July 1, 2013

Kumusta!

This week was really good. We were trying really hard this week to find more investigators and try to help the less actives in our area. Sometimes a little hard because there seems to be a never ending supply of less actives, but the investigators only trickle in after a little while. We had some really great lessons with our investigators this week:

Sister Briagas- she is searching for the truth and in the process of finding the way that the Lord wants her to live. She is very much into listening to our message and believes us to be missionaries of the Lord. She loves to learn about the plan of salvation and how she can receive the reward of exaltation. We have invited her to be baptized, but she is not too sure, that she would have the right heart for it right now. We are trying to answer all her questions and help her to find the truth for herself, through prayer and diligent searching. We are really excited when we get the chance to share with her, because we know that the Spirit is making an impact on her heart and helping her to find the right path.

Sister Nevares- She is a 20 yrs old mother. She is really sweet and just really quirky and funny. We contacted her on the street and she has been so willing to listen to our lessons and even share with her family and friends. We love talking with her, because she is so kind and willing to pray and find for herself the blessings that are promised to her and her family through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Boridor children- These three sisters are really great. Their mother and father are less active. We are in the process of helping their mother to become active again in the church...but they have made some really great progress since I have started sharing with them. We have a scheduled baptism for them and we striving to help them to prepare for the covenants that they will make with our Heavenly Father. The oldest reminds me of myself...she is really searching and studying the scriptures and loves to learn about the gospel and its role.

Buenconsejo Family- This one is a touching story for me. We were walking home from an appointment in the morning and there are many stores that line the street. We walked past one store and we had someone call out and say "Hello!" It was a shock, because here there are not many people that will say hello to a foreigner and to a Philippina together. So with the shock we went up to his store and started to talk with him. He asked us who we were and what we were doing. We explained to him and shared with him a pass along card, with a brief description of the Church. He shared with us some of his beliefs and the desire he had to know the truth. We shared with him that we believed that we had the truth for him and asked for a return appointment on Sunday. So on Sunday we went to his house and shared part of the Restoration with him and his family. It was so beautiful and you could see that the brother had questions he needed answered and sister wanted to know a way to properly raise her children. I feel that we have found our golden family! We taught them and they weren't like all the other investigators....they just listen. They were asking questions and interacting with us and we were finding ways to share with them the joy that we have through the gospel. I am so excited to continue to teach this family and help them find the way in this life and in the life to come. 

This week has been full of learning experiences and knowledge from on high. I have studied about the plan of salvation and the role we plan into it. I felt that I have a stronger idea and belief of where my part in the plan of salvation is....I just have to hold firmly to that eternal perspective. How grateful I am to the kindness of the Lord to help me to understand His will and desire for His children here on earth. I also studied more about self-mastery and ended up in conversion. It was a great adventure to the role of our desire and our works here on earth and how we must use the two (our desire and our works) to make an impact on the outcome of our self-mastery/conversion/salvation.

We had a nice tropical storm move through on saturday, so we weren't able to work as much as we wanted to. But there was definitely lots of rain and wind...

We will be meeting the new mission president this week and so I will tell you about it next week. I got the chance to watch The Work of Salvation....I love it! It is so wonderful and I am so excited for all the things that are possible to happen in the work of the Lord. I desire so much not to lose sight of this once I leave my mission, because whether set apart as a full time missionary or as a member of the church....we each have a role and a responsibility to help the Lord in sharing the blessings of His plan with all His children. Kaya natin iyan! With the help of the Lord all is possible!