"Knowing My Eternal Self"

This past week has been pretty wonderful. Hard work and following the Spirit really pays off.

First off, Elder Palfreyman was transferred to the Woodlands Ward this weekend, and is now one of our Zone Leaders. Good Elder. My new companion is Elder Stone from Salem, Utah. He’s a really nice guy and I get along wonderfully with him, so I’m pretty sure that this will be a great companionship. The reason why I couldn’t mention this transfer earlier is because the mission has changed transfer policies. The missionaries have been going crazy about them, and the Assistants have been trying to keep them quiet now. It’s working… slighty. People still seem to be finding out though. It’s been a busy few days at the office. We’re preparing for quite a few missionaries to leave, including the office couple, the Palmers, so it’s going be pretty chaotic for awhile, what with a new office Elder and now, a new office couple. Been trying to get everything sorted out in the office. I feel slightly awkward having to tell Elder Stone what to do especially since he’s my Senior Companion, but he’s been very kind through it all. We also received our quarterly order, so we’re going to have a supply inventory in the upcoming couple of days!

Going on to news about the work….

After Preparation Day ended on Wednesday, we decided to look for our investigator Joe. After going to Malacca for the weekend, he stopped answering his phone, and we didn’t hear from him, so it really had been a sad couple of weeks, especially since he had a baptism date set. I mentioned in my last email, the week hadn’t been going too well. We had gone earlier in the week on a wild goose chase to try and find him, but it didn’t really pay off, since we were just running around, not really knowing where to look. This time, as we approached the building where he was supposed to be, we decided to say a prayer, then headed into the building. After about ten to fifteen minutes of searching around. We decided to ask a couple of people if they knew who he was. At the first room that we went to, a girl there said that he worked in that same room, but that he wasn’t there at the moment, so that was wonderful and we decided that we’d drop by in a few days.

On Thursday, we were trying to figure what we could do to after a mediocre appointment with an investigator with alcohol, tobacco, and gambling problems. After the appointment, we weren’t really sure what to do, so we went to the bus stop right where we were and found out that there was a bus that could take us to a good part of our area that we could contact, or we could take another bus to NUS, where Joe is. We decided to take the bus that came first, which ended up being the bus to NUS. Elder Palfreyman wasn’t too sure whether or not to go looking for him for a second night in a row, especially right around the same time that we had gone the night before (which was a really good point), but I didn’t want to get off the bus since we were already on it, and I had the slightest prompting to go on with it, so we went on.

Got to NUS, had another prompting to wander around for a bit, talked to a man while Elder Palfreyman was in the bathroom, then wandered off to the architecture studio. Before we headed into the building, we paused once again to say a prayer. We went back to that same room that he was supposed to be in, where another student told us that there was a student from China in their room, but it wasn’t Joe! We were rather discouraged, and decided that we would walk one round around the floor, then leave. As we walked past a couple of rooms, we saw Joe in one of the rooms through a glass pane. Boy, were Elder Palfreyman and I excited. We knocked on the door, which he opened. When he saw us, it was a mixture of surprise and joy on his face. We went on into the room and found out that he had lost his SIM card while on the trip to Malacca. He asked about his baptism, which surprised and excited us. He still very much wanted to learn, so we went through tithing, fasting, and obeying the law, which he all readily accepted. He committed to coming to Church on Sunday, and to have his baptismal interview, then ended the meeting with a beautiful prayer, ending with saying “I’m so excited! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” It was wonderful. Needless to say, we left the university as very happy missionaries. I truly have a testimony of prayer, of listening to the Lord, but also asking for His guidance. The old adage from the Bible stands true, “As and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.”

Saturday was relatively normal, weekly planning, a cancelled appointment, then had a wonderful time at the ward farewell party for the Palmers. Unfortunately, I really have not been feeling well at all these past few days, so I definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have. It really annoying always being sick. I really wish that I had a better immune system and stronger body. Gah!

Joe came to Church on Sunday and succeeded in his interview! Gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on member missionary work, along with Elder Palfreyman. I thought it went rather well, and I really felt the Spirit guiding me in what I was supposed to say. Member missionary work is so important! I challenge you all to read Preach My Gospel, the Church’s guide to missionary work. I promise you that you will be blessed for it. Really felt sick after Church, so I skipped lunch (big thing for me!), and slept for a few hours. Headed off to an appointment after that for an appointment with a former investigator from the JB Elders. Unfortunately, the man really is mentally unstable, so we’re not sure whether to continue teaching him. When we went into his apartment, he locked us in, a kept asking us to stay because he was lonely. Creepy. Had a good dinner appointment with Germaine’s family. They are a very nice family and strong in the gospel.

Monday…. Transfers! Huge transfers! I went off to the doctor’s for awhile, not really sure what’s wrong. Just hope I feel better soon. Elder Hoare was in on a visa run, so he stayed with me. Elder Stone and the Elders sent to pick him up from the airport couldn’t find him for awhile, and then his luggage didn’t turn up (which we didn’t know had happened). We had an appointment to go to, so Elder Hoare and I rushed there with all his stuff and a package my Mom had sent me in a cab, that cost right around $20. When we got there and called the man, he said he couldn’t make it! I was so frustrated. I could definitely have been more polite, and feel rather repentant about it now. But, it was frustrating, what with all the craziness going on and being sick. Headed pack to the house, dropped off our stuff then went off for another appointment, someone that another office elder had contacted awhile back. This man Han, is an atheist, so we just tried to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. He really doesn’t think he has the desire, but we see the potential in him, and he’s willing to meet again, and read what we’ve assigned him, so that’s good. Elder Palfreyman has mentioned several times that he understands people believing in other religions, or them even being agnostic, but he can’t understand how someone could be atheist, to be so oblivious to the world around them to really believe that. I really do agree with that. The beauty of the world is enough to convince me that there is a lot more to life than evolution and chance, but rather intelligent creationism.

Had some decent appointments on Tuesday with Joe (he’s ready!), Angelina (we taught and answered her questions about temples), and Velmurugan (we now have Tamil fellow shipper named Brother Kumar who helps us translate, and we’ve found out that he really didn’t understand a lot that we were saying, so it’s good now).

Read a really wonderful article this morning entitled Knowing My Eternal Self from the August 2004 issue of the Ensign. It really gave me a wonderful perspective about how we act and think and behave now, is the way that we were in the pre-mortal life, and that we are continuing to work towards being more like our Heavenly Father, that we are trying to be like the Savior, and do the will of the Father. I was reminded that I am literally a son of a loving Heavenly Father, and that knowledge helps me to understand my infinite potential and divine worth, that the Lord loves me and knows me intimately. How grateful I am for the knowledge that I am loved by both my Earthly and my Heavenly Parents.