Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Last Singapore Post

To all, this is the last post for Sister Harrison's mission to Singapore. She will be coming home May 10th. Thanks for all of the love and prayers that you have offered on her behalf. She'll be sad to leave Singapore and Malaysia and to leave many new friends and fellow saints behind, but we will be glad to have her home after serving a productive and inspired mission. (SBH)

wow.

i can't believe the last email is here. its pretty crazy. this week was very good. there was a baptism yesterday, a girl named Aling. she has been waiting years to get baptized, there were all of these problems, her fiance's ID card said he was muslim, so he had to get that changed, and then they had to get married but it takes a long time to arrange a kampung wedding. and her fiance, Samuel, was going to get baptized on Christmas, but then someone told him that wasn't the actual day that Jesus Christ was born, so Samuel got baptized on April 6th, he got the priesthood, and then he baptized his wife Aling yesterday. last year when i was here the elders were working with them, trying to get their marriage worked out, and now, a year later, they are baptized. it was a pretty special baptism, a really good last baptism to attend. she wanted me to be the one to translate for her baptismal interview last Sunday, and then yesterday i got to give a talk at her baptism. it was so nice. i like her so much! and that talk was probably the first one ever that i didn't have written out notes for. just me and my kitab Mormon. i talked about the gift of the holy ghost. gosh, when i first got here, i would be very nervous to give a talk in church, especially in Malay. I've really changed a lot.

another really cool thing happened this week. we were waiting for a bus, to go out and find a former investigator, a bus pulls up, but it is too full. then i see a lady sitting in that bus, staring at me, and i realize that i know her, she was an investigator that i taught last year when i was here. she almost got baptized too. so i waved, and the bus pulled away, and we decided to go visit that lady instead. she lives in this kampung, Kampung Baru, i think i sent a picture of it. it is a pretty poor kampung, and i hadn't been in that part of it since i was here last year. it was so crazy being back there again. and we saw her, she is doing good, we are going back there on Saturday. while we were there, we met two other former investigators from last year. Noreni and Loni. noreni couldn't ever come to church because she was always working on Sunday, but now, she has Sundays off, and they are coming to church!! can you believe it, just like that! maybe that is one of the reasons that i was supposed to come back here, if i hadn't, they would have been lost. it made me remember how much you really love the people you teach; people i hadn't seen in a year, but i just met them again, and like instant friends again. they are really cool. (and now i can understand them a lot better, haha) I'm really glad that happened right before the end of my mission, i hope i always remember that feeling.
leaving Malaysia is going to be very hard.

i love you family, i cannot wait to see you again!

sister Harrison

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Getting Closer to the End

Hi family,
Its me! Sister Harrison! Remember kah? I hope you all do because I will be coming home in a few weeks.
So this week was really great! Lazaias brought his grandpa and his older brother to church! It was conference weekend so we were a little hesitant for them to come because usually they don't really like watching the movie...but turns out they enjoyed it. Jerry convinced Lazaias to stay for the second session..... i like Jerry (that is lazaias' grandpa) it is so sad that i cant' really teach him for too much longer. conference was very good. it is kind of nice to watch it a couple of weeks later, because you hear little things about it and then get even extra excited for it. one sad thing is that lazaias can't get baptized anymore while i am still here :( because he is still trying to quit smoking. but he is doing really good. he only really smokes one a day, so it won't be long until he is baptized. and now maybe he and his grandpa can get baptized on the same day. i like Jerry a lot. he's only twenty nine, we still can't figure out why lazaias calls him his grandpa, he's not even married! also we met this new guy named memory, and he is so good, has very good questions, and when we asked him if he would pray, he said he would try. and then he said that no, he wouldn't just try, he would do it. we like him so much!

OK gotta go, don't have that much time left.

love you,
sister Harrison

PS me and sister hite learned how to whistle in harmony!

PPS happy birthday kendy, i love you!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Beaded Bracelets, who would have thought!?!

hi family!
number one, i can't believe Bryce is getting marred already, he is younger than me! Dan and Dustin, now Bryce, the cousins are dropping like flies! and maybe there are some i don't even know about, and i bet they all have kids, i can't believe it. things here are going so good. Lazaias, last Sunday brought three friends to church. i was giving a talk (PS i will never be afraid to give a talk in English ever again) and sitting at the front, and they seemed a little bored and they left right after the meeting, but turns out they all want to come next week, they even told Lazaias that they want to sleep at his house Saturday night so they can come with him! and one of his friends, Jerry (lazaias calls him his grandpa, but he is only twenty nine, we are still trying to figure it out) said he wants to be baptized on the same day as lazaias! which is good news and bad news, because selfishly i want to see lazaias' baptism, but if he really wants to be baptized with Jerry we will have to push it back so Jerry will be ready. but who cares, he'll get baptized after all. and lazaias is making me and sister hite and sister Howard matching beaded bracelets with our names on them! mine is done already, it looks awesome, isn't that so nice? we really love him. haha, he told us that he only remembers my name because harrison is long and i am the tallest. haha, i love lazaias. okay family, not much else to say but this week i really started loving chrysanthemum tea, here they sell it in juice boxes, yum! they don't sell that in America, do they? also, sister hite taught me how to make egg drop soup, it is so easy. love you family,

sister Harrison

PS shout out to Lisa, happy birthday on the sixteenth!
PPS(yours is on the sixteenth, right, and Kendra's is on the twenty second?
sometimes i get those mixed up, love you Lisa!)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Short but Sweet !

hi family, I've done it again, waited until the end of my email time to email the family, aahhh! I'm the worst sister!! and i promised myself that i would be a better sister and write a really good email, dang it. but this week has been a really really good one. just the last couple of days have been really stellar. church was great, people gave very powerful testimonies, and we have had some very good lessons. also, remember how i was getting all worried about goals and everything and how our mission had a goal? our president sent out a new letter, I'm attaching it. it made me feel so much better, like a huge weight had been lifted. instead of working hard and getting really good numbers, we can work hard and find good people who will progress and help the church. I'm really glad he sent that before the end of my mission, i feel like there is a completely different tone to missionary work, and it is very nice.

we are teaching this guy, lazaias. he is really good. the only problem, he is a pelupa. in other words, very easy for him to forget. he didn't come to church because he forgot, and went to this other place. that sounds bad, but it is true, he really does forget. he is really funny, and really good. trying really hard to quit smoking. he used to smoke almost thirty a day, and now he is down to eight! he has to quit by the sixteenth and come to church, and then i can be here for his baptism! we'll see. he's so cool, he wants to bring his grandpa to church next week. we taught him earlier today because he couldn't meet any other day, and then he came with us to the shoe store, when we left he was telling us we should have given the shop girls pamphlets. he is really good. missionary work is so fun sometimes! love you family,

sister Harrison

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

can't. compute. overload. of. emails. received.

family! email day was the best today! all these emails from brothers and sisters all over the world, greedy for their postcard from Borneo. haha, just kidding, i am happy to oblige.

i feel like i have so much to tell you, but i can't fit it all in! missionary work is the best because, sometimes you are just happy all the time, for no special reason. wake up happy, go to bed happy. go around all day talking to people, having appointments fall through, visiting people. it is the best! and last month went by so fast, i can't believe march is practically over. that leaves me really worried for April. oh well, what is coming is coming.

last night i talked to sister lim on the phone, she was telling me everything that is going on in Kuching. one really exciting thing is that this lady, Lidia, is getting baptized. Lidia lives in an area that we rarely go, it is very far and there is only one family of members who are active. but a few weeks before i got transferred we started going there. that one member family, the mom's name is truni, all of her brothers and sisters are baptized except for one. the first day we went there we met truni at the house of the non member, set up an appointment to come back. me and sister lim taught her, Lidia, once, and she came to church for the first time on my last Sunday in kuching. then the area split, and the elders started teaching her, and now she is getting baptized! isn't that so awesome, i was so happy when i heard that. it is really cool to have part in the start of the story, and then to hear the happy ending. she is probably the first person to be baptized in that area in years. so exciting!

some other exciting news, a boy from the branch here in KK just got his mission call. everyone thought that he would get called here, because most locals are called to this mission. but guess what? he is going to the salt lake city south mission! we can't believe it! he is our branch mission leader now. later, when I'm home i could help them out with their investigators! he is really excited, he actually really wanted to go to Utah. i can't believe he is really going there.

and I'm also really excited for Trent's mission papers, keep me updated, do you think he'll get his call while I'm on my mission? I'm praying that he will get sent here, but anywhere in Asia is cool too.

well , that is about all for today. thanks family, for always reading my emails and letting me be your little sister. i love you!

sister Harrison