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.