And They're Gone

After approximately 10 days of having John and Kathy with us, they have returned home and we are very sad.  It was so much fun to have them with us.  We had an amazing time and saw some wonderful sights.  It was so much fun to laugh with someone who has the same sense of humor and understands your cracks.  Most of the Malaysian's here just look at me like, "What?  I don't get it?"  Who can blame them?  It's an acquired skill or an inherited one.  Sometimes Ben still looks at me like "Uh?!  Really?  You said or did that?"  Oh well, he's got all eternity to try and figure it out.  He is a patient man.

Our last big activity with them was snorkeling on Manatani Island.  We had to take a van ride for about an hour and then a boat ride to the island for about another 30-40 minutes.  It was a nice ride going over not so nice coming back.  I was a little leery of snorkeling because the last time I tried it, in Hawaii, I managed to swallow half the ocean and it didn't sit well on my stomach.  I did this after only being in the water for 3 - 5 minutes.  But this time I did just fine and really enjoyed it a whole lot.  We saw lots of beautiful coral and lots of beautiful fish -- fish of all sizes and shapes and colors.  It's amazing what is underneath all that water in the ocean.  Unfortunately, our camera had a problem so I wasn't able to get any pictures of our snorkeling trip.  Maybe Kathy will post some on her blog.

Today we taught another Temple Prep lesson.  They are some of the lessons we really enjoy teaching.  Everyone in the class is so happy and excited to be going to the temple and they all want to learn what to do and what to expect.  We have about 10 in our class this time.  There are two couples and the rest are sisters.  Some of the sisters are married and some are single.  It is quite a sacrifice for them to make this trip and for many it will be a once in a lifetime trip.  We are so blessed that we can be at a temple after just a 10-20- or 30 minute drive.  They will be going to the temple in Manila on June 3.  Unfortunately we won't be able to go with them.  We are having a senior conference that same week and we need to be to that.

While our calling is to be Humanitarian/Welfare missionaries, we find a lot of joy in working with the people in the branches.  It sure makes you appreciate the priesthood.  If they could just get the priesthood to function and accept their responsibilites, everything would run so much smoother.  Right now the church here is only 16 years old -- a teenager -- and you know how teenagers can be.  The hope and promise of these branches lies with the exceptional youth that are coming up.  They are terrific and so motivated.  Just exceptional young people.  We can see that the church will be just fine as the youth come along.

I thought I would show you around our chapel this week. We have the only chapel in Sabah.  We are very lucky that we don't have to meet in a shop lot or an old converted house.

                                                                  This is the nursery

                                                        This is the upstairs foyer

 This is the Relief Society Room

 This is a typical classroom

Same classroom different view

The hall leading to the chapel

The chapel which also doubles as the rec hall

This is the Relief Society room which is also the eating area

 This is the kitchen off of the RS room

The downstairs foyer area

This is the baptismal font.  We are lucky to have a nice baptismal font.  In some buildings they have a big white box outside the church which is just big enough for two people to get in and that is where they do their baptisms.

This is the grounds on the outside of the building.  They are always well maintained by a landscape company.

This is a view of the back of the building and surrounding parking lot.

The front of our chapel.  It sits on a hill so you can kinda see it if you know where to look.

This kinda gives you an idea of our chapel here in KK.  It isn't very big but it meets our needs and we are so blessed to have a building of our own.  

Things have been rather slow this last week.  Not much excitement or people to visit.  We hope that will pick up.  We are going to submit another project this week and hope it will be accepted.  We are working with the Deaf Society to help them with books, hygiene kits, school supplies and some baking pots and pans.  We won't know if it will be accepted until the first part of June because the committee in HK doesn't meet for a few weeks.  

Take care everyone and love each other.  Give your kids, parents, friends, etc. an extra special hug and just tell them you love them, cuz you never know what tomorrow will bring.  We hug and love you all E/S Read