Week 60... Merry Christmas

December 26, 2016

Merry Christmas!!! It has been a fantastic week! I have seen so many blessings as I have been able to serve the Lord with all of my heart my mind and strength. Each and every day as I have been able to reflect, it has helped me to see the hand of the Lord in the work that I am doing. I want to express my gratitude and thankfulness that I have this missionary opportunity to come to Singapore and Malaysia and to serve the people around me. What a blessing it is to come to a foreign land and to have the privilege of serving the people there. I am so grateful that the Lord has prepared this people for the message of his restored gospel. In my email today I wish to share a few experiences that are important to me and have helped me to build and strengthen my faith in the Savior Jesus Christ. It is my wish that as I share these things with you, that you too may feel the spirit and you will be able to have missionary experiences of your own.

"Open your mouth and it shall be filled!"
Over the past couple weeks, we have been having a hard time finding those who are prepared to listen to the message of the Gospel. As we continued each day to try and find it seems like there was no one who was willing to listen. We decided to pray about it and ask the Lord for a direction to take. As we did so we thought of a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants. In doctrine and Covenants 33:10 it reads: "Yea, open your mouths and they shall be filled, saying: Repent, repent, and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

It became very clear at that point that we needed to open our mouths to every person that we cross paths with. For if we open our mouths then the promise of the Lord will be made sure as he says, Open your mouth and it shall be filled and I will give you utterance." So that is what we did. Was it easy, no. However we saw the miracles that came because we were willing to open our mouths and talk to as many people as we could. We were then able to find many people. We know without a doubt if the Lord promises you something He will always fulfill his promises.

Alright, so Elder Boud and I were going home a couple of days ago and as we were on the MRT we met this young woman named E****. At first we were not sure if she was even interested and learning about the gospel. However, as we continue to talk with her, we began to understand a little bit more about who she was and her religious background. We learned that she was Christian but her parents were not fully active in church. Throughout her life she has been going from church to church to try and find a place where she belongs. We explained that our purpose is to help others come closer to God. We helped her to know that she was a daughter of God and that God is her literal Heavenly Father. We had a really good discussion for a few minutes about Heavenly Father and how much He loves us. We know that sometimes it can be difficult to know for certain if Heavenly Father is really there and listening but we can have the assurance that if we pray with a sincere heart and real intent we too can know that God really is our Heavenly Father and has a plan for us. Near the end of the conversation she really wanted to come to church with us which I thought was amazing. To add even more of a miracle was that she came to church and she had a really good time! We're hoping as this week continues we may be able to meet with her again and share and help her strengthen her faith in Christ. I have a testimony that God is our Heavenly Father. His plan is perfect and complete. He loves us with an infinite amount of love and He wants to lead us back to our Heavenly home.

This past Monday, each of us and our districts had the opportunity to have a gingerbread house making contest. The teams were set District vs. District and some of the missionaries in my district had a lot of competitive fire. As we labored and created this gingerbread house at first we realized that some of the pieces like the walls and ceiling we're not hardened quite yet, so we ran into the kitchen and grabbed three small boxes and made those our foundation. As we continue to build we realized we were running out of time, and we had not yet finished decorating the outside of the house. So before our judges, who were elder and sister Kunz, we wrote on the side of the house, Elder and Sister Kunz WE LOVE YOU! We knew that even if our house may not have looked the greatest we still tried our best to add a little extra brownie points. The Kunz decided that each of the district's were winners. We had a ton of fun competing and after the activity ate ice cream.

This past Wednesday, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Bringhurst. We started around Tuesday night dinner time and went until Wednesday night 9:30. On this exchange, Elder Bringhurst was able to review with me a little bit more about how to more successfully contact others. At first it seemed impossible. I felt so inexperienced, but little by little I begin to see how to help others to have an interest in the gospel. As Elder Bringhurst would contact he would take what others would say and build off of their comments. He helped the people that he was talking to feel special and that what they had to say was important. One of the things that I learned was that the message of the Gospel is not only about everyone in Singapore or other places but it is very personal. I have learned that as we help others to feel the love of God in their own life they will be able to feel the spirit in that contact. So we decided to try it. There was a young man on his way to work. As we talked with him, at first he did not seem very interested in what we had to share mainly because we were missionaries. However, as we made it more personable to him, he began to open up a little bit more. As he did so we recognized that he was looking for a friend and we explained that although we come from America and may be foreigners and that is cool and all, we have such an important message to share with you. We told him we wanted to be able to meet with him again and share because we know how much it can help him in his life and his family. He accepted.

Each and every week as we meet the members at church, we seem to improve our relationship with them. Every Sunday we have tried to make the best effort to say hello to every member before church starts and I feel like that has been able to help us to create a feeling of trust between each other. Yesterday for Christmas, we went to some of our members homes and ate lunch and dinner with them. It was not at the same members house that we ate lunch and dinner... We did not stay there for a long  time... I'm grateful for the members of this church and their willingness to serve others and especially in this Christmas season, the missionaries.

Some of our goals that we wish to accomplish with our Ward is to be able to find out who each of the ward missionaries are and work with them to visit other ward members and some less active members in hopes that we may be able to help them to feel that Light of Christ and come back to church. We know it is never easy but I know for myself, as we have faith in Jesus Christ that people can make changes in their life and cling back onto the iron rod and find their way home again. I love the members in Singapore! Each of them have such a strong desire to do missionary work. I pray each and every day that as they continue to go to work and have other activities that they may be able to have missionary opportunities and then be able to help others to come unto Christ. I am very excited for what the new year will bring. We will have an opportunity to work with our Ward Mission leader and the ward council and plan with them how many baptisms we would like to achieve this following year.

I want to share my testimony with you. I know that this church is the only true and Living Church upon the Earth. Jesus Christ is the head of this church. I have such a strong testimony that as we obey the Commandments that God has given to each of us, we can and we will experience eternal Joy. I am grateful for the example of my parents and my siblings. They mean so much to me, and I want to do everything that I can to be an example for them. I know that the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all men. He knows us perfectly. As we turn to Him as our savior and Redeemer, we will be able to find our way out of difficult times because of our faith in Jesus Christ. I am grateful for each of you for your love and your prayers and I pray that God will protect you and your families and will help each of you to be happy. I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Love,

Elder Shirley