Philippines--Weeks 56 & 57

Maayong buntag! Here's my letter for the last 2 weeks!

May 2nd to May 8th, I was really sick and so I wasn't able to work at all. Sorry.

May 9th, Monday, I got to Skype my family! It was so awesome being able to see them again. My last Skype before I end my mission. After Skyping, we went and taught one of our investigators with a baptismal date coming up. Brother Jonathan Catalonia is part member. His mom and dad are less active and his sister, Jolina, is our recent convert. He's really progressing towards his baptism. We taught him about tithing and fast offerings. Of course, it was foreign territory for him because Catholics don't have tithing, but he accepted what we taught him. It's awesome teaching him because he's really open and accepts everything, but also prays to make sure it's all true. I love him!

May 10th, Tuesday, The senior couples, Elder and Sister Bock, worked with us and we visited a new investigator, Jullyve. She's a teacher and so her English is really good. We shared about the Godhead and how the Gospel can bless families. She's really open to our messages. I'm hoping she continues because she just had a baby and so it'd be perfect to teach her child the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

May 11th, Wednesday, Sister Calagui and I had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders, Sister Ross and Sister Dorman. I went with Sister Ross and we got to visit some of their less actives and part members. It was awesome being with Sister Ross. She's so nice and cracks me up.

May 13th, Friday, we were able to visit Sister Pino. She opened up to us and told us that her husband is still drinking and doesn't really show an interest in the Gospel. Brother Pino used to have a job that drove him to drink because it was so stressful, but then he quit and started working for someone in the church so he can go to church every Sunday. But getting the new job didn't help because he's continuing to drink and it's really stressing out Sister Pino because she's really strong in the church and loves this Gospel. We shared Alma 36:3. She started getting teary-eyed when we were sharing with her to rely on Heavenly Father and to trust Him and His plan for her. After teaching Sister Pino, we went to the Catalonia's home because we wanted to teach our recent convert, Jolina, but she wasn't there, so we started talking with this girl, Fatima, who is close with the family. She's only 19 but is planning on getting married to a Canadian in July. We decided to share with her about how the Gospel can bless families because she'll soon have a family. Towards the end, we mentioned Heavenly Father and prayer, and it kind of seemed like she wasn't too familiar with prayer. But she ended up praying at the end of the lesson and it was so awesome! She'll be moving to Canada but I'm hoping that she continues to listen to missionaries there.

May 14th, Saturday, the Medellin Branch had a fireside! The women and men split up and the women were taught about relief society/young women and their roles in the church. After that, we all gathered together in the sacrament hall and it was the missionaries turn to teach the members. We talked about the importance of members and then did a role play about the Do's and Don'ts of members working with the missionaries. It was actually a pretty funny role play. The members kept laughing but I know that they understood our message and what we were trying to teach/explain to them.

May 15th, Sunday, Sister Calagui and I went on splits. I went to Canhabagat and I finally got to teach one of our recent converts, Brother Christian Inot. I ended up teaching him about faith and how important it is to have faith and grow our faith in Jesus Christ. His faith in Jesus Christ is strong, but his testimony about Joseph Smith is small. He wants to serve a mission, so we've been encouraging him to continue praying about Joseph Smith and the church so he can have a strong testimony before going on a mission. After teaching him, we went and taught Brother Arnel Jr. Arnais. It's been a long time since we've taught him. We ended up just talking about 1 Nephi 4 and about Nephi's obedience to the commandments of God. Brother Arnel really wants to be baptized, but he has a huge responsibility in his family. There's 13 kids in the family and they always have to take care of their pigs, goats, and chickens, so they never have time to go to church. Also, the father thinks all we have to do is pray and we're saved. Brother Arnel knows this church is true, but he just can't be baptized right now. It's really sad. But he wants to continue to learn so that when he grows up, he can teach his future family.

Also! I suggest everyone goes on to lds.org and watched the Mormon Message, "You never know"It's a really good video about how much good we really do in the world without really knowing. Watch it! It's a good one.

"You never know how much good you do" -President Gordon B. Hinckley

I love you all! Amping!

Love,

Sister Johnson