Miracles through English Class

This week started off rough because i got sick and tried to work while being sick but it was not effective and probably not safe so i had to stay in a bit. But the second half of the week turned out amazing! Our investigator J*** is so amazing! He attended a baptism for the second time and is preparing well for his. He has read all the way to Alma in the book of mormon! In a lesson with him we asked what he has learned from the book of mormon and how it has influenced his life and he starts in 1 nephi then tells us the story. However he not only told us the storys but what he has learned spiritually from it and how he is applying it in his life. The book of mormon truly works wonders and is the greatest tool we have. The people who see the book of mormon as the word of god rather then a story book are the ones who are converted to it and actually get something out of it. It is our duty to help them see that it is the word of god. 

This week my faith increased in how investigators recieve revelation through attending church and that the members play a big role in that. We are meeting a man who has been searching for truth his whole life and says he has yet to find it. We are using the book of mormon to teach him the truth. He knows he has to read ponder and pray for an answer. Well this sunday he attended church. At church President Euro was assigned to give a talk on the church welfare program. He stands up and says how he was assigned to talk about that but he had a feeling that he should change it. So he proceeds to share his conversion experience and one of the most powerful testimonies i have heard a member bare about the book of mormon. I know that he was prompted to do that so that our investigator could hear it. I am confident that the spirit whispered what he said at the pulpit was true to our investigator. We havent met with him yet because that was just yesterday but i am excited for our next appointment with him to see if President Euros testimony wasnt his answer. I am grateful for the members and their strong testimonies which increase my faith!

As for our miracle this week i would say it has to be J***. He was taking notes during our lessons with him and accepts everything so readily and so happily. He overkeeps our commitments if thats possible haha. We invite him to church and he shows up 2 hours early, we invite him to read the book of mormon and hes already almost finished with it. He is such a good example to me and to the branch here! He is 18 so i am excited to see later in the future what leadership positions he will fill. YSA is exactly what our branch needs so he is a huge miracle. I absolutely love him and I'm excited that the lord has trusted me with this opportunity to help him make the best decisions of his life! I dont know if hes able to see it but i can sure see how much better his life will be as a disciple of christ verses if he wasnt and just pursued his normal life. English class works miracles because thats how we found J***!

We are finally able to get members to come to our lessons. This week we again had more member present lessons then ive ever had in one week in kuching. They are seeing the efforts we are putting in to this christmas goal and are catching on! I believe that we can reach this goal! I am excited to be a part of the lords army at this upcoming special time of the year!

Love,

Elder Schwemmer

Miracles

This week was a great week! I just wanted to share a couple miracles that really increased my faith in how the lord prepares people according to our desires. I have yet to teach and baptize someone on my mission which is a bit discouraging. Recently i have been praying to have a baptism in kuching. Well the lord has definitely blessed me according to my desires. I think i already told  you last week about the man who called us during general conference and asked if we could come teach him. Well that man is GOLDEN. He keeps all of our commitments and loves what we teach him so much. He has no christian background so we decided to teach him the christian basics starting at the godhead. As we were teaching him about Jesus Christ and his atonement he cuts me off and says "i know" I was shocked like what how do you know? And he says "because i read the book of Mormon" It was amazing! I've never ever had someone tell me that on my mission. He didn't read the whole thing but he read enough to know about the atonement. 

His only problem is that he works on Sunday so we he invited him to pray and ask god for help in getting Sundays off and he offered a sincere prayer asking heavenly father just that. He also told us how happy he has gotten because of what we have been teaching him. Haha and the other day we were in district meeting and calls us randomly and says hes here at the church haha so he joined our district meeting. He is awesome and as soon as he gets Sundays off he will with out a doubt be ready to be baptized. 

The other miracle that happened was as we were biking to our English class, we get a text that says "Hi my name is Y*** I am interested to know more about Jesus Christ and want to know if i can join the church to learn about him" At first we thought some one was pulling a prank on us haha no one ever does that. Well it turned out that the person who texted us is one of our English class students! At the end of our gospel discussions we tell them that if they would like to learn more they can contact the missionaries so he contacted us.

 He is an 18 year old boy which is exactly what the branch needs and he is also GOLDEN. He came early to English class so that we could teach him and then he attended the baptism at the church and then on Sunday he came an hour early to church and stayed for all three hours. To put the cherry on top he texted us to set up his own appointment for Friday! I am amazed at the miracles that come from English class. We have them both on date for baptism! I am really excited about these 2 and with no doubt i know that if they keep our commitments (which they already do very well) that they will soon be baptized! I am grateful for the fast that we did on Sunday and we have already seen the blessings come from it! I have faith that we can reach that goal.

For pday last week we had our zone activity and went to the cultural center which was way fun. Today we played badminton and will be going to a restraunt to attemp to eat a giant 60 dollar 1 kg burger in 20 minutes :)

Love yall have a good week! :)

Fun week!

Hey yall, sorry i dont have much time this week and im sorry this is coming in so late. We had our zone activity today. We went and explored the cultural jungle of borneo :) I got some good pics and souvenirs but unfortunately i dropped my camera into the water!!!!! :( It might be a while till you gets pics again. I'm sorry. But it was way awesome!

Last week for pday we went cave exploring!! It was so awesome! We had to have super bright lights and be way careful. The caves were FULL of bats it was crazy!

This week we got a couple of solid investigators from English class! Finally my efforts in english class are paying off. My investigators are doing well. We finally got some to church and they are both on date for baptism on November 12th. I'm way excited!

Conference this weekend was great!

Love you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Schwemmer 

Exchanges for the week

Hi sorry this is going to be way short I don't have a lot of time today!

This week i havent been able to serve with elder shirley because one of the zone leaders got in an accident so he went on exchanges for a week. So ive been with my "dad" elder brown. He goes home tomorrow!! Its has been so awesome serving with him again!

We are teaching a guy named A****. I love him! He has had some family struggles that i have been able to relate to and bare my testimony how the gospel can help him with them. He has come to church twice in a row and will soon be getting ready for baptism :)

For Pday we are going to a long house!! Its a big iban house out in the jungle. Ill take lots of pics! 

 

Sorry today is so short! I love you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Schwemmer

English Class

I have had an experience this last week that I want to share. So in Sibu i taught English class. We had the most successful English class in Malaysia. We had 50 students come and i taught them all. I absolutely loved teaching them and helping them get acquainted with the church. And they absolutely loved me haha. We had such a good time during that hour of English every Friday. 

There is a special family that is very dear to my heart. They have been coming to English class since about 3 weeks after i got to sibu. It is a family of 5 kids and four of them are boys. I have got a special bond with these 4 little guys. Their mom loved us and would always make food for us. They would all always care for the elders. Well after the news came that i was transferring to Kuching, there was a going away party for the elders leaving. I invited this family. They came and we had a great time. When it was time to go i gave all the little boys hugs and said my goodbyes. When i hugged one he started bawling. Then as i said goodbye to the others they all started bawling as well. 

I walked them out to their car where they were all crying and i bore my sincerest testimony that if they learn of the gospel nothing will make them happier. They are such a nice humble family and it was so hard to say bye to them. I just got a call from them while emailing :) then i said goodbye to the rest of the members which was also way hard.

The Glass is Half Full

Well, its official, this last friday i hit my year mark. Time has gone by way too fast. It scares me thinking that i only have one year left. I would just like to mention some highlights and things ive learned so far on my mission. 

-I have gained a testimony of the truthfulness and divinity of the restored gospel and the prophet joseph smith

-I have fallen in love with the people of malaysia

-I have become a very unpicky eater :)

-I have learned to speak and understand mandarin chinese (somewhat) ;)

-I have become more patient

-I have become more holy

-I have discovered who i really am and what i really want in life

-I have learned how to study and apply the gospel

-I have learned how to talk with people and not make things awkward

-I have learned how to go out of my comfort zone

-I have learned how to manage my time

-I have learned to be more virtuous and noble

-I have learned and become deeply acquainted with the atonement of our savior Jesus Christ

-I have learned how to work with others

-I have learned to become more christlike

-I have learned the blessings of obedience

This list could go on and on. But i just wanted to say how grateful i am for this year of my life. I am so very grateful for the full one year i have had to do nothing but serve the lord. I am grateful for my parents and family and friends back home who are all supporting me. I am grateful for the mercy of god in providing us with the restored gospel. I am thankful for the founders and pioneers of the church. I am thankful for my savior Jesus Christ who has given his all so that i may live with my family for eternity. I am grateful for all the people of malaysia and the things they teach me and for their humbleness and friendliness. I am grateful for all of my past companions who have taught me the things that they have taught me. I am grateful for all the many hard times i have gone through this past year as i can now look back and see the progress that i have made towards eternal life. I am grateful for the gospel and how incredibly unique it is. I am grateful that i have not only been able to see a change in myself but in others as they learn of the restored gospel. I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. Without him we are nothing. I am so grateful that i still have one more full year to be on the lords errand. To put all my heart might mind and strength into preaching and testifying of the restored gospel.

I have had some amazing experiences this past week which are too long to write or describe. I will just say that I am so grateful for Elder Shirley. We had a talk the other day that changed me. And on the night before my year mark i made a decision. I decided that i am going to ACT! I am not going to lest this last year of my mission slip through my fingers but i am going to give it my all and leave my heart on the field. I have made a rock hard determination to be the absolute greatest i can be and nothing less. I have made a theme for the next year of my mission and it goes like this "Prepare myself to be a noble husband and father by changing to become Christlike through turning outwards to others" I mentioned that i discovered who i am. Well these past transfers with elder Pearce has really helped me to discover who i really am and what i really want. And i want nothing more in my life then to be the best father and husband that i can possibly be and have a happy family who is strong in the gospel. I realized that my mission is the best way to prepare me for that. I reflected upon a talk that i listened to in the MTC. It was given a by Elder Bednar and it is called "The character of Christ" The character of Christ is that when he is put in situations where the natural man would turn inwards and worry about himself, he would turn outwards and worry about others. Nothing he ever did was for himself. And thats how i want this next year to go. I am turning it over to the lord and i want nothing to be for myself. I want to turn outwards. I want to help others. I want Christ to change me by following his example. I want to work as hard as i possibly can and fulfill the potential that God promises i have. I am so grateful for my life right now and this amazing year i have had of it. The glass is half full :)

Love,

Elder Schwemmer