Forgiveness and Banana Cream Pie - Elder Joshua Avery

Written by Elder Joshua Avery, serving in the Singapore Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Mandarin Chinese.

Banana cream pie!!

Monday the other elders went on an exchange to Melaka, so Elder Pearce and I were kicking it with Elder and Sister Benson. They are awesome, and Sister Benson taught us how to make banana cream pie! Which is so fantastic :) Sadly, somewhere during the day I lost my camera (no worries, Mom, it is found now).

Tuesday we met with the N** family. They are just wonderful. The daughter is our age and has been less active with the church for a little while. This time we did a family home evening and it seemed like they had a good time. We talked about the temple and the daughter seemed interested. Hopefully things continue to go well with them.

Wednesday we visited with Sister Su**. She is recent convert who is originally from India. When we talked to her, we could tell something was different. As we continued, we found out that one of the members has been calling her multiple times, asking a lot from her, and being very rude. We told Sister Su** to not answer the phone anymore. She said, "I don't, I hate her!" We then opened the scriptures to the sermon on the mount and explained that we need to love everyone, even our enemies. To that she said, "Well, Jesus can love her, but I don't!"

We knew we couldn't convince her to forgive this member, but we also knew that we wouldn't be able to share the lesson we'd planned until her concerns were resolved. I felt like we should open to 3 Nephi 17 where Christ blesses the children, and we just read only. The Spirit came and a peaceful feeling was back. When we finished reading she said, "I know I need to forgive her. It's the right thing to do." We hadn't talked to her about forgiving that lady as we read. All we did was read something unrelated to her concern, but we knew it would invite the Spirit. And only the Spirit could help her to forgive.

Friday a bunch of people came to English class, including two women from China! That's always so exciting. People from China are just so prepared. I hope this English class continues to bring miracles. So far it has been fantastic!

Saturday we got the news that because Johor Bahru is in a "drought," the city is shutting the water off for two days then turning it on for one day, for the next month. So all of us missionaries went shopping and will have plenty of water. I put drought in parenthesis because we get plenty of water, but they lack the ability to purify it. They were supposed to shut the water off yesterday, but so far we still have it.

Sunday was awesome. I woke up at 3 a.m. and went to my study room to "experience the wedding." I don't know if that was the right time, and I didn't make it for too long before I needed sleep, but I was there with you all in spirit ;) Please tell Hannah and Kolby "congratulations" and that I love them so much! Church was good, and the work is going good as usual.

When Elder Ballard came to Singapore he shared a story about one of the missionaries who served with him while he was mission president. The man came to Elder Ballard and told him, "President, I think I'm losing my testimony." The former missionary then explained he had been reading some anti-Mormon literature and that he had some questions. Elder Ballard told him that he would answer every single questions the next week (he felt confident with all the resources he has, he could find the answers for the guy). Then Elder Ballard said, "But you will have to answer this question and do what I say this week!" He then asked the returned missionary, "When was the last time you read from the Book of Mormon?" The man admitted it had been a while. Elder Ballard then committed him to read from The Book of Mormon every day till they next met. The next week, Elder Ballard asked the man if he had done as he asked. Then the guy told him, "I don't need the answer to those questions anymore...I know the book is true." Then Elder Ballard said, "Well I worked hard to get you those answers, and I'm going to give them to you!" (hahaha!) He then proceeded to answer everyone of the questions.

After relating this experience to us, Elder Ballard spoke directly to us missionaries and said, "I don't care what garbage you read on the internet or wherever! As long as you spend an equal investment of time reading from the Book of Mormon!"

Love you all!

Elder Avery

The Week in a Nutty Shell (August 10, 2015)

Christ's Church  (August 24, 2015)

Teaching in Malaysia