Week 15 - Aku Anak Allah

Apa Khabar everyone!

It's been a crazy week. I feel like I don't have much to tell you all. At the beginning of this week, Sister Ray was a bit under the weather, then we went to Singapore for zone conference, then I got the sickness Sister Ray had for the last two days of the week.

So the missionary work has been slow. But I am feeling better and I am ready to get going again.

Zone conference in Singapore was amazing. When I first arrived in Singapore two months ago, I didn't have time to look around. But on Wednesday, I got to walk around Gardens by the Bay. It is beautiful.

The most exciting thing that happened was that we went to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. You know. The one where if you google Singapore it is the one with three towers and a big boat on top?. So from Gardens at the Bay you can see the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Sister Ray took one look at it and decided that somehow, she was going to get to the roof of that hotel. I was all on board so we started to head over to see how we could get to the top .

Once we found a way to enter the lobby, I began to be a little worried. I kept asking her if she was sure that were allowed there.She assured me I was worrying too much. So despite my worries, she located the nearest set of elevators and we rode to the top of that 57 story hotel.

It was lovely. I took pictures. It wasn't until we got down that we realized that people were checking for cards, and we weren't supposed to be able to go up there.  It wasn't until that night though, when we told our mission president that he told us that usually they make people pay 20-40 sing (dollars) to get to see the view from the top of that hotel and he hadn't even been to the top yet. 

So while I would have politely asked around and found out it costs money. Sister Ray just did it. But we got a some totally cool pictures! Which I just found out I cant send to you this week because I forgot to download it to my google drive first. So next week!

Zone conference was the best part of Singapore though. It was very uplifting and I can't wait to go and do!

Just some little miracles that did happen this week:

1. Sang some songs in the park with Sister Ray and her ukulele this week. Even though we didn't get any solid PI's, I am sure it made peoples day, to see some white girls being happy and singing about how they are a children of God. Also, it made us happier

2. Saw a rainbow! There is NEVER rainbows in Miri

3. Safety traveling (The immigration office even gave me a piece of candy!)

4. Got invited to a members sons birthday party (This is a HUGE honor, because they don't have much, and family gatherings are super special for them)

5. Committed a three sisters to baptism. Hopefully we can get their mom this week!

Sorry it's so short this week! I promise I will go out and get some more miracles this week so I can tell you about them next week! I love you all! I hope you have a good week!

Sister Skinner

PS  If you ever wondered what it sounds like to sing I am a Child of God, in Malay, with some tone def missionaries, with a branch mission leader and his family and a guitar? Wonder no more!

Week 14 - Singapore

Apa Khabar!

Right now I am writing out this draft on a plane to Singapore for zone conference! They moved our Pday this week to Wednesday so that we could have the day to explore Singapore a bit! I will email you next week with pictures and adventures. It is always hard to leave Miri for a few days though. We got people to meet and places to be!

It was transfer week. Transfers were supposed to be last week, but the MTC sent in the new missionaries a week late. So this transfer were in right now is only a five week transfer. Sis Ray and I are staying in Miri to finish my training. So all is good.

Maybe, for this email, I can send you a couple lessons and an experience from this week.

The biggest lesson I have learned this week, is that when the Lord called me to be a missionary, he called me to be ME. I am teaching a lot more kids than I thought I would on a mission. I feel like I connect better with the kids and the teens than the adults. The Lord knows me and knew where I would need to go to best help others. 

This week, I have used my small talents to help teach the kids and teens. I have been drawing a lot of visuals for the kids we teach. They love to color them, and it helps them follow along! I also taught a new PI how to braid hair (Which is very hard when you don't know the words for right, left, center, hand, over, under, or part) but by some miracle we figured it out together! I also taught two girls a patting game I learned in the MTC. When they saw me at church this last Sunday they were we excited to showed me that they still remembered. 

There is no set way you need to teach the lessons. There is no secret code to being a good missionary. The truth is, if I am the best version of me that I can be, and try to use the gifts God has given me, I will be a tool in his hands. 

I want to promise you that this is true for you too! God has given you gifts. Rely on him, and use your gifts, and he will help you bless the lives of others. I just want to challenge all of you to use your gifts this week. Find one, and just develop it a little this week. 

The next lesson I have learned is to rely on the Holy Ghost. I know that this gospel is true! I know that when you turn to Christ he brings complete and everlasting happiness and peace. Sometimes I just want to smack people with the Book of Mormon because they don't understand that it is the key to eternal joy! I can share, tell, beg, and plead others to come to Christ. But ultimately, the Holy Ghost is what will help them understand.

Sister Ray is very good at listening and following the Holy Ghost. About a week ago she had a feeling we should visit a house of a less active family we hadn't met with. We texted them, but they didn't respond. So without knowing for sure if they would be there, she still felt like we should try. When we got there, we learned from the neighbor that they had moved over a month ago. But as we talked to the neighbor, she invited us in. We taught her a lesson and prayed with her and she wanted to meet again!

On Sunday, we texted her to see if she wanted to come to church with us. She gave us a half excuse, but we both felt like we should go try to walk with her to church anyway. When we got there, we learned that her excuse was real. But get this. In the three days since we had been to this twin house, people moved into the house where the less active family had moved out nearly a month ago. We started talking to them and turns out that the dad was a member, but the wife and kids are not. The dad had work right then, but told us we should come back to teach his family because he loves our church. 

So, basically. We went to a house looking for less actives. Got new investigators. Came back for the investigators, but got a part member family. 

Both times, we only went to the house because we felt like the Holy Ghost guided us to not give up.

The Holy Ghost is a real member of the God Head. He talks to us, and is with us constantly. He represents God, and wants to help us. What a powerful gift from God. I have learned that as we listen to him, he not only helps us teach, but guides us in everyday decisions as well. 

Sorry this is a long email! I love you all and hope you have a good week! All your support means the world to me!

Sister Skinner

Week 13 - Guess What?

Tried chicken butt for the first time this week! It is really good!

(10 points to anyone who can figure out how the title of my email connects to this)

Apa Khabar!

This week I was in a trio with a sister from Singapore! Since we are all on 90 day visa passes in this misison, sometimes, missionaries just need to leave their area, and the country they are in to go for a 'visa run'. So, Sister Ouk, the sister that joined Sister Ray and I this week, had to leave the area she was serving in Singapore, so she could get another 90 day visa pass when she returned to Singapore.

Sister Ouk has been out 9 months, she is from Australia, and she is awesome! I learned so much from her, and it was nice mixing things up a bit.She also takes A LOT of pictures. So I think I will keep this email shorter and just send more pictures.

This sister also wanted to re-experience all the things that East Malaysia has to offer! And that included a lot of this that Sister Ray hadn't shown me yet! This week I tried a lot of new food, found the best places to drink Milo, and found a new Pasar Malam (Muslim food area thing?) It was a good week from the food, to the experiences, to the bold new ways of contacting.

For this email though, I thought that maybe I would just share about some of the people here in Malaysia. They are amazing and they are what I love the most about Malaysia. 

The first family I would like to tell you about is the B Joli family. They have a family of 7 girls. Remind you of another family? The father used to be branch president, but when his wife fell away, they all sort of all fell away. They are less active now, but they are starting to return to church. Walking into their home makes me feel like I am walking into my home! There is just that big family feeling, and with all girls too! I like to sit by the two youngest in the family in sacrament meeting. I hope that we can help them remember why they love the church.

The next person is a seventeen year old investigator who actually called us first. He just had the wrong number, and we thought that he was a less active because he said he had been baptized. When we came to visit him though, he said he had been baptized into another church. We have started to teach him, and I have never seen anyone so eager to learn. He has prayed and felt Gods love for him, and I can't imagine giving some one a gift more precious. As he goes to seminary (only once a week on Friday nights) he learns about the Book of Mormon. One day we were walking back with him and he said, "When I read I feel so happy, the Book of Mormon keeps getting more and more exciting!" I cant even describe how happy I am for this guy!

The last family I would like to describe to you is our BRAND NEW Branch Mission Leader. Miri 2 has never had one of these before! His name is Brother Eric, and he is only 22. He has been a member since he was in his teens, but was less active. When he got married at 19 though, and his wife was not a member, he remembered the church and wanted to raise his family in it. His wife was baptized this last April, and his two kids come with them to church every Sunday. This week he invited us over, we sang songs while he played the guitar. Since he never had a chance to serve a mission, he is so excited to help us. I love him and his family so much!

Hey! I love all of you so much too! I hope you have a good week! Here are the LOADS of pictures from this week!

Sister Skinner

This Picture is for my Grandpa Gazdik who told me

I needed to send him a picture of me holding something cool.

This massive lizard is called a Bayowak.(Not sure how to spell it)

Week 12 - Branching Out

Apa Khabar!

I forgot my journal, so I actually have no idea what happened this week. So, this email might be a bit shorter.

This week was Branch Conference! It would be called Stake Conference if we had a stake. But we love our branches! There are three branches in Miri, and then three branches in Bintulu. Bintulu is about a three hour drive from Miri, but they rented a really big bus, and bused most the members to Miri. Some people did drive themselves. But the fact that three branches could fit onto one bus says a lot about the size of the branches.

I heard that my home stake had Stake Conference this weekend too. It's crazy to think how connected the church is across the world. We have Stake/Branch Conference the same weekend. The theme of our Branch Conference was the same as my home stakes, ministering and the importance of. We had a member of the 70 there. AND, did you know that the wifi password for the church in Miri is Pioneer47? It really is all the Lords church, no matter where in the world it is. The prophet is doing a good job.

It was fun to have everyone there. It was like a big family reunion even though not everyone spoke the same language. The conference was in Malay, so the Chinese branches had a translator for them. And the member of the 70, Wisit Khanakam from Thailand, spoke in English and had to have a translator to translate what he said to Malay.

Wisit Khanakam has an amazing story, you should all look him up on lds.org and read about him. He shared a little of his story in the conference and it is so powerful. He has such a strong testimony, and you can feel it when he walks into the room. At one point after Branch Conference, Sister Ray and I walked into a room to give the mission president some baptismal records. They were waiting for a meeting to start, and the only other people in the room was Elder Khanakam and I. So while my companion spoke to the mission president, I had a casual conversation with a member of the Quorum of the Seventy.

What an amazing experience! He is a soft spoken man, and was so worried if I understood his English. He asked me how I was doing in the mission, how long I had been out, how my language was coming. He even gave me some tips on missionary work, and thanked me for choosing to serve. I was having a rough day trying to stay positive. But I felt like it was such a tender mercy. God literally sent one of his servants to thank me for what I was doing, and to be patient with myself.

Have I told you once or twice that God loves you, is aware of you, and will reach out to you?

One of the things I have been thinking about this week is temples. We have all heard that we should be grateful for how close we live to a temple, when others don't have a temple in their country, and save up their whole life to go. And yes, I understand that but...

Recently, I have sat down with families, that barely have a roof over their head, and told them that they need to go the the temple to be with their family forever.

I have looked little girls in the eyes, and told them they need to get married in the temple to go to the celestial kingdom and have eternal families.

The nearest temple is in the Philippines.

I wish I had gone to the temple more when it was a twenty minute drive from my house. I remember the feelings of peace, the complete joy that comes from going to the Lords house and feeling him encircle you in the arms of his love. Those divine feelings that I had the opportunity to have on any casual afternoon, is a once in a life time experience for others.

Go to the temple this week. Not because others in the world will spend their whole life saving up for the opportunity. But because you want to be closer to your God, who has blessed you beyond what you know. 

Kind of a different email than what I usually send. I hope you didn't get bored and skip to the end. I love you all. Have a really good week!

Sister Skinner

Week 11 - Miri-cles

Apa Khabar!

Hello again! I hope you are all doing well! 

Let's start with Monday. Last Monday, I emailed so late because we went to Tusan Beach in the morning. It was GORGEOUS. (I strongly suggest the google search) There is an arch on the beach and we wanted to get closer, but the tide was too high. So we tried to find a way around it.... We went on quite the adventure. Including off roading in a small rental car, hiking through a palm tree plantation, walking through a small kampung area (or Malaysian houses in the Jungle), we trekked through a watermelon farm, AND a chili farm. In the end, we gave up trying to get to the arch and went out to get pizza instead. Which was still good.

Tuesday was one of those days where you are just always wet. At this point you are probably thinking, "Oh, so it finally rained on you Sister Skinner?" And I would just look at you with all the pain of a girl who sweats off all her makeup during the day and ask, "What rain?". It was so humid I took one step out the door, made a U turn and went back inside to put on more deodorant. I really think I am getting used to it though.

On Wednesday Sister Thackeray was like, we have a member that we have never visited. Let's go visit her. And I was like, sounds awesome! Turns out this member lives in Tamen Tukuh. Which is basically our area, but is across town, and by the airport. It is so far from everything, that missionaries don't usually go there, because it would be hard to find kingdom builders that can come to church every Sunday. Sister Ray is very set on adventure though. The member we got to visit doesn't get visited a lot, and she is way awesome! It was a good visit, and we even encouraged her to share what she believes with other in her neighbor hood. We did some contacting, but didn't get any return appointments. It was good though!

On Thursday we had a MIRI-cle (like a miracle, but in Miri, Get it?) There is a women we are teaching. She has a strong testimony, but has no way to get to church. One of the members has been driving her every Sunday. We have been trying to sit her husband down so we can teach him, he can be converted, and he can take them both to church. But he has never been willing before. On Thursday, we were trying so hard to find a member to come teach with us, because she mostly speaks Eban and doesn't always understand our Malay. It seemed no one could come that day though! Everyone we asked fell through. At the end of the day, we debated not going to teach her, and going to visit her on another day when we could have a member present. In the end we both felt like we should go though.

We arrived and started to ask the baptismal questions. When we were very conveniently explaining the importance of Joseph Smith, this husband sat down and said something along the lines of "I know your church is true because of the changes I have seen in my wife. How do I enter your church?"

We were like, we can help you with that! We explained who Joseph Smith was, invited him to read the Book of Mormon with his wife, and to pray to ask God if what he was doing was right. Holy cow! The thing is, if we had had a member present, we are pretty sure he would not have sat down with us. The Lord is knows whats best even when we don't!

Friday, we had a person we teach from Indonesia (Who calls us like 15 times a day, and is always telling us that he misses us) tell us that he wanted to go on a mission. We told him that he should probably get baptized first. He said that after he went on a mission he will never see us again and was very sad. Sister Ray promised him that if he was baptized and served a mission, she would visit him after he got home. He asked me if I would come visit him too. I told him I would try. But my companion made a promise. So long story short. I might be taking a trip to Indonesia in three years...

Also on Friday, we invited one of the people we were teaching to seminary. When we were picking him up he was like, "We're almost ready." And we were like, "WE'RE??? As in more than one? He ended up not bring one friend with him, but TWO friends with him. Both of which we are meeting with later this week. Whoot whoot!

On Saturday we had a baptism! Edmund was so excited! It was such a good day! He was so ready, and watching him get the holy ghost the next day was so amazing. I am so proud of him!

Sunday, we were out visiting a member that hadn't been to church in a couple weeks. After, we came out and my front tire was completely flat. We had to cancel our last appointment of the day to start walking home, so we could reach home before curfew. What is about a 20 minute bike ride, took us about an hour to walk. We definitely talked to more people though! We also passed a Pasar Malam. Kind of like a Muslim night market. They were having a zumba thing going on, with some cool dances. So Sister Ray and I rationalized into stopping and contacting while dancing. We couldn't stay long. But hopefully one day someone will come up to us and ask us if we were the white people dancing in middle of a parking lot. We will be like, why yes, that was us. And they will ask, what are you doing in Miri? And we will be like, boy do we got a message for you.

Hey! I hope you all have a good week! Good luck to all of you starting school this week! You're in my prayers!

Sister SkInner

Week 10 - A Wild Ride

Apa Khabar!

Sorry this is late! I am sure you all have already fallen asleep for the night. But I hope this finds you Monday morning at the start of a good brand new week.

This weeks weather has been a little weird. I still have not been caught in the rain. But it definitely rains. At one point we had just sat down in a persons house and it had been thundering, but as soon as we finished the opening prayer, it just POURED. The house we were in had a tin roof, and it was like we were in a drum. It was so loud we couldn't hear anything, so we sat there for five minutes waiting for the rain to slow.  In about 5 minutes it stopped as suddenly as it had begun. They say Utah weather is weird.

The wind has also been crazy this week. So you can ride a bike in a skirt huh? Well, how bout riding a bike, in a skirt, in high speed winds? Try that. I only flashed a few cars. I also got hit in the face by multiple palm tree leaves. The Lord is watching out for us. There is no other way that we could have the safety that we do. It is always an adventure though!

I really was a crazy week. There is a kid we have been teaching almost every other day since I got here, his name is Edmund. He is SUPER ready for baptism. But when he interviewed with the district leader, he froze up. His baptism was supposed to be this last Saturday. And we even met with him almost every day this week to make sure he was ready. But there was a relief society activity, so we were not able to do it. But we think everything will work out for this coming weekend. Whoot whoot! I am so excited for him!

Another reason we just couldn't fit in Edmund is because it was zone conference this week! So we casually hopped on to a plane, and flew to Kuching for two days.

So, Kuching is the capital of Sarawak. The two things you need to know about it, is that one, Kuching means cat in Malay, which is my favorite thing about the city. And two Kuching is big! It's a lot bigger than Miri. When we landed we were greeted by senior missionaries. They were amazing! We don't have senior couple missionaries in Miri. But they are basically like grandparent. It was so nice. How cool that they leave behind kids, grandkids to come serve the Lord, and adopt all of us missionaries for a while! I'm planning my senior mission right now.

That night I went on exchanges with none other than Sister Taha herself! The missionary who was in Miri for FIVE exchanges before I came in. It was an amazing experience. I learned so much from her. She basically took me in like an older sister would. We taught three lessons, and at the end of one, taught a girl to read. She taught me a lot about teaching, and how to show love in lessons.

That night we stayed on the 13th floor in the Sisters apartment. It was an amazing view of city mixed with jungle. I even got to eat cereal in the morning! You have no idea how much I miss cereal! Cereal is so expensive here, and it comes in super small boxes. I hope you all go enjoy a big bowl of cereal for me this week. Just savor it.

That next day of zone conference was amazing though. We learned a lot about top secret effective missionary hacks, we set awesome missionary goals, and learned how to inspire the people in our branches to be missionaries. It was great. I even got to see my MTC Malay family. Everyone was there besides Sister Dayley (the most important one). It was an amazing meeting, and I learned SO MUCH.

Not that much else happened this week. Just getting back to work!

I just want to testify again to all of you, God knows you. He knows your victories, he knows your defeats. Turn to him and let him help you. I have found that I can either get frustrated, or feel like I am not progressing, or I can pray. I can ask for his help with every little thing. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. I am praying more than I have at any other point in my life. I think my goal is to get to heaven and for God to tell me that I prayed too much. I am definitely am trying my hardest to achieve that goal.

I love you all. Have an outstanding week!

Sister Skinner

Week 9 - Into The Jungle

Apa Khabar Everyone!

Hello again! Where do I even start? This week was better than last week. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but if we keep improving at this rate, I am going to have the best mission ever right? Haha, we'll see.

So last Monday. for Pday, our district went hiking! We went up to Canada Hill (I pretended I was my sister Savannah, who served in Canada) And we went hiking. IN THE JUNGLE! I didn't know that that was on my bucket list. But this last Monday I added it, and then got to cross it off right away! It was beautiful! It got pretty thick with growth, and got dark, we had to use ropes to guide us through. I think there is a spiritual analogy in there somewhere... ;) I also learned that Jungle book was based off of the Malaysian jungles. Which is way cool. But there is definitely not any bears in these jungles.

That night, we went to a ward family night. The members insisted that the sisters ate first. I was raised to not take too much food, and make sure everyone eats first. That is not the way it is here! I apparently did not take enough food the first time around (I took A LOT though) and I was in serious danger of offending people. So I went back for seconds and FILLED my bowl. By the end I felt like I was going to barf. But my mom would be proud to know that I got all five food groups in during that meal, and I ate more vegetables than I probably have eaten in the last year. I thought I would never eat again.

One of the members told me the meat I was eating was crocodile, and I believed him! Silly Sister Skinner, we don't eat crocodiles here. We eat other large lizards that live in the jungle. I love the Miri 2 ward!

The most exciting thing that happened Tuesday was that the people we were teaching kept giving us so much to drink, and we had appointments back to back, that I almost peed myself when we were teaching. They all laughed at me when I worked up the courage to ask. They could tell I had to go, but were waiting for me to ask.Looking back it was funny. I blame my dad. He knows why.

Wednesday it rained! It rained lightly, so I got to wear my rain poncho! That might be the highlight of my week. Sister Ray says usually we don't know when it's going to rain though. And when It does, rain ponchos don't help in the slightest. So I am very excited!

We also met with an elderly man, (they don't really say elderly here though, if someone is older they call them "uncle", or "aunties") So we met with an uncle, who is mostly deaf. It was good because people keep telling me to speak up, and be confident. I had to yell my testimony at him. So it may have not been good Malay, but it sure was confident. Also, with this man, when we were sharing Ether 12 with him and talking about faith, he got riled up, and started really fast. Both Sister Ray and I got lost on what he was saying. He went into his house and came back out to show us his sword, and his stick/bat. We effectively faked understanding, and calmed him down with assurance that they Lord will help him if he has faith.

Thursday, was uneventful. A lot of planning for the following week

Friday we had four appointments. When one fell through, we were in the neighbor hood to visit a less active, AND talk to an elderly man that needed visiting in the ward. So we had five appointments that day. It felt good! Although, the lights off of our bikes did get stolen. Sister Ray and I just hope that they were feeding their family with the money they got off of our lights.

Saturday, I got a waffle off the street for like 2 RM. Which in US dollar is like .70 cents maybe. Have I mentioned that I love Malaysia?

Saturday was an interesting day. Remember when I was in the MTC and did embarrassing things like every week? Well, it's happening again. At the end of a lesson, I was trying to remember the name of the three sisters we were teaching. I got two, but then came to the last one. Her name was Nisa. I called her Nasi. Which, in Malay means rice. Everyone was dying of laughter and I honestly had no idea what I had said. When I finally figured it out, I went to give her an apology hug and kicked over the pitcher that was on the floor. AND THEN when we were going out the door, I forgot the mangoes they had given us. So I had to go back!

It was a good ice breaker though! The girls who had a hard time talking to me because they didn't really understand my language now smile at me all the time! And even though they threatened to start call me Sister Rice, or Sister Nasi, they haven't. Yet. But we'll count our blessings.

Sunday was good! Hard because of fast Sunday. But I bore my testimony, and I love seeing all, like, 60 people in our branch! They all are so strong and have amazing testimonies.

Sorry it was so long this week. I love you all very much! Have the best week ever!

Sister Skinner

Week 8 - I'm doing Coconut That Bad

Apa Khabar everyone!

Holy cow! I have so much to learn out here!

While I have not seen any dramatic improvements in my language or understanding, I have seen an improvement in my skills of dodging pot holes when riding my bike! Not making eye contact with certain sketchy looking dogs! AND remembering to put on Mosquito repellent! What more can I ask? 

It's been a crazy week. 

So, last Pday, Sister Ray, the Chinese speaking sisters, and I went to the beach called Marina Bay! It was so beautiful! Also, it was Sarawak Day! So there was booths set up, and lights, and it was so cute! I have a few pictures to send to you. The beach reminds me of my mom and it was a tender mercy just to sit there and remember my mom. It also reminded me of the Lords love for me by making this beautiful earth! 

I was so pumped to get into missionary work on Tuesday after that Pday. But then, on Tuesday, all of our appointments fell through. Every. One. 

I think I remember a person or two tell me missionary work was hard.

That day though, we ended up stopping on a street we ride down frequently to talk to a bunch of girls, Young Women age. They made fun of our big noses, and taught us the new trends of dancing that we missionaries are missing out on. We gave them a our card, and they told us we should come back! We continue to ride down that street, and they are always out, and they like to run along side our bikes and give us high fives. We'll get them to church, were going to meet with them this week.

The kids here love missionaries. We arrived at one house to teach a person, and three little girls came running down the stairs yelling sisters, sisters! And then gave me a big hug! I am so grateful for little kids, who don't care if I speak the language or not.

Often, when I feel discouraged, something good will happen. Like, I came out of a lesson on Wednesday feeling like I can add so much more. We had an appointment with a girl right after that. I rode to her house kind of defeated. The house was a little run down and small. I was a little weary at first, but as soon as we stepped inside, it was so full of life! A big family lived inside, with grandparents. They were all so excited to have the missionaries over! There were like, 15 of them. We all sat in a big circle, though, grandma and grandpa stayed on the couch. You could tell they were all very close. It reminded me of my family. It also reminded me why I am doing this! Families are so important to God, and it was just an example to me how much happiness can be found through this gospel, and how much this gospel blesses families. I want everyone to have that!

Another thing that helps me here when I am feeling discouraged is the flowers! Is that so cheesy? But the flowers here are so different, and they are EVERYWHERE. There are just big bushes with bright flowers. When I am discouraged, I remind myself to look for the flowers and they always cheer me up.  God's looking out for you! You just need to look for him in the little things in life.

An interesting fact I forgot to tell you last week. The place I am staying is a big house! There used to be three sets of sisters who stayed at this house. But President Rowley recently took them all out. So it's just Sister Ray and I staying in a big house meant for six. Outside our back door is literally the jungle. I want nothing more to go out and have adventures in the jungle. But I settle for going out the front door and having missionary adventures instead. Because of the jungle though, I have been warned we see some pretty weird animals. Though. I haven't seen any yet.

One more interesting fact is that I have fallen in love with coconuts. Holy cow they are so good here! Coconut jam, coconut popsicles, and even, one night, we had coconut shakes. I am afraid of going home and the coconuts just wont be the same. So I have decided to stay here for a while if that's okay with you all. I was thinking a year and half maybe.

This email is all over the place, sorry! I love you all. Thank you for the emails! I am sorry I don't have time to reply to every one! But I hope you are all have a great week!

Sister Skinner

Week 7 - I'm Not in Utah Anymore

Apa Khabar!

I am alive! Hello! It was loooooong getting here. But I did so safely, and with little complications. 

Where am I you ask? I am in a place called Miri, in East Malaysia. 

The people here are SO nice, I just have NO idea what they are saying. What even is Malay?

I guess I should start at the begining though. So, I left the MTC early Monday morning. I said goodbye to my roommates, Sister Aluesi and Sister Katepu. I am going to miss them!

We flew from Salt Lake to LA where we had a NINE hour layover, ( this was honestly the hardest part) I think we all died a little on the inside. We then had a 14 hour flight to Hong Kong. a two hour layover there, then a three hour flight to Singapore. I sat by other missionaries on the flight, so it wasn't that eventful.

After arriving we were met by President Rowley and a few missionaries. They were all so happy, and we all looked like we had been hit by a truck. But it's okay. Because, after almost 20 hours of flying in two days, and a total of 5 hours of sleep, what better time to give out a Book of Mormon?

It was rough ladies and gentleman. We split up and on the MRT (Like the subway, but in Singapore) on the way to the church we were supposed to hand out a Book of Mormon. The first person I talked to thought I was trying to buy her shoes... So that's a pretty good summary of where my missionary skills are at, at the moment. On the way to the church, the sister I was with got lost. So that means I got to do extra contacting. Whoo hoo. Extra blessings right?

I spent two days in Singapore. It reminded me a lot of London, but that might just be because London is the only other big city I have been in. Singapore is awesome. Very busy, and I realized I can see the top of most of other peoples heads. But that's okay!

On Friday I said goodbye to Sister Dayley, and I flew another two hours, by myself for the first time, in one of the largest and fanciest airports in the world, to Miri! It was exciting.

My new companion, and the Chinese speaking Sisters picked me up from the airport. My trainers name is Sister Thackeray, but goes by Sister Ray because people here can't say Thackeray. She is amazing! She literally is straight out of her first 12 week training too, but she is doing good. She is super supportive and patient. I am so grateful for her.

The first lesson I taught was to a nine year old girl. She had just gotten baptized and we were giving her a lesson on temples. All I could think of was my sister Bethany. I am not sure if she understood me, because I couldn't understand her. But I will always remember my first lesson.

It is custom here to sit in a circle on the floor, and the host will give the visitors drinks, and you must finish them before you leave. But the most popular drink here is Milo. Which kind of like chocolate milk, at least I think so. But basically I am drinking chocolate milk all day. So I am pretty much living my dreams.

Miri is interesting, because while I am biking, we will pass these really nice houses with big windows, and then some wooden houses on stilts all crammed together. and then I am biking by the jungle, and THEN I am biking by the fancy mall. Biking in general has been interesting. The hardest part has been learning to bike with a dress on. I blame my parents for not letting me ride my bike on Sundays as a child. I'm figuring it out though. The trick is, to just sweat a lot so that your skirt sticks to your skin. So far I have only only been honked at three times, and had one dog chase me. I'm making good time!

Fun fact! The word for 'good' in Malay is 'baik', which sounds like 'bike'. So I have been making A LOT of puns this week. I am sure Sister Ray has heard them all. But she's a good sport.

On Sunday, they asked me right before Sacrament meeting just to come up and introduce myself. It's hard because the Sister who was here before me was from West Malaysia, and had been in Miri for 5 transfers. So when the members see me with Sister Ray the immediately ask where Sister Tahu, the previous Sister, is. It's a lot to live up to.

I was feeling way discouraged. But when I got up to speak, I felt their love, and their gratitude. There was so many encouraging smiles. I am so grateful for the members in this branch. I just wish I could talk with them better.

Two things I have learned, when you cant speak, a genuine smile goes a long way. I just smile even when I feel frustrated and discouraged. The next is don't settle for a handshake! Lots of the members will give Sister Ray a huge hug and then offer me a handshake. No way am I taking that! I will be the first to tell you I am not a hug person. But I love these people! And I want them to know it! If I can't speak I will show them! 

Holy cow. Pray for me please? It's going to be a lot to adjust to. 

Thank you for all your love and support. Thank you for your prayers already. I love you all. I hope you all are doing amazing.

Sister Skinner

Week 6 - MTC You Later

Apa Khabar Everyone!

Next time you hear from me I will probably be in Singapore. AND THEN, the next time you hear from me I will probably be in Malaysia. Sister Dayley and I are SO excited.

I was feeling more nervous then excited for a day or two, but Sister Dayley and I started going through some of the stuff we don't get to use until we are in Malaysia, and one of those items was a rain poncho. So of course we put it on and danced around the residence hall. We looked like dancing trash bags and it was the best. It effectively made me VERY excited to go to Malaysia. 

To be honest not a lot has happened this week. We have been cracking down with learning the language and teaching investigators. This week I have realized that I can talk to people and understand people easily. I thought I was really getting it. But then, of course, we had a grammar lesson. I no longer know anything about Malay. But I still love the language!

On another note Sister Dayley and I wrote a song this last week. I was telling her about the Chinese song that I learned in my Chinese class, "Wo de Zhong Wen Bu Hao". So we wrote our own version in Malay with the same tune. Here it is:

Ma-af!

Bahasa Malayu kami tidak baik.

Tetapi tetapi

Kita boleh mesih memjadi Kawan.

That's it... It took us a full exercise time to write it. But it was worth it. Basically is says, "Sorry my Malay isn't good, but we can still be friends." We're planning on writing a hit follow up single about sharing a message of the gospel during our 9 hour layover in the LA airport. 

Another cool thing that happened this week was a lady pulled us to the side of the cafeteria and asked us if we could talk to a group touring the MTC what it was like here. Of course we said yes! It was kind of scary because it was the first time I had talked to someone not employed by the church in over a month. But it was a cool opportunity! We talked to a Young Women's group and we talked to a Young Men's group from Cuba. Basically it was a short Q&A session, but it was so fun! I got to share my testimony with a bunch of teens deciding if they wanted to serve! And they were even impressed by my Malay!

One of my favorite things I learned this week was that, we were preordained to be missionaries before we came to this earth. I love this! Especially because I have spent so much time worrying if I am meant to be here. I just want to testify that God has a plan for you, and where ever you are at in your life right now, God knows you, and has a plan for you to do amazing things! Don't doubt yourself! Find out what you want to do with your life and God will help you reach your goals!

I love all of you! Thank you thank you thank you for the emails! Hearing from you makes my day! I hope you all have amazing weeks! Stay safe!

Sister Skinner

Week 5 - I think

Apa Khabar!

I am freaking out! last night Sister Dayley and I realized that we only have TEN more days here in the MTC. How did it fly by so quickly? Next week is our last full week. We fly out next next Monday. We will fly from Salt Lake to Hong Kong and then fly to Singapore, we will arrive on a Wednesday. Then from there we will fly to Malaysia. It's crazy to think that almost in a week I will be moving to a completely different country.

Also, I have known this for a while but I actually don't know if all of you know. I was called to the Singapore mission, but the Malaysia region. In the Singapore Mission there is the Malaysian Region, but also the Singapore Region. So even though I told almost all of you I was going to Singapore, I will be serving in Malaysia. In fact, the way my visa works, I am not really allowed to teach in Singapore at all. 

What a crazy week. I don't even know how to begin! I guess I will begin with the 4th of July. We were all excited for the 4th, but I guess the MTC didn't really get the memo. So almost everyone was wearing red, white, and blue, people were carrying around little American flags and would randomly burst into patriotic songs, and all the internationals would look at us like we were crazy. That was fun. My favorite people to watch was Sister Katepu and Sister Aluesi, the Samoan and Tongan I share a room with. They were so excited to celebrate their first 4th of July! They kept saying things like, "Go America go!" Which is funny because I have never heard an American say that. They got way into the spirit and I just wish we could have helped them have the real 4th of July experience.

The MTC also let us stay up and watch the fireworks from the stadium of fire. They assigned us all a window facing the Stadium, and we stayed up til 11 watching them. I have to say though, the Springville Art City Day's fireworks are better. It was funny explaining to the Aussies in our district why no one was worried about all of the fireworks going off though.

So I am not sure if I have mentioned this, but our district only has one teacher for Malay. Usually each language has three or four, at least two. But we only have one. On top of that. She decided to go and get married this last week. To the Marshallese teacher of all people.

No, we're really happy for her. But the last week has been really hard without a Malay teacher. We have been combined with the Indonesian class, because our languages are very similar, but they are still different. When I first got my call I was shocked at where I was going, and I almost felt like the Lord trusted me too much. This last week though, one of our substitute teachers said that the Lord sent us not only to this language, but also at this time, with only one teacher, because he trusts us and knows we can do it. How in the world can anyone trust me, of all people, THAT much? I really don't know.

The talk that really helped me decide to go on a mission was something along the lines of, Hard is Good, Do we Trust the Lord? Well, the Lord trusts me SO much. I have been trying to feel worthy of that trust and keep moving forward. In one of the devotionals this week someone said something along of the lines of "Don't forget to sustain yourself" That really hit me hard. I have always heard about the importance of sustaining others, but am I sustaining myself? It's funny how everything fits together like a puzzle here at the MTC. 

I know the Lord trusts me, not only do I need to trust him to know that I can do this, but also I need to sustain myself as a missionary and put in the work so that I can be the best I can be in my calling. 1 Nephi 3:7 my friends. Don't ever forget that you can literally do all things through Christ. He trusts you! You can face challenges with confidence that you will succeed. IF you do face your challenges with Christ on your side.

Funny story of the week, I had a dream that was basically the exact plot line of Beauty and the Beast, except Mariah (My sister) was Belle, and my whole family was in the castle. At one point, when Mariah and the Beast were falling in love, I sat the Beast down and told him that he needed to accept the gospel if he was going to marry my sister. I then proceeded to give him the first missionary lesson about God's love for him. We both cried. It was very spiritual.

I am glad that even in my dreams I can teach with such moving power.

Along the same lines, this week I heard Sister Dayley talking in her sleep. I got up to go to the bathroom, when I was passing her bed she turned to me and almost yelled "Testify!" When I came back and was getting back into bed she said "But who said the prayer?" She was very concerned. When I asked her about it in the morning, she said the only dream she remembered the previous night was of getting chased by wolves. I just hope she found our who said the prayer.

Thank you all for your emails! I am sorry I don't respond to every one, but they mean the world to me! Thank you so much! I love you all! Have an awesome week!

Sister Skinner

Week 4 - Angels Walk Among Us!

Apa Khabar!!!

I have literally been waiting a week to tell you guys this!  So this last week the new missionary Presidents have been at the MTC to train a little before they are sent out to the field. This was cool on it's own, but guess who comes to train these new Mission Presidents?

The Quorum of the 12 Apostles and the First Presidency. 

They literally were just walking around campus like it was the most casual thing in the world. Like we would just look up from studying in courtyard with the flags and be like, "Oh, there's Elder Holland walking with his wife." We were not allowed to go out of our way to talk to them, or even offer a hand shake. But they did tell us we were allowed to smile warmly at them. So that's what we did for three days. It was crazy to walk the same sidewalks as the Apostles for a few days.

On Sunday for the devotional all 12 Apostles were there. Since the girls Sister Dayley and I share a room with are international we got second row seats. When all twelve walked in I was about five feet away from them! I wanted to cry! They have such a spirit about them. I am so grateful to be at the MTC the time that I am. I am so grateful for all they do and the love they so freely give!

On a similar note, guess who else I saw this weekend? Tess Fisher! She is one of my good friends form home and she works as a MTC security guard. I literally was just as happy to see her as I was to see the Apostles.

It has been a really good week. 

This week marks offically the half way through the MTC! That means half of our zone moved out and we got in new missionaries. There are a lot of them! To give you kind of an idea, there were about 24 of us after the missionaries in our zone moved out. There are almost 60 new missionaries that came into our zone this Wednesday. We are trying to adopt them into our family here at the MTC but there are A LOT of them. 

The 24 of us had a few days alone together though, and it really brought us close. I really do feel like I have a family here. In a testimony meeting I shared that I have a hard time speaking in front of people and now they all volunteer me to speak in classes, or to be the one to speak when we discuss something. I hate them all, but it's also kind of sweet. We all know each other by name and walk each other to classes or back to dorms. I love these missionaries! I know the people in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Marshal Islands will love them too!

Speaking of our Elders. Our Malay teacher is getting married this weekend. This would be fine except we only have one Malay teacher here at the MTC. So one of the ways we are making it work while she is gone is teaching our Elders and pretending they are investigators. They were allowed to make their own profiles as investigators and this is what they came up with:

Three brothers. One is Muslim, one is Buddist, and one is Catholic. Their Mom didn't believe in God and we met the brothers at her funeral. And, because you thought it couldn't get any worse, each of their names are Prator. An Elder's name in our district.  

Jokes on them because we still managed to bring the spirit, and I feel like give a successful lesson about prayer and returning to live with God again.

Another crazy thing that happened this week. This last Wednesday was my day to host for new missionaries. Basically greet the new Missionaries coming in and help them know where to go. I stood in the underground parking garage for a while waiting for my turn to host someone. When it finally came my turn, you are supposed to walk along side the car, and wave, and just help them to know where to park. Well I was walking along side the car and they rolled down the window and guess who was in the car?

My BYU college roommate, Amy! or Sister Cook now. Can you believe that? What are the odds of that? The Lord knows what he's doing. 

Thank you all for the Emails! I love hearing form you guys! 

Also a Birthday shout out to my sister Bethany! She's turning 10 today! 

I hope you all have a good week!

Sister Skinner

Week 3 - Grateful for Waffles

Apa Khabar Everyone!

Holy holy cow! Everyone told me that a mission was hard. I always assumed they meant learning a language, or it was hard to convince investigators to join the church. But while that can be hard, a mission is actually, like physically hard to get through. I know that if I was going through this on my own there would be no way I would could do it. I  know that God is supporting me and strengthening me and he is the only reason I am still going. Everyday, when I go to bed and I reflect, I can see his hand in my life in every way.

This week was not as exciting as last week. Just more busy. We are averaging teaching two investigators a day. One of our investigators is Isabel, who wouldn't even let us in the door the first time we contacted her and asked us what mercy meant in our second lesson with her. If anyone has a good answer to that question on the top of there heads, and would like to explain a concept like that in Malay to me I would like to hear it. She makes it hard, but I know that we learn a lot from teaching her. 

Yesterday, while teaching her I was trying to explain very simply the Plan of Salvation. I was telling her that we lived with God before we came to this earth, but he sent us here to get bodies and to be happy. I started listing some things I was grateful for. I started with families, then friends, and at that point I had run out of all the nouns that I could remember in Malay. So I blurted out the only other noun I could remember in Malay. Which happened to be waffles. 

For all you learning Malay out there, waffles, in Malay, is waffles.

My companion then stated that she was grateful for the earth, ducks, and ice cream. Which, are all very important things to be grateful for! We asked Isabel what she was grateful for and she just lit up! she went on and on about all the things she was grateful for. So, if nothing else, she knows that God loves her and has blessed her with many things in this life. Even the little things like waffles.

There was buzz around the MTC this week that President Nelson was going to come talk to us. Sadly, all the rumors were false. But we did get to hear from Sister Eubank, the General Relief Society first counselor. And oh my goodness was it amazing. She compared us all to Moses, and gave us reasons why Moses was able to do such big miracles. 

At one point she was talking and she said that when we are first trying something, or trying to do something better, we often only give ourselves two weeks to do this. She then bore her testimony of looking towards the long term goals, and always giving yourself more then two weeks to become good at something.

I know that she was talking to me! Before I came the MTC I was so nervous, I felt like I was not good enough. I agreed with myself that I wasn't allowed to go home until I had been in the MTC for TWO WEEKS. Sister Eubank's looked me in the eyes that day and told me to give it longer than that. The day after she gave that talk marked exactly two weeks since I had arrived at the MTC.

The Lord knows us. He is aware of every single one of us. He knows what you need and when you need it. God has a plan for you, and he will help you reach it!

So I am still here at the MTC and I am even more excited to see what God has in store for me. Sister Dayley and I continue to improve our beat boxing skills, and I am working on my Australian accent. The Malay feels like it is coming slow, but I am always surprised when it comes time to teach a lesson and I realize I can find the words I need to teach.

This week, I continue my tirade of interesting moments. One of the days this weeks, I put on a dress backwards and didn't notice until after dinner. I also keep getting told (by three different people) that I look just like Hermione, or Emma Watson. Take your pick.  Finally, one of the Australian Elders brought a bunch of veggie-mite he so kindly wanted to share with us. 

Family, and friends. I can honestly say that veggie-mite tastes like death feels. It hurt me physically to taste it.

I love you all, sorry this email is all over the place. I hope you have an amazing week! Thank you for all the emails! They mean the world to me! Sorry about the pictures last week! I will try to figure them out!

Sister Skinner

Week 2 - My Braille Speaking Mission

Apa Khabar Everyone!

I have blisters on my feet, my head is spinning with a foreign language, and I already have bad farmers tan lines, but I am still excited to be here!

Don't worry, it is week two, but you didn't really miss week one. Last week I only sent an email to close family because honestly, I didn't even know what was going on. But, I feel like I know a bit more now. 

I am not even sure where to start so much has happened. This Monday we taught our fist lesson to investigator... In Malay. And although everyone in our zone got to use their notes on their first lesson, we did not. Our investigators name is Akai, and he is so excited to learn about our church that I am pretty sure that if we were able to speak English to him he would be baptized already. As we try to talk to him in Malay though we are very excited when we can successfully ask him to read a scripture.

I wont go into detail on how our fist lesson went. But to sum it up, after we got back to our classroom, and we were alone, Sister Dayley and I fell down to the ground, and just laid there. Laughing but mostly crying. We realized, after reflection, that we one, never introduced ourselves, and two, didn't give him a commitment, and three, didn't tell him we were going to ever come back, or see him again.

I have been thinking a lot about why in the world the Lord trusts me to speak another language to his children and teach them. Before my mission, when considering going on a mission I felt like my words would not be powerful enough, and I wouldn't be able to bear my testimony right. But as we started teaching to Akai every day this week, I realized that it's not the words you teach with, it's the spirit. After introducing the Book of Mormon to Akai, in English I could have gone on forever about my love of that book, and all the many blessings, and happiness it has brought into my life. But in Malay all I could manage to say is, Heavenly Father loves you, and I know this Book is true. It was the first clear thing I had said all lesson, and I felt the spirit so strongly. What an amazing thing! How simple it is to know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that he has given us the Book of Mormon as a sign of that love! Thank goodness for his gospel and the Lord helping me when I will fall short.

The church is true, that's all I'm saying.

I love my companion still, even though not every moment has been a good one. She has a powerful testimony and she makes me laugh. Her name is Sister Dayley, and my favorite thing about her is that when I tell her to start rapping about the gospel when I start beat boxing (Saying boots and cats really fast) she will totally do it! I have never met someone who will just start rapping when I tell them I can "beat box".

Out of all five people learning Malay at the MTC right now, there are Sister Dayley and I, and then a trio companionship of three Elders, Elder Hearewa (From Australia), Elder Homes (From Australia) and Elder Greenhaigl (from Minnesota). We affectionally call them Kita Elders (Our Elders) because they are all weird. I respect them all so much though. All of them really want to be here. 

We spend a lot of time with them comparing the differences between America and Australia, and it's super funny. Like sometimes they will say something and we will just look at them blankly and they will be like, you don't have that here?  It's like they are from a different world and I love it.  It's also funny because in Australia they don't really consider all the swear words bad. So they will casually swear, and then look at me funny when I say things like "Goodness gravy, heck no". Even at the MTC I have been pegged as the sheltered Mormon girl.

In other news. I have been keeping my companion very entertained. I asked her after a long day, if there were any Braille speaking missions. You know. The dots they put under the signs outside of class rooms. For blind people? Braille. Speaking. Think about that for just a second.

Then the next day, when we were meeting our new teacher for the first time, I almost fell into a trash can. The Elders thought was hilarious and when I came back to class they had stacked a pyramid of trash cans in font of my desk.

The day after that, my companion really had to go to the bathroom, so she ran ahead and I was following behind studying flashcards. I walked into the bathroom, still studying, looked up and went, that's weird, that's a urinal. When it clicked that I had just completely walked into the boys bathroom (I know Alisa is loving this) I promptly screamed, which my companion heard all the way from the girls bathroom. and ran out.

Alright. That is all the exciting things I have to tell you. I love this oprotunity to be at the MTC and learn how to teach and learn a new language. I hope you are all doing well and have a fantastic week!

If you don't remember anything else, remember that Heavenly Father loves you.

Sister Skinner

Week 1 - Hey Fam!

Hey Guys! Or if you want me to be all dorky and say it in Malay its, Helo. Exciting huh?

My companion and I have started to greet people with Apa Kabar, which means how are you, just so we can say something cool back when missionaries will say hello in the language they are learning. Which happens a lot.

So, apa kabar!

Since it's only been two days I decided to email my "imediate" family. (Savannah immediate has two M's)

I kind of want to start off saying how excited I am to learn Malay. It is a beautiful language, and I love putting my Malay name tag next to Savannah's Chinese one and just looking at them. Weird huh?

Here is what has happened so far. My companion is Sister Dayley, she is super awesome! I love her so much! We have very similar humor and we agree on a lot of things. Looking around my district, it looks live everyone got companions that compliment them very well, and you just have to be amazed at how well the prophets listen the the Lords promptings and mix and match to fit everyone so perfectly together. At least, to help people start.

In our district of Malay speakers Sister Dayley and I are the only sisters, and then there is a trio of Elders. I would give you names, but honestly, I don't know all of them yet. Two of the three elders are from Australia though, crazy huh?

In our zone there is a wide variety of different languages and destinations. There are people going to Indonesia, (Indonese is very similar to Malay), people going to Samoa, Marshal Islands, and Hawaii. I hear that next time a new shipment of missionaries come in there are going to be a lot of new languages and that we are going to double in size almost. 

Because of the wide mix of island languages, we have a wide variety of people in our zone. The companions Sister Daley and I share a room with is from Tonga and Samoa. A lot of the people in our hall already speak different languages, and I am having a hard time knowing what is their first, second, or third language is. The sisters we share a room with are learning Marshallese though, and they seem to be handling it very well.

My classroom is in on the 6th floor of the new MTC building it looks over the temple and the mountains and is gorgeous. Where we meet for zone meetings and sacrament meeting it just down the hall, looking the other way over BYU, and I can see Springville. Needless to say, I am having a bit of a hard time concentrating in those meetings.

Honestly, not a lot has happened. I have had some amazing classes and I love the zone president. But, it's weird because, I feel like they are not giving me enough instructions. Which might just be because I keep getting this EFY feel. But basically, we are in charge of making sure we are doing everything correctly and making the most of our experience, and that surprises me. Welcome to adult life I guess? Still, I would like a study out line, I would like them to give me specific homework. Weird huh? We'll see how well I study on my own.

Speaking of, on Monday, sister Daley and I will be giving a lesson to a guy who went to a baptism and felt the spirit, and would love the stability of religion in his life. Sound like a slam dunk of an investigator right? 

Haha here's the catch. We need to give the whole lesson in Malay. I nearly had a heart attack when she told us. I keep hearing horror stories of first lessons. So at least we know we aren't alone if it goes terribly wrong.

That's pretty much it. I love you guys lots! Have a good week! I will email you guys next Friday. By then we will know the fate of our "slam dunk" investigator.

Sister Skinner