“ … And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.” - Alma 27:27

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

SETTLING IN

My first week in the field is officially complete!! I can't believe I've already adjusted so much...this week has been amazing and I feel like miracles happen every single day. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity to serve. After being here and contacting, it is amazing to me that so many people have never even heard of this gospel. There is so much work to do around the world, and I'm so excited and privileged to be a part of it. I love you guys, and I'm so grateful for the prayers and love. I wouldn't be here without all of your influence and support! Thank you!!

So last Monday afternoon was awesome!! After emailing we went and got Nasi Lalap ....we eat fried rice/noodles for basically every meal, but this place was especially good and I had some iced Milo. Hooray for tender mercies! :) We spent the afternoon cleaning the church building. It was very relaxing to have time to ponder and be in an air conditioned building during the afternoon. 

Monday night we went over to a member's house and were able to have dinner and share a message. All of the people here are incredibly poor, so to make dinner for us is a huge sacrifice. She was an incredible lady, and we shared a message about families and how parents have the responsibility to help their children learn the gospel. I spoke about how I was sealed to my family in the temple, and it was just an incredible experience. We were all crying and I think we really helped her know Heavenly Father loves her. She asked us for a blessing, and luckily we were prepared to give one. I'm so grateful for the Priesthood and the peace it can bring to people no matter what struggles they're going through.

Tuesday was another great, wonderful, hot day in T! I loved reading in D & C section 3 versus 7-9 during personal study. I cannot be afraid of anybody while serving a mission and preaching the gospel, including myself. I think that more often than not, we are our own worst enemies. I'm so grateful we have the Atonement and we are expected to make mistakes..I mess up about a billion times a day, but I'm doing my best to learn from each experience. We were able to have district meeting with all four of us missionaries at the church Tuesday morning. Elder R is our District leader and led a discussion on meaningful questions...it was amazing! What I got from it was that we need to be direct in all of our questions. Eliminate words like maybe, kinda, sorta, and go for it. The other thing we can't do is make investigators guess. even in shcool, when teachers would ask these types of questions I'd just feel stupid, frustrated, and angry. Questions are so important when it comes to teaching the gospel, and I know we can all improve our teaching skills if we will focus on asking meaningful questions. If we want a real answer, ask a real question. After the meeting we were able to visit a few people and then go home. Once we got home, we couldn't unlock our bikes becasue the lock was all rusted...we said multiple prayers, and after trying for thirty minutes it still wouldn't budge. We didn't know what to do, when an little low-rider flashy "malaysian" car drove by and happened to have WD 40 for us...it truly was a miracle. There are things like this that happen every single day...I am so grateful for the blessings I've received as a missionary and continue to receive every single day.
Nasi Lalap

Wednesday was an awesome day, but man was it tiring!!! We literally biked allllll day long. For most of the day we were riding our bikes over to a different area. My shirt was absolutely drenched all day haha...that's Malaysia for ya. After knocking for like three hours, we finally talked to a boy who was outside in his driveway. He was super shy, but incredibly nice. His grandma came to the door and let us in (which is super rare). She invited us back this week to share more about the Restoration and our church. I am so grateful for the people that are willing to give the gospel a chance, and I know the Lord is leading us to them. I need to be more patient in my finding efforts, and I know the Lord will bless me as a result. 

Thurdsay was amazing as well, but I'm running out of time so I'll have to skip to Saturday...most of the days here are pretty similar. We study in the morning, contact, and try and teach at night when it's dark and safer to be inside.

So Saturday was my first day on splits! I was super worried because I don't know the language, don't know how to get around, and we didn't have very many lessons scheduled. I went with our District Leader Elder R, and it turned out to be the best day yet! We contacted all afternoon and were having no luck. People would just ignore us after staring straight at us through the door...it was super frustrating..we found a park, and there were like five kids...playing Basketball!!! We immediately went over and started talking to them. Two of them were very friendly and Christian. We started shooting around, and one of them committed to come to church with us because he had nothing to do...it was an absolute miracle. To find two kids with awesome families, willing to listen is something that we haven't found very often, so im very glad we were put in the right place at the right time. 

We finished the night by going to dinner at a place that served western foood!!!!! I got a burger, broccoli, fries, and some bread....I was so grateful to be filled after a long day. The biggest thing I learned was that if we are trying our best to do the Lord's work, he will bless us. All of our plans fell through Saturday, but we continued in faith and prayer, and it all worked out. I have felt the Lord's hand in my life more than ever while being on a mission. I also learned, while contacting, that we need to be bold, but we also need to be a friend. If we can know about their family, occupation, and recreation we will be able to better relate the gospel to them. I'm working on my conversational Chinese, and I am seeing a lot of progress. 

Our Church Building
Sunday was another wonderful day. At church, none of our investigators showed up, which was very disappointing, but fast meeting was great. All of the kids bearing their testimonies reminded me so much of being back home. The kids here are so sweet and fun and it is a joy to be around them. We talked a lot about commandments in Sunday School....since it was in Malay I didn't understand, but I was pondering a lot...I learned that commandments and the gospel-every single part of it-is to bring us joy and help us learn. I think things like fasting and tithing are to teach us how to sacrifice. The natural man is impatient and always wants more...when we give something away we focus on the needs of others. Christ was perfectly selfless, and I think that this gospel and our Church's activities give us plenty of opportunities to serve others and learn about the joy we can find when we serve. I want to do better at constantly looking to serve everyone and keep a good attitude. 

I am completely out of time, but please know that I love all of you!!! I am loving being able to serve a mission, and I'm so grateful for this privilege. Please try and share a message from Conference with a friend this week. 
Singapore Mission Office

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