Barugo Week 14 (1/31/2011)

Wow! A lot of great things happened this week! :D

I know now HOW to study the Book of Mormon and scriptures! Before I just used to just read through and I guess I was just able to sort of glean information as I read, but NOW. I can spend 1 hour reading 1 chapter! It's COOL. I feel like my mind can think of all the deep stuff. hehe. Part of it is because President Malit read 1 Nephi 11 with us and explained to us the meaning of certain passages. NOW I understand that chapter! haha.

We met some great new investigators this week! One man named Luis that is interested in lots of religions, a referral of Athena named Faye, and sister Amparo! Sister Amparo told us outright that she is a devoted Catholic, but we just responded by telling her that we respect the fact that she is devoted so we just asked if she would allow us to share our message with her. We ended up having a very nice lesson, and by the end of the lesson, she was smiling with us and telling us she would be sure to have a lot of questions when we come back. :) The Spirit was totally there as we were teaching her! That's why it was able to be a good lesson. :)

Sister Mangubat and I were flying HIGH on Sunday because we had a family come to church!! Brother and Sister Delmo are returning members that used to go to church in Luzon (the top part of the Philippines). But none of their children ever became members because it was so long ago that they stopped coming to church. We went to visit them on Wednesday and we could see lots of tuba on the coconut trees outside their house. (They make tuba by keeping bottles over parts of the tree near the top. Then they either sell it or drink it.) It made me so sad to see that because it reminded me about how Brother had told the missionaries that he had a drinking problem. Selling tuba doesn't help a lot if you have a drinking problem! So I remembered something President Malit shared to me about helping some members understand God's promise in the scriptures. Mosiah 2:22 If you want to prosper in the land, keep the commandments!
So we shared that though with them during the lesson. "I know that your family has a lot of problems. But if you want to prosper in the land, the only way for that to happen is if you keep the God's commandments." So we committed them to keep the Word of Wisdom and not drink anymore. And we committed them to come to church on Sunday. A member helped them so that they would be able to come to church and they DID! Brother and Sister and their two older boys, Paul and Robert. And now they have a plan to come to church NEXT week by borrowing a pettycab on Sundays. We are SO excited that we were able to help this family come back! They had such big smiles on their faces and Sister Mangubat and I just felt like we were flying on cloud 9. :)
Athena came to church! It was so good because we saw the members helping her with her small baby and having conversations with her. She was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. :) We're so happy to be able to see her tomorrow so we can ask her about the difference she feels in her life now!!

A man we met on the street asked us: "So Mormons is the lost 13th tribe of Israel that Smith discovered right?" He's actually a Catholic minister for the Catholic church in Barugo, so he probably discusses a lot of weird things with other ministers. haha.
(Almost everyone here says 'Mormons'. "I am a Mormons!"They tend to pluralize a lot of English words that don't make sense either, like foods and peoples. haha)

I had a wonderful reading experience when as I read in the Book of Mormon I reflected back on the first time that I really felt that Heavenly Father answered my prayer, and I saw that Nephi had exactly the same experience as I did! That really helps me feel that God LIVES and loves us and answers the heartfelt prayers of his children!

I love you all so much, but I'm out of time now. Thank you for all your emails and love! I LOVE YOU!!

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~the end~

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I am a LDS sister missionary serving in the Philippines Tacloban area. I made this blog so that I may share my experiences with my friends and loved ones and anyone who may need to hear my story. My sister will be updating this blog with letters that I'll be writing home.