(Elder Avery was transferred this week to Singapore, where he will be serving as an Assistant to President Simmons.)
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| It's hard to step into the shoes of such a great missionary! |
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| Passing over the Mission Book....aaauugghh! |
This week was crazy! Everything is so fast paced. I am definitely in need of the enabling power of the Atonement if I want to go at the pace we would like to go. I miss KL (Kuala Lumpur) and Elder Schwemmer, but I am excited for the new opportunities and experiences ahead. I never thought I would serve in a ward on my mission! My new companion is Elder Spurrier from Cottonwood Heights, and he speaks Malay. However, we will be attending an English ward, wearing English nametags (had to order one for me).
This week I have increased my faith by trusting God more, and looking forward more. It is so easy to let "what ifs?" and "I wish I had..." control you. This is the most inadequate I have ever felt in my entire life, but I have a testimony that this new assignment comes from the Lord. While Elder Spurrier and I were teaching a member about the Restoration I felt the Spirit really strong, and received the witness I have been looking for, confirming that this assignment comes from the Lord. I am so excited to be serving in the Woodlands Ward. We have amazing members. We will be visiting all of the members this transfer and sharing the Restoration (video) with them. I think that will get them fired up! We already have a couple members who seem way excited to do missionary work.
This week we went to go visit a former investigator named Sa**. When Elder Spurrier called her to confirm the appointment she was less than excited to meet, but Elder Spurrier was able to talk her into letting us stop by. When we arrived for the lesson we only had a couple minutes because we had gotten lost earlier in the day. We went into the lesson said a prayer and sang, "I am a Child of God." After we finished singing she broke down crying. She told us she was so happy that we had come and set an appointment for us to come back and teach her whole family. Her parents from Indonesia also live with her. While she was saying the closing prayer in Indonesian (I couldn't understand it), she and her father were crying. It was clear that the Spirit had touched both of their hearts. I was so grateful to God for helping them to feel His love. We didn't say anything important, but the Spirit did. Because Elder Spurrier speaks Indonesian we will be able to teach the parents also.
We have an awesome investigator from Bangladesh who will hopefully be baptized this month. His English is really good and he is already Christian. Every commitment we give him he runs with. He committed to never work a Sunday for the rest of his life. I am so happy for him :)
We also found an awesome new investigator named Br**. He is Malaysian Chinese. He is Christian but has never been baptized. I am excited to see how he progresses.
We called all of the members and asked them what their favorite color is, and tried to set an appointment with them to teach the Restoration. Some of the members seem way excited about it. We will be going over to a FHE (Family Home Evening) with a family tonight. In 3rd hour of church we gave all of the members Restoration pamphlets to give out and committed them to give it out and invite a friend to General Conference. We also had a couple members do some finding with us after lessons. My favorite thing was when we were able to help a prospective missionary place a Book of Mormon with a family after one of our appointments. I can feel the fire growing here in Woodlands!
Love you all!
Elder Avery
Our Little Piece of the Vineyard (March 28, 2016)
In the Woodlands (April 11, 2016)
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| Our Office |
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| Elders Avery, Riddle and Spurrier - Singapore Mission |
