Little Blessings

Things are going great here in Roxas. We had a great week this past week, but at the end of the week, Sister Velasco got really sick. She still has some pain in her stomach, but she is doing a lot better than she was doing before.

This week has been full of miracles. If we are not careful, we can miss the little blessings that make missionary life amazing. 

One of those miracles is that we had an investigator who used to shut the door on us, and this week we were not only able to teach her, but she also let us in on all the problems that she has been having in her life and in her family. We then had the opportunity to testify to her that reading the Book of Mormon, and prayer could help her gain strength through her problems. We also taught Sister Jana, who is our investigator with a baptismal date. She and her two siblings continue to prepare for their baptisms in September, as well as their father. Formerly, their father was a Less Active, but he is becoming more and more active in the church because he wants to be the one to baptize them. The transformation that we've seen in their family is so amazing to witness.

 We also have an investigator who is progressing now. Sister Cathy had a baptismal date before, but, due to complications, she was unable to attend church and the baptismal date was dropped. She is now ready and we plan on giving her the baptismal commitment next week. 

We were able to contact a Less Active father who hasn't been able to come to church for a while due to problems in his work and other family struggles. We were able to find him and teach him about faith in Jesus Christ. We also taught the wife of our Recent Convert who is a Less Active. The lesson was short because she had work, but it was a good lesson. Unfortunately she doesn't speak much Tagalog. I guess I'd better start learning Ilocano. 

We had the chance to explore and contact in one of our farthest areas on Friday. We continued teaching the Restoration lesson to our only investigator there, but while we were teaching, our investigator's neighbor stopped by to chat. We contacted her, and she stayed for our lesson. It was great. She is really receptive and ready for the Gospel. We even have a return appointment! We also have a bunch of new contacts there. 

A member of our Branch died of cancer last week,and attended a service at her home this past week. Sister Velasco was asked to give a short talk on The Plan of Salvation for the Baja family. Sister Velasco did a wonderful job quoting scriptures from Alma about the Spirit World and the Plan of Happiness. It was great to have the opportunity to do as we covenanted at baptism to "mourn with those who mourn, give comfort to all those who stand in need of comfort and stand as witnesses of God." as stated in Mosiah 18:9. 

I have also been here in the mission for ten months now, and my best friend just got married on my "ten month" mark. I just want everyone to know, because she is amazing, and though I wasn't physically there, I was still there in spirit. I love you Danae and Parker Pratt. 

That is an update on my week. :)

Love,

Sister Lewis