"The Trick"

Magandung Umaga! (Good morning in Tagalog)

Well, we had a pretty great week! On Wednesday evening, we were able to meet up with Lacey Nymeyer, an LDS swimmer who is participating in the Olympics. It was awesome to see that our Church members are doing so well all around the world, no matter where they are. The Lord truly blesses His people as they obey His commandmemts and heed His command.

On Thursday, we met up once again with Jun Ying at his girlfriend's home. We were able to show him the video of The Restoration. At the end of it, he said that it was "cool." I'm guessing that in teenage lingo, it means that it was great and that he liked it. The family invited us to stay for dinner, so that was really good, as we were able to talk to Jun Ying in a normal setting, instead of just always in missionary discussions. I have come to realize that with investigators, you can't just keep bombarding them with the gospel. Rather, you have to be their friends too, because they really aren't just another baptism statistic. The people who we teach, and the people all around us are all children of God! In the evening, we met up with Ming Lee, our referral from Salt Lake. Glen Lewis, the recently returned returned missionary, helped us to teach the lesson. We thought that it went really well. We also found out that one of his colleagues is a member of the Church. The member met up with us at Church on Sunday and offered to host us and Ming Lee the next time we taught him, so we'll be doing that tonight. We are going to the Woodlands, where my high school is, so it's going to be nostalgia hitting me from all over, especially if I end up bumping into some friends.

On Friday, we went over to Elder and Sister Shute's place for lunch. If I haven't mentioned it before, they are vegetarian, and the food that they make is absolutely delicious. If they cooked for us everyday, I really do think we could go vegetarian! As such, I've been trying to eat healthy. No more sweets, and definitely no sodas. I now give Elder Pace my dessert, and he gives me the Asian food that he doesn't like to eat. It's definitely a fair deal. Well, in my opinion at least. After that, we went over to the Church to teach my grade school friend, Alex, again. We showed him The Restoration video and discussed it for a short while. In the evening, we were able to meet with Alex Oon, one of our star investigators. We taught him about the steps needed to follow in Jesus Christ's footsteps, and challenged him to be baptized. He accepted the date for August 23rd! Unfortunately, he couldn't make it to Church on Sunday so we might have to push it back a week or two.

Saturday was the ward talent show! That was fun to watch and we had a great time with the members' performances. There was a whole range of those performances, from a Hokkien (Chinese dialect) to a hilarious skit by the Petersen boys. Brother Edward Cheo, the Ward Assistant Mission Leader, also invited an acapella group comprising of his ex-students to perform for us. They did a great job, and hopefully we will have time to teach them sometime. We also had a couple of investigators there, so that was great! After that, we grabbed a quick dinner, then met up with Bao, a Vietnamese man who is studying International Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS). It took a bit of work understanding and teaching him, but I believe that we got the point across, and we'll be teaching him again in Saturday.


We got off to a great start on Sunday! On the MRT (train) ride to Church, I struck up a conversation with a lady from Indonesia named Priscilla. She converted to Christianity a year ago and was heading to her Church. I talked to her about the Restoration, and asked her if she wanted to come to Church sometime. She said she was going to be baptized in the other Church in a month. Talked with her awhile more, then asked her if she just wanted to come to Church with us for the day instead. Surprisingly, she said Yes! And she did, she told us after that that she had had a great time. We are working on having her come to our Church from now on. In Priesthood meeting, we talked about perfection and the steps to attaining it. More often than not, we often think that we need to be perfect, instant perfection, much like instant gratification. What we learned was that the thing to realize is that we can't all instantly reach perfection. We learn bit by bit. We have to learn the scales before we can compose a symphony, we have have to know our colors before we can paint a work of art. In the same way, life is a journey where we learn through mistakes and experiences, and the gospel, to strive to reach perfection. President Hinckley loved to quote Jen Lloyd Jones, where he said that

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time
running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts
don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just
ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual
toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.... "Life is
like an old-time rail journey -- delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and
jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts
of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

We went home to have our scripture study and rest, then we went over to Brother Cheo's home for dinner where we got to make our own popiah, a local "wrap." They also invited over the Low's, another family from the ward that I really like. We had a wonderful time over there. The Cheo's and Low's are going to Malaysia on Saturday since it's Singapore's National (Independence) Day and it's a three-day weekend. We joked about going and they asked us if we wanted to come! Unfortunately, we had to tell them we weren't allowed to. Both familes are really fun to be around and we always have a great time over there. After dinner, we went around in a circle and bore our testimonies, then we shared a quick message with them. I love how fun can be combined with spiritual things. They do no t have to be separate. Religion does not denounce fun and humor, rather it just calls for respect and reverence when required, and good humor when the occasion calls for it.

On Monday, we went Arcadia Road to contact a referral from Melanie Tidwell, one of the members who used to live in Singapore. She had talked to her neighbors about the gospel and desired that we share more with them. Unfortunately, they weren't home, so we left a note and a pamphlet. While we were walking there, there was a noise in the trees. Elder Pace freaked out and screamed, which shocked me also. We started booking it in the opposite direction from where we were going. It was hilarious, something you see in the movies but never think that it'll happen to you. After that, we were able to meet up with A lex, my grade school friend, once again. This time, we taught him about The Plan of Salvation. He is an intelligent kid, so intelligent in fact, that we covered topics such as the Millennium, which we normally never cover until they are much further in the lessons, or have already joined the Church. Once again, he said that he could see the structure and sense in it, but he still says that he isn't really into organized religion. He has been reading from The Book of Mormon though, and he has been praying about it. I guess that we can only hope and pray that the Spirit of the Lord will touch his heart. In the evening, we headed to the Petersen home home for dinner. They are an expatriate family that has been assigned to a local ward to build it up, but they might be moving back to the expat ward soon. We'll definitely miss them, both for the amazing food that they always make for us (they let us request what we want to eat!) and also their company and friendship.

On Tuesday, we had our last district meeting with our current district leader(DL), Elder Hatton. He is being transferred to Kuching in East Malaysia. He has done an amazing job as a district leader. His lessons were always inspirational and amazing, and I hope that our new DL will live up to his standard. In this week's lesson, we talked about being "among the prophets." In the Book of Samuel in the Bible, it was asked of King Saul, whether or not he was "among the prophets." The answer is yes. What Elder Hatton was leading up to was that in our own way, we are all "prophets" in our own right. As we live worthy of the priesthood authority that we hold, we can receive revelation for ourselves, and the people we have stewardship over. As missionaries, we hold stewardship over the areas that we serve him. Our duty is to be obedient in exactness, to be diligent in the work that we do. As we do so, we can be in our own way be numbered "among the prophets."

Headed to Subway for our last lunch with Elder Hatton (for awhile at least). I got a wrap for the first time instead of bread. It wasn't too bad, but I would recommend just staying with the bread instead of getting the wrap. We met up with Marleney, a recent convert, to review with her the things that she was taught before baptism. She had some questions that run into deep doctrine, about the concept of Heavenly Parents and so forth. While we tried to explain it to her, she just couldn't seem to accept it, and so we counseled her to do what always works if we do it in faith. We told her to pray, to ask God if what we taught her is true. In a very real sense, all that we learn in Church really can only be testified and confirmed to us by the gift and power of the Holy Spirit of the Lord.

Anyhow, in the evening, we headed back to the apartment at Arcadia Road, as I mentioned earlier. We bumped into a helper who used to live next to another LDS family, and she was very friendly. We were able to get her contact. When we got there, we knew that they were home, but it took them awhile to open the door for us. When we asked for the two people whose names we had, the lady who answered the door said that they had no idea who we were talking about, in a rude way, though their last name was tiled on the wall in their front porch area. We left disappointed and frustrated, especially since we had walked all the way down this long road to get to them. But, the Lord blesses his servants, I believe, if they do his work with faith and diligence. When we got into the elevator, there was a friendly Nicaraguan lady in there, who said that she had seen us before in Nicaragua, and had learned a little before. We asked if she wanted to learn again, but she said that she was a very staunch Catholic. After chatting for a couple more minutes, she agreed to meet. She was a great person to talk to, because she said she didn't mind learning about what we taught, and seemed pretty excited about it! We had am little more time, so we decided to walk a distance of three or four bus stops before we took the bus home, and to see if there was anyone to teach. There was a young man who ran past us, but after a few minutes started running back towards us again. So, as he passed us, I started my first running contact. As the three of us ran, I taught him the first lesson about the restoration of the gospel. It was really fun, and the best part about it was that he was actually listening and responsive to it. We were able to get his number, and hopefully we will be in contact with him soon. The best part of the day is that we ended up with fifteen other people/lessons taught!

As I said, we had a great week! I learned much and grew spiritually. I have been shrinking physically, having lost about 8-9 pounds since the start of my mission. Well, got to head off! Do send a letter or a blog comment if you have the time! Thanks for reading! Take care and Godspeed!

"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!

"Seeing the Lord's Hand"

Hi Everyone!

This week has been great! The work is going forth here in Singapore! I had my welcome dinner on Thursday, while one of the Elders had his farewell dinner. He had to go home a little early because he has a pretty serious medical problem. But, he is an amazing guy and he bore a wonderful testimony of his love of the gospel and the Savior. I hoped that I can be like him one day. The food that Sister Skelton, my Mission President's wife made was wonderful. A new Senior couple was also there and it was great getting to know them. They are now laboring in East Malaysia.

We've been going around contacting this week, and for a few days we haven't been getting too many good contacts. But, we have been getting many referrals from Elders from different areas. I guess the Lord blesses us for our work in many different ways. There have been a couple of promising contacts. One Indonesian Chinese guy that I met on a bus on the way to contact a referral has turned out to be wonderful. I went on a split with Elder Howes who is on his visa run in Malaysia. We taught this guy, Edmond, who is a new Christian and very excited about the gospel. He questioned us about baptism and we explained it to him, along with the steps that he needs to take before he can be baptized. He was so excited that he committed to be baptized during our first lesson with him! His baptism date is set for July 5th so hopefully all goes well! We've met quite a few people who are drawn to the Church because of the Plan of Salvation. I guess that there are many people who are indeed searching for the purpose of life, and it's great teaching them about how we can return to God and live with our families forever. It's wonderful seeing the Lord's hand in the work.

We received a call this week from a guy who has been contacted by a previous missionary a couple of months before who promised to call that missionary. We were able to get him to meet with us. He met us with his friend and we were able to teach them more about the gospel, the restoration and the Plan of Salvation. He said that it seemed like a very positive plan so hopefully that works out.

When we went on splits last night, both companionship's were very successful and we were able to teach a good number of people. We ended up the day with fifteen other lessons taught! I've been able to see some parts of Singapore that I've never seen before! It's really cool to be able to teach the people of my country!

Well, do write me if you have time! Take care and God bless! Have a wonderful week! Take care and God Bless!