Elder Brandon Forsyth

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Ministers, Ministrations & Mosques

A view of Sitiawan in Malaysia, where Elder Forsyth is currently serving.

"So this week was eventful! On Monday, we had an appointment to talk with a man named Fu Pin who we met outside a disabled community. He's disabled and as we got to the appointment and sat down with Fu Pin and 3 other people, started asking questions and teaching, we learned that the disabled center is a Methodist Ministry, and Fu Pin is a minister.. Who knew, right? So we told them that, as missionaries, we are here to serve/help people and share about Jesus Christ's Gospel. We asked which one he would like us to do and he wanted us to share our message so they could evaluate us. We taught about prayer, prophets, Christ's ministry, Apostasy and the Restoration. We testified, but instead of commitments we offered to come back and share The Plan of Salvation. We invited them to pray about our message. They declined, but it was a good experience.

Fun part of the day, part 2! We're also teaching a Malaysian family of 6. The dad's name is Richard. Their family has no running water or electricity, and they only have 1 moto/scooter. We're working with them, but we learned their concern when I went on splits with the Buttersworth Missionaries. Elder Harvy, the Zone Leader (ZL) came to Sitiawan. He speaks Malay and was able to talk with Richard's family. It turns out their house is haunted, Richard's been possessed, and they all sleep in the same room at night because between 2am-5am the spirit goes around the house and makes noises, bangs on the walls, and somehow causes the broken pipes to run water. They were Hindu, but since their religion hasn't caused the ghost to leave they are investigating all churches to find the truth and make the spirit leave. Every night they read the Book of Mormon because when they read the ghost stops irritating them. However, once they stop reading the spirit comes back. So anyway, a big concern so we brought over a member of the church who speak Malay, who translated for us [Brandon is a Mandarin speaking missionary] and we taught them, had a prayer, and gave them some comfort against their disturbances. We go back to teach them tonight.

A large tower in

Kuala Lumpur

Yesterday, we set a goal to find 4 new investigators today because tomorrow we are going to Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia's capital] for Zone Conference with Elder Pratt of the Quorum of the Seventy. Even after our busy day today, we still had to meet our goal, so after travelling across all of Sitiawan and Manjung, a neighboring city, we found FIVE new investigators! This week has been eventful from teaching Methodist ministers to casting out devils. Day and life of a missionary in Malaysia!

So, Malaysia is actually a Muslim country, so we have to ask everyone their religion before we speak to them about Christ so we don't break the law. Well, my first few days out, I accidently DID break the law because I didn't have any "What-to-do-if-you-see-a-Muslim-in Malaysia" lesson in the MTC. There are about 5 mosques in Sitiawan and they hold prayers over the loudspeakers about 5 or 6 times a day.

The work is really good. We have 3 baptisms set for this month already, and our goal is twelve. This month, both my companion and I will be getting our feet wet in the font. The Mission Presidency is such a blessing, and they are very inspired individuals. I'm very thankful they are my leaders because I really see the love and care they have for us.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Jedi Fonz [in Mandarin, Jedi means "Elder"]

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

First week in the mission field

Elder Forsyth's 1st email home gave us a pretty clear idea that he's not in Utah anymore... (edited January 5, 2011)

His first transfer will be spent in West Malaysia, and not in Singapore as we originally thought.

"So the first day in Singapore, there were ships EVERYWHERE!" People everywhere! First thing, the Mission President took us to eat curry, rice & chicken WITH OUR HANDS! It was really messy. The people in Singapore and in my area, Sitiawan (Malaysia) are very diverse. I've only seen 1 other white person that isn't a missionary. There are lots of Muslims, Hindus, Indians, and Chinese. We wear normal missionary attire. We knock doors, do street contacts, teach... a lot of our information on the Singapore mission was wrong.

Its really hot and rainy here, but we just bike through it. My companion says I'm so GREEN right now. I'm expecting everyone I talk to, to want to hear about the gospel and get baptized, but that's okay. I talk to everyone. It was hard the first couple of days because I wasn't used to being denied and turned away. But its okay. My resolve is a lot stronger. Its hard here because most people speak Malay, little English, tribal speak, Indonesian, or some other language, so we have to hunt out the Mandarin speakers. My companion, Elder Whinham has only been out on his mission for 5 months, and he was shocked to be called as the trainer, and he said that they pretty much didn't have anyone else. We're the only two Mandarin speaking missionaries in all of West Malaysia! Most of the other missionaries speak Malay. My companion keeps saying my Mandarin is better than his and I can speak more than him, which might be true because, come to think of it, I've helped him more on his Chinese than he's helped me with mine. He goes for it 100% and I really respect him for it.

The city we're in (Sitiawan) is very interesting/different. It has a few main roads, with houses and shops all down the sides. The buildings are 4-5 stories tall, but very run down and old. They crush the trash in the streets and let the juice run into the middle, so it has a very, uh, "Malaysian" smell. We bike everywhere. The first day my butt was really sore and my arms got really sunburned. The food is really good. Think of Chinese food. I've already had chicken feet! Here, you take ANY food and add a chili-paste to it. We call it Malaysian ketchup.

My companion and I have a 3 story home to ourselves. We have electricity and running water with filters hooked up to it. We're the only missionaries in Sitiawan. We eat out almost every meal ($3 Malay/$1 American). In Malaysia, toilet paper is a luxury, so I've gone almost a week without toilet paper. I didn't catch on at first, but when we were eating with our hands the first day in Singapore, they were teaching us how to do it properly. They told us, "you eat with your right hand only. The left hand is for other things." I could only handle that so long, so I took a hose, attached it to a spigot, and made my own bidet... Grandpa Forsyth-style!

As for the work, we're working with Cynthia, a mom with 3 boys and a girl. Baptism date is set for the 16th of January. We're also working with a family by the name of Huang. There are 8 in their family, and their son, Eugene is already a convert. The kids and the dad look good, but the mom is having a hard time softening her heart. The people here are very humble. Cynthia lives in a shack with no electricity. The Huangs do have electricity and a tv. I really understand now how blessed we truly are. We are lucky to have so much.

My companion taught me a parable that says, "I'm not afraid of the heavens, I'm not afraid of the earth, but I'm afraid of white people who speak Chinese!" HAHA - so funny and so true. Chinese people start freaking out when I start speaking in Mandarin to them. Most people try not to lose face, so they just ignore us and pretend they don't speak any language at all."

Memories from the MTC

Elder Forsyth has left the building...
The MTC BUILDING, that is! He flew from the Salt Lake City airport to Singapore, with layovers in San Francisco and Hong Kong. He called from San Francisco and we all got to talk to him. It was so great to hear his voice, and even better because as the clock rolled past midnight to Dec 28th... it was Mom's birthday. What a great birthday present. Elder Forsyth told us he'd call again from Hong Kong... but we forgot about the "Asian factor". The "Asian factor" states that any time an Asian is around, Elder Forsyth is going to lose all sense of anything else going on.

In his first, quick email home, after arriving in Singapore, he apologized for not calling. He wrote, "I was about my Father's business." He explained later that he kept going up to people speaking to them in Mandarin, not realizing that not every Asian SPEAKS Mandarin. We just love his enthusiasm!

Elders Aikens, Jensen & Forsyth
in SINGAPORE!!!!!

Elder Forsyth just could not get enough of the Asian Elders at the MTC! Suffice it to say... they were stalked. This is Elder Wong (upper left), one of the Mandarin Language teachers (left) and Elder Ho (below).

JOY, JOY, JOY!
Everytime Cody sees pictures of Brandon, he remarks... "He looks SOOO happy! I've never seen Brandon look SOOOO happy!"

Its so wonderful to see the joy and the changes that have come into our son's life as he has given himself over to the Lord for His molding and teaching. Can you just feel the love when you look at him? I know the people of Singapore & Malaysia are going to feel it and see it.

Elder Forsyth ran into a friend from our days in West Valley City.