WEEK 2  PRESTON IS REAL!

Hey everyone!

It's almost two weeks I've been here and still thinking is this for real? Haha. I love to be here. Every day is a challenge. Learn new things, new environment, new friends, new 'accent' etc. All of it takes time and I'll work on it. 

Last Thursday, we went for a tour. We visited the Church historical sites. It was amazing! I took a lot of pictures and I will let you see some of it. We went to the obelisk where the first missionaries in England a long time ago were preaching. I think I need to do the same thing too if I was born at that time. Haha. We also went to River Ribble where the first baptism in England took place then we went to the house at 15 Wadham Road. It was the house where President Gordon B. Hinckley stayed for his mission in Preston. He wrote the letter about his discouragement to his father in that house too. It was too exciting for me to see all of these historical sites! 

At the Obelisk

15 Wadham Road

Missionary Oak

River Ribble

This week we have learned some lessons and we did a lot of role plays. I realized that I am the one that needs to teach people now. Before this, I was just sitting and listening to the missionaries while they were teaching the investigators. I am still adapting to such situations. Haha. Every investigator has their own needs and my companion and I need to think about it every day. 

Oh, the other missionaries went to Manchester yesterday for finding. Six of us; Me, Sister Mamuad, Sister Ratukalou, Sister Daneinheimer, Elder Ravindran and Elder Engmann went to the clinic for immunizations. I got one shot but others got for 3 until 5 shots. Haha. Tomorrow I am going for an appointment with the doctor for my allergy checkup. 

I am still trying to remember what I have done this week. Oh, I think last Sunday was my favourite day of the week. All of their testimonies really helped me to strengthen my testimony too. During the Family Home Evening, President Bunker asked who wants to come to the front and recite the 42 principles in the lesson. I did it! I think I am the first sister missionary for this batch memorized all the principle. (Still humble) Whatever it is, learning is a process. I know that being a missionary is something that I really need to do now. God's timing is perfect. 

Today we went to Chorley Market as a district. I bought something too. It was so funny when I always convert the pound to ringgit. Haha. Everything is expensive though. I am so grateful to have Elder Ravindran here because I can speak with him using our native language. He exactly will be my best friend in Malaysia after our mission. One more week here in the MTC. 

That's all for this week. Love you!

1 Nephi 9:5-6 

5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not. 

6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen. 

Love, 

Sister Bajat

WEEK 1  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year It's 2018 and my first time without my family for the New Year Eve. I still adapting myself and everything is fine! No worry!

My first day in Singapore was really great. Sister Edwards, Sister Richardson and I visited Sister Helen's family. She is a member of the church and she is a very nice person. Her husband cooked dinner for us too and it was delicious! They used chopsticks to eat and I just tried to use it since I don't know how to eat rice using chopsticks. Haha. I kept thinking that my chopsticks will drop and it did! 🤣 Shame on me! Hahahaha. Sister Helen took another chopstick for me.

 The next day we went for lunch and guess what? I had Chicken Rice for my lunch because I know it may be the last time for me to eat Malaysian's food. Haha. So, on that day, we met Chris at the Shangri-La Hotel. She is an investigator. I don't really know what happened to her but she looked very upset. Will pray for her.

In the afternoon, we met Zhouran and Tina. They are investigators too. They seemed very interested to learn the gospel. I never saw someone that really scared to pray but Tina did it for the first time! Sister Edwards and Sister Richardson taught them in the Chinese language and I don't know what they talked about. Haha. I just kept smiling.

 After that, we met Aunty Irene. She is 78 years old. My first time met her and she kissed me on my cheek. How sweet! She lives alone her English really good. At least I can understand what they were talking about. Haha. She also committed to having a baptism at the end of January!

Oh, I stepped on a guy's shoes in the MRT and he was so angry at me. Luckily we stopped at the station and I just said sorry and go. Hahahaha. I was scared until I dreamt about it. People at the church also talked to me in Tagalog and I don't know how to answer it. I wish that I can speak in many languages.

So, on Dec 28, Elder and Sister Walker accompanied me and Elder Ravindran to Changi Airport at 8 pm. We need to wait there until 1.20am for our flight to Dubai. It was a long trip but I love it! We almost lost in Dubai Airport. Haha. Arrived in Manchester need to wait about an hour for Immigration. It was a long queue. Then we searched for someone holding MTC's sign but we saw no one holding it. Tried to call the MTC but failed. Suddenly Sister Botts came and approached us asking if we are the missionaries or not.

At the MTC we took our package with nametags etc inside it. I was surprised because there was a mail for me. Thank you Van Gils' family! I can't believe that I will receive a mail on my first day in the MTC. 

So my teachers are Brother Mann and Sister Hughes. My MTC's president is President Bunker. They are the best! Me and Sister Hulldin had our two investigators name Zoë and Mateó Arriaga. Zoë's boyfriend is a member of the church and she wants to learn more about the church. She's from a Pentecostal church. Mateó is a father to four children. He loves his family very much. He's having a hard time right now and we try to help him. Our first lesson was not going really well. Haha. Everyone makes mistake. We tried to improve it in our second appointment and we did. Still, need to work on it.

Oh, Elder Ravindran and I will get our endowment in London Temple because the temple here is close. I'm excited about it!

I will do my best to fulfill my purpose as a missionary. It may not easy but I love this work so much! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to feel His love. He gives us the gospel of Jesus Christ to make us feel the happiness, the joy. I really hope that all of us can feel His love throughout our life. He is the One.

Alma 34:32

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

Love, 

Sister Bajat

OFFICIALLY SISTER BAJAT!

Hello everyone!

This will be a short email. Safely arrived in Manchester! It's a beautiful city and it's also freezing cold here!! 1-degree Celsius and I feel like I am inside the fridge haha. All day long from Singapore to Manchester and I'm so lucky to have Elder Ravindran with me. I have a lot of stories since I arrived in Singapore. I am going to tell you more next week.

My companion in Singapore for those three days are Sister Edwards and Sister Richardson. They are so sweet! I learned so much from them. They also feed me well haha.

So now in the MTC, my companion is Sister Hulldin from Sweden and she is very talkative. I couldn't answer all of her questions because she talks so fast and my brain needs time to load the respond haha. We are in Jacob District. I just want to tell that I still can't think this is real. Seeing the Preston Temple from the outside is a very special feeling. It's beautiful!

Thanks to the Lord for choosing me to be one of His instrument. I will do my best. See you!

126 Days Left!

I feel like to do some writing on this blog today.

So, yeah, it's 126 days left until I report to England MTC. Almost FOUR MONTHS left! I work so hard in my preparation. It's kind of good things actually. Sometimes I feel that I'm not really good at this or that but God helps me. I feel much better.

My Visa is still in process. There's still a lot of things that I need to handle. I did all of it alone with the help of my mom. Thanks, Mom! Before this, I have Elder and Sister Harrison helped me to make it until I was done with my application within TWO WEEKS. Wuhuuuu! Thanks to them ❤

For the motivation part of this writing, I would like to talk about temptation.

The temptation is everywhere, darling! Even I can't resist it sometimes. Why? Because I'm a normal person. The thing is to try your best to be like Jesus. Let Him be your King. Put Him in the first place.

My favorite things to do to make me stay at my 'position' are keep thinking positively and letting myself close to scriptures.

It depends on everyone. What feels good for you then do it. Just the thing is don't let yourself down and go deeper in temptation. Find anyone else to make your spirit up again. The best person to find is our Heavenly Father. Pray to him. Talk to him. He listens to us. He knows His children feel upset and we just need to make yourself prepared to talk to Him and share everything that we want.

God loves us and forever will be.

ELSM!

England London South Mission

I opened it today! There is no more way for me to describe my feeling. It's kind of happy and exciting. Haha. Do you want to know what was my first thought in my mind when I read it? 

"This is Laura's mission!"

Haha. Laura is one of the church members in Kuching and currently serving in the same mission. I never met her but I believe that I will meet her in the mission field. Maybe as a companion or even my trainer! That is possible, isn't it?

What I can say now is every and each one thing that we want to do and achieve in this world, there must be a challenge. If it is not an object, it is a person. Believe me that no matter how hard you want to make someone proud of you, one of them may say, "Ughhhh !" or even say something that may make you lose.

That'a fact. But never mind. Keep in faith and dare to stand alone. When we are living in this world, there will always a challenge. Not only A but A LOT OF IT. Stay cool and pray to know the truth. It happened to me! :)

Whatever it is, my mission is the important one. Make the temptation as a way to make you more stronger than before. If you feel want to cry, just cry. Crying is the best way of therapy. If you are crying, it doesn't mean that you are weak, you lose but it is a way to make you more powerful to face all those things.

Kind of motivation writing. Haha. I'm so excited! Never crossed on my mind to serve in London. I kept thinking about America and the Philippines. I know that I am needed in somewhere in England. Thanks, Lord for giving me this opportunity. You planned it well for me and others too.

MY MISSION CALL!

IT'S HERE!

It's a miracle! My mission call is here. I am so grateful because my assignment can be made in a short period. The thing is I need to pick it by myself because their service does not include my area.
And today during my way to pick it, actually I was mistaken between GDex and FedEx. Haha. It took us about thirty minutes to find the place just to pick my mission letter.

And it's here! I will open it after sacrament meeting tomorrow. So, it is exciting! Stay tuned to know where I assigned to serve.

United States//Canada//Philippines//Singapore//England??????????

Waiting ❤

Good News!

"Dear Chintra,

Warmest congratulations to your mission call!  An assignment has been made to your mission call.  Please note that all Malaysian missionary call letters are sent to the Singapore Mission first because Malaysia is part of it.  Your call letter will then be forwarded to your home.  I believe I have told you before that the mission assignment would be posted online after a period of about 2 weeks after you have received your mission letter.

The earth is the Lord’s vineyard.  No matter where you are called to, it is still part of the Lord’s mission.  It is a privilege to serve wherever Jesus calls you to labor after all He is your personal tutor.  Let me and the Harrisons know where you are called to.  I am excited about your mission call but more so for you to be able to make higher covenants with God in His holy temple.

Take care.  Do read the Book of Mormon every day."

This email was really made my day! I have been waiting for a while to know about the progress of my mission application. So glad that everything is going very well. I don't know how to describe my feeling right now.

Nervous + exciting + happy + etc 

I know that God knows the best for me. He knows where I need to serve. He knows where I am needed. He knows who I need to help. He knows where I will be improving.

All of us know that missionary works not going to be easy as ABC but I believe that with faith that we all have, everything will go well. I hope that my mission letter will arrive within this week. I cannot wait anymore!