Pamilya at mga Kaibigan,
My companion and I had a kind of
rough week. We didn't really accomplish any of our goals. We
weren't even close on a lot of them. It's very hard to teach people in
this area. You would think that it would be easier to get around in
more of a city area, but it's actually a lot harder. Everyone wants to
be taught on the weekends when they have time, but the traffic through
Calamba Friday through Saturday is bumper to bumper the whole day. We
are trying to figure out a way to get around it so that we can teach the
people that we need to.
The highlight of the week was
definitely Brother Harry's baptism. We had the baptism on Thursday
because he always has reservations at the resort on the weekends. It
was a great experience for everyone. We were all scared because just a
few minutes before the baptism there was no one there. My companion
walked into the room and said, "Ay, walang tao!" (I think this means, no one or nobody?) Then in true Filipino
fashion, everyone, including the ward mission leader, the bishop, and
the speakers, showed up at the absolute last minute. We were very
relieved. I had the opportunity to perform the ordinance for Brother
Harry and it was an awesome experience. He was confirmed yesterday in
church and he is slowly starting to introduce his family into the
church. He is very careful not to force them. He wants it to be their
decision.
Bro. Harry's baptism
We keep reminding him that this is only the
first step of membership in the church and he still has so much more to
accomplish. He actually went up to the bishop and said, "So when can I
get the priesthood so I can use it for my family?" (in Tagalog of
course) The Bishop was pleasantly surprised and pulled him right into
his office for the interview. It's been amazing to see how the gospel
can change someone's life and how many people they can affect. My companion and I are very excited because we realized that we have quite a
few baptisms to follow.
With Bro. Harry after his confirmation.
On another note, we haven't had
the opportunity to visit the Exporna family again, but we did hear
something about a branch president last time we talked with them. So I'm
pretty sure it's the same person that everyone is talking about. It's
really cool to find connections that spread so far.
Thanks again for all of your support! We also found out that Elder
Lynn G. Robbins of the seventy will be teaching us tomorrow in San Pablo
City. He gave the talk in conference about "Which way do you face?"
We are super excited to hear him. Even though it means an early
morning, two hour jeepney ride.
- Elder English