Whoosh! Was that February?

    

SISTER DOUGLAS AND DAVIS DOING THE THE MACARENA

AT THE DOUGLASES FAREWELL

CUTE HUH?

ONE OF THE LITTLE GIRLS DANCING ON MY BACK

REMINDS US OF OUR GRANDKIDS WHICH WE REALLY MISS

What happened to the month?  That's what I would like to know.  Since our last posting we have been at home in KK just tending to business.  Elder and Sister Douglas left for their home in Alberta, Canada, last week and Elder and Sister Thomas left yesterday so we are the only senior couple left in Sabah and there used to be 4 couples.  At this point, none of them are being replaced.
     We are staying busy but are swinging our focus more in the direction of the members of the Church here in KK. We have a new Branch President, Curdy Money, who was sustained today along with Ian Martin and Simon Francis as counselors.  There is some leadership training to do there.
     We started our week off with a really great mission conference in Miri where Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife met with us.  It was the first time an apostle of the Lord has been on the island of Borneo.  He gave us encouragement and inspiration.  It was prophesied that the Church will flourish in East Malaysia.  We also heard from a member of our Area Presidency, Elder Watson and his wife, and President and Sister Clark were also present.  It is always nice to see Pres and Sister Clark.  They are so very supportive of the work we do.
     Last week we went out visiting branch members and one stop was at a the home of a new member, Gary. who was baptized a few weeks ago.  And then last evening we attended a baptism for 4 adults: Sisters Senley and Norianah, and Brothers Jimmy and Cristoph.  Senley is Gary's wife.  Jimmy is Gary's brother.  Norianah is Jimmy's wife. And Cristoph is Norianah's brother.  Between the 2 couples there are 5 children under 6 years of age (two are 3 month old babies).  They live in very humble homes, on site of their work which is building custom wooden furniture. This is quite a distance from the church and they have to take 3 buses and spend one hour plus (and money) getting just one way to church.

GARY'S FAMILY...FOUR BAPTIZED SATURDAY

DISTRICT PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE

KNEELING IN THE BACK

NORIANAH JUST BAPTIZED

  We can see their strong testimonies shining in their eyes.  They will be the leaders in the KK branch some day.  Those children will have the advantage of having been raised in the Church, going to Primary, Seminary, and Institute, and possibly of serving missions.  Before joinging they were walking 5 minutes to the church of one of their fathers who is a pastor. Now they take three busses and 6 little kids and spend one hour each way and 50 ringetts to go to our church. This is because they feel something special there and want all they can get.

ONE OF THE STUDENTS WITH HER NEW GLASSES

THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

THEY LOVED LISTENING TO ELLEN
WHO WAS ENCOURAGING THEM TO
GO ON TO SCHOOL

     We also had the opportunity to go with the Rotary Club to disburse eye glasses again.  This time we went to a secondary school in Papar, a small town to the south.  The school serves a large area, part of which is very rural and the people are quite poor.  Hence, the need for 17 students to receive the glasses from LDS Charities/Rotary Club.  The girls wanted to talk to me (practice their English) so I took the opportunity to tell them how important school is for them.  They will be the leaders in the community some day and even more important, they will be mothers  and they must be smart to be able to teach their children and encourage them to be leaders in their young country.  

JELLY FISH!! ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THE DISH

YES WE ATE SOME...

ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD

      That evening we attended a Rotary International Night at one of the really grand hotel/resorts here in KK.  All seven of the KK Rotary Clubs got together for this event which included a very nice dinner and then each club did a skit to introduce the slogan for the coming year which didn't make that much of an impression on me because I can't remember what it is.  It must be something about helping the less fortunate because that is what they do.

Tonight we are watching and listening to the finale of the Chinese New Year's fireworks which marks the end of the CNY as it is referred to here. It started Feb 14th. There has been a large number of businesses shut down and for some all for the two weeks. It is really a big deal here bigger than Christmas at home. And you thought this was a muslim country? We see the whole valley below us and there is fireworks from one end to the other.

ELDER AND SISTER NELSON VISITED US IN MIRI, SARAWAK

We had the privilege of witnessing the first time an apostle of the Lord has set foot on the island of Borneo, Russell M Nelson. He was here for the district conference in Miri. He then spoke to the missionaries here. He said that the work will flourish here in East Malaysia. He then said that was a prophecy. I have never heard one of the 12 or the 1st presidency state something like that. However our mission president said that every time an apostle has made that kind of a statement about the growth of the church the work has just exploded!

It will be very interesting to look back at our journals in 10 years and compare then to now!!

Hope you are all well and feeling blessed.

Bill & Ellen

A LONG WAY FROM CASTLE ROCK....MUKAH!!!

JUST BACK FROM HER MORNING TREK

GATHERING  FRUIT, OLIVES, RUBBER

19 PASSENGER JUNGLE PLANE

We have just returned from another interesting week of travel.  We left Monday for the state to the south, Sarawak, and specifically the capitol, Kuching.  We attended a meeting with some Rotary Club friends and met the governor for Rotary Clubs in Malaysia and Singapore and his wife.  They are very friendly people and invited us to come visit them in West Malaysia.  We don't ever go there as we are assigned to East Malaysia but it is nice to know we have a friend there.  The entertainment for the evening was a karaoke machine and it was entertaining in a fun way. 

Early Tuesday morning we caught our flight to Mukah which is about 100 km south of Bintulu but a much smaller town.  Our transportation was a twin otter, which seats 19 and resembles a school bus inside. It had many many miles on it.  I looked at the pilot and hoped he had a fraction of the number of flying hours.  He and the co-pilot were both quite young.  But then everyone here in Malaysia looks young to me.  The plane held together and in about an hour we could see that we were landing ON THE BEACH it looked like.  Actually, there was a short runway right next to the high tide line and that is where we landed.  We were met by Brother Bossclay who is the leader of the LDS group who live near Mukah.  He had arranged for us to meet the government leaders in the area and visit some longhouses.  

COCKPIT, PILOT AND CO PILOT

PLANE IS VERY OLD

The people who live there are Iban and they are quite poor.  There is a great need for clean water in most of the longhouses.  They use rain water collection systems.  When their tanks are dry they get water from the nearby rivers which are coffee colored.  They let the dirt settle and boil it for drinking.  There is a huge coal generating plant in the area and coal mines so you can imagine what is in their water.  We also had to search out and meet with the local NGO which is a Lion's Club and convince them to work with us if we get a project approved.  That was Dr. Wong and Mr. Wong.   

TYPICAL LONGHOUSE

THE GUEST BATHROOM

THE KITCHEN

THE POND OR

COMMUNAL BATH

(it is absolutely filthy)

A big part of the adventure was the road we traveled in our little rental car which was a Proton (think honda civic).  This is the main road from the nearest larger town of Sibu and a senior couple travel that road on a bus at least once a month.  The road is really rough. No, it is really bad.   No, it is horrible with holes and mud and ruts.  It reminded me of the roads that they use during a 4 X 4 rally.  Several times we had to stop and get out and walk, directing the driver, Bro. Bossclay, around the holes, and he still scraped bottom many times.  There were many huge trucks and buses on the road and they weren't going so slowly---rather they were zooming by us whenever there was room to pass.  Dust!  I thought of the early pioneers and the roads they traveled.  My shower that evening felt so-o-o-o good.  Aren't we spoiled?

Thursday we took that shuttle plane back to the city of Kuching, showered and met with a new CES couple just arrived a few weeks ago.  They are Elder and Sister Erickson from Perry, Utah.  Really nice people.  We also had a dinner appointment with our friend, Thomas, a Rotary Club president, to discuss other potential projects.  Bill will post photos from that dinner.  

DINNER WITH FRIENDS FROM KUCHING ROTARY

ROASTED PIGLET

ROASTED FISH

HEAD AND TAILS AND FINS INCLUDED

We are entering the 2 week Chinese New Year celebrations for the year of the tiger.  It is a very BIG deal here.  Our regular taxi driver is taking 4 days off and he didn't even take time off at Christmas and he is a Christian.  Government offices are closed and people are out of town.  They celebrate with large family dinners, fireworks, open house for friends, and the single people get 'ang pow' from their family.  That is a red envelop with money in it.  Even the McDonald's here has a Prosperity Burger just for the CNY.  Many people are traveling so we made sure we will be staying at home.  We are hoping to see lion dances.  

Bill here:

I have to tell you that while we have been on many adventures into the wilds this was by far the roughest and the people the most needy. While we were bouncing around in the back of this old 4x4 without any real suspension on the roughest road I have seen in Borneo I looked over at Ellen who was getting the pudding knocked out of her and asked her how she was doing. She smiled and said, I'am fine. What a sport!! However latter she did say she would not make that road trip again.

The little plane trip was something else again. As we were stepping onto the plane you could see it move. They had to weigh us and our luggage together to make sure the weight limit was not violated. As it revved it's engines reading for take off the plane shuttered and so did we. It was like it was saying ..."oh no not again!" We flew just a couple thousand feet above ground for an hour. We felt like we were in a row boat in the ocean. We were ever so glad to be on the ground again when it was over.

BATHROOM AND KITCHENS 

ARE IN THE BACK

WATER TANKS

The people are so poor. They are without water as much as 4 months a year back in the jungle. There use to be enough rain water for them but it has gotten so much drier. We will be able to help increase their collection and storage so they don't go so long without but I am afraid it will not totally correct the problem.

THIS IS CALLED A HANGING TOILET.  

NO PLUMBING TO GET PLUGGED

Well in two weeks we are headed for another adventure into the Borneo Highlands. They are about 2 to 3000 feet elevation and they actually grow apples there! We will stay in the homes while visiting. We will be on another small plane again. So it goes. It is where the work is to be done here. Most of the time in one fashion or another the people living near the major towns are provided for. So we have to travel to the places where there is a need. And boy is there a big need when we get to these places. The country is about where America was around 100 years ago in the way of infrastructure. 

So we go about helping those we can and sometimes it seems like we are doing so little and making such a small dent in the progress but at least there is something happening and some being helped that may never have been helped. We love the work even though it is hard and sometimes a little on the edge. On this last trip to Mukah I felt so far away from Castle Rock, a little tinge of longing for home I guess.

Bill & Ellen