Companion: Sister Lim
Sister Training Leader
Monday, September 29, 2014
Sooo new came and...I didn't transfer! Haha Looks like Mandama might be my third and last area, which is actually okay with me, I've learned to love it here :) We had TWELVE less actives at church yesterday, that is my all time high, and the members were super happy to see some families that had been in-active for quite some time.
One of those in active families I would like to tell you about is the Ramirez family, Irene and Reyner are the parents. They were super active back in the day, always present at every activity, helping with food and organizing events, etc. However, they went in active for one reason or another and fell into the habit of not going to church for five years now. We have been visiting them and have been blessed with the opportunity to get really close to this family as they have opened up to us about their concerns. They have four kids, all of which are also inactive. Their oldest daughter Kay is now married to a nonmember and they have one kid, their son Nico is married to a nonmember and has a kid, then there's Harvey (15), and then their youngest is 6. Irene and Reyner along with their little grandchildren showed up to church yesterday and the ward was soo excited to see them. We visited them after church yesterday and they said next week all of their kids would be joining them. Their daughter in law has also expressed her desire to attend church and to take the discussions, we are hoping to get all of them active, convert the in-laws and then get this cute family sealed in the temple within a year or so. :)
We had five baptisms on Tuesday which went beautifully. The Ocampo family (Lesly 35, Owen 14, and Oliver 12) were all baptized as well as their two cousins (Nicole 11, LeAnne 14). We got them all suited up in white and took some family pictures, brother Arnold was super excited that his family was following his footsteps into the church. He was smiley as ever the whole day and teared up when they went into the water one by one. Each of them were shocked and let out a little squeal when they walked into the cold water, but when they came up out of the water their faces gleamed, they were so happy and filled with the Spirit. They looked so clean and pure. We visited them the following night after their baptism and brother Arnold had a story for us. He told us that Heavenly Father blessed them immediately after the baptism of his family. Brother Arnold if you remember hadn't been able to walk a week prior to this baptism, he woke up one morning and couldn't move his limbs. Through a priesthood blessing, faith, and many prayers, he is now up and moving like normal. However, he wasn't able to work for two weeks, which they live on a day to day income, so two weeks with no income definitely put them behind. He said after the baptism he felt a strong prompting that he needed to go visit his boss. He said he tried to ignore it though because it was late at night and he was embarrassed to go over to his bosses home. However the prompting kept coming over him even stronger to the point where he couldn't ignore it any longer. He and Oliver went over to the home of his boss. When his boss opened the door he explained to him that he was feeling better now and would hopefully be able to work on Monday. His boss pulls out his wallet and hands him 1000 pesos, Arnold didn't want to accept it, he told his boss he wouldn't be able to pay him back for it. His boss smiled, patted Arnold on the shoulder and said, I know that you and your family need it, now take it and go get your family the things they need. Arnold was holding back tears as he expressed his gratitude to us for this miracle for his family, that even though he had no job, he was blessed with money to provide for his family. On their walk home that night (arnold and oliver) they passed the church, arnold pointed to the church and bore his testimony to him of the truthfulness of our church, and told Oliver never to become inactive as long as he lives. Just then he said, we (Sister Lim and I) came around the corner with big smiles to greet them. He said it was another testimony to him yet again that the church is true. I was so touched by his sweet spirit that night, what a man of faith and gratitude, who recognized the small and simple blessings in his life. Beautiful.
We ate a freshly killed goat on Friday night which I might add is DELICIOUS. It's known as the cleanest of all the meats, I highly recommend it. I also had fresh papaya with salt on it and dipped it in vinegar, another new favorite. I was not however a fan of the goat soup..they use the poop of a goat! What the disgusting..yeah Gemma laughed after I tasted it..nobody told me what was in it..rude. Only in the Philippines haha.
Great week here in Mandama, Sister Lim and I are super motivated for this next week. We have set some really high goals and are going to work work work so that we can get some new families coming to church and investigating this week. The church is true!
Love you all.
Sister Pilkington..
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