What Is Happiness?

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.... it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness..." This has probably been one of my hardest weeks in the mission field, but it has also been one of the more spiritual weeks of my life. Funny how trials often draw you closer to Heavenly Father.

We had to drop a lot of our investigators, and almost EVERY appointment that we set up canceled. People weren't answering our calls and members couldn't. So, we spent most of the week contacting. Normally, contacting goes alright and people stop to listen. But, over the course of last week, no one would listen! No one wanted to stop, no one wanted to sit by us, no one even flashed a smile. It got worse when people started getting rude. One man whom I sat by said that he couldn't talk because he was waiting for a friend. Another two girls waved their hands in my face. Another guy gave me a dirty look, and tons of people just completely ignored me and Elder Rothwell. It got to a stage on Friday night When I was utterly discouraged. I had probably gone through twenty rejections, and it was hurting me. I thought, "Why won't people just stop and listen to me?" As I thought about that and wallowed in self pity, I thought about the theme of my blog, you know, the song, I Will Not Be Still. As I reflected on the words, it gave me a sense of peace and calm, to know that I am called of the Lord, and that though I can't do it by myself, He's there every step of the way. The first couple verses go like this,

I've never been the kind to testify,

I don't have the words his truth deserves.

But it's a simple thing he asks,

A worthy heart and willing hands.

He says if I'll make the choice,

He'll help me find my voice.

He calls me to serve and I cannot fail him,

The one who has given me all that I have.

I place my trust in him alone,

He knows the yearnings of my soul.

Because he believes in me,

I will go willingly.

It was then that I knew that my Heavenly Father loved me, yet another witness that I was doing his work.

I continued to sing the song softly, till it got to these lines,

Reaching the hopeless hearts who do not know his love,

Seeing their lives begin to change,

I know I'll never be the same.

For a moment, that caught me off guard, and got me back in my little rut. I reasoned with myself that none of these people wanted to change, they did not want to know His love. It was something that I thought the rest of the week.

We had some visa runners from Indonesia come in because there was a mess up with their visas in the States. But, they stayed for the week and got it all worked out. One of those visa runners, Sister Okamoto, wrote in my BR as she left, which I read later on. She said that the work that we do is the most important work, and that The Book of Mormon is true and changes lives! That hit me, along with the song, that there are lives to be changed. Many people might and will reject the message that we have to share, but we have to work our hardest to spread this message because of what the Savior has done for us and the world!

I'll admit,one of my faults this week has been that of being a little too trunky, which I can't be! I had two little boosts to keep me on the straight and narrow. One of them was from my friends who reminded me that I shouldn't be counting the days, but letting the days count! The second was from Sister Okamoto, who paraphrased a scripture saying that "TRUNKINESS NEVER WAS HAPPINESS!" Tis true.

Elder Rothwell and I did our weekly planning and resolved to do all we could to make sure that we can get as many people as we could to hear about this gospel, and these past couple of days have been great. Things are going better, people are listening more, we've had a couple good appointments. But, w still have the rest of the week, so we'll be working hard!

I love the mission. There have been days that I have wondered what I am doing doing this, but then always, and mostly realizing and knowing that this is how we, and everyone can find the happiness that our loving Father in Heaven wants for each of His children.

I hope that you all have a great week. Please keep Elder Rothwell and I in your prayers, we need it.

O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people. O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me.... yea, even all these wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ. Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this people. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.
Alma 31:32-35

A photo for ya'll, The Elders in the Singapore (2nd) Mandarin Ward
Elders Raja, Rothwell, Chua and Teng

-Elder Chua