Visit to Bintulu, East Malaysia

After spending three days in West Malaysia, we flew East 2 hours to the northern part of Borneo Island. Borneo was settled by Portugese settlers and then Dutch settlers during the colonial expansion of the 1700 and 1800's. The native tribes of Borneo were known for their fierce battles with each other, and included the practice of taking the heads of their victims, thus the title of "head hunters". Of course, that practice no longer exists.

The northern part of this huge island is now part of Malaysia. The rest of the island is part of Indonesia. There are two states in East Malaysia: Sarawak and Sabah. The country of Brunei sets in between these states and is independent of them. East Malaysia has a long northern coastal area bordering the South China Sea where most of the development has occured. The rest of the area consists of vast jungle areas still mostly unexplored with exotic animals such as the orangutangs and the hornbill birds. Here many members of the ancient tribes still live. Some come into the North to take jobs working for large oil and gas companies and other manufacturing firms.

Our East Malaysia missionary couple is now stationed in Sarawak State in the city of Bintulu. It is a smaller city with large numbers of the Iban tribe living in huts on the river or in government built homes. Many of the middle and upper class residents are of Malay or Chinese ancestry. The Iban settlers are hired by the industrial firms. They usually work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day in order to make enough to live in the city. Some return to the forests and live in communal long houses that accommodate 50-60 people in one big room with mats for beds. There is much poverty among the Iban people. Hopefully our missionary couple, Elder Bill and Sister Ellen Davis will find ways to help them. They arrived about ten days ago replacing Elder and Sister Currie who returned to the United States in February.

There are three branches of our church here with most of the members coming from the Iban tribe. Two other couples, the Budges and McKellars are here working with the other two branches and six young elders are here to assist each branch as well. The branches are run by the local members with the missionaries serving as shadow leaders. Because of the work conditions for the men, the attendance at church consists mainly of women and children. The branch president for the branch the Davises were assigned to, works nights and comes to Church Sunday morning directly from work. He presently serves with one counselor. What a faithful man he is.


Our hotel in Bintulu was the Park City Everley Hotel. It is located near the beach and looks out over the South China Sea with a Western exposure. The city is building a beautiful board walk along the water front. We enjoyed a wonderful morning stroll before it got too hot. The weather was dry for our trip. No rain. That is unusual since this area is really part of a rain forest. The temperature was in the high 80s with no breeze and high humidity. As with the rest of this trip, Jay shed his coat and enjoyed short sleeve white shirts. We were asked not to wear our missionary name tags by the mission president, President Skeleton.

The members of the Bintulu 2nd branch live in these apartments. They are all 5 stories high with no elevators. I am taking this picture in front of the church door, so members do not have far to walk. The church is part of a commercial building with shops on both sides.

Elder and Sister Davis live about 15 minutes away from Church in a middle class neighborhood. It is 5 minutes from our hotel. They live in a two story twin home with lots of space. The car is a rental car they furnish themselves as part of their contribution to their mission. Our Hong Kong apartment is about the size of their first floor. They have three bedrooms on the 2nd floor.

Bill and Ellen Davis are from the State of Washington. He owned his own insurance agency until just before he sold it so they could go on their mission.. About five years ago he returned to school to earn a Master's degree in marriage counseling. He worked for LDS Social Services before turning in his missionary papers. Ellen is a registered nurse. Their skills will be very useful to the people of Bintulu.

One of the other couples here in Bintulu are the McKellars from Driggs, Idaho. He was ranch real estate broker for Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. They have a home on 250 acres in west Teton Valley. Since Sister Smith was born in Driggs, she immediately connected with this couple. They have been here for two months. He remembers Sister Smith's uncle, Leigh Fullmer, and knows other family members.

One of the NGOs we have worked with in Bintulu is the Salvation Army. Captain Tan operates a Youth Development Center and an Orphanage home. He and his wife have been in Bintulu for two years.

The orphanage, Lovehaven, is a large leased home for 15-20 children. They also have some day care children. Our humanitarian efforts here are conducted under the name LDSC, or Latter Day Saints Charities. We are partnering with Rotarian Club to provide playground equipment for this home.

This is the room used as a chapel. Sister Davis is at the piano teaching a young member how to play. Two young Aaronic Priesthood boys are having their pictures taken with and by the Elders.

The children of the branch are very enthusiastic. While I visited with the Branch President, she and Sister Davis attended Primary. The teacher was just 16 years old, but had them all singing Primary songs in English with great fervor. It was fun. Elder Smith got them to sing "I Am A Child of God" with him. They are very loving and enthusiastic. It was wonderful to be with them. We watched a session from 2009 April General Conference.

The ocean in front of the hotel has a large river flowing into it. That makes the water near the shore more roily and keeps the wave action down. Boats go up and down the river and out to the sea to fish.

We were told by the coupled missionaries to not miss the sunsets. We had a beautiful 30 minute experience. Here are two of the thirty pictures we took.

What a beautiful night it was. There is a fishing boat at about 3 o'clock in the picture.