Philippines Mission--Week 55

Maayong hapon! Here's my lovely letter for the week!

April 26th, Tuesday, Sister Calagui and I went to Canhabagat and we did some tracting to find some new investigators. I started walking towards the beach and walked up to this house and started yelling, "Ayo!" (It's what they yell instead of ringing a bell), and these two sisters, Robylyn and Rodajen, asked what we wanted. We started a little conversation with them, and then they let us come in and talk with them. We got to share with them a bit about families and we had mentioned that through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, families can be together for eternity. Sister Rodajen was really curious. We had read from The Book of Mormon, Helaman 10:7, and mentioned that with the power and authority of God, our families can be sealed together for eternity. After the lesson, Sister Calagui had told me that she thought that I knew the sisters because I had gone right up to their house and it looked like I had met them before.

April 27th, Wednesday, Sister Calagui and I went to Don Virgilio and were able to teach a lot of people. Mainly part members/less actives, but we were able to find some new investigators. We taught this one couple, Erling and Mario about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Erling was really into the lesson and seemed really interested. We're hoping that we can go back and they continue being interested!

April 28th, Thursday, all of the missionaries in the Bogo zone got to get together with the youth during the youth conference. We got to go to this resort and do this Book of Mormon activity where the youth and missionaries split up and give away Books of Mormon. It was really fun. A lot of the youth had strong testimonies and even though they were nervous (including me), they still shared their testimonies of how the Book of Mormon can help us.

April 29th, Friday, Sister Calagui and I have been finding new investigators to teach, and we met this one girl, CherryAnne. We had talked about family and God's love for us. She opened up to us about her family and how its falling apart. We shared from the Book of Mormon, Alma 26:37 and told her that God is always thinking of her and will be there to help her. We then gave her a Book of Mormon and she told us that we can come back and teach her some more.

April 30th, Saturday, Sister Calagui and I went back to Don Virgilio and taught some new investigators, Pastora and George Bohol. George said that he used to be apart of the Iglesia ni Cristo chruch but then left the church. The whole time we were teaching, it just felt "off." Like he wasn't really serious about our message. But that's actually how a lot of Iglesia ni Cristo members are. We're hoping that when we return, he'll be more open.

May 1st, Sunday, Today was fast Sunday! Sister Calagui and I sat in on the temple prep classes for the Datahan family because Elder and Sister Bock (the senior couples) were teaching it, and they needed a translator. It was really cool being able to sit in on the class because I really learned a lot. I remember one thing that Elder Bock had mentioned about Jesus Christ dying on the cross. He said that Jesus Christ didn't die because of the pain from the nails, he died of a broken heart. That Heavenly Father had to withdraw himself from His Son in order for Jesus Christ to finish His Atonement for us. "Why has thou forsaken me?" Jesus Christ was literally alone when He died. There are times that we may feel alone and that nobody else can relate to us feeling alone in the world but Jesus Christ is the ONLY one that literally relates to our problems. I never really understood how the Atonement can help me. It wasn't until yesterday that I really truly understood that Jesus Christ has literally felt every feeling/pain that I've ever felt in my life. That He's the only one that can help me in times of need.

"If you cannot say you know God is there, you can hope that He is. You can desire to believe. That is enough to start."

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Johnson