---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Braydon Carter <braydon.carter@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 1:40 AM
Subject: A long ways from home!! 09/17/2018
Why hello everyone!!
To start off my email I just want to say, the mission is hard. It's the most amazing experience but it's hard. But as you keep pushing through the hard times, it's incredible how much God blesses you. Seriously I cannot stress enough the blessings that come from CPR. It's a term we use in the mission that means ( Church, Pray, Read ) If there is one thing I want any of you to take out of this email is to always do those three things. Never stop CPR. It not only gets you through hard times, but it also helps keep you happy and stay on the chosen path!
Now story time :)
So on Wednesday we had our zone conference! That means everyone from our zone comes into Singapore and we have a conference with the Mission President. It was really good! It's always fun to have all the missionaries together. Especially when we get to study together how to be better from the people of Malaysia and Singapore. At the conference, I met my new companion Elder Duzett. We stayed a night in Singapore and then we were on our way to our area.
So I think in my last email I mentioned that my new area is something called an outpost. That means it's not very close to any other areas. We're kind of just off on our own in the middle of Sitiawan. I knew this ahead of time but I don't think I fully thought of what it included. It started off with a plane ride from Singapore to Malaysia that was only about an hour long. Not bad at all! The eye opening part was the 4 hour bus ride from KL to Sitiwan. It wasn't really all that bad. We were able to use effectively studying and talking about how we can be a great companionship. A side note, if there's one thing that I am loving about a mission it's the focus and wanting to use every second well. I kid you not when I say there are time my companion will need to run to the bathroom for 60 seconds, and I'm now in the habit of pulling out flash cards, or studying something. I just know that's gonna be a blessing for when I'm back home.
Anyways so we get to Sitiwan, and although I felt like I was in a volcano I have learned to really just already love the place. ( Don't mind the English, I don't speak it anymore ;) ) Here is some pictures about what I have been able to see throughout Sitiwan in my couple day's being here:
It's not really shockingly different. I mean culturally there's a lot of differences. But the city itself isn't anything I thing many of us haven't seen before. What I can say is really different is the social aspect. They obviously have their nice restaurants and shops, but a lot of people go to what's called a hawker center. It's just like a really big outdoor open area where a bunch of different vendors set up shop and sell food. ( That's where we do almost all of our contacting ). We probably talk to at least 50 different people a day. Trying to find those who are seeking for the message we have to share. The best part is basically everyone we talk to is Chinese. I have been able to speak so much, and the branch is almost all Chinese as well. So it's been really good to be thrown into that immersion and really force myself to learn the language and to improve day by day.
I love being able to be surrounded by the language. First, because it put me in my place. I thought I knew quite a bit. NOPE. I mean I'm not that terrible, but I definitely can improve and I have every intention of doing so. One of the things I have started to do is read The Book of Mormon in Characters. I've loved doing it not only because I am actively learning by reading, but also because as I read I really try to tune into the spirit and actually read it instead of just translating it. I have also been trying to write my notes in Chinese. I think I have mentioned before SYL (Speak your Language) is a big motivation as missionaries. We are told to do it and to constantly improve. Well I ran into a missionary while in Singapore that made a comment about how he takes notes in Chinese. I was pretty impressed. Then he said, "writing is part of SYL, it's a commandment." Now all missionaries may not agree with his statement, but I loved it. If I'm going to do learn the language I'm going all in! Just like the Chases with all their birthday parties ;) Here's a picture of one of the ways I am studying:
Now to the miracle of the week :)
From what I have kind of seen and heard, most missionaries would refer to Sitiwan as one of the harder areas. We have a baptism coming up on Saturday and more than once I have heard, "That's awesome. It's been a while." Now everyone in our mission is actually way positive and hard working. So I've never heard that "It's a bad area, or you won't have success." But coming in I knew we were going to have to work hard. So what had happened is we were out contacting and no one wanted to listen to us. They all shunned us away or told us they weren't interested. It had gotten to the point that it was about 9 PM, we weren't to close to home, and I was wondering why we weren't turning around to head that direction. We stopped at a hawker center, and my companion had told me we didn't have a whole lot of time, let's try to get one OTS in. He continued to tell me that he wanted me to pray, and that I needed to really specifically ask for one person who was prepared. The first prayer, I was kind of vague, so he had me do it again. Then he tells me that he is following my lead and that I was going to pick someone. I looked around for a second and it seemed as if someone was literally lit up. So I walked over to him and started to chat. He told us he had a friend that was a missionary serving in Hong Kong and that he thought what we were doing was really cool. Then he asked us to sit down and he ordered us some apple juice. TALK ABOUT PREPARED! Then he allowed us to share the message of the restoration. The spirit was so strong, and he took the Book of Mormon we gave him and agreed to give it a try. That experience was such a good testimony builder to not give up on ANYTHING whether it be missionary work or just daily goals. We never really know how close we are until we get there.
Lastly, Saturday was my birthday!! Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and the prayers. I would be lying if I didn't say I was missing home. But I'm falling more in love with missionary work every day! In the mission everyone wishes you a happy birthday, but then it's go time. There's people to find. Can't waste to much time! But I was able to grab a couple good 'treat yourself' kind of things and my companion took me to one of his favorite dessert places. The place he took me too sells something called Cendol. It is the weirdest thing I have ever put into my mouth. It's like this shaved ice, with rice and beans, with this green stuff that I'm still not positive what it was. But it wasn't that bad. It's actually a pretty popular Indian treat if I'm not mistaken. Here are some pictures from my birthday :)
Oh and last thing! I got my bike! I thought I should mention that just cause it's a good memory. It's so cute!
Anyways. Seriously thank you all so much for your love and support. It's felt all the way around the world! Remember CPR. It's truly an amazing blessing. I love and miss you all so much! Hurrah for Isreal!
Love,
Elder Carter
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Some pics that Braydon didn't mention in his email...
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