History of the Church in Kuantan - Grafting in to Malacca Branch - Part 2

Welcome back to the recorded history of the church in Kuantan. If you haven't read the earlier posts, you can do so by clicking on the following link which will take you to the home page for "History of the Church in Kuantan." Then you can click the links there for each portion of our history:

History of the Church in Kuantan HOME

Part 2 - Grafting in to Malacca (October - December 2006)

As I mentioned towards the end of Part 1, we had just become acquainted with Raymond Chan and Nina, and for the next few months, we spent time with them having church services at home in Kuantan, and travelling to Malacca for church on alternate weekends. I also devised a FHE plan based on 2 Peter 1: 5-8, which reads:

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith

virtue; and to your virtue knowledge; And to knowledge

temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience

godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to

brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you,

and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren

nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So it was my pleasure and thrill, to prepare a series of 8 lessons on the 8 steps to increasing our knowledge of Jesus Christ, which I presented during Family Home Evenings at our home with Raymond and Nina between October and December of 2006. We had some great experiences as we learned together during this time.

On Monday 16th October, 2006, I recorded in my journal:

"We learned about virtue and chose 10 virtues to personally work on and develop - it was a good lesson and nice to learn more about such a little-discussed and understood subject. [Raymond and Nina] brought pringles, bananas, watermelon and cola for my birthday!"

On Monday 30th October, 2006, it is recorded in my journal thus:

"Had FHE tonight with Raymond and Nina and learned about 'knowledge.' Three steps down - five to go! It's an exciting adventure and I've learned that it's not easy to completely know who Jesus Christ is, and what sort of person he was. He possessed every virtue in its perfection, and I am far away from that. But these FHEs are bringing us all closer."

In my journal after our FHE about 'temperance' on Monday 6th November, 2006, I wrote:

"It's hard to be like Jesus Christ. You really have to let go of the ego and completely forget about yourself. To be like Jesus you really have to be stripped of all pride and build up others at the same rate as you build up yourself. I hope that others would see me as someone who is trying to possess the virtues of Christ. I'm certainly trying hard to make these virtues a part of me, because I know that they really are important to acquire. The more virtues we have, the more like Jesus we become. The more like Jesus we are, the more able we are to judge wisely and make correct decisions...These things have been opened into my mind as I pondered the scriptures concerning virtues we are advised to gain."

On Monday 11th December, 2006, we had completed the 8 steps to  knowledge of Jesus Christ. I would rate it still as probably the best set of FHEs we have ever had. I had prepared some mock certificates for all of us, which looked like this:

OUR EARLY TRAVELS TO MALACCA

On Saturday 14th October, 2006, we set off on the first of many journeys from Kuantan to Malacca. We went with Raymond and Nina in their car. They had been living in Malacca previously (Raymond met the missionaries and they were both baptised there) but Raymond's business wasn't doing so well there, so they had moved back to Kuantan. We would drive for 4-5 hours on Saturday afternoon, stay the night in Malacca, attend church on the Sunday morning, and then make the 4-5 hour drive back to Kuantan on Sunday afternoon.

I have to admit that it was tiring and not at all easy. Four of us in a car, two couples. We all endured the occasional foolishness of being quietly upset at what our spouse may have said during a conversation, and then going through the dreaded silent treatment for an awkward time, wondering how to break the deadlock and make things feel normal again. I think we were all guilty of it at some point, and of course when you're stuck in a car for 5 hours, there is nowhere to go! But these were small moments. The over-riding feelings were of excitement and joy to be meeting with fellow church members in the Malacca branch.

So here are a couple of pictures from our very first time in Malacca after arriving from Kuantan. We spent some time seeing the sights, and later in the evening we joined the branch activity at the chapel where we went around the block with our Chinese lanterns.

Fidelia and I in Malacca on Saturday 14th October, 2006

During the Malacca branch activity on Saturday 14th October, 2006, we walked around the block with Chinese lanterns with the rest of the members

We slept at the Kinney's place, the couple missionaries serving in Malacca at the time. We were very grateful to spend time with them and for allowing us to sleep over during the weekends we made the journey out there. It was so nice to get to know them. After church the following day, we would have lunch with the Kinneys and the Elders at their place before the long journey back to Kuantan in the afternoon. We left at 4pm on this day and arrived home at around 8:15pm.

MALACCA - KUALA LUMPUR - SINGAPORE

Saturday 21st - Sunday 22nd October, 2006

On the way to Malacca, we suddenly encountered a problem with the car engine and we came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. I offered a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help us identify the problem and know what to do. Raymond opened up the hood and checked the oil, and his car strangely started working again! A small thing but it strengthened our faith in God.

While riding on the narrow road through the jungles of Pahang, I penned a poem which I entitled "The Journey from Kuantan to Malacca."

The Journey from Kuantan to Malacca

Cascading landscapes along the way,

Painting a picture of the old “Malay,”

Broad fields and hills on one side,

Where the “orang asli” still abide;

Concourses of trees on the other,

With the expanse of the sky as their cover.

Old and modern here collide,

Luscious and wet, burned and dried.

The sunlight breaks through the green canopy,

The mountain’s grandeur bursts open proudly.

The rain gently descends to the earth below,

The flowing rivers rise, ready to overflow.

An army of soldiers tall and brown,

With hanging green helmets, cover the ground.

Well-disciplined, standing tall,

They rarely move, if ever at all.

With the light of the sun and moisture from the sky,

They endure valiantly as they preside so high.

The man-made will fail some day,

But the natural will remain and forever stay.

Duncan D. Horne

Elder Kinney showed a keen interest in my poem, and later in November 2006, he would call and ask me to write a Christmas poem to share with the Malacca branch members for their Christmas Social. Well, I finished it the very same night! Writing has always been my strength and passion.

On Sunday 22nd October, 2006, after church in the Malacca branch, Fidelia and I took the bus to Kuala Lumpur, met her family, and I spent the rest of the night having a very interesting chat with Florianna and Felicity about patriarchal blessings, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Monday 23rd - Friday 27th October, 2006

SINGAPORE TRIP

From 2006 - 2012, I made numerous trips to Singapore to get new stamps in my passport. Immigration policies made it difficult for me to find employment with outside companies, requiring me to live on social visit passes, and this required me to leave the country every five months. We just decided to turn this 'visa run' into a holiday.

We stayed with President Leonard Woo and family, who spoilt us rotten throughout the week! They treated us with kindness and generosity completely unexpected. Sister Rita presented us with a DVD player and hundreds of DVDs, along with a huge basket full of goodies for us to keep us occupied in our room upstairs in their lovely house.

During this week at the Woo's house, we watched "Journey of Faith", an intriguing DVD detailing Lehi's journey through the Arabian desert and on to the promised land. Comparisons with our own journeys to Malacca and the journey of living far away in Kuantan, were not lost on me at this time.

On Friday, we got the bus from Singapore at 10pm and reached Kuantan at 4am! It was an all-nighter in which I got very little sleep as I was leaning into the aisle watching the road and keeping an eye on the bus driver in case I may have caught him falling asleep at the wheel. Fidelia slept much better than I!

It was awesome to be meeting for church in Malacca with other church members and enjoying their fellowship. Most of our time of course, was still in Kuantan. On Thursday 2nd November, 2006, I saw the end of my discussions I had been having with a Jehovah's Witness gentleman. He had knocked on our door about a month ago, and I had been interested to hear his message and read through the pamphlets he passed to me. I had invited him back and we had had a few discussions in our home throughout October 2006. A week ago, I had presented him with a copy of the Book of Mormon, which he returned to me this day saying he had found what he was looking for, and didn't want to take it any further. I told him that the Book of Mormon was a free gift for him and that it was his to keep, but he insisted on returning it to me. I never saw him again after that.

Despite being far away from church organisation, I was still doing what I could to share the gospel with others in Kuantan.

Saturday 11th - Sunday 12th November, 2006

Made the trek to Malacca again on this weekend. We went for a member appointment with Elder and Sister Kinney to a gentleman named Tennyson Julis. What a thrill that was! As soon as I heard the name 'Julis', I knew who it must be. I baptised his mother, Florence Kimlen, and two of his siblings, Caroline Julis and David Cassidy Julis.

Baptisms of Florence Kimlen and 
Caroline Julis on
Saturday 1st November, 2003
in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Baptism of David Cassidy Julis
on Saturday 29th November, 2003 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

As you can imagine, it was a very happy moment to meet another one of the family whom I so loved during my time as a missionary in Kuching!

Elder Kinney asked me to share a simple lesson, so I taught about the first principles and ordinances of the gospel from the Book of Mormon.

Saturday 2nd - Sunday 3rd December, 2006

We went to Malacca on Saturday and stayed with Sister Lily.

Early on Sunday morning we got the bus to Kuala Lumpur with the Malacca branch members for the semi-annual District Conference. We met President Skelton (from Lincolnshire, England) who is the current Singapore Mission President. It was also great to see all of my friends from the Klang branch, where I labored so hard as a young missionary in 2002-2003.

We stopped at Seremban on the way back to Malacca to eat some lovely food prepared the night before by Sister Lily.

Then we had the 4-hour drive back to Kuantan. It was a lot of travelling for one weekend and it was rather tiring.

Saturday 16th December, 2006

We travelled to Malacca and attended the Malacca branch Christmas Social.

Me and Fidelia at the Malacca branch Christmas Social with Elder Freeman as our Santa Claus on Saturday 16th December, 2006

I had the opportunity to read out my Christmas poem and copies were given to everyone in attendance. It was quite noisy with little children running around and chattering, but it was nice to participate as poet and hopefully brighten someone's Christmas with my little piece.

We watched the Christmas devotional for sacrament meeting the next day, then spent the rest of the day at the Kinney's place. We joined an Institute class with Brothers Samuel and Tan How Hang. Before we left for the drive back to Kuantan, Sister Kinney gave me a copy of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" which I spent the following week feverishly reading and feasting on!

Following is the poem I composed on Monday 20th November, and delivered in Malacca branch on Saturday 16th December, 2006:

 THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

In 700 years a virgin shall conceive,

And bear forth a Son for all the world to see.

Butter and honey shall he eat,

So Isaiah prophesied of the Prince of Peace.

Wonderful, Counselor, shall he be called,

And refusing the evil, he will choose the good.

His life shall be as one who was poorer,

Yet he will live as The Mighty God and Everlasting Father.

600 years and the clock is ticking,

Across the seas a prophet is predicting,

There will be a Messiah, raised up among the Jews,

Lehi’s words must surely come true!

A Saviour of the world, said he,

To be born as a precious little baby,

Who will redeem man from their fallen state,

As they rely upon him to open the gate.

The words of Micah describe the day,

That he should be born to show the way.

Though Bethlehem be small among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of thee shall come forth to Israel, a ruler.

Now so close – just a hundred years more,

Until God will send His Son, through heaven’s door.

Alma knew that a baby soon would crawl,

The Redeemer born at Jerusalem – more important than they all!

Samuel the Lamanite prophesied, and he did say,

Two days and a night, which should be as one day;

With no darkness at all covering the sky,

As a sign of his birth, and thus he did cry.

On this night shall the sign be given, uttered the Lord,

And on the morrow come I into the world.

The people were astonished; they knew it was the day,

That the Son of God would be born, in a manger filled with hay.

The shepherds in the field saw,

An angel sent down from the Lord,

Fear not, I bring you good tidings of great joy!

It was the long-awaited baby boy.

In the City of David a Saviour is born,

To fulfil his role as Christ the Lord.

Joseph and Mary, with the babe in her arms;

A multitude of angels praising with joyful psalms.

And so “Christmas” has been spoken of for thousands of years,

To those who will listen with open ears.

The Great Jehovah, whom the old prophets knew,

The King, the Creator, the Holy One of Israel too.

Come to Bethlehem and re-live his birth!

Come and adore him, all ye ends of the earth!

Come in your hearts, and with the citizens of heaven sing!

Come adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the Newborn King.

Duncan D. Horne

(20 November, 2006)

History of the Church in Kuantan - On Our Own - Part 1

This is the first part of the History of the Church in Kuantan. This history is recorded from May 2006, the month that my wife and I arrived to settle in this beautiful town by the beach. If you missed the very first post, please do click the following link to understand the background of my missionary work visiting those who were isolated from the church in the areas I served:

History of the Church in Kuantan - Background

So, on with Part 1 - On Our Own 

(28th May - 9th October, 2006)

Fidelia and I arrived in Kuantan, a brand new town to the both of us. Neither of us had ever lived here before, nor did we know anyone who lived here. We came with no job, no source of income, no friends, and, no church.

That was hard. I had lived my whole life up to this point without having to worry about meeting for church every Sunday. I attended my local Glenfield Ward about a 10-minute drive away, and had never considered that some day I would not be living near a church meetinghouse.

We had decided upon Kuantan for the simple reason that Fidelia was still in the middle of her studies at UMP (University Malaysia Pahang, formerly known as KUKTEM) in Gambang. To facilitate her travel to her university, we settled in Kuantan, which is about a half hour drive away.

On Sunday 28th May, 2006, shortly after we had arrived and begun our married life, we dedicated our apartment. I offered the prayer and it was a very spiritual experience. Our first home, this apartment in Bukit Sekilau, in which we stayed for 9 years, developed into a place of great spiritual learning, gospel and scripture study, and where we later held sacrament services and welcomed our two children into the world.

But before all of that, there was just me and Fidelia. On our own. It was both exciting and tough. We sometimes wondered whether we could still be good and active members of the church being so far away and not attending our Sunday meetings as usual. Would that mean we would  be classed as 'less-active' or 'inactive?' We weren't sure. But we determined that we would do what we could to study the scriptures, pray, and keep our faith alive.

On Monday 29th May, 2006, we had our first FHE (Family Home Evening) together. We learned about marriage and family, perfect for us as newly-weds.

On Sunday 4th June, 2006, we attended the KL District Conference at the Raintree Club in Kuala Lumpur. I can tell you that it was awesome to see all of the church members, all of the familiar faces that I love so much, and it was a really great boost for us to know that there is life in the church here in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, we were living far away, but it was just a 3-4 hour bus ride to the fellowship of the Saints!

I remember this particular District Conference because on the morning of the Conference I realised that I had forgotten to bring my smart shoes. There was no way I was going to be in my Sunday best with a pair of sports shoes. So I determined that it would be better to wear my sports shoes with a pair of jeans and my white shirt. Yes, it felt awfully embarrassing, especially as my wife was correctly dressed! 

On Sundays in Kuantan, we kept ourselves busy with extended scripture studies. We could at least say that we were spiritually active. It was a little worrying to us personally not having the sacrament, and I often mused how long it would go on like this. Would this absence from the church and the ordinance of the sacrament disqualify us from having a future temple recommend? There were a lot of questions, but we did what we could of gospel study each day.

On Saturday 24th June, 2006, we travelled to Kuala Lumpur once more for a wedding reception party put on by the members of the PJ2 and Klang branches. We had a really amazing time that night! We attended both PJ2 and Klang branch church meetings the next day. I just had so many friends in both branches that it was impossible to choose one over the other! So we made the most of being at church that weekend.

Here we are posing for a photo with Martin Wong and his family at the PJ chapel on the night of our wedding reception party on Saturday 24th June, 2006

We couldn't bus it to KL every weekend as it cost money, which as a newly-wed couple with no job, was diminishing by the week. I must say here, that my endeavours to find work played a huge role in the history of the church in Kuantan. I tried everything. I tried English tuition centres, applied for a job at Parkson and Tesco, and attempted working with Diamond Water. I stuck up posters around the neighbourhood advertising English classes, and even went gate knocking like a missionary in an effort to find people to teach, to start earning money. We exercised a lot of faith, prayer, and hard work, and slowly but surely, people came to me for English classes. I soon began building up a number of students and confirmed that I would be a private English tutor. Trying to get employed by others was proving almost impossible, so this was the best course of action.

These were challenging times, but in the end, it all worked out perfectly. We spent many days and weeks checking our finances, wondering where the next RM50 would come from, and just as our finances ran low, we were blessed with income. They were faith and testimony-empowering times. Being alone and far from the church, we came to rely more completely on the Lord for help, and He didn't disappoint us.

We were in KL on Saturday 15th July, 2006 for a branch dance at the PJ chapel. Now, I am not an accomplished dancer by any stretch of the imagination, but I now had a wife, and we danced away, not really caring (too much) how I may have looked! I remember Brother Jacky Chin, who was present that night, watching on as Fidelia and I danced to various songs.

The following day during church in the PJ2 branch, President Perumal pulled us into his office to have a chat with us. I guess he too, was a little concerned that we were living so far away from the church, and proceeded to encourage us to stay strong in our scripture study and prayers. I found it very considerate of him to be mindful of us and take the time to privately motivate us. We felt the care from the church leaders and that was very important for us.

It just so happened that President Martin Wong of the Klang branch was in Kuantan for business on Wednesday 26th July, 2006. He called me up and to our delight we arranged for him to come over to our house (this was before the days of whatsapp, so we couldn't simply send our location to him. We had to give directions over the phone, which was not easy!).

On Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th August, 2006, Fidelia and I both gave talks in sacrament meeting on the topic "Preparing for the Blessings of Eternal Marriage. We had spent the previous few weeks working on them at home in Kuantan and it felt great to be able to stand in front of a congregation of the church and speak on this topic.

Monday 25th September, 2006

We were recently contacted by a gentleman named Raymond Chan. We were delighted to discover that he was a church member in Kuantan! We met him and his wife, Nina, from mainland China, tonight and brought them back to our apartment to get to know each other. How exciting it was to know that we were not all alone anymore!

We went on our final trip to KL before things changed for us, from Saturday 30th September - Sunday 1st October, 2006. We enjoyed staying with Bro. Rama & Sis. Luisa and just had a lovely time with them, and at church again on the Sunday. President Martin Wong spoke with Fidelia and I and shared a suggestion on how to grow my English teaching clientele. Again, it was really nice to know that members were thinking of us and doing what they can to help us succeed out in Kuantan.

It is recorded in my journal that Fidelia and I held our first ever sacrament meeting in Kuantan on Sunday 8th October, 2006. I am not sure who authorised us to do so, but I am presuming it must have been one of either President Perumal (PJ2) or President Martin Wong (Klang), in whose branches we had been attending sporadically over the past few months.

The following day, Monday 9th October, 2006, we met with our new friends, Raymond and Nina, to have FHE together at our apartment. We learned about faith and how to develop it. I had devised a plan based on 2 Peter 1:3-10 to teach about one virtue each week for 8 weeks. The lesson was received really well, and Raymond remarked how much he enjoyed it and it was exactly what he needed.

To conclude this portion of the history of the Church in Kuantan, it was a challenging time for us as we settled in this church-less place, and into our marriage. Through plenty of faith, study, prayer and hard work, we began to earn money for a living, attended the PJ and Klang branches as often as we could, and got acquainted with another member couple right here in Kuantan.

The history of the Church in Kuantan will continue in Part 2.