I. LOVE. BEING. A MISSIONARY.

This was a very BUSY week. I don't have time to write about everything that happened, so I'll pick just a few highlights...

So remember how I was fasting for new investigators? Blessings are coming. 

We met with a man named Julius. He was raised Catholic but became Baptist when he was a teenager. When he started college, he abandoned religion and went to Atheism, which he realized recently is also a religion :) So he is very lost and confused and has had a hard time in Singapore. When he met a missionary, he decided to give it a chance. He said that he'd lately been thinking about religion. 

We met with him and he opened up to us well. We testified of things that were relevant to his concerns and questions. His body language started off closed off and unsure, and he was always looking at the ground, but by the end of the lesson the Spirit was there in full force and he had opened up and you could tell from his uncrossed arms. He looked me in the eyes as I boldly testified of God's love for him and of how His arms are open and waiting to receive him. He accepted a soft baptismal invitation. He then gave the most sincere, open, and honest closing prayer I have heard in a very long time. It was a beautiful, spiritual experience. He came to church yesterday, and we are meeting him again tonight. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

Also yesterday we had two miracle new investigators who accepted a baptismal date. We had met one of them--a woman named Amorata --before and we had an appointment with her after Church. A member's friend who came to Church heard about it and asked to join. We sat and talked of prayer, of prophets, and the Book of Mormon and they wept as we testified of the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was SO strong! They both accepted a tentative baptismal date for two months from now. I LOVE. BEING. A MISSIONARY.

I know that this Gospel is true, and that God knows and loves perfectly each one of us.

Sister Gopinath

The Little Miracles

This week was certainly exciting! The biggest group of missionaries in the history of the Singapore Mission arrived. It was really exciting to be a part of.

I'm here with Sister Ballantyne, who is working on her culture shock. She is from Caldwell, Idaho... she was a BSU student. Enjoys writing fiction (suspense, fantasy), telling stories, and playing video games if she has nothing to do. So basically she is awesome. I'm excited to be with her. I feel a large sense of responsibility both for her and for the area. It requires a lot of me, and a lot of relying on the Lord. A lot of prayer. It really is an answer to my prayer to be training--it keeps me fresh and full of energy. I'm excited.

So in the last few months I have really been loving church! Yesterday two women came to the Filipino ward--they just showed up. One of them said she looked up the address on the internet and decided to show up. They were super nice, and one of them has investigated the church before. It's awesome to see little miracles like that occurring so often.

Mostly this week has been new missionary conferences and getting settled in. We've had some fun appointments, a lot in Malay so I'm getting used to being mostly in charge :) It's fun helping Sister Ballantyne get more comfortable and confident to express her testimony as we teach.

I am out of time again but I love the work and the Lord!

Sister Gopinath

From Humble Circumstances

Hello!

So this week was good. First of all, we got the transfer news. I am going to train another new missionary here in Singapore! That's what I was hoping for, so I'm excited. Being with a new missionary gives you fresh energy and perspective, and it stretches you to really do your best. The new missionaries come in two days. We're all really excited! There are a lot of changes going on.

Other than that, this week was a good one. This area is stretching me. It is challenging to teach people from very humble circumstances, for a lot of reasons... and it's challenging in many other ways to teach educated and intelligent people. We have a Flipino investigator named Arnold. We have taught him twice this past week, and I am nervous every time beforehand but I'm learning not to be. He is around my age, and smarter than me. He is dating a member of our ward, and has been coming to church for a while, but he is a very strong and intellectual Roman Catholic. He has common concerns and questions about the Church... and for a while I was feeling like I had to know everything and research everything before I could teach him. I usually don't feel nervous teaching people anymore, but he is intimidating... until we actually get into the lesson. Our lessons have been intense, but also always spiritually edifying and uplifting. He has a good heart, some hidden concerns that he hasn't yet verbalized, and strong faith in Jesus Christ. He really is quite a spiritual person. I've realized that I am not obligated to answer every question he has--and we talked about this during the lesson, that in the end, the thing that will let him know if it's true or not is the Holy Ghost. It won't come through intellectual exploration, although studying the Gospel is essential.  Arnold understands that his answer will come not from any fact or figure, but directly from God through His Spirit. He has a hard life, but he loves his family and always talks about how if the Church is true, he would need to be baptized by priesthood authority and he would want to bring his family with him (through his family is, like him, strong Catholic). I think deep down, he can already feel what the answer is going to be as he reads and prays about the Book of Mormon. He's on track for great things. The members in the ward are so good at helping him--at our lesson, we had five members who asked to come, and who bore their testimonies to Arnold. The Spirit was really strong.

Another really cool lesson was with someone very different--Lavell.  He is from western China. He saw the Church, and decided to come in on the morning of Stake Conference two weeks ago.  He seemed to really like it, although when I tried to invite him to a baptism that was happening right after conference, he had no idea what baptism even was.  He came from no religious background... it's almost weird to get to know people who not only are not from a Christian background, but to whom religion in general is foreign and is based on concepts that are difficult to comprehend because you didn't grow up with them. But Lavell is the sweetest, purest guy that basically I have ever met.  He's in his 20s, working here in Singapore.  He glows with friendship and love, and we finally got to meet him this week.  We talked about Heavenly Father, and how to establish a relationship with Him.  We taught him about prayer, which he seemed to know about. And he prayed for the first time in his life, and it was a beautiful sincere prayer in which he expressed desire to know Heavenly Father and come closer to Him and find answers to his questions about life.  HE IS AWESOME!  He's been researching the Church, and he actually came to church last week without us knowing... so anyway. It's exciting, and his English is really good which is awesome. He's leaving for a month but we are excited to meet him again when he comes back.

There are more stories, like the 5 new people who showed up at church yesterday (AWESOME!!!), but I'm out of time... so... I know the Gospel is true, and the God loves each one of us as His child. He hears and answers prayers.

Sister Gopinath

Now in Indonesian!

Unique spiritual experience!  Yesterday I had the most powerful experience I've had with fasting so far in my life. I decided to fast for 1) new investigators and 2) strength to be a missionary Heavenly Father can trust with the people He's been preparing. I don't know what was different this time, but I felt my faith strengthen and deepen as I fasted and I was sad when I had to break my fast that evening. I really did feel closer to the Spirit as I put my hunger aside so I could receive blessings from Heavenly Father. I felt Him close to me. And that day, 5 new people that we'd never met before came to church with their member friend (go members!!!). One of them cried during sacrament meeting because she felt it was true, which was amazing, but she doesn't live in Singapore so we now have a great referral for the missionaries in the Philippines... so I won't get to teach her but I was still so happy she came and I got to meet her! One girl came with our recent convert said she wants to meet with us. So yesterday we had a total of 6 contacted member referrals! That is one of the highest I've gotten in one day on my mission. I felt that it was all directly connected to my fast. I felt really grateful and happy and invigorated. YEAH MISSIONARY WORK!!! Can I just tell you that I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!

This past Saturday, we went to a baptism of an Indonesian girl named Wendy who was amazing. She was raised Muslim, and also raised in a very rough home and has been mistreated her whole life. But she started working for a member family, and felt more love in that home than she'd ever experienced. She cried her first meeting with missionaries. She is absolutely adorable. Her testimony is so strong. She is feeling love for the first time. I get to teach her recent convert lessons! In Indonesian! YEAH! I love my life!

Love,
Sister Gopinath

P.S. Funny things about Singapore: 1) My bed is too short. My feet and my head both touch the ends of my mattress... me with my towering five feet and four inches. 2) We have a boatload of giant COCKROACHES in our apartment!  I am afraid to leave the bedroom at night for fear of what is crawling around in the kitchen or living room. Hooray for living in a big city... on the equator!

"It's Sunday. I'm okay!"

Let me tell you about one cool investigator... his name is John and he's getting baptized soon. He is from South India (I think Canai?) and he is one of those people who is probably near-perfect.  His heart is full of love for God, and he wants to be baptized because although he was baptized Catholic when he was a small child, he feels that he wants to make the choice for himself (and he's ready) to devote his life to God. So he is really excited for his baptism. He works the nightshift on Saturday nights, so he gets off work right before church starts. He is never tired at church, he says, because... "It's Sunday. I'm okay." He LOVES church. He has such a bright smile, and bright eyes. He is great. He has deep and profound answers to all of the questions we ask him. He is really prepared. I love teaching him.

Jesse is not yet confirmed because yesterday was Stake Conference... we have to wait until next week. But even so, he was GLOWING at conference. He loved it.

Our investigator Sushma is trying to stop eating betlenut, which is addictive and against the Word of Wisdom, so she can be baptized soon.  It's sometimes hard to get through to her but we are working with her slowing but surely.

Some HUGE transfers are coming up in 2 weeks. The biggest group of missionaries is coming in... bigger than we've had in years. Because of the abundance of missionaries, our mission will open or reopen around 14 new areas. That is a LOT!!! Also literally 30-40% of us will train a new missionary. It's gonna be crazy. Who knows what's going to happen?! They will open up two new Sister areas. My companion Sister Anderson will probably leave, since she's been here for 6 months. I will get a new companion. Who knows? Everyone is really nervous about all the changes coming up.

I'm out of time but I KNOW the Gospel is true and that God lives! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly God's church, and all sincere seekers of truth can know it by reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon.

Love,
Sister Gopinath

A Small Part in His Work

This week... it's been good. We've met a lot of people, even people who would meet with us, but it's hard because they are all so overwhelmed with work. People from the Philippines are mostly housemaids that work 12 hours or more every day, with on average 1 or 2 off days a month. They are all exhausted, and a lot of them are struggling emotionally... so we've met a lot of people who we feel would accept the Gospel, but maybe right now it's not their time. We're still working on finding the people whose time is now. 

The other day I contacted a family from Switzerland while doing door approaches. This is noteworthy because western-culture people are generally very rude to us missionaries, so it's intimidating to talk to them in general, but I didn't feel scared at all as I bore testimony of the Savior and of eternal families. They didn't want to learn more, but it was a personal victory to be able to testify boldly and feel no fear. Someday they will know.

Success/highlight of the week: Brother Jesse got baptized yesterday! It was the sweetest baptismal service ever. His good friend Jenny (she was the one who first invited him to church and has been there for everything) gave a talk on baptism, and talked about his example has impacted her life. She said, "Never once did I see in him any doubt or fear about anything. Only faith." She was close to tears the entire time as she bore testimony of the Gospel and the blessings that baptism has brought to her life. Jesse really is an amazing example--what Jenny said about him is true. He is full of faith, not fear. His heart is soft and he finds it easy to believe the word of God. He is a great man. I can see him in the Elders Quorum Presidency soon.

Then we watched the baptismal ordinance. I have been to many baptisms on my mission. The Spirit of God is always there. This time, when we saw brother Jes go down into the water, God's Spirit pierced my heart. The image of them standing there in the font, heads bowed in reverence and solemnity, touched my heart. When I got my mission call, it came with a booklet full of information about my mission. On the cover is a picture of a man being baptized. That image came to my mind--I felt I was looking at the real-life version of that image, and I cried. Brother Jesse's heart is so humble and sincere and willing to do whatever God requires of him. He is on the path home to His Father's kingdom. He's on the path to the Temple. (We are trying to get him and Jenny together... hehe.)

I feel so privileged that God let me come here and get to play a small part in His work. Times like these remind me why I am here and what we are really trying to do. I love being a missionary and I'm excited for whatever is next. I feel that there's something good coming around the corner.

Sister Gopinath

Making Choices

This last week included August 17th. August 17th was the day I reported to the MTC last year. It was fun to be here in Singapore for it, because four or five of the Elders who were in the MTC with me were also there. We all talked about it, about how FAST this last year has gone and how different we all are now.

I remember the day I went into the MTC as if it were four months ago instead of twelve. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea what a mission was even like. But I was excited and I felt that God wanted me there. I can't believe that was a year ago. 

At the same time, though, so much has happened. I feel I have aged (matured) at three or four times the normal speed. On my 22nd birthday, it felt strange to be turning 22 because I feel that internally I have been 24 all year. I still have a lot to learn, of course, but I have seen and experienced things this past year that I never knew existed. Feelings I didn't know I could feel... people in live situations that I never knew about. People in spiritual places I never knew anyone could be in (good and also very bad). I am still growing up but I feel that in many ways my mission has made me an adult, made me a woman. It's given me a chance to see the world through spiritual eyes, to see the world for what it really is. 

This week we visited an inactive part-member family... the husband is an American and hasn't been to church in at least 15 years, probably more like 20+. He married a Catholic Singaporean. She passed away earlier this year, but their three children are still Catholic and are brought to church every week, from what I understand, by their relatives. He told us that he wants to wait until the kids are old enough, and he'll let them follow whatever religion they want when they're old enough to make the decision. It was interesting to spend some time with them. They have a good relationship with each other, from what I can see. They joke around that seem to like spending time with each other. He says that sometimes he tells them Book of Mormon stories, and he keeps the Book of Mormon by his bed. I started to ask him questions about what his concerns are why he is not living the Gospel. I wanted to ask him more questions... but he said he felt gloom in the room so he was going to change the topic, which he did. That gloom was the Spirit (or absence of the Spirit) teaching us about how we should not let others' sins or mistakes lead to our own personal apostasy. I didn't say that to him, but it was a good learning experience for me. I wonder what will happen with this family. We want to teach his children so that they CAN make that choice, and make it with an understanding of what they are choosing. We'll see how it goes.

I know that the Gospel is true and that God is real and loves us. He gives us commandments so we can be happy and have His Spirit with us. I've experienced that firsthand in my life--that obedience brings the Spirit of the Lord into our lives.

Love,
Sister Gopinath