March 3, 2013

This week has been good. There was a lot of sun this week...I have a nice sunburn on my shoulders and neck from walking around. I feel like a farmer. (Like from Matthew 13) Planting seeds in the ground...The work has been hard, but we are hoping that some seeds begin to sprout. Many of the appointments we planned this week fell through, or people were always busy. But there is always a bright side to things, right?! We had many opportunities to talk with neighbors (mga kapitid na bahay) and share with them the gospel. Some have resulted in return appointments. We are continually trying to figure out how to help our investigators to come closer to their Savior...and sometimes it becomes really difficult when you are speaking Tagalog and they are speaking a different dialect. We have several investigators right now that are having difficulties in getting married, in order to qualify for baptism. Some of the stories are really sad and others are just impossible. In the end, some investigators are going to have to remain investigators for a long time, in order to qualify for baptism. There are baptisms about every week here...good...but the hard part is keeping those new members active in the wards or branches. We are seeing a lot of that as we re-evaluate the members, recent converts, less actives and investigators in our branch. We are hoping that we can continue to strength the branch, so that the missionaries can have help from the ward/branch. If there is one thing that I have learned thus far, it is this: Members are so highly important to the work of a missionary. For without the member the missionary work is of no point. We need the members in order to bring people into the fold of God. I hope that I will never forget my calling...because my calling will never really leave me.

Hope you all have a great week and I will tell you all about the week soon!

Ingat po at mahal na mahal kita!

Sister Pace