Singapore Mission

253 Bukit Timah Road, 5th Floor

Singapore 259690

Singapore

Mission President - President Stephen A. Simmons 

The mission office is the white building behind the Singapore chapel.

Areas and Companions

July 13, 2016 - MTC - Elder Spencer Yu

Sept. 14, 2016 - Klang, Malaysia - Elder Samuel Rogers

Jan. 18, 2017 - Sitiawan, Malaysia - Elder Griffin Gould

Feb. 28, 2017 - Singapore - Elder Ethan Shirley

April 11, 2017 - Singapore - Elder Elieson

May 27, 2017 - Butterworth, Malaysia - Elder Tucker Johnson

July 5, 2017 - Butterworth, Malaysia - Elder Corbin Florence

September 27, 2017 - Sibu, Malaysia - Elder Tan

November 8, 2017 - Sibu, Malaysia - Elder Wang

An Unexpected Journey

Well, I want to update you on a few of the things that have happened in the last week. I was flown back to the US on Medical leave. They brought me home to look at a tumor. It is pretty big, but we don't know if it is benign, cancerous, or what it is. A Biopsy will give us further information for where we are now lacking. I have had the support of many wonderful people here, and I know that that support will continue as I face this. Thanks for the concern. 

While we may not know, we do have hope, and the spirit has come to me in a time of great need. I thank you for anyone who has helped and supported me! This may be a hard time, but I have confidence in the Savior.

Sincerely,

Nathan Allen

Welcome Home, Elder Allen

Elder and Sister Cross, Nathan, Sister and Elder Walker at the airport in Singapore.  Sister Cross accompanied Nathan on his long flight home.

 Nathan and Sister Cross left Singapore at 8 am on Wednesday, November 20.  Their flight from Hong Kong to LA was late and caused them to missed their connecting flight to Salt Lake.  Nathan took a later flight but Sister Cross stayed in LA to catch her flight home.  She completely missed Thanksgiving and flew almost 20,000 miles to bring Nathan safely home to us.  We are grateful for her selfless service.  Nathan was traveling for over 24 hours but with the time change it was still Wednesday.

Waiting for Nathan at 6:30 pm on the busiest travel day of the year.  Even better than a pie party.

Welcoming Nathan home at the airport (1:06): https://youtu.be/5sQL8ZfEANU

Talking with the mom of a Malaysia missionary he knows.

After we took this picture, Nathan and Bill went by ambulance to Huntsman Cancer Hospital.  He stayed overnight and had a CT done.  He got out in time for Thanksgiving Dinner. We'll get a biopsy this coming week.  Nathan was released by our Stake President, Greg Spencer, on Thanksgiving evening.

Talking to Alissa at Huntsman Cancer Hospital

Friday we went to the temple.  This same group was in this same place just before his mission, too.

An Email from Nathan's Mission President

Sunday Bill and I wrote our emails like usual to Nathan.  I didn't let myself stay up late waiting for his email so when I woke up early Monday morning, I checked my email right away.  Instead of a letter from Nathan, there was one from his mission president...

Stephen Simmons <stephen.simmons@ldschurch.org>	Nov 20, 2017, 1:39 AM
to bill.r.allen@gmail.com, me, Singapore, Singapore

Dear Brother & Sister Allen,

I am contacting you regarding some very concerning news regarding your son, Elder Allen’s, health which I must unfortunately inform you about.  He may have already relayed this information to you in his weekly email as he was headed to do his emailing after he finished his visit to the doctor a few hours ago.

Elder Allen contacted Sister Cross, our mission nurse, this morning and told her that he was feeling some sharp pains in his lower abdomen.  She instructed him to go to a doctor to be checked out.  He did that this morning (Monday 20 November.)  Images were taken and the doctor has indicated that there is a tumor growing under his bladder.  There are indications that some spreading has occurred as well.

The Asia Area Medical Advisor, Elder Sellers, has directed us to have Elder Allen return home immediately for treatment. Accordingly, Elder Allen will be flying into Singapore tomorrow early afternoon from Sibu.  We will get him on a flight back to the US departing on Wednesday morning.  He will arrive at SLC at 2:20 PM on Wednesday on American Airlines.  We will send a copy of his international itinerary to you once we receive it from church travel.

Elder Allen has been a very diligent missionary and I am sure the Lord is very mindful of this faithful servant at this time of great concern.  When I spoke with him this afternoon, he told me that he is “a little bit scarred.”  He received a priesthood blessing this morning before he went to the doctor.  I will ask his fellow missionaries to keep him in his prayers once we have a better understanding of what is going on for sure.

I am sorry to have to share this information with you, but I know that he will be cared and loved by you and other family members and friends.

I would be grateful if you would confirm that you have received this email.  I would be glad to call you and discuss any concerns you might have as well.

I am copying Elder & Sister Cross in our mission office who are coordinating his travel and will be assisting him when he arrives here in Singapore.

Thank you,

President Simmons

+65 9834 5400

Contacting in Sibu

This week we had a big focus of contacting in my area of Sibu with my new companion Elder Wang. We have had a need for new investigators, and so we hit the malls, going to three different ones just yesterday. We talked with a lot of people about what was important to them. Some interesting things that I have noticed is that a lot of people don't know what is most important to them. I wonder sometimes if we don't really know what is important to us, we won't really be as receptive to the truth when we here it. The Gospel is a message of good news, and Heavenly Father has promised us that if we learn about the gospel, live it, and believe in it (have faith) then all of our deepest desires will be accomplished.

This week was a bit A-typical however due to transfers. I said goodbye to my Singaporean companion Elder Tan, and then welcomed in my new companion Elder Wang. Elder Wang is from Australia, and although he has been on his mission for 10 months, he has only served in 2 areas (this is his third). Surprisingly enough, of the two areas that he has served in, I have also served in those areas. Elder Wang is Chinese - both his parents are from Shang Hai (China) but he grew up in Australia, and his native language is English. I would say our Chinese is about on the same level. He seems great and I really appreciate his energy and focus. I think that we will get along well this transfer.

I would like to testify that I know that the Lord is aware of the small things in our life. I had an experience where we were scheduling this week, and although I thought we should schedule a certain activity for a certain time, I felt that we should do it earlier. Later, I realized that how we planned it, after having listened to that feeling, allowed us to have a bit smoother of a day without an awkward time gap.

Recently, I have been reading in 1 Nephi, and I read about Nephi's exhortation to his brothers. In explaining the great importance of heeding to the Word of God, Nephi tells his brothers that they must be diligent in keeping all of the commandments of the Lord. Obedience brings blessings and understanding.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

Count Your Many Blessings

Well, this week my subject line comes from what I feel has helped me with some of the the hard times in missionary work. Recognizing the blessings that come from Heavenly Father, and then remembering them. The times I haven't recorded them in my journal is the times I don't get to express my gratitude to Heavenly Father for them. When we record them, we are able to learn from them.

A few notable things happened this week, One is that we had a Halloween Party in our branch - and we decorated a room in the church, and then Elder Tan (and I did too a little bit) dressed up for the activity. We had a game, and Elder Tan scared a few of the kids that came in the other rooms that we hosted. After the activity we had some refreshments (dinner). ​​We had two members of our branch organize the activity. One was from here, a local (who served a mission in Temple Square) the other was a member of our branch who is from Ukraine (also a RM and here with her husband who is from Ukraine as well).

We got to go the the YMCA this last Monday as well. We played some games, and had fun. We played lots of games that seemed like they were for kids who were younger than us, such as blowing a balloon until it popped, and then stacking cups on top of each other, but it was still fun, and we had a good time.

I have a testimony that this work is true, and that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission, and to learn on my mission.

The Efforts this Week

We went door knocking this week, and it wasn't that effective. Here is how door knocking works in Malaysia. We knock on their gate with our key, and hopefully there gate is make of a certain kind of steel that I can identify easily now, which rings pretty well. Sometimes we have to yell over a barking dog. Most people who answer stay inside the gate, sometimes stay inside the house and just stick their head out the door. Rarely do we have anyone who lets us in. The biggest problem with door knocking is that few people open the door or answer.

Well, something interesting happened this week. Yesterday, as we were in our home doing some studies after church, and our landlord showed up. I have never met him before, but he came unannounced and told us that our two year contract for our house was ending in 4 days, and he was wondering what we were going to do about that. We were unaware of that fact because all of our housing is taken care of through the mission office in Singapore. We called Singapore and they asked us a couple questions, like when we have to move out. We have two weeks to move out. They also told us to go with the Landlord to check out the other houses that he was offering that were available (apparently, unlike the one we are currently living in) Our Landlord has offered us two houses, one of which still has occupants in it. Our Landlord says this is no problem... We have informed Singapore and we will let them decide. There is a good chance that we won't go with either of the houses offered. 

One miracle that we saw this week was that as we were looking for a few Less Actives this week, who haven't been contacted for at least the whole time my companion has been here (7 months), we met with the parents of one who used to live in the house where we visited. We were able to talk about the missionaries who came before with the parents (they hadn't seen missionaries in many years), as well as get an updated phone number, for their daughter who is a member of our church.

I have realized recently, that being grateful helps us to recognize the blessings of God. When we recognize these blessings we are often filled with the spirit, and experience gratitude, peace, and a reassurance that God is a part of our lives. When I feel this reassurance, I am happy.

Sincerely

Elder Allen

Good Week

This week we spent a lot of time contacting, and we talked to a lot of people. We were able to spend some time contacting in pretty good spot for finding Chinese people. It is a big field(park) located in downtown Sibu, in probably the nicest part of the city. We were able to able to capture people's interest through using things that were a bit more captivating. We handed out cards, and let people look at them while we explained them. It went pretty well. 

I am emailing on Tuesday again due to technical difficulties here in Sibu again. I was going to email yesterday, when I was told that the internet was down in Sibu. Therefore, we got permission, and are now able to email today. 

We met with one of our investigators a couple times this week. He is part of the Methodist church here, and he has had many questions about what our church believes. I have found that a great resource for identifying what we believe as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which differs from other churches, is found in the Articles of Faith. These inspired articles identify what the Prophet Joseph Smith revealed from God to help us identify how we can know the truth of the church, through the differences (if you can't identify the differences, it will be hard to distinguish the truth from the other options).

Well, the week was good, and like I said, we talked to many people about the restored gospel. Some were interested and wanted to meet again, and others were not. We were also able to visit a lot of our members. We have a pretty diverse branch here. I am not sure if I mentioned this last week, but we have a couple here in our branch that are from Ukraine, and the only language the speak that other people around here speak is English. There are some language barriers here in this branch, seeing as how we have few members who can speak both Chinese, and English. The other members that we visited this week include one of our members who drives a taxi, another who has been part of the branch for as long has there have been members here in Sibu really. These people are the pioneers of the church here in this part of Malaysia, and some have obviously been prepared to become the leaders of the church here.

Well, that is all that I really have time for... see you next week!

Elder Allen

Miracles That The Lord Provided

...sorry I wasn't on yesterday. We emailed later, but there were some problems (website wide) with the emailing system and so we were not able to. We got permission to email right now...

Hello, the topic for this week comes from the the fact that we saw some small miracles this week although we spent most of our week traveling. We were able to run into someone after a lesson with one of our investigators this week during the little bit of time we had between appointments. He agreed to meet with us, and we have an appointment with him in a couple days. It is cool to see the Lord providing for us, even when we have only a little bit of time in our week. 

We flew to Zone Conference in Singapore on Wednesday, and then flew back to Sibu on Friday. It is always fun to get to see a big group of other missionaries, Zone conference here (and probably everywhere in the world) is full of training (starting on the evening we arrive, and continuing throughout the next day), and interviews, as well as homemade food that can be found no where else for those who live in this area (Mexican food).

Going to Singapore is equivalent to my Companion Elder Tan going home (native Singaporean). It is great serving with someone from Singapore here in Sibu. We get to notice the subtle differences in our English, I get to learn from someone who knows the language well (and this area: he has been here for 6 months), as well as learning from him for how he deals with, and adapts to the culture here. I can't remember if I shared this earlier, but I have actually met Elder Tan's parents- before I met him actually, in Singapore when I served in his ward . I have been inside his house, and eaten with his family. 

There was a thought shared in Zone conference that struck me. In it I learned that sacrifice, and consecration are not the same thing. They are related, but consecration involves us giving up our will to God, and our motivations and desires. This is a quest that I, and we all are on.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

[Mary's note: I don't think all of his pictures came through.]  Pictures: Singapore, Pics of the District, and then the Zone. P-day activities. We didn't go golfing, we just went to look. Also we went to a cool temple  (supposedly the largest complex in Southeast Asia. A random mother and daughter asked to take a picture with us. ​​​​​​​​​​​

And a few pictures from Facebook of their Zone Conference dinner.

Baptism!

Well there was a baptism, I just wasn't there for it. I will include the pictures from my companion, and the other Elder who was actually here in Sibu right before me. We switched places. Elder Florence, my previous companion, baptized our investigator Sister Catherine last Monday (on her birthday per to her request), and she got confirmed yesterday at Church.

Last week, I had my first exchange with Malay-speaking Elders in a Malay-speaking area (only geographically covering half of my area, but is distinguished rather by the people we search for and talk to) which entailed us visiting a few of their members, and teaching them in Malay. Most of the Iban (Malay speaking members over here) members here don't speak much English, or any English at all. So I just mostly smiled and nodded while they taught a lesson (there were three of us Elders all combined). 

While on the Exchange with the Malay Elders, we went to a park near the center of Sibu to contact and meet one of their investigators. There were thousands of people there (mostly Chinese so that was good for me). The event was the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival (or Moon cake festival if you know it by that). There were lots of lights displays, and a lot of people who were lighting off the "floating lights" or the flying lanterns there. It was really cool.

After contacting a lot this week, the times where we found success where in our unplanned opportunities to talk to people about the gospel. We talked to one girl who was here for about a week and a half, and then heading to Singapore where she studies. We were able to meet with her before she left, and will pass her information to the Sisters in Singapore. 

We were running low on batteries for our gate opener to our house, and so on Friday we had to stop by a convenience store to buy the small battery to replace the dead one in our remote. While we were there, I noticed a man standing near the outside of the store, and so I started talking to him. He agreed to meet with us, and we met with him the next day. We shared with him the message of the restoration, and despite having some long questions that we could have answered quicker, it went well. We are scheduled to meet him tomorrow, and he will be our first and only real investigator since we passed what few we had to the Chinese Sisters who entered the area.

Conference was really good,  See you next week.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen​​​

More about Nathan's mission in an email to his Mom:

I was in Singapore when someone mentioned Elder Merkely. I told them that he was related to me. The Elder I was talking to mentioned that Elder Merkely had said something about me when I came into the mission. So he was aware of me as well. I just asked my zone leader here, a native from East Malaysia who has served his whole mission in East as well if he knew and Elder Merkley. He says that he knew him well. 

Elder Tan is my new companion. I actually served in his Ward (while he was on a mission) in Singapore.

And in an email to his Dad:

Elder Tan and I are the only pair of Chinese Elders here. There were two sets of Sisters (one Malay, and one Chinese) that were added to this area when I came in to Sibu. The first time Sibu has had sisters in 7 years. 

Fun Fact, Elder Dwiggins [Bill works with his Dad] and I are going bowling together today. I am actually sitting across from him right now. He speaks Malay, and so is with the four other Malay Elders (there is a 3 sum) in the other house. They live about 10 minutes away, but we see them a lot for District meeting, P-day, and exchanges that Elder Tan holds. 

Pics: bike riding, some of our members with non- floating lanterns at FHE​​​​​​​​

Catherine's Baptism is Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia with Elder Sholes and Elder Florence (Nathan's previous companion).

Sibu

I received multiple emails asking more about where I am serving now, and what it is like. I am serving in a city called Sibu (See - boo), which is a pretty small city here, but perhaps not too much smaller than other cities here in east Malaysia. I am sorry I neglected to send this information out last week. I am in the Sibu zone, and there is another district of missionaries about a half hour drive (?) away from us serving in a place called Sibu Jaya. The racial make up of my area is remarkably different than it has been on any other time of my mission. West Malaysia is full of Indians, mostly from Southern India, and is mixed with the Malay people (all Muslim) and Chinese people. East Malaysia, at least Sibu, has almost 0 Indians (I haven't seen any yet) a mix of Chinese people, and then Ibans... as well as a few Malay people. I definitely have seen less Malay people here, but that may just be because they congregate in areas that we don't go to very often. 

Surprisingly, most the people here are Christian (among both Chinese and Iban), and the Methodist church as a very strong hold over here. There are other churches that have a dominant presence here as well such as the catholic church. The Iban people here, who are the natives of Borneo and mainly speak Malay or Iban (a closely related language, with many Malay- speaking elders here learning both while on their mission), are almost all Christian. They have a strong faith, and typically, they seem to be more open to the gospel (with Malay-speaking Elders baptizing more people on average). Of the three branches that go to the Church here (and we have a big, nice church), two are Malay speaking, and one is Chinese.

Well, I am running out of time here, but I will tell you more about the Chinese branch (my branch). Our ward is made up mostly of Chinese people, as well as the Senior Couple who attends (they don't speak Chinese) and a Ukranian Couple here who speak pretty good English, but 0 Malay or Chinese. Most of our Chinese Speakers can't speak English, and our English speakers here can't speak Chinese or Malay. We have about 20 people who come to sacrament meeting, and we are working on getting our classes to work a little better here in second and third hour. We have a good group of members over here though, and they seem very nice. 

I just got here, and our teaching pool is about 0, so we will be finding a lot over the next little bit. We don't have much support from the branch seeing as we don't have many members, and those who are members are busy. 

Sister Catherine has here baptism today! I will miss being in Butterworth, where here baptism will be taking place.

Sincerely

Elder Allen

Picture of his church and information about his branch from lds.org

Another Week in Butterworth

This week we were able to teach Catherine a handful of times, but not as much as we wanted because we went on exchange in a town that is two hours away from us by bus, and so that took up about two days of traveling and what not. Catherine is very ready for her baptismal interview, which we are having tonight. I talked to her on the Phone Tuesday night when we were following up with her for her book of Mormon reading. She was in Alma, reading about the Anti-Nephi Lehi's. She bore her testimony about how cool it was, she thought, that those people had that great faith to die for their cause.   

I am getting transferred, and I am pretty sad about it. This has been my favorite area and I have thoroughly enjoyed the last two transfers I have had with Elder Florence. I am city (biggish (?)) in East Malaysia, which is the other half of our Mission that is on an island is quite a bit less developed. 

We have had a good week here, and were able to set up an activity that we hope will be continuing every week for the next week. We will be starting a YSA Family Home Evening, that will be happening tomorrow. We are hoping that our branch members will start inviting their friends so that we can start to grow the branch. 

I am grateful for the people I have teach, and I hope those I am still teaching here will continue to progress after I leave.

Sincerely

Elder Allen

Cockroaches

Well, I actually don't have anything on cockroaches, other than the fact that they hid under the outside portion of the church ceiling to hide from the rain. They were huge, (at least a couple inches long). 

It is definitely the rainy season right now. We got drenched on the way to our Branch Mission Leader's home for our missionary coordination meeting on Friday, and ended up cutting off some branches of his tree after because the wind and rain was so bad that his tree was banging against some of his porch roof and breaking it. Penang (the Island across the water) got it really bad, and you can check out videos of the Penang Flood if you want (our member showed us some pictures).

Catherine is doing well, and is progressing well. We have had a member at every single lesson that we have taught her (probably not that impressive to missionaries serving in the US but we are very grateful that it has happened that way). We taught her about praying every day, reading the scriptures every day, and keeping the Sabbath day Holy. We also taught her about the Word of Wisdom (which was very helpful to have a member present for as they know which teas you can and cannot drink). We taught her other things as well. In one more lesson, she will have been taught everything that she needs to know for her baptism and confirmation interview (which will be one week from today).

We taught her yesterday about Keeping the Law of Chastity, and about the 10 commandments. She had come to church for the first time that day, and we asked her about her experience. She said it was good, but that there were a few things that seemed strange at first (such as singing the hynms) that she got used to by the end. During church, our Sunday school teacher went into a meeting with Elder Florence, our branch President, and one of our other investigators, and I was told to start Sunday school. I did, and the Sunday school teacher never actually showed up, so I taught the whole thing. Lesson 34 in the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Manual, and reviewing the previous lesson. 

Catherine says that she has been facing a lot of opposition. And a lot of her friends have expressed open opposition and disapproval to her decision to be baptized. It seems hard for her, but she expresses a surprising amount of faith. It was really helpful in our last lesson to have a member share his experience about how his family and friends rejected his joining of the church, but how they now (after 7 years) are slowly starting to come back.

We have had a mission wide study of Humility recently, and I was able to feel a lot of peace through my study. I have found that being real, and being thankful for the things that I have been given, has brought me a lot of peace in my life. I feel more aware of what is going on around me, but I feel like my faith is growing despite the imperfections I see in myself and the world around me.

Ipoh Zone Conference - September 8-9, 2017

Thanks to facebook,  I have these great pictures of the Ipoh zone conference just days ago.

The Rain Came Tumbling Down

This week's title comes not because we are built on a sandy foundation, but because the rainy season is definitely under way. It rains almost every day in the afternoon now. But we will live.

Well, this week, we had two awesome lessons with our investigator Catherine. First off, when we asked her about the Book of Mormon, she had read all the way up to 2 Nephi chapter 2 since our last meeting. She shared with us a scripture that meant a lot to her as she read. She liked the scripture in 1 Nephi 15:11. She shared about how she thought we needed to not harden our heart, and then we would receive answers to our prayers. 

It helps that she has a Christian background. One thing that was cool while we taught her was how we asked her about her thoughts, and she volunteered the information that before meeting with us, she had kind of thought that all the purpose in this life was to excel in work (professionally). She said that after she started meeting with us, she has started thinking that there is more to this life. catherine 

We invited her to be baptized, but she said that she needed to understand more first. Later, after the lesson, she told us that basically she had thought over it more, and that she really did want to be baptized, but that she was worried about her parents. She then asked if she could be baptized earlier than the date that we suggested, and so October 2, her birthday, is her scheduled baptismal date. 

On our second lesson this week, we shared with her the gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, she shared with us a scripture that had meant a lot to her from her reading last week (this one from Mosiah 3, a chapter that we assigned her to read last week). She shared the scripture Mosiah 3: 11 

11 For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.

 Catherine said that the fact that Jesus Christ had died for her, even though she didn't know him, filled her with a feeling of His love for her. We taught her the rest of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and found out that she is near the end of 2 Nephi (she had struggles with the Isaiah Chapters). Our branch President did a good job reassuring her that this was normal, and that she was doing fine. Our branch president also reassured her after the lesson when we talked about how she could ask her parents about baptism. He told her that as her parents see the change in her, they will see that it is good. A few days went by, and we followed up with Catherine. She had asked her parents, and although her dad said "ok," her mom said no. Catherine told me on the phone how she had born her testimony to her mom after that. This is pretty amazing.

Other news, we did a lot of finding this week. We knocked on many doors. We went to Ipoh (a two hour bus ride to the south of where we are) to have Zone conference. It was good, We were trained on working more with our branch members, which we were able to do last night with our Branch Mission Leader as he took us to visit his neighbors.

Picture: Found this little guy crawling in the middle of the road right next to our apartment last night. Malay people eat turtles, and we have a big Malay neighborhood near to our apartment, so we hope our friend makes it.