"Forgiveness and Charity"

Hello!

Well, we've definitely had a long week, partially due to the fact that preparation day was pushed till today because of Zone Conference. First, the good news.... we have our first baptism scheduled! Our investigator, Peter, is a 24 year old man that is a little mentally slow, but he loves the gospel and knows that it is true! We've had to work with him on remembering the things that we have been teaching him, but other than that, he's willing to go out and do missionary work! He's asked for pamphlets and name cards to give out. He has his baptismal interview tomorrow, and if all goes well, he'll be baptized on Friday! We're way excited and glad that the work is moving on in this area, with many more baptisms to come!

We're teaching a bunch of other people that are doing well. Their major concern are their families, who, more often than not, are severely opposed to them joining the Church. We're doing our best to help them build up the faith to the point that if they know it is true, then nothing else matters!

Been thinking a lot about my past companion, and my current one. They are similar in some ways, but different in many other ways too. I've come to realize that people are just different, and we have to accept them for who we are. To be honest, it's been very hard for me, especially since my temper runs on a shorter fuse than most. My Mom sent Elder Pace S. a package a few days ago. When she wrote to tell me that she had, I was extremely upset that she had done that,. and felt that she had betrayed me. Thankfully, there wasn't much that I could do about it. After a few days, as I pondered on it, I realized that my Mom was doing the right thing in forgiving him, because our companionship consisted of the both of us, and I played a part in that relationship. It's hard to forgive sometimes, but you just have to do it and move on! It was a very hard lesson to learn, but I got through the test! I called Elder Pace S. a few days ago to clear up any bad blood between us and it seemed to work out well. I guess that when you look at the grand scheme of things, there really is no point in being petty about other people's faults. We all make mistakes, and we learn from them, along with learning from other people. I'm definitely learning much patience and tolerance on my mission, though it still can be very hard at times. But, the Savior loved everyone, so I'm just trying my best to do the same. The Lord really does not give us any trial that we can't overcome. Though it might be very very hard, I've learned that through true humility, we can overcome all, because we get to a stage where we learn to forgive everyone around us, but more importantly, we forgive ourselves.

We've had a whole bunch of dinner appointments and they have been wonderful. The members are great, and it is definitely fun to inspire them in their quest to do missionary work. We've been working with the Bishop to work on that. Unfortunately, the ward and the Bishop don't have such a good relationship, so we're trying to help out with that, and build the member's faith in the Lord, so that they can help us, and not be so easily offended.

Just a few days ago, we had an appointment with Peter. After that, we showed him where the baptismal font was. After we said goodbye to him, we saw a Relief Society Enrichment Meeting going on where they had been baking. We managed to worm our way in to get some free goodies, and offered to wash the dishes after that. Unfortunately, as I was washing one of the bowls, it slipped and broke in the sink, cutting my finger. That wasn't the bad part though. When we told the sister, she put her hands up to her mouth. That was the reaction from a couple of other sisters. It was a really nice gift that she had received from a friend and I felt horrible.I kept apologizing, then went on our way, planning to buy a new bowl for her. The next day, we went into the office to get some stuff. And, lo and behold, there was a container of cookies from me. It turns out that she had baked those cookies and told the office Elders to make sure that I did not but her a new bowl, she would be angry if I did. What love and forgiveness! Even though I broke her bowl, she brought cookies! That is the pure love of Christ that I wish I had, that I hope I will be able to develop someday.

My uncle from Thailand visited, and it was wonderful to see him. We were able to arrange a lesson with him, and my Mom now tells me that he'll read what we gave him. I love my family very much and hope that they will all accept the gospel someday.

I never really did missionary work in high school. After watching the "By Small and Simple Things" production, I'm now working with the expatriate Elders to pass out copies of The Book of Mormon with my testimony in it. The goal is to get the members in the ward to write their testimonies in it too and pass it on to teachers and friends that we have in common!

Last night, we had dinner at a member's home, along with the Shutes. Had a great time, and Shute gave the spiritual thought. It was on prayer and just how important it is. He shared the story of the brother of Jared in Ether 2, about his experience where he was admonished by God for not "calling upon the name of the Lord." It is so important for us to pray daily, to thank the Lord, and also to seek his advice. He also talked about the financial crisis hitting the world now, and how the Brethren have always counseled us to have food storage, and not to speculate too much in financial markets. So, have food storage! :) The last thing that he talked about was about the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. As he bore his testimony, he told us of a group of apostate scholars who meet every half year, on the Sunday evening as General Conference ends. They get together to critique the Brethren, and also try their best to discredit The Book of Mormon. Unfortunately for them, they still haven't, that's why they have to keep meeting!

It was a wonderful week, but it's also been exhausting. Missionary work is definitely not what I expected it to be in many aspects. But, when I had to come home the first time, I realized what I had lost. So, I just continue on, knowing that the Lord is helping and guiding me along the path. Thanks for the letters I've been receiving! They're slowing down though, so do keep them coming!

Love,
Elder Ee Chien Chua

"Planting the Seed"

Apa Khabar! (Malay for "How are you?")

I've been introduced by the missionaries to a store that sells five ties for ten dollars! It's a great deal so I'll probably have a decent tie collection when I get back from my mission!

I was reading a quote by President Hinckley, which I thought was wonderful. It was his counsel to missionaries where he talked about how the missionaries and members of the Church are responsible for sharing the gospel to "a world that doesn't want it," but we should be the source of the gospel to them. Even if they don't want to listen then, we have planted the seed of the gospel there. In another quote, he talked about how we should all be "a little better, a little stronger, a little more thoughtful, a little humbler, a little more prayerful, and to stand a little taller." As we do that, we can seek the Lord's guidance and be more worthy to him. I certainly hope that I'm doing all that I can to achieve that. As I continue in his service, the adversary works harder and harder to plant doubts in my mind and tempt me, but that makes me all the more want to fight harder to be worthy of the Lord. It's hard at times, especially since home is so close, but I know that with the Lord as my strength, that I can overcome all.

Anyhow, going on, this week was pretty productive. We taught eleven more lessons than we did last week. I've gotten a decent amount of my training done so far with Elder Pace. We've been going through the white handbook during companionship study. We've been exploring some new areas that Elder Pace hasn't been to yet so it's been fun showing him around. It seems to me that the people here really are pretty friendly. I guess you can kind of tell who not to approach.

We had a few interesting encounters this week. The first was a referral that we got from the Chinese Elders, Elders Hunsaker and Roberts. They gave us the number of a lady who owns a Christian bookstore, and she said we could meet up with her, so we did. Unfortunately, when we got there, all she wanted to do was sell us Christian materials. It got pretty awkward so we left. A couple of days later, we were taking the MRT (train), back home. We bumped into a bunch of Christians from another church that was started by some local pastors here. Elder Pace had told me about how he and Elder Plant (his last companion), had met with them one time and went to one of their meetings and it got really weird because they had some rituals. While teaching them, I got a really uncomfortable feeling, like the Spirit wasn't there, and I got pretty scared. Thankfully, we were near our stop and we got out soon enough. It was a weird experience, and I prayed and asked for a blessing from the Elders which calmed me down. The people were really nice, and they're great people, but that was a really weird encounter. For the last crazy encounter of the week, we were waiting for investigators on Sunday when a guy approached us and said he was supposed to meet with us. We finally figured out that he was a tour guide who said that he had been interested in using the Church as a stop for his tour of Singapore. Anyhow, we took him to Sacrament, where he acted questionally a couple of times, but we ignored him. As Sunday School started, he asked if we wanted to talk about the tour inside or outside the classroom, so we took him outside. It turned into a pretty heated encounter because he insisted on only taking to Elder Pace and Elder Shute (senior couple missionary) because they were westerners and this was a western church. He rudely ignored Bishop Lim and refused to talk to the Stake President because he is Singaporean. Eventually, he said he would call, but it was a very disturbing conversation and I had to keep my temper in check. I guess that I'm building my patience out in the field.

Oh, great news! One of the investigators that I contacted and taught has accepted a baptism date for July 5th! Unfortunately, he lives in another ward's boundary so we had to transfer him to the Elders in that ward. But, the Elders said that they'll still try and see if I can be the one to baptize him. If I can that will be awesome! But even if I can't, I know that I've done my part to bring one of Heavenly Father's children back to Him, and that's really all that matters! The ward members have been really nice to us. We had dinner appointments the whole of last week. They were all wonderful and we loved it! The only thing a little off was that we were served spaghetti four nights in a row. I think one night might have been angel hair pasta. But I really should be complaining. It's just kinda funny how that happened, the food was still great. We were taken to a hotel buffet for lunch by some members too, so we've definitely eaten more than we need to. Elder Pace's stomach isn't doing too well right now because of that. That's what we think anyways. We're trying to work on eating less and eating healthier now, it's working a little I guess. The good thing is that we take public transportation and walk around, but I do need to watch my heart because it can spike pretty easily and then I don't feel too well. Other than that, it's been great, and I love doing the work of the Lord! I love being with the missionaries. It's a wonderful bond that we have. We do have to take our work seriously but we have our fun too. Elder Nixon, who lives with Elder Pace and me, along with Elder Selveratnam, had his birthday on Saturday so we've been celebrating it these past few days!

I've also seen just how important and useful members are in missionary work. We love to receive referrals from members because it helps us to get into the homes of these investigators. So, if you have any referrals, even if you don't think your friends want to hear about the gospel, try anyway! You're helping the Kingdom of the Lord to grow!

Time to write some letters and go take a nap! I've received a few letters but I wouldn't mind getting a bunch more so do write! Thanks!