB! :) 

p.p.s. What would life be without the random pillows you find on the side of the street? :)

Hello, I'm Elder Mitchell: I Tame Crocodiles, I Hike Jungles, and I'm a Mormon

[Please read the title in an Australian accent]

Yoyoyo!!!

Hello to my homeboys and -girls! So this little post is coming in a little later than usual because this morning we had an INTENSE jungle adventure for P-Day! We hiked through Malaysian jungles, saw some pretty kool waterfalls, and then we got to go to a crocodile farm in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, however, that that waterfall is the largest in West Malaysia! Boom! It's been a pretty fun day, although we've spent a good portion of it in a car traversing the length and breadth of the state of Johor :) 

We're currently working on strengthening our progressing investigators; we're also planning on pruning out our portion of the vineyard this upcoming week by putting some of the people we've tried to work with on ice for a while. I truly do love this work, and I love being a missionary! Being able to help people see how important the Gospel is in their lives truly is a great blessing! :) 

This past week we had a HUGE rainstorm that just smashed us. I'd put what I thought were all of my valuable items in my drybag before we had to go bike into the middle of said nightmare...but I'd forgotten to throw in a picture album....Little did I know about that till I reached the chapel. As I was pulling out the contents of my bag, I saw that yep, I'd forgotten to put the photo album in my drybag. Thankfully, the Lord had been kind to me, and preserved my pics for the most part. Other than a couple of pics of my little sister that got ruined (her face is now half-white, half-blue :) ), the pics were relatively untainted. As I've pondered about that, Heavenly Father has reminded me that that's also the fate of our families if we prove faithful. We'll face plenty of trials--God tells us so: "When through the deep waters I ask thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow." (Hymn No. 85) As we hold on faithful to the Gospel, we'll be blessed with our families for forever and ever! I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation, that ensures that we'll be able to live with our loved ones, no matter what things we're called to pass through in this life. As we continue faithful in our testimony of the Savior, all things will work together for our good.

I'm a naturally stressful person, and I've learned so much on my mission about taking that stress and putting it behind me as I rely on the Savior to work things out. He asks us to be faithful--and sometimes that is REALLY hard. But it is the simplest cure to all things. We have to humble ourselves, our views, our wills, and trust that He knows what He's doing. I love my Savior and I know that He lives. This Gospel is true! As we live its principles, we find out just how GOOD it really is, and how amazing our Heavenly Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ are!

I love y'all! Have an awesome week :)

Sincerely,
麦长老

Nama Berita!

This past week has been a great one! One of the big things that happened was Zone Meeting--we had all of our wonderful missionaries from JB and Melaka come down to the JB chapel. We were taught more about the Restoration, and I felt the Spirit testify multiple times that it really did happen! Joseph Smith did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ! The Book of Mormon really is the word of God! It was awesome to feel that power and that truthfulness flood into our souls :)

We've had some awesome experiences this past week, and they've helped to solidify within me the desire to be more loving. When I think about things that have happened in my past, as well as things that have happened in the past of those that I love, I am able to see the absolute importance of being able to LOVE people. Think of all the awful things that happen when people don't have charity for their fellow men--people take their own lives, the lives of others, harming and hurting those people that are hurting just as much as they are. Wars, calamities, schemes, secret combinations, murders---the list could go on and on. Now, stop thinking about that, and look at the flip side. What would happen if we all tried a little harder to be a little better, if we all would strive to show that charity to others? I can only imagine what a world and what happier lives we all would have! I testify that Jesus is the Christ, and that He loves us! I testify that He wants us to love others. I've been able to see what happens when people don't feel that they are loved, and I've been able to see the changes that come to people who are able to feel loved. I have seen the difference; I've FELT the difference myself! I know that it is true! I love this Gospel, because it teaches us how to love God and how to love others! It teaches us that we need to repent! It teaches us that we need to forgive! It gives us a moral code that helps to shape and guide our lives.

I love you all, and I'm so excited to be able to bring this message of hope and happiness to a world in desperate need of it!

Have a wonderful day!

--Elder Mitchell

Bonjour!

Happy Hokkien Chinese New Year (as of 27 February)! :) Hopefully you all celebrated it to the best of your ability ;) Well, for starters, we went to Singapore for Zone Conference and got to go do some sight-seeing for P-Day. We were originally planning on having an epic badminton tournament, but plans changed, and we ended up seeing a kool exhibit on Leonardo daVinci's works. It was pretty intense.

In other news, we got to watch "Meet the Mormons"! It was awesome, and I highly recommend it! :) Elder Baer and I got to stay in Singapore a little longer for MLC, so we went to an Asian Cultural Museum and saw a bunch of really neat-looking Melayu swords. One of my dreams is to become a swordsmith, but I feel like that realistically is a little far-off. Whatevs. I'll still dream :) 

We also got to stop by a bookshop of another Christian faith this past week. They had ram's horn trumpets there, like from the Bible! Purportedly the horns were straight from Israel, but I have my doubts. While I was there, I found a Chinese version of the Punchinello book by Max Lucado (You Are Special, or something like that--I think it was actually a sequel). Anywho, that's a shout-out to my dad, who read that book to me all the time when I was a wee lad! :)

This past week I've had the chance to really ponder on my personal relationship with Christ. I know that I've probably talked about this subject a LOT, but that's because it's important. This week I was sitting in my study room, thinking about some of the mistakes and goofs I'd made throughout the day--the times when I'd let pride get the better of me, the times when I hadn't been as valiant in the Gospel as I need to be. As I was doing so, I happened to glance at the picture of Christ on my desk, and I could feel His love. He IS our hope! He is our Light! He can bring rest and peace to our souls. Sometimes I'm really eager to tell other people that Christ can forgive them, but I forget that He can also forgive me too. Sometimes I mentally withhold the blessings of the Atonement from myself or others because they're not normal, or they're not good enough--but the blessings of Christ's love and grace are freely given to those who are willing to lay hold on them! I love that about this Gospel!

This past week we had an investigator lay hold on some of those blessings. His name is Brother Tan, and he's such an awesome guy! I love him so much and he's made the decision to be baptized! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for Israel! :)

I love you all, and even more importantly: God loves you! Sometimes I think we all take that phrase for granted. God LOVES us! GOD loves US! He loves us so much, He sent His Only Begotten Son, not to condemn the world, but save it. To bring us back to Him. To anchor us safely in the encircling arms of His love. Don't forget it! :)

爱你们! 再见!

--麦长老

Lulang Ho Bo?

So my Hokkien pinyin could probably do with some work, but its essential meaning is: Nimen hao ma? Or, in the language of my hood: What be goin' on, my homeslicedawgs? :) So this past week has seen Elder Mitchell wielding some pretty intense Chinese swords, helping his recent converts prep little cookie-things (the term "cookie" is use very loosely here) for Chinese New Year, and attending a farewell party for the departing senior couple. He'll miss them a lot, but they're going to keep in tough, right? :) At the party there was a jar of spread that has the consistency of Nutella, but it's cookie dough flavored. In actuality, it tastes like Animal Crackers, but no one here knows what those are. Oh well ;)

Chinese New Year is coming up, and we're pretty excited for it! The work might be getting a little slower, but we're looking forward to lots of free food. :) And fireworks. The night of 18-19 February is going to be epic :) Last year I was in Miri for Chinese New Year (it feels like forever-and-a-day ago), and the fireworks there were AWESOME! I can only imagine what JB's going to do :)

This past week I've been striving to increase my faith in my Savior. I've come to learn this past week that faith really is such a driving force in missionary work, and I haven't taken advantage of it as much as I should have throughout a good portion of my mission. When we have faith in Christ, we FIRST believe that He is there, that He hears our cries and our pleas, and that He can help us. We then ACT on what we believe. We go out and show Him that we love Him! His grace is a free gift, but it's just like the free samples that you get in candy shops. You get a sample--that's all. If you pay the price of discipleship, you are enabled to receive ALL the blessings of His amazing grace. You're able to be sealed to Him through covenants, you're able to follow His example more fully, you're able to appreciate Him even more than you would before--because you've paid the price! You've tried to walk that path of discipleship! You know how hard it is---and you know that, every time you fall or falter or fail on that path, He kneels down beside you, takes your hand, and says, "Let Me take care of it. Let Me take care of YOU."

I testify that these things are true, because I've been able to feel that power and that strength in my life this past week. I don't have perfect knowledge yet, because I'm still a very mortal, mistake-ridden person. But I have felt the Spirit, and I hope to continue feeling Him, as He testifies to me that these things are true. I love you all, and hope you have a great Chinese New Year!

Gongxi Facai! Wo ai nimen! :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

God Loves You! :)

To All Whom It May Concern:

How's it going?! How's life in your neck of the woods? Over here in JB we're pretty much living the dream, a real party-and-a-half :) Today I don't have too much time, nor do I want to take up too much of yours. I know that this Church is true, and that Joseph Smith really did see what he said he saw.

This past week we had the opportunity of meeting with Brother Tan. He's such an amazing guy! He's 76 years old, and is on date to be baptized on 28 February! I'm so excited for him! As we've been working with and teaching him, I've been able to feel the Spirit so strongly! The Lord has helped build my testimony as we've worked with him and helped him learn how to increase his faith in his Savior. There have been times where I've mentally questioned whether or not we should continue meeting with him...he is a pretty old guy, and everything. But then the Spirit reminds me that the Lord loves and is aware of ALL of us, because we are ALL His children! He loves Brother Tan just as much as He loves me, and He wants him to come back home to Him just as much as He wants me to. I know that we are all children of God. I know that He has established temples and restored His priesthood on the earth today to seal us to our earthly families, and to seal us to Him! He doesn't want to let us go! I love this Gospel and everything about it so much!

May God bless each of you! The Church is true! :)

I love y'all lots!

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

The 2nd Great Commandment

Hiya Errbody!

This past week has been a good one. We went to Singapore for MLC, and it was once again a spiritually uplifting experience. Being able to see old friends is awesome, and being able to be spiritually fed by President Mains is always awesome.

This morning I was reading through the Bible and studying more about humility and pride. I happened to come across Romans 12-14--these chapters are AMAZING! It's pretty much Paul's guidebook for how to keep the 2nd Great Commandment: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." I am far from perfect at this commandment, and so I got to learn lots about it this morning. Truly reaching outward, forgetting yourself and your vain pride and your anger and hurt, and just helping other people, even and especially those that it's hard to love. I've never been super awesome at this, so I'm excited for the chance that God has given me to repent about it. 

I know that Christ is there to help us. These past few weeks I've focused on keeping my eye single to His glory during the day-to-day trials and labors of missionary work, and I've been so much HAPPIER and EXCITED to do His work! As we are led and guided by the Spirit, things are always so much better. Our good times shine out, our bad times are illuminated--we're never alone in the service of our God!

For now I'll go ahead and close. Like I said, this past week's been great. There was a pretty big rainstorm that we got caught in...but at the very end there was a rainbow! Take a look at it! Very symbolic if you ask me--there will always be that light, that presence, that constant reminder that, no matter what and no matter where, God is there :) We also got to eat some sushi this past week...it was very....interesting. And expensive. Oh well. Here's to the experience! :)

I love y'all so very much! Have a great and grand week! :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

Irons and Feasts--CHRISTMAS 2014

Well, it's come and gone, but Christmas 2014 was the best!!!!!!!! On Christmas Eve we had two baptisms that went super well. Louisa and Erin--they've both been learning for over a year, but they've finally made the decision to make covenants with their Father in Heaven. The services went super awesome. It was great to be able to see how happy they were, how nervous they were, and how much they've changed in the time that I've known them! :) 

We had SO MUCH FOOD on Christmas Day. First round=All of the American Christmas candy that packages from home brought. Second round=Feast at the Schollenbergers. Totes delicious :) Third round=Christmas Party at Brian Che's, where the elders were requested to sing. We'd sung "Silent Night" the night before at the baptism, first two verses Chinese, third verse English, and at the Christmas Party at Brian Che's we performed it again. I'm so grateful for the chance that we have at Christmas to be with awesome friends and family! Christmas is the best :)

A couple weeks ago, as I was ironing a shirt/pondering Christmas, I got a nice little realization. So the iron I was using is one of those kinds that has a little area for water. If you fill it up with water, the iron works 100 times better. The steam helps speed up the ironing process and makes the shirt look so much nicer and cleaner and less wrinkled. It also helps to magnify the heat. Without the water, the ironing job isn't much good at all.

The same is true in life. We all know that we're going to have trials and hard times--the almost unbearable heat of Life's Iron. But when we add the Water of Life--even Jesus Christ--our trials take on a very different nature. They still exist, to be sure, but they're different. They're not there just to make us miserable or destroy us--they're there to refine us and iron us out. With that Water present, the heat seems to be magnified, but the resulting steam enables us to smoothed out. It enables those trials to flow by quicker. It allows us to see that there is actually a reason for Life's Iron. It's not just something to heat things up--it's something that's meant to make us better.

Thanks to Christ, we have purpose in life and we find purpose in trials. Do I like trials? Not one bit. But do I know why I have them? Or rather, do I know why I need to have them? Yes. I know that they're there to help me be better. Thanks to Christ, they're not permanent. They're not fatal. They're refiner's fires, the irons of life that mend and make us. Thanks to Christmas, we have Christ, and thanks to Christ, we have everything else :)

I love you all so much and hope that you had a magnificently great and grand Christmas! Keep on keeping on! Happy New Year! :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

God is Not Dead, Nor Doth He Sleep

Another Zone Conference week has come and gone. This past week has been so good spiritually, but man, it sure has done a number on my physical self. I've been combatting a return of foot fungus as well as a nasty little head-cold, but ne'er you fret! The work of God continues to roll forth!

At Zone Conference this past week we learned about how to work better with members-we are on the SAME team, after all--and then we also learned about the love of God, as exemplified in Christmas. If you haven't yet, I highly encourage you to take some time and watch #SharetheGift that the Church just barely came out with a week or two ago. So good! It gives me the chills every time that I watch it :) 

As I've reflected on the birth of my Savior this past week, I've been able to really think about His love for me and for all of humanity. He really just wants us to come back and live with Him again. He's always offering us the opportunity to make covenants and promises with Him. What's the point of these? To bind us closer to Him, to inspire us to aspire to celestial heights, and to help enable us to become more and more like Him each and every day :) He lives--He was born in mean estate, He lived a simple but humble life, He died on a cruel cross, but now, RIGHT NOW, He lives again! The bonds of death have been snapped; the chains that would encircle the world have been severed! As the words of one of my all-time favorite Christmas hymns says, "God is NOT DEAD, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with PEACE on earth, GOOD WILL to men." ("I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day", Hymn No. 214, emphasis added). 

How have you seen Him active in your own life? How have you felt His hand touching, leading, guiding, and influencing you? He's so real, and He's so amazing! The fact that He loves us enough to have been born, lived, and died for us is remarkable in and of itself; but now He lives for us again! He's not going to stop loving us, and He will always been working with us, until that perfect day when we are like Him. I know that's true :)
For now I bid you a wonderful rest of the day and week! I love y'all lots!

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

p.s. We went to Zone Conference this week. Look what I found....The caption for the second pic is "'Nuff Said" :)

Where is the Love? What's the Matter with the World, Mama?:):)

Hello Errbody!

These past few weeks have gone by quick! Thanksgiving was wonderful, and Christmas is coming! HOORAY FOR CHRISTMAS! It is, after all, the most wonderful time of the year :) And when we're filled with the Spirit of Christmas, we're living the most wonderful life :) So today I want to quickly share a quick thought with you from yesterday.

We met with a recent convert and her family yesterday at the church to talk about the Importance of the Family. It was the perfect lesson for her--she has a husband that's super controlling, and that essentially is very restrictive of what she and her kids can do. She let off some steam with us, and made mention multiple times how she doesn't love him and how she doesn't want to be anywhere near him. It was sad, but really enlightening. We left her with the commitment to fast and pray and seek for opportunities to develop charity for her husband. Hopefully she'll take our challenge to heart and rely upon the power of the Atonement to be able to love her husband the way that Christ loves him.

This encounter brought tears to my eyes--the point behind families is to be happy and find joy in this life. It's helped me see what type of man and future husband I'd like to be, as well as help me appreciate all the more my own father for the wonderful example he's given to me and for the love that he's shown to us kids and our mom. I know that families truly can be forever, if we will put in the work and effort, the tears and the love, that the Lord asks of us. Everything will work out in the end, as we hold on to each other and on to the Lord. :) I'm so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose simple teachings and sayings truly are the pathway and guidelines for this life. If we'll simply learn to love and to forgive, to have faith and to repent, to remain true in hard times--these things will surely carry us out of life's hard times and help us truly magnify the sunshine days that God has planned for us. Sure, it's super hard, but it's also worth it. Courage, then, and on, on to the victory! :)

I love you all! Keep on keeping on! :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

#GodOurStrengthWillBe

So, turns out that the world's greatest hashtag is the one that you see in the subject line :) It was pioneered for our mission by some of our mission leaders, and I really like it a lot. So there :)

This past week has zoomed by! It feels unreal that we find ourselves at the beginning of another week! This is the last P-Day of November 2014! There will never be another one! Where did November go!? Aiyo!

We got to go on exchanges this past week to the Masai area. One of my kampung homeboys, Elder Capener, is serving there, and we got to reminisce old times and talk about all of those peeps we know and love back home. It was incredible to see the faith, diligence, and hard work that the Masai elders are putting into their areas of labor. It truly is faith that precedes the miracle, and they've got LOTS of faith.

With that in mind, I'd like to share a scripture from my Personal Study yesterday morning. It's essentially a promise that Jesus Christ is giving to all those who commit themselves to working alongside Him. It's a promise to those who are willing to DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN to hasten the work of salvation:

"And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.

"Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name.

"Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance.

"And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward" (3 Nephi 21:26-29).

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ stand in the MIDST of us! They're at the helm of this work, right in the thick of it. They pull and tug and turn on the little threads of our lives, weaving a great tapestry of life that connects all of the spirit children of the Most High. This is Their work--They can do it by Themselves if They want, but instead we all have been enlisted to help prepare the world for the return of the Messiah! Isn't it an amazing and wonderful and awesome thought all at once? As we DO EVERYTHING WE CAN to push that work forward, we will begin to see the little signatures, the miraculous traces of Divine Interference that enable the work of salvation to move at all. I know that They live and that They love us; we are children of our Heavenly Father, and we are recipients of the Atoning love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love ya lots! Keep on keeping on :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

Choose the CPR

Hello to errbody! :)

This past week has been awesome. A little hectic with transfers and getting missionaries from here to there, but all in all a super awesome time :) We also had MLC this week, so we got to receive instruction and counsel from President Mains again. It was awesome! One of the things that he emphasized during MLC was the importance of establishing that focus on God. How do we establish that focus?

Simply put, CPR. When a person is drowning and is full of water, they need CPR in order to save their lives. Similarly, spiritual CPR keeps us afloat and helps us to build faith and repent (the two basic building blocks of the Gospel of Jesus Christ). So, what is spiritual CPR, then? Church, Prayer, and Reading Scriptures (CPR...get it? :) ). Anywho, these three simple things are so simple and so small, but they are SO CRUCIAL! Daily prayer and scripture study allows us to keep open the channels of communication between us and our Father in Heaven. We plead to, implore, and thank Him through prayer; He responds to, guides, counsels, chastens, and blesses us as we open up the words of ancient and modern prophets.

And Church attendance? What's so important about that? At Church we renew the covenants we've made by partaking of the Sacrament. We take part in remembering the single greatest event of all time--even the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Weekly immersing ourself in this experience is SO PIVOTAL! 

These three things are so simple, and so often overlooked. But if everyone understood the potential of CPR, the work of salvation would hasten tenfold faster than it currently is. By living these simple things, we build our faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. We are prompted to repent of our mistakes and continue holding true to the covenants we've made by keeping the commandments we've been given. We would be on a sure and steady course to the celestial kingdom; the gates of hell could not overpower us, despite the winds and trials and turbulations that life surely will bring. Our testimonies will burn bright, and we will come to know and understand the purpose of life and the relationship that we have the potential to have with our Savior and our Father.

I invite all y'all to do everything you can this week to daily pray and study the scriptures, and to attend church, partake of the Sacrament, and learn the Gospel next week at Church. God will not leave us helpless :)

I love you all! Have a marvelous day! :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

Cleaning Gutters

Hello errbody!

This past week has seen some BAPTISMS! It was super awesome, and they are so good! As I've been thinking about them, and what an incredible journey they have in store for them, I can't help but think of an adventure that I had on Friday. We had some amazingly torrential rain, and there was part of the street that was swamped with water. The reason? There was a gutter that was clogged. Me, my companion, and a random guy from Bangladesh went to work cleaning it out. It was a little gross, but fun at the same time. By the time we were done, the street was drained and looked a lot better.

The point of the Church is to help each other clean our spiritual gutters. Sometimes we are in  the midst of torrential rain. Sometimes we're drowning in the trials and challenges that we have to face. But as helping hands are extended, on behalf of and in the name of the Savior, we come to understand that the Lord really is aware of each of our needs, and He continues to lead and guide and direct us. We are meant to help each other. We're meant to lift each other, all in the direction of our Savior, Jesus Christ. (For further info, see Moroni 6 :) ).

I love you all, and hope that you have an incredible week!

Keep on keepin' on!
Elder Mitchel

p.s.  My name is Mitchell, not Mitchel.  Now I look like a fool......

Melaka and So Much More!

To all y'all homeboys and homegirls out there in da hood,

Before I forget (like I have for the past couple of weeks): Our mission leaders would like us to announce that anyone interested in sending packages to missionaries of the Singapore Mission need to try and have the packages reach Singapore around 1 December, so that things can be organized in time for our Zone Conference in December and so that we can get the Christmas stuff :) That being said, you're not expected to send packages lah! But I've now gotten that announcement off my chest, so we can press forward :)

Life this past week has been great! We went to Melaka on exchanges, and it was AWESOME! Let's just say that it's quite a happenin' town. We were there for Deepavalli, the Indian New Year celebration, so we got to see a lot of great fireworks :) 

In other news: We've got baptisms this upcoming Saturday! Get excited! :)

Currently our zone is focusing on becoming CHRIST-CENTERED. As we been better about being BOLD in our invitations to others, as we've born Christ-centered testimony, and as we've done our best to really and truly follow up with the various people that we meet, I've sensed a change in our missionaries and in the work in the zone. As a whole things are starting to look up. I know that the same is true for whenever we strive to focus our lives on the Savior. This Gospel is true, and as we live its pure and simple doctrines, we WILL find peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Love y'all lots and bunches!

Keep on keepin' on.

Sincerely,

Elder Mitchell

p.s. The pics are from either Jonker Street in Melaka or from the taxi that we rode in from JB to the bus station. Apparently they don't like it when people kiss in their taxis. Too too much :)

Hastening the Work is THE BEST! :)

Greetings, loved ones! This past week was awesome! We had a BAPTISM! Sister Jess is so great, and the baptism all went well. A couple of days before the baptism we test-filled the font, and turns out that the patches over the paint ripped. There are stairs to our font, and they got filled up with water. So there's currently water inside, and there's been this imminent threat of having the whole thing bust open, but thankfully the Lord didn't let that happen.

We had three baptisms in our branch; it was quite a turn-out from the branch, too. Go team! :)

Anywho, when I got changed into the white clothes for the baptism I realized a couple of things: 1) I haven't worn those white pants since before the MTC; B) I haven't worn that shirt since Singapore, over a year ago; and III) I've gained weight on my mission. When I left the MTC I was roughly 125 to 130 lbs...I'm currently 148. You could call me a roly-poly, you could call me a chub, you could call me whatever, and it would probably be accurate. Trying to get into the baptismal clothes was a little bit of a tight squeeze. 

Anywho, the baptism all went really well. Sister Jess was confirmed yesterday at the beginning of church, and she's now beginning the greatest journey of her life :) This Gospel really is meant to refine and change us and help us to become MORE. Specifically, MORE like our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Lately I've been studying charity; I was reading through a book that Dad had sent with me that is written by James E. Talmage. During one part of the book, he essentially says that the two great commandments--"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"--are saying the same thing: "Thou shalt LOVE." When we do so, we'll be fulfilling any and every requirement and commandment, because we would never want to harm another person or lose the trust of our Lord. I'm still trying to work on charity, and it's an uphill climb, but it's so worth it :)

I love you all, and hope that you have a wonderful week! 

Keep on keeping on! :)

Sincerely,

Mai Zhanglao

Conference and Upcoming Covenants

Well, folks, it's been so long since last we've chatted! [As we like to say here in Singapore/Malaysia: Long time already (lah)! :) ] Anywho, this past weekend we've had the opportunity to watch General Conference! What an amazing experience! It was SO GOOD, and there's so much to be learned from it :) I especially loved Elder Lynn Robbins's talk--it was awesome :) 

In preparation for General Conference, we'd met with a less active member who was angry with everyone in the Church. He'd ceased being active almost ten years ago--prior to that he was the biggest help that the elders had in doing missionary work. He's a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, and he's a really nice guy. His heart, though, is cankered with anger, hate, and hurt, all of which, he claims, stem from the rudeness and pride of the members. He complained that our Church isn't focused on Jesus Christ, and that the people didn't live the laws that He has set. As he went about making all of these accusations, he started condemning himself without realizing it.

As I sat in General Conference, listening to all of the many talks that testify about Jesus Christ, it was reaffirmed to me that we come to Church NOT for the other people. They sure are nice, and they certainly can help build our testimonies--but the greatest reason we should be going to Church or being active in the Gospel is for GOD. It's for JESUS CHRIST. It's all for Him. It's improving our relationship with Him, and helping others do the same. This Church is true--sometimes it's people aren't. This Church is the vehicle that brings us as close to Christ as we can get in this life, through sacred covenants and ordinances. 

With that in mind, WE HAVE A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!! Her name is Sister Jess, and she's so awesome! She pretty much fell into our laps, and now she's about to make her first covenant with God. She's really cool, and I know that the Lord has prepared her and her heart for this. She's going to help the Church so much here in JB, and it's going to be awesome :) I'll be sure to send pics of the baptism next week.

Well, for now, I must needs be going. I love y'all, and I know that this Church is true. My testimony means so much to me, and I hope the same goes for you too. We don't get baptized or join the Church or come to Sacrament for people alone--we come for Christ. We come WITH Christ. And by so doing, we come unto Christ. He's the center of it all. He's the heart of our message, our Gospel, and our lives.

Till we meet again,

Elder Mitchell

YOEOO (You Only Eat Ostrich Once) :)

Well, this past week has been one full of work and wonder. Last Monday brought with it the announcement that that my companion was off to Bintulu to open up the Chinese work there and train a greenie all at the same time. My new companion=Elder Lee, from Singapore, who's super awesome! More about our adventures in a minute. Monday night brought with it the English elders' investigator taking the four of us to an amazingly fancy Japanese restaurant, where we had a meal whose price was approximately $200-250 USD. Yeah...just a wee bit expensive, but it was magnificent. We dined like kings. It was my first time trying ostrich too--I'm a fan of ostrich meat. Maybe I'll get an ostrich farm when I grow up.....actually, probably not. That's a little morbid a thought.

Moving on: Elder Lee was delayed getting here to good ole JB thanks to an insane amount of rain and the craziness of Singapore traffic. Woot woot. But make it he did, and from then till now we've been busy meeting with investigators and giving them baptismal dates and hastening the work here in the JB Chinese area. It's been so AWESOME to see these people that we love so much deciding to make that first covenant of baptism. It's been so AWESOME to see the way that the Lord has been preparing them throughout their lives for this moment. This work is so amazing, and, despite the various darts of the adversary (be they in the forms of depression or frustration or lack of work or hardness of work or whatever-have-you), it will press forward. It will move on. No one can stop it. "The work of God cannot be frustrated" (D&C 3--I'm paraphrasing ;) ). 

Holding fast to the work of God, as we continue to obey His commandments, we are promised an increase in our faith, an increase in our hope, an increase in our love. The Lord is faithful, and He will not leave us helpless. I know that that is true :)

I love you all so very much, and hope that you have an amazing week! 

Keep on keepin' on :)

Sincerely,

Elder Mitchell/Mai Zhanglao

p.s. The pics are of the wonderfully grand time we had at Japanese bbq, as well as that one photo that epicly and honestly defines the relationship of Elder Mitchell and Elder Earl. Cheers :)