Another Change of Plans

WEEK 39
Dear Family and Friends,

     So, I'm going to start with the bad news.  My companion's Visa for Australia has arrived so he will be leaving tomorrow.  It was expected, but we thought that we would be together for a lot longer.  So, I will be working in a trio for the rest of the transfer and then I will probably be training again next transfer, but nothing's for sure.  We had a really great time together and we got a lot of good things going in our area.  

     One of our great experiences..... One of our appointments fell through so we decided to go tract from our apartment until the chapel.  I've found that this is a really good strategy.  We found a whole family who was moving into their house.  I decided to stop and help them out.  They started asking us a lot of questions and then they invited us in to teach them.  We were able to teach their whole family the Restoration and give them a Book of Mormon.  I was really prompted to extend a baptismal invitation and everyone in the family (5 in all) accepted the date of May 27.  I was absolutely astounded and couldn't even talk to my companion after the lesson I was so surprised.  We have been working really hard to get the area up and going and it is really exciting to see the people that Heavenly Father puts in our path when we put in the work.  The ward is really getting excited about missionary work and we have a lot of young men who have been working with us.  

     Everything's going great right now and I have absolutely no complaints.  It's going to take a little time to adjust to working in a trio, but I'm really excited to experiment and figure it out.  Even if it's only for 3 weeks.  

     I also had a great time watching General Conference.  I honestly can't pick a favorite, but I really liked it when Elder Christofferson said, "Many things are good, many are important, but only a few are essential."  I'm coming to learn that when we put these gospel essentials as our first priority, everything else is automatic. We are so blessed to know the things that we need to do in order to obtain true happiness.  Thanks again for all of your support.  Everything is going great in Tanauan City!

- Elder English