My Efforts to Share the Gospel May Require Persistence and Patience

God’s work will not fail. But our efforts to hep with His work sometimes seem to fail – at least, we may not immediately see the outcomes we hope for.

At times we might feel a little like Alma when he preached the gospel in Ammonihah – rejected, spit on, and cast out. Yet when an angel instructed him to go back and try again, Alma couragely “returned speedily” and God prepared the way before him.

In Alma’s case, an angel commanded him to return to Ammonnihah to preach the gospel even though the people there had already violently rejected him (Alma 8:14-16).

What do you learn from Alma’s example of sharing the gospel despite challenges and opposition?

• Alma teach us to pray fervently for the people of those whom we would like to share the gospel with in Alma 8:10:

10 Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.

• Alma teach me to be humble and care deeply for the people in Alma 8:14:

14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

• The angel taught Alma and me to do not allow others decisions to destroy my own joy and it is my agency and others agency to choose and it is important to understand that our prayers or doings cannot overrule another person’s agency as it is the gift from Heavenly Father to all of His children.

Alma teach me despite the difficulty of the command, Alma “returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah”. President Howard W. Hunter taught that the Lord loves such obedience: “Surely the Lord loves, more than anything else, an unwavering determination to obey his counsel”

18 Now it came to pass that after Alma had received his message from the angel of the Lord he returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah. And he entered the city by another way, yea, by the way which is on the south of the city of Ammonihah.

• Alma teach me to Fast for the people. Fasting often indicates to the Lord the seriousness of our request. President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency taught: “At times fasting is appropriate as a strong evidence of our sincerity. … When we fast we humble our souls, which brings us more in tune with God and His holy purposes”

26 And now, Amulek, because thou hast fed me and taken me in, thou art blessed; for I was an hungered, for I had fasted many days.

• Alma teach me, I should take the Holy Spirit as my guide in Alma 8:30:

30 And Alma went forth, and also Amulek, among the people, to declare the words of God unto them; and they were filled with the Holy Ghost.

Which verses in Alma 8 increase your desire to share the gospel?

There is a verse which is significantly increase desire to share the gospel, which is at Alma 8:15, which is “ Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.”

This verse teach me that if we keep God’s commandments, then we will have reason to rejoice, regardless of our circumstances. I remembered that there is a talk from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland talking about a doctrine of truth that:

“… It says again and again that we are going to be blessed for our desire to do good, even as we actually strive to be so.

Please remember tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going. If you fall, summon His strength. Call out like Alma, “O Jesus, … have mercy on me.”⁷ He will help you get back up. He will help you repent, repair, fix whatever you have to fix, and keep going. Soon enough you will have the success you seek.”

Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders Among You

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

March 2016 General Conference

It is the same as when Alma trying his best to preach or minister to the people of Ammonihah, the angel said that Alma had reason to rejoice because he had been faithful in keeping the commandments of God.

What can we learn from Alma about obeying the Lord “speedily” (verse 18) even when it might be difficult?

If we respond quickly to the word of the Lord, He will help us fulfill His commandments.

Learn Seminary online with Skype

Due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) for the past few months, we were unable to attend Church and organize Church activities as well. Our Church leaders indeed dedicated and they have started to use the online technology for Virtual Scrament Meeting, Seminary Online and so on.

Here is the look of Issac for his Seminary online class today. Sister Anita is the Seminary teacher and she is really dedicated sister in serving her calling!

Youth Testimony - Sis Annabelle Yu 31 May 2020

Here is Annabelle’s testimony about the new skill that she developed during the Movement Control Order (MCO) while staying at home.

 

Even though she was not so keen about making this video, but she has trying her best preparing herself to record the whole video down. I am very proud of my daughter as well!

Youth Testimony ~ Bro Issac Yu 31 May 2020

This is the video that we make together for the Puchong Branch Zoom Open House from the Youth. Here is Issac’s, it is about his testimony and what he has learned during the Movement Control Order (MCO) while at home.

 

He shares about how he #HearHim through the music and songs from the Youth Theme. I am so proud of my son!

Annabelle’s Clay First Experience

Today is the first time Annabelle come out from home after so many months of MCO in the home.

I went to Aunt Jasmine’s house to take on some drawings for some part time job as I was affected by paid cut due to Covid-19 MCO.

Annabelle wanted to go together with me, she wanted to see the goose at Aunt Jasmine’s house.

We were in Aunt Jasmine’s pottery room where she does her pottery artwork, discussed on the project.

After we finished our discussion, she saw Annabelle and asked her if she wants to play clay.

So, here is Annabelle plays the clay and her first experience on the wheel.

Is that a Prompting?

I was finding some resources on the Church Gospel Media, preparation for Issac’s and Annabelle’s testimony videos. I came across an invitation from President Nelson.

On New Year’s Day 1/1/2020, President Russell M. Nelson shared the following message on social media:

“When I spoke during last October’s general conference, I designated 2020 as a bicentennial period commemorating 200 years since God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith in a vision. That singular event in human history initiated the Restoration of the Lord’s gospel—an unfolding Restoration that continues today. How blessed we are to live in the light of that vision. With that vision came new understanding about the nature of God our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

God loves all of His children and has a vision for each of us. Just as He listened to Joseph’s prayer in 1820, He listens to you and yearns to speak with you through the Spirit. Heavenly Father wants you. We want you. This is going to be an important year. We invite you to be a major part in sharing the message of the ongoing Restoration of the Savior’s gospel. We will share more about this soon, but you can start today by acting on the invitations I extended to you at last general conference to immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration.

What does that look like? You may wish to begin your preparation by reading afresh Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. Or ponder important questions such as “How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?” or “How have the events that followed the First Vision made a difference for me and my loved ones?”

Select your own questions. Design your own plan. Act on any of these invitations to prepare yourself for sharing the important messages of the ongoing Restoration. As you seek Jesus Christ in these efforts, God will prepare you to receive further light. It is your personal preparation that will help April’s general conference become for you not only memorable but unforgettable. The time to act is now. This is a hinge point in the history of the Church, and your part is vital.

I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He leads this Church today. God is trusting us, all of us, to play an important role in the Restoration of His gospel.”

Our Kuala Lumpur District Relief Society President, Sister Min Lian did asked every branch Relief Society Presidents of the Kuala Lumpur District to post at their own branch Relief Society group chat to invite sisters in the branch to share their testimony of restored gospel in their own group chat.

It was as so much things to do and I just posted on our Puchong Relief Society group chat and did not put much attentions into it. There was not much response from the sisters either in the group chat.

After I did some editing on some videos of sisters’ testimonies for the branch Zoom open house, I kind of an idea that if we could share the testimonies on Puchong Branch Facebook page. Then, I came to this invitation that President Nelson shared early of the year.

I am thinking of, if, if we could ask sisters to participate in sharing their testimony on the restored gospel in video form. Then, we can edit and add some music and post it to the Puchong Branch Facebook page, may be a video a week.

May be we can make it more specific, pray for some questions such as the questions posted by President Nelson, and more… then assign to the sisters… then they could email their testimony videos to us.

Half of year 2020 had passed, we still have another 2nd half year of 2020… left about 30+ weeks… my heart and mind is thinking of at least we do what our Prophet asked us to do.

I do not know why my mind had been thinking about this lately during I was editing the Zoom open house video for Relief Society. And this thought keep on banging on my mind that I have to, and I need to do this.

Is that a prompting from the Spirit?

Bukit Melawati Kuala Selangor

After almost 3 months of solid quarantine at home due to the Movement Control Order (MCO), finally after it was lifted up and we finally able to travel beyond own district.

We drive out and bring both Issac and Annabelle for a break from staying in the house for such a long time. We decided to go to Sekinchan during this Hari Raya Puasa holiday.

On our way to Sekinchan, we had decided to visit Bukit Malawati at Kuala Selangor. Bukit Malawati is one of the tourist attraction in Kuala Selangor besides the fireflies.

This hill is also known as Monkey Hill due the population of Silver Leaf and Long Tail Macaques monkey species here. We spent around 1 – 2 hours here before driving towards to Sekinchan.

The cannons at Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor. In the late 18th and early 19th century, Bukit Malawati is a stronghold of the Selangor Sultanate. In order to fight against the Dutch, Sultan Ibrahim built this heavily fortified fort.

The famous white light house on Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor which is more than 100 years old. It is still being used to guide the ships on the Straits of Malacca. Unfortunately, the light house is not open for tourists. The view should be very nice from up there.

After Bukit Melawati, we headed to Sekinchan. We have been to Sekinchan for few times, thus we did not take much photos.

Due to the MCO too, the beach is still not fully opened, and we saw the police patrol car passed by the area. Anyhow, it is a great day out for us after few months of quarantine at home!