More great times here in our area. This week flew by and we saw lots
of good things happen. We continue to do our best as a companionship
so we will be able to qualify for miracles. I don't think we used full
eating time once this week haha it was tiring but it's always a great
feeling hoppin in bed knowing we tried our best.
Our main progressing investigator right now is sister Lain Go. She's
22 and has one kid but she seperated from her asawa like last year.
She grew up in Palawan, went to Manila for 2 years to work, then
returned here last year. Her baptism is scheduled for April 15 and she
was at church this week for the fourth time in a row! Once we finish
teaching the lessons she is qualified for baptism. Like I said maybe
last week she literally had a huge change of heart and not only
started listening to us but keeping commitments and really showing her
faith through action. Because of this she has had experiences for
herself that have testified the truthfulness of this message to her!
Wednesday we went to her house and she told us she was in 2 Nephi 1!
She only started reading 2 weeks ago! The cool part though was on
Saturday she went and witnessed a baptism for a different area in our
branch and after we taught her. At this time she was in 2 Nephi 28 in
her reading! Crazy! She's doing really well though and says she's
always thinking about her baptism!
Cesar Ibanez is also progressing and continues to grow each day. He
hasn't had a problem with drinking for the past week which is awesome!
He didn't have to work Sunday so he was at church. He stood up in the
middle of Elder's Quorum and bore his testimony of the church and the
Book of Mormon. It was so cool there were like 20 plus members in
there! It once again really strengthened my testimony of the power of
the Book of Mormon. I know I say this every week basically but this
book really changes people's lives. It changes their view, actions,
choices, and gives them new hope. Everyone in my mission who has
really progressed and who has been baptized really started to make
changes when they read the Book of Mormon. It's the center of all
their testimonies. I'm so thankful God has such great love for us and
he has blessed us with such a powerful tool for missionary work as
well as such a guidance for our lives. Through it we have the fulness
of Christ's gospel as well as all of God's plan for us. We will come
to know Christ and draw nearer to His waiting arms. We should never
take it for granted!
David Piasecki is awesome. We went over Wednesday and he was smiling
ear to ear when we showed up at his gate. He told us how excited he's
been to meet with us again. He said it's all he thinks about and his
wife agreed haha! They're so kind, to prepare for us to come they went
to Robinson's and bought snacks for us for when we'd be visiting. LAYS
CHIPS, pie, cookies, etc. I hadn't had food like that forever. They
also cleaned the whole house for our visit. When we got there he had
the Restoration pamphlet sitting on the middle of the table along with
TONS of articles he had printed out about Mormons! Ha at first i was
like ahh no google, but actually almost everything he had read was
true and we were able to clear up anything that was false. It's so
cool though because he's not trying to prove anything wrong, he only
looks for the good. He basically told us Joseph Smith's life story and
then told us there's no way he would just make it all up! And he said
there's no way he did it all without help from God. We were shocked!
He hasn't even read the Book of Mormon yet and he basically testified
to us of Joseph Smith without really realizing it! He sent us home
with pie and cookies and invited us to return Friday night for dinner
and for us to teach him again. Saturday he made homemade lasagna and
pizza complety from scratch! It was so awesome haha I was walking on
clouds. We met his 2 daughters finally who are 13 and 12. We watched
the Restoration video and the spirit was so strong. We then introduced
the Book of Mormon and they commited to read every night as a family.
They sent us home with a cake and a dozen eggs. So so nice honestly!
One thing that stood out to me though was as we were eating dinner I
asked David where his favorite place on the island is. I was thinking
he would say El Nido or some of the other crazy tourist spots but he
said "right here in this house." Even though they've been around to
some pretty awesome places they still remember the importance of
family. There is lots of worldly happiness but I'm grateful for the
never ending happiness the gospel brings to families. One reason
they're so interested is because of the church's focus on family. So
ya that was cool too.
Cesar has a friend who is at the house sometimes when we teach. He's
not drunk but it always basically seems like he is haha. The other day
he said "We were waiting for you two yesterday but you never came! We
were sitting here just thinking how great it would be if the two Gods
would come teach us some words of the Lord!" He then started pumpin
his chest and said "I need the Lord in my life! I'll be at church
tomorrow! Mormons! Mormons!" Haha we were laughin pretty hard. We
explained to him that we definately aren't Gods too haha. No he didn't
make it to church.
One last thing about an investigator. Sister Morata was at church last
week but couldn't make it this week. We taught her Word of Wisdom and
she said she has a problem with coffee but really wants to stop. She
said she noticed how smooth the arms were of people at church because
they didn't drink coffee haha! So she committed to stop because she
wants smooth arms too. She's super nice.
Have a good week! We continue to find ways to enjoy the work too! This
week we wanted to see how cheap we could make a solid meal. We bought
green beans, some sauce stuff, and some other little vegetables and we
made the grand discovery of the 16 cent meal! Haha that's right
people! Anyways have a great week with all of your smooth arms!
Elder Reber
I am now resorting to google pictures of Palawan :)
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