Joshua's Song of Singapore: Week 35: Ipoh, Malaysia

The Illusion of Ipoh

Hello everyone! We are sitting in the airport on the way back to Ipoh, so what better time is there than now to update you all on my week?

It was a good week! On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had regular days biking around Ipoh and talking to people. On Tuesday night, we had these two cool people named Meng and Chris show up to our Family Home Evening, and so we met with them and taught them more about what they believe. And then on Wednesday, we met this cool guy named Eric. He saw the Sisters contacting in the mall and was curious about what they were doing, and so he asked them, and they told him they were volunteers for church and he said "How can I become one?" Long story short, he is a really cool guy and it was fun to meet with him!

On Thursday, we left for Singapore. We took a bus from Ipoh to KL, and then we flew to Singapore. Ahh my goodness, Singapore is so beautiful, I love this place so much. On Thursday and Friday, we had a zone conference with the KL zone, and so it was fun to see some old friend. President Rowley talked to us about finding joy in missionary work, and what to marry and who to study after the mission. It was kinda weird because that is still really far away for some missionaries, but overall our Zone is finishing their missions pretty soon, so he brought it up.

And then on Saturday, I had one of the FUNNEST days of my life. I went on splits with Elder Duzett (who flew in with me!) in the 2nd Ward, which is the ward for people from China. We just went around all of Singapore talking to every person from China we met (it is pretty easy to tell them apart from Singaporeans) and speaking in Chinese. It was such a fun day, and Chinese people are the coolest. I got to pull out my old Beijing accent, which I haven't used in a LONG time. It was a tender mercy to be there for the day.

On Sunday, Elder Bishop and I went to the newly created YSA ward in Singapore. It was really fun to be in a big ward full of cool people, but it is kinda strange. They pulled all of the YSA also from the Chinese and Filipino ward, and so a lot of people don't speak English. But, because there were a lot of Chinese people, I got to teach this cool guy. I taught him with a guy from Singapore who served in Hong Kong, so he had really good Chinese. He said that I reminded him of his companion when he was the assistant in Hong Kong, which was cute.

Zone Conference was so great, it was such a spiritual feast (Wright Watchers feast) to come to Singapore and learn more and stretch ourselves.

It was especially fun because I got to see Elder Duzett again, as well as Sister Tan, who I flew in with. The other Elder I flew in with went home early because he was really sick, poor guy. Nevertheless, most of the crew was back together, which was so fun! I remember that when I was in the ward, it seemed like missionaries went out and came back so quickly. Now that I am the missionary, it feels a little slower haha, but still going pretty fast!

Also, I am also starting to watch my weight a little bit. It is so tempting to get home at night and eat chocolate, but when I dont it feels ready good. One thing that has helped me is telling my companion my goals, so he can help. When I am tempted to break my weight watching, he reminds me of what I am doing.

Now we are on our way home to Ipoh. Overall it was a really good week, but it is kinda hard to go from Singapore back to Ipoh. They are such different worlds, but nevertheless I am excited to get back to Ipoh! So now, my bag is full of Books of Mormon and water filters!!

Hope that you all had a great week! I love you all so much. As usual I appreciate the sustain support and love. Have a great week!

Don't forget to smile!

Spiritual Experiences

This week, because we were outside of our area, I didn't really have any of my reading materials for personal study, except for a good old 摩尔门经 (Book of Mormon). And so, while I was sitting on the MRT, I decided that for my personal study I would read Moroni 7, one of my favorite chapters. In verse 12, I read:

"Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God..."

I have been thinking about that a lot, because recently I have been trying to expand my capacity to receive revelation, and at times I wonder how to distinguish a good thought from myself and a thought from God. And at the end of the day, I think that if it pushes us towards God, it is from Him...if it takes us away, it is not.

Anyways, after thinking about that all day, I ran into a guy that had the same question while we were contacting. Because I had read that scripture, I was able to remember it and share it with him. It was cool to see how God had answered my question and simultaneously helped me answer someone else's question through the same scripture.

I testify that God is there, and that He is guiding us. He hears every prayer that we say, and He is our father.

The Savior really is amazing...he has felt everything we could ever feel, which is so amazing. Why did he do that for such imperfect people like me? I have come to see it is because he loves us dearly.