Travels with My Companion

A CROC's EYEBALL WATCHING OUR BOAT!!!

Since our last posting we have done a little traveling.  First we were invited to be present at a small district hospital in Beaufort, about 2 hours drive south of Kota Kinabalu, for the first use of the vision screening surgical microscope by the Sabah Mission for Vision.  They go into the remote kampungs and do vision screening and then gather those who need surgery at the nearest hospital for the surgeries.  Most of the surgeries are for cataracts but there are other corrections done too.

NOTICE THE LDS CHARITY LABEL ON THIS PIECE OF EQUIPMENT

THE HIGH POWERED SURGICAL SCOPE FOR EYE SURGERY
AND HAPPY STAFF

We also had a zone conference that week and then traveled to Sibu to participate in a youth conference.  One of their activities was a service project of putting together hygiene kits for both an orphanage and for a home for elderly people.  They also made coloring books for the children at the orphanage.  The youth then went by bus to the orphanage to present the hygiene kits to the children and spend a little time with them.  This was at a Christian orphanage that had been rather resistant to participating in this but they quickly warmed up to the youth and their leaders. It was fun to be with the youth and the two senior couples in Sibu.  One couple just arrived about 2 months ago and the other goes home any day now.

YOUTH CONFERENCE AT SIBU

YOUTH PUTTING TOGETHER HYGIENE KITS

                                                         SIBU YOUTH CONFERENCE

From Sibu we flew to Kuching to be present at the clean water hand-over at Begu.  This is a project that we started last November or so with a Rotary club in Kuching.  Begu is  a kampung about a 75 minute drive from Kuching.  It is up in the mountains near the Indonesian boarder.  They have beautiful clean water but their system had become inadequate and the PVC pipes had deteriorated.  A member of the ministry of health engineered the raising of the dam and better intake for the water but the people of the Begu did the work.  The Kuching district of the church had a service project last January in which they helped carry the pipe up the trail to the dam.

TRADITIONAL WELCOMING CEREMONY/DANCE
AT KAMPUNG BEGU

THROWING FLOWER PETALS...JUST LIKE A WEDDING

THE HEAD TABLE

CHILDREN AND WOMEN ALWAYS EAT SEPARATELY
AND THESE PEOPLE ARE EATING IN THE KITCHEN

PERMANENT SIGN FOR THE KAMPUNG

YES, WATER!!

As we arrived we were greeted by some people playing the gongs, their headman, Nicholas, and 4 young women dressed in their traditional costumes who pinned corsages on each of us.  They then danced to invite us into their kampung and tossed flower petals in front of us as we walked inside.  We were seated at the head table which was decorated with table clothes and flowers and our lunch was also set before us, each dish carefully covered with plastic wrap.  First the speeches, each speaker following the careful protocol of addressing first the headman, and then each of the guests, and finally the people of Kampung Begu.  We had, in our group, President Govin, the district president for Kuching, who translated for us.  After the speeches, gifts were presented from the kampung and these were lovely baskets of their local fruit.  Then we all trooped out to a ceremonial turning on of the faucet and ribbon cutting.  Then we ate lunch.

We took lots of photos.  Everyone wants their photo taken with the white people.  They are such friendly people.  They are of the ethnic group known as Bidayuh (bid-aye-you, with an accent on the second syllable) who were converted by the first missionaries who came to Borneo back in the early 1800's.  I believe they are Anglican and every time we go there their 'Relief Society' prepares food for us. They are farmers, growing their rice and vegetables on the hillsides where they live.

We flew back to Kota Kinabalu that evening, got a good night's sleep and were at church by 8 AM to attend the branch leadership meetings.  Our block is about 6 or 7 hours long for us.  It was Father's Day that Sunday and we both spoke on the subject of fathers/Father in Heaven.  We didn't have any teaching appointments that evening because families were gathering for Father's Day celebrations so we went to one of the really posh resorts to visit with 3 senior couples who are here on vacation for 3 days.  Did you know that senior couples get to take a vacation??   So, all you couples who are considering serving a mission, we do have a lot of fun, too.

MCKELLARS, DAVIS', BUDGES, AND ORIENS   ALL 8 OF US IN FRONT OF MT KINABALU....ABOUT 13,000 FEET HIGH....CLOSE TO MT RAINIER'S HEIGHT

BILL'S  ARTSY PHOTOGRAPHY

The 3 couples are McKellars and Budges, who we served with in Bintulu, and the Orions, who just arrived in Bintulu.  We took Monday and Tuesday to spend with them.  Monday was a trip up to Mt. Kinabalu and it was a glorious day.  The first day without rain since the first of May.  We visited the botanical garden again but very little was blooming.  We saw just a few clusters of orchids and they were a bit gone.  We also went to the Poring Hot Springs where most  went on the canopy walk---high up in the trees.  Tuesday afternoon we went back down to the Klias River to see the proboscis monkeys, fireflies, and crocodiles.  Again it was a rain-free day.  What luck!  It was fun to be with the other couples and the 3 of us who are going home within the next 3 months really tried to not talk about that with the new couple.  We are so glad they will be in Bintulu and working with the people we love there.

PROBOSCIS MONKEY

Wednesday we were at the airport early to see David Liew off on his mission.  He finally got his visa and was ready to report to the MTC in Provo before going to his mission in Washington DC.  Our branch will surely miss him and his talents.  That afternoon we got a call from the mission president asking if David had got on the plane in KK.  His plane had landed in Singapore but they couldn't find David.  Less than 30 minutes later we got another call;  he was found.  He had gotten lost in the airport.  Poor fellow.  He has only been out of Malaysia once and before that, never out of Kota Kinabalu.  He is off on a great adventure.

SEEING DAVID LIEW OFF ON HIS MISSION
THIS WAS TAKEN INSIDE THE KK AIRPORT 

HE WILL BE A GREAT MISSIONARY 

ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT ARTSY PHOTOGRAPHY...NOTICE THE GLASS REFLECTION?

Friday we were back in the airport to go back to Kuching for another clean water hand-over.  This time in Kampung Sedir.  This is also a Bidayuh kampung and needed very similar assistance with improving their water supply from the mountain spring.  This trip, President and Sister Clark were in Kuching for a district conference and they accompanied us to the kampung for the hand-over.  Again, we were greeted with gongs and met by the headman, Simi, and young girls in their traditional costumes.  They are a much humbler kampung than Begu but they had decorated their community center, and killed a pig for the occasion.  We saw how they were preparing the pig for eating---chopped in bite-size pieces and individual servings placed with onion and seasonings on a piece of banana leaf, wrapped up, and cooked on a fire, not flaming but hot glowing wood (I can't think of the word) and covered with more banana leaves.  Again the speeches and ceremonial turning on of the faucet and gifts of rice.

THEY ALWAYS PROVIDE A BANNER LIKE THIS ONE

THEY ALWAYS WANT SPEECHES.....
MINE WAS ABOUT GETTING THEM TO COMMIT TO
MAINTAINING THE NEW SYSTEM
ELDER COMPTON TRANSLATING

OUR MISSION PRESIDENT AND WIFE AND TWO AP'S
HEADMAN, SIMI

TURNING ON THE WATER WITH THE HEADMAN

BANK REP, HEALTH MINISTER, ROTARY PRES AND US...ALL "VIP'S"

We were back in Kuching in time to catch our flight back to Kota Kinabalu (and then I want to say 'crash' but don't want to associate that word with our flight) and home.  We had a little time to prepare for our class this morning at 8:45---branch leadership training---and then the usual block.  After the block we took the opportunity to teach Sister Irene one of the 'new member' lessons.  She is a wonderful Filipino woman who is here working, sending her money home to support her children in the Philippines. This evening we have a teaching  appointment with 4 other new members who we are teaching.  And one of them, Gary, would like us to go meet his father and teach him.  We take Angelo with us who is an RM.  He is our translator and he is also one of the top baptizing missionaries in this mission.

OUR LITTLE 'GO KART' FOR KK
IT'S A MYVI, A NATIONAL CAR

We will be home one day, tomorrow, and then we are off on our last visa run to Singapore.  More about that later, after we have done it.  Our travels make us tired but we are glad to be doing this work.  The gospel blesses the lives of the people here as it does everywhere in the world.  We are really happy to be a part of it.  The members of the church here continue to warm our hearts and bring tears to our eyes with their strength and dedication to building the kingdom here in Kota Kinabalu.   We love them.

PEANUT PANCAKES & FLYING FISH

Walking down off the suspension bridge to the market

Careful where you step....it is 100 feet down to a muddy river

Dried fish at the Wednesday market

The rain continues.  When we go out at night sometimes it is raining AND dark but Bill is a good driver.  So far so good.  We try to avoid going out in deluges.  There is just too much rain for even the deep drains to handle it and roads get flooded and there are many more accidents.

We have had some interesting visits this week.  On Tuesday we visited Sister Hellen Enombiling and family.  Sister Hellen has 7 children and the youngest is less than a month old.  Her husband is not a member of the church but she is diligent in bringing all her children to church.  They are fortunate to have a vehicle for transportation.  President Jared and his wife, Mary, went with us for the visit as they know where everyone lives and we do not.  We shared some scriptures and visited with all the family.  I got to hold their new baby.  I am sure she does not lack for attention and love with all those older siblings.  I saw the younger children nuzzling her several times and older sisters took turns with diaper duty.

Sister Helen and her family.

As we were getting up to leave, President Jared walked over to the big aquarium that was sitting against the wall to get a better look at a large fish---it appeared to be about 10 to 12 inches long and was making continuous circles among smaller fish.  Suddenly we heard a crash and a yelp and from the corner of my eye I saw something go flying across the room.  The fish had been startled, jumped out of the aquarium and over President Jared's head and landed on the other side of the room, flapping and flopping on the floor.  Sister Hellen grabbed a towel, grabbed the fish, and quickly got it back into the water.  I guess that has happened before and we all had a good laugh---at/with President Jared.  [President Jared is a very gentle and serious 33 year old Chinese man who is serving as our district president.  Our district is all the state of Sabah.]

The jumping fish. Boy did he fly!!

Their only piece of furniture and a very happy boy

Ervina and Venchent, President Ling and Mary
and Ellen and Bill

On Thursday evening we went to visit Brother Johnny and his wife, Ervina, who have been members just a little over a year now.  He is an Elder and was recently released as a counselor in the Sunday School presidency.  Ervina's family are also members bur not Johnny's.  They live about a 20 minute drive from the church up near Turaran.  Johnny is a long distance (well, long distance here isn't that far) truck driver and, alas, because of the rain, he had not been able to get home for our visit.  He normally works long hours---7 AM to 9 PM and 6 days a week.  We had a nice visit with Sister Ervina and their "going on 4" year old son, Venchent, who loved having some playful attention from Elder (Grandpa) Davis.  Bill sure likes to play with the little ones.  They warm up to him fast even though they start out quite shy.

While we were visiting with Sister Ervina, I noticed a beautiful quilted table runner displayed on the door to one of the bedrooms and went to look a little closer because I do appreciate that kind of work.  Sister Ervina opened the door and showed me her 'work room' where their only piece of furniture is a foldable utility table with a really nice sewing machine set up.  She also had strung up on a piece of clothesline across one wall her crafts of clothing and handbags.  She does beautiful work and she told me she would like to make a bag for me.  "Which one do you like, Sister?"  Wow!  She is so sweet.

This week after our missionary district meeting we all went to lunch at Devi's Curry House which is just across the road from where the missionaries live at Marina Court.  They have eaten there in the past and recommended it.  One of our new missionaries is Sister Zafar who was born in Pakistan but her family is trying to immigrate to USA.  So she told us what would be good to eat.  We ordered, not knowing what we were getting; "You will like it" she told us.  So they brought out pieces of banana leaf about 16" by 16" and put that on the table in front of us.  Those were our plates.  Then they brought rice, packed and formed in a little bowl that was put in the center of the rice (the bowl is turned upside down to leave a mound of rice on the 'plate').  Then several waiters brought food and started putting it around the rice---there was pickled cabbage and other veggies, some cooked veggies, and the curried (hot spicy curry!) chicken.  I watched the elders who had eaten there before and they just started mixing the food with the rice---WITH THEIR FINGERS as we had no utensils.  That was a little beyond me so I asked for a fork and got the traditional fork and soup spoon.  It was pretty good food and I especially liked the mango lassi.  I do like the ethnic food here and I am getting pretty good at picking out the chilies which they all use to spice up the food but I don't care all that much for them.

Typical police car here

On Wednesday, Brother Anthony took us to a nearby town of Tamparuli  to their weekly market day.  We parked on one side of the river and walked across a swinging bridge to the market.

Ellen buying another basket. The lady is the one that made them.

 They had EVERYTHING you can imagine in that market from tools and hardware to clothing and accessories, to food such as vegetables and fresh fish and dried fish and fast food and a few handwoven rotan baskets.  Bill bought a pancake as fast food.

Red hot peppers for sale

A small hardware shop on the sidewalk

Making my pancake. It was very good.

 It is about 14 inches across, on the thinnish side  and sprinkled with sugar and chopped peanuts, folded in half and cut in pieces, wrapped in a piece of plastic and then a newspaper.  It tasted pretty good hot or cold.

a little grandma selling her dried fish

SELLING HER MELONS

Just a little of everything at the market
 laid out on the dirt with newspapers underneath.
 Dried fish is very popular.

On the way back to Brother Anthony's home he took us to his canteen.   He is retired from his job with the government but he is only 63 so for an income he and his wife have a canteen at one of the schools.  This is where the children have lunch.  He showed us the kitchen which is set up with 3 large woks, each on a stand above the propane tank that burns to heat.  Here he fries noodles---wide noodles and narrow noodles (like our raman noodles).  They serve the noodles with vegetables, fresh fruit like melon or papaya, and drinks such as Milo (the 'national' chocolate milk drink), chrysanthemum tea, sodas (no Pepsi or Coke for Brother Anthony's kids) and soy drinks.  They also had little packaged snacks such as fish crackers (these are fish FLAVORED, not shaped) and sego snacks.  Brother Anthony seemed very proud of his canteen and even showed us the outdoor sinks where everything is washed.

A LITTLE GRANDMA AT THE MARKET 
SELLING CIGARETTES

Our mission president has decided that the senior couples need to do an inspection on the younger missionaries' apartments between each zone conference.  So I asked them if the day after their 'P' day would be a good time to come to inspect.  "Sure, that is good."  So I got up early on Thursday morning and baked a pan of cinnamon rolls and took a plateful to each apartment.  The apartments looked great!  (I am comparing them to the apartments I saw where Jason and Lynn lived in Mexico and El Salvador.)   I think they liked the cinnamon rolls, too.  I used your recipe, Christine, for Cinnabon Rolls.  That was my first time to use that recipe and it turned out great.  I don't know if the elders in Tawau, who live about 400 km away (as the hornbill flies), will get fresh cinnamon rolls or even an inspection for that matter.  We don't get over there too often but when we do we will connect up with them.  We sure do love these young men and women.  They work hard and they help us when they can so we do likewise.

These are the prospective missionaries for the KK Branch. Most will go out within the next year:7 of them!! That will make for a total of 10 at one time from this branch in East Malaysia. We are currently teaching them CES institute class 130 Mission Prep on Tuesday nights before our visits.

These are the last two of the three that have received their calls.
We work with them to get them to where they are going
as the branch and district leadership have no experience with doing that.

We are so proud of the KK branch. They are such good people and are trying so hard. They have such wonderful testimonies. On fast Sunday there is never a break between. If you are wanting to bear your testimony you have to be very quick to stand up. They are so excited about the gospel. They want to serve and do what is right. Most of them work 6 days a week and 10 to 12 hours a week. They still manage to home and visit teach and serve each other. With a little guidance from us old white people they have increased attendance 20% in the last three months. Today they hit 138 again. They are pretty solid at 118 mark. 

We hope we can remember the stories to tell all of you when we get home that we can't now. The average income here for the hours I told you is about 1000 RM a month which is about 300 US dollars.

We will visit a family tonight that we are teaching the new member lessons to. They live in a walled off part of a garage shop. There were 12 of us in a 8 by 10 foot room. Their living room window is a piece of plywood hinged so that it can open into the shop.

We have zone conference this week and a trip 2 hours south by car to witness the first use of vision surgery equipment LDS Charities has donated to the local vision doctors, around 100,000 USD. Then to Sibu by plane for a youth conference welfare project and then onto Kuching for a handover of a water project and then back Saturday night to be ready for a full Sunday of teaching and leadership coaching. One of my sisters asked how we found the energy to do all of this and keep up the schedule. Only with God's help and your prayers is our answer. We know we are "on the Lord's errand."

Thanks so much to all of you that keep in touch and for a few SKPYE calls. We know you are all busy. SO it is a real treat for us when some of  you take time from your busy lives to include us.