Margaret May

Philippines Mission

1984-1985

My brother, Samuel May, was the first member of my family to join the church. After he joined the church, I was very much surprised to see the changes in him. As a matter of fact, I was stunned to see the knowledge Samuel had gained. Every time he told me about the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ, I wanted him to answer my questions from the Bible and not from the Book of Mormon. Being a new member of the church, he told me the answers to my questions were not in the Bible because many principles were lost during the apostasy. He answered my questions by using the Book of Mormon and testified to me that it is another testament of Jesus Christ. I still had my doubts, knowing in the last days that many false prophets would come as wolves in sheep’s clothing to deceive the people.

One day Samuel invited me and my younger sister, Christina, to visit his church. I decided to go to find out what the church was all about. The sacrament meeting was held in Elder and Sister Humphreys home. The Humphreys were from Cardston, Alberta, Canada. They welcomed me and my sister Christina. They were loving, caring and friendly people. I was amazed that they had left their children and grandchildren behind in Canada to come to India to serve the Lord and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of India.

As I walked into the Humphreys living room, I saw three rows of chairs, neatly arranged, and a sacrament table. I thought there would be a lot of people attending. When my brother said it was time to start the meeting, I looked at him and asked, “Are you not going to wait for other people to come?,” supposing there were others coming that had not yet arrived.

Samuel said, “There are no other people coming. It is just the six of us.” In other words, there was the missionary couple, my sister Christina, my brother Samuel, me and Michael Anthoney. I laughed in a mocking manner and said to Samuel, “What kind of church is this with only six people? How does it function?” I had been in churches with large congregations and never seen anything like this. I had never seen a church quite like Samuel’s church.

I will never forget the look on Samuel’s face. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “One day all of these chairs will be filled with people. Many will embrace the gospel, because it is the truth, and you will be a witness of it.” At that very instant, I felt the Spirit testifying to me that what Samuel had just said was the truth. As a result I started taking the discussions. When the Humphreys taught me the discussions and told me of the First Vision, I was filled with the Spirit and knew it was true. I requested to be baptized. In fact, I requested baptism before they challenged me to be baptized.

Because the missionaries were teaching me; my father, Simeon; and my younger sister, Christina, they wanted to baptize all three of us at the same time. However, when my father was challenged for baptism, he refused because he did not want to give up his church and my younger sister, Christina, had planned to visit my older sister, Mary in Hyderabad. Since I was the only one who was eager to get baptized, the Humpherys, the senior couple, set my baptismal date for June 7, 1984. Words cannot express the joy I felt when that day arrived.

There were no baptismal fonts in India at that time. However, because of the scarcity of water in India, each household had a big water tank on the roof to store water. It would not be easy for me to get baptized in a tank that was not very deep and not very wide, but these things did not matter to me. All I wanted was to be baptized by immersion like the Savior had done by one who had the authority to do so.

My father was invited to my baptism, and he did come. After the baptismal talks, which were held downstairs, we all headed to the rooftop to the storage tank. My father, because of his hip and knee problems, could not walk up the stairs. The missionaries offered to carry him up the stairs so he could witness my baptism. My father was afraid they would drop him, so he declined the offer. As I climbed on the chair to get into the tank, I felt very sad that my father could not watch me get baptized. To my surprise, and to the surprise of everyone present, I saw my father on the rooftop. I was shocked to see him there.

After I was baptized and got out of the tank, I went to my father and asked him how he got on top of the roof. He said, “After everyone left to the top of the roof, I was sad that I could not be present at your baptism. At that moment, I felt someone literally lift me up and carry me to the top of the stairs. I felt the Lord’s hand in it. At that instant I decided to get baptized. What greater witness do I need? For I saw the power of God’s miracles right before my eyes.” So my father was baptized on the same day I was.

It has been 29 years since I joined the church. There has not been a day that I thought that I made the wrong decision. I have encountered many blessings. I have served the Lord faithfully and diligently without fear or doubt. After baptism, life was not easy for me. I had to learn line upon line and precept upon precept. But I have always felt the hand of the Lord carrying me through all of my trials and tribulations.

I would like to share some experiences associated with my mission call. I was called to serve in the Singapore Mission. My father was not able to be with me when I left for my mission. He had to go to his sister’s home to take care of her. She was very ill and close to death. My father’s last words to me were to never leave my mission, even if he died, and to return home with honor and dignity. Unfortunately, my father did die while I was on my mission. When he died, his counsel to me gave me courage to keep going. I did fulfill his wishes. I stayed in the mission field and did return with honor.

When I arrived in Singapore and went through immigration, the officer asked me why I was in Singapore, and if I had any money. Not knowing the laws of the land, I boldly told him that I was a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that I had no money.

The immigration official was furious, and told me that missionaries were not allowed in Singapore. He told me that there was a flight leaving for India at 10:00 P.M., and that I would be on it. I was very worried and did not know what to do. This was the first time I had been out of India. To tell the truth, I was a nervous wreck. I was further traumatized when I was put in an airport cell that was three feet tall with two watch dogs to guard me. I sat down on a stool, stooped down with my head on my lap and started crying. I felt like the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail.

All sorts of questions entered my mind, like “Why me?” I pleaded to God for help. I was in a strange land, in trouble with the immigration authorities, with no money and no one to help me. At that moment, I heard someone walking toward me. I looked up to see an Indian official with a gentle look in his eyes. He asked me what had happened, and why I was in the holding cell. When I explained to him my situation that I was in Singapore to serve a mission, he said I should not have told them I was a missionary.

The Indian official then asked me if he spoke Tamil, it is one of the Indian languages that he spoke. I speak five languages and Tamil is one of them. As a result, we spoke in Tamil. He then asked if there was anyone coming to pick me up. I told him the name of the missionary couple in the area, Brother and Sister Turner. As it turns out, the Turners had been waiting for me the whole day but had been prompted to stay in the arrivals area.

The Indian official also asked me if I had any money. With no answer, he went to find the Turners. He found them and explained my situation. They were happy to know that I was alive. He then asked them to give him 5,000 Singapore dollars. By the promptings of the spirit, without any hesitation, they gave him the money, not knowing exactly who he was. The Indian official gave me the money and told me to follow him to the immigration office. He told the Singapore officials that there had been a lack of understanding, due to language problems. He then gave them an alternate explanation as to why I was in the country, and that I had 5,000 Singapore dollars in my bag. The Singapore immigration officials had no other choice but to release me. They took my passport and stamped it for a two-week stay in Singapore. When I collected my passport and turned around to say thank you, the Indian official had disappeared. He had disappeared in a few seconds. I tried to find him and looked all over the airport but there was no sign of him. I knew then that the power of God was being manifested to me.

I stayed in Singapore for two months and enjoyed serving there, but I had to keep going to Malaysia to renew my visa. Finally, my mission president spoke to the mission president in Manila about my visa problems and I was transferred to the Philippines. I served in the Philippines for almost 20 months. When I returned home from my mission, I served a mini-mission in India.

Life has not been easy for me but with the true gospel of Jesus Christ, it has been worth it!