Almost the last posts... end of July and most of August

July 19

Sunday would be a good day to have people come over...
I would like to see a lot of people, but priority is the family. I have people I want to see though, and I'd like to have an open house of some kind..

The house sounds good, it sounds like what I've been living in for the last 2 years. The price seems decent, and the guys seem way chill, so I'm totally down. (The house in Edmonton)

The new area is pretty good, we had 35 people at church (but the Chinese group built off of our branch had 12, so total attendance was 47) it was the end of Ramadan this week, so a national holiday that ended up with a lot of people going back to kampung... so hopefully next week we'll have more at church.

Trudo is dope as! We get a long really well, We are working so hard, meeting as many people as possible.

There is a lot of work, and as we go around, members keep telling us that the missionaries haven't been to their house in like 6 months or more... so there hasn't been a lot of work done here...

20 days 'till I'm 20!

Jumpa Lagi!
Elder Bester 

The city of Bintulu is not nearly as bad as all the Elders make it sound, I think it's way better than Sibu. The reason why Elders always trash Bintulu is because of the rough situation of the church here, so a lot of Elders just don't like Bintulu ... but it's very nice here, not a lot of people, roads are wide, it reminds me sometimes of California, and the little community around Grandpa's old house in Edmonton. It's a nice place, the thing is the majority of the members in Bintulu (not people... but the ones who are mormon) are very poor.

I refuse to die, we are going so hard, it's way tiring though, our minds are constantly working on how we can fix Bintulu, and it's mentally stressing for sure. Everything's been going way good though!

Ok Pictures! 

  The Young Men's President in Matang and his family, great family, and have taught me a lot.


 Cake given by the Young Women's presidency in Matang




 N M <3

 L M N (Convert)


Families we worked with in Siol Kandis, a few converts and such


 Cute Iban kid


N's family, she is one of the greatest people I have ever met, she is a shining pillar of hope to all around her, her younger sister (C)  is also a convert


N and our investigator E (with C in the back haha)


 E! She came back right as we were leaving so I was able to say good bye! She stays at a boarding school (but goes home for the weekend) and was able to come home 'cause of Ramadan!


One of my Favourite families in the world, D and R, he's the branch President (25 years old!) They are changing Kuching, and that is a family that will for ever have a positive and constructive influence on the world. I'll always miss that family. They bought me the shirt 'cause I always told D that I thought that shirt was cool ('cause he always wears it) so they got it for me!



K and R, R is planning on going on a mission next year, they are 2 incredible young men, and I've been blessed to serve around them


D's family, sweet family that's been endowed and Sealed!


 Sarawak Pride


 Hari Raya!


Malayu girls...




Owner of the house that  we went to


President Phillip, Former Bintulu District President (note that Bintulu no longer has it's own district but is part of Miri district) I baptized (taught... he actually baptized him) his grandson (M, not in the picture...or in Bintulu) in Mukah

Young Women's Presidency... :)

Ya, I own the clothes, I got them last week, which was way fortunate 'cause I had hari raya this week...

July 26

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN I DREW A CAKE FOR YOU IN MY PLANNER!!!

Jordan! You are legally an adult, but you aren't actually an adult until you come home from your mission.

Attendance (totaled with the 2 groups attached to our branch) was 54... so we have about 800 people who didn't come to church, so well the city isn't too bad (small town about 120 000 people) the branch is struggling.

Jumpa Lagi
Elder Bester

also... could you double check things like rutherford scholarship... and would you be able to get new tubes for my bike before I get home?

as many scholarships as possible means less money out of the bank :)

any questions?

What are you doing for pday?

we are playing v-ball at the beach

Is there anything exciting/different in Bintulu?

Different... no one at church and I taught youth class and then young womens haha

I taught the youth the restoration (due to the fact that the youth who were there were all less-active or recent converts) and we taught the young women out of Come Follow Me, and the lesson was about the temple.

Do you go back to Singapore at all before you leave? Any zone conferences etc?

I go to Singapore on the 5th of August, and then on my way home.

Can you fit everything in your suitcases, or do you need to ship stuff back?

Are you going to give away a bunch of stuff, or bring it home?

I should be fine, I just put everything in my suit case to move to Bintulu, and I will be burning a lot of old clothes and stuff... I'll be fine, shipping cost way more than just paying for overweight.

Are your shoes destroyed?

My shoes were given by members last year, and they are pretty much industrial work boots... so they are fine... but I might buy new shoes in Singapore so that I look good back home haha

Aug 2

This is my last p-day as a teenager! It's crazy!

The week in between me coming home and me going to UofA is going to be freaking nuts... have you set up an appointment with the Stake President? (speaking of appointments) cause I'd like to be released haha :P

I'm sure I will have a lot to do at UofA in terms of missionary work, don't worry about that :P

Yesterday was my last fast Sunday as a missionary! so strange to think that next fast Sunday I'll be in Alberta... 

I'm super excited to come home, but my heart also tears every time I think about leaving Sarawak behind. The place and the people here have such a tight hold on my heart that it is so difficult to leave it all behind.

See you all in a few days!

Jumpa Lagi,
Elder Bester

the pics I sent, beautiful Malaysia... 

us playing v-ball

My DL jumping in the air...

ME and my companion Elder Trudo

a snake on our bikes...

The new area is ok, we have so many people on record, and we have yet to hit 50 at church (although with the 2 groups attached to us we've succeded 50 the last 2 weeks) but only about 5% to 6% of our branch comes to church this week. It is by far the weakest branch in Malaysia at this point... so working in it is busy, but not as much success as we hope for. They are re-organizing the district presidency (which the Elders already know who is in what calling) and as a direct result the branch presidency (because our 1st counselor is becoming a counselor in the district presidency) But that is all going to happen my last week in the field... so there is change and excitement, but all after I leave haha.
on the bright side, we have some investigators who will likely be baptized a few weeks after I leave, and 1 of my investigators from Matang is getting baptized on the 30th!!! which is super exciting, I got to call her and congratulate her this last week. Also a part member family I was helping (as the district leader) in Kuching is getting baptized (the wife isn't baptized yet) (also the marriage stuff just got sorted out... so that's why she can get baptized now) is getting baptized on the 8th! and getting confirmed on my birthday!

Cool little things from the week, I went on back-to-back exchanges with the chinese elders... I was so happy everytime we found someone who spoke malay... Chinese people are crazy.
so i survived two days of Chinese... of which I would not say too much, and what I said was in Malay haha.

Surprise email - Aug 6

Hey, just had my final zone conference in Singapore! On my way back to Bintulu. Just wanted to ask, could you make sure that my registration for the Election is all done? I've been trying to register on-line, but I don't know the civic number for the house back home... also should I register with my address as the house in Edmonton? or in MacEwan...? Anyways, I'd like to vote this fall... so could you set me up?

also... seeing as I'm sending this anyways, may as well say I love you all, I just had an awesome time for zone conference, said my goodbyes to a lot of people, a lot of friends, gave out 148 pictures to missionaries to take back to their areas and give to my old members.

It's a strange feeling going home, it really hit me in zone conference, that the majority of the people I've met in the last two years, I may never see again. It was definitely touching, and a sweet experience.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my mission, and all of the sweet moments out weight the bitter, and the love and friendships, and miracles that I've seen have been better than anything else in the world.

I'll share a couple of points from my departing testimony (which may I add was very good, everyone was attentive, and I cried :P )

I got up and said "Good evening eh?" it was a good way to start, joked around for a bit, but then I talked about miracles. Through out my mission I've made "lists of miracles" that I've seen, and every time, those lists have just been names of people who have changes. I shared two experiences from my mission, D and R; family, who was my branch mission leader, who we re-activated in Sentosa, and later was called as my branch president in Matang, and my experience with James, who had been a member back when the church was only in English, and we found him again, helped him keep following the word of wisdom, and taught him in Malay for the first time, including giving him the Book of Mormon in Malay.

IT was wonderful,, and I'm sure I'll tell you those stories and more when I'm home, but I've been so filled with the spirit from this zone conference.

Well, I gotta go, have a plane to catch, I love you all, hope Jordan gets his call soon, I finally met the new mission president, they are way young and really freaking cool, they are very chill and coming to church with us this week.

Love you! Jumpa Lagi,

Elder Bester

Aug 9 - 20th Birthday!!!

hey, so I can't use my scotiabank card... can you please (again...) go to the bank and tell them to get their act together.... I can't pull out money... 

Elder Bester

Aug 16

Hey.. so what is my schedule looking like for when I'm home? What is my transport? (Biking until Jordan leaves on his mission? 'cause that would be rough...) also phone...? also I will probably need new clothes... and I feel so bad that I'm spending so much of your money haha.... sorry...

anyways I'm on!