Day 355 Allen, Philippines Taga Utah. . or is it yuta?

So after I Facetimed you all last week, I went downstairs and popped my head in on a Skype session with a missionary serving in Ogden who is from Allen. He gave me a bunch of referrals from his family. He had skyped his relatives and asked them if they wanted to be together for all eternity and if they would listen to the missionaries. This missionary's cousin did the same thing. So now we're working with a bunch of part-member families! We first contacted the grandpa and at first he was super hard-hearted, but once we mentioned his family, he softened a bit and even agreed to let us come back again and again to teach him. I take for granted how blessed we are to know the plan of salvation. Many people think death is the end. "Wara na"---there's nothing more. But we have the hope that we can live again and rise above the troubles of this mortal experience.

We've also been working with another referral from a member in our bishopric. His name is Stephen. He's been playing basketball at the church since he was a little kid, but no one invited him to come inside until now. He has a desire to serve a mission already! He's scheduled to be baptized on May 31st. :) He's awesome and texts us questions about his reading, which is surprising for a 16 year old.

Due to some problems in companionships in the Districts in Allen and Lavezares, the ZLs came and did a combined training for the districts here. Of course they spoke about unity in our companionships, but they focused on how to the use the Atonement to change. No matter what happens, it's so important to realize that Satan desires to destroy our relationships and isolate us.While we are trying to build up Zion, Satan would seek to pull apart any unity. To try to combat that, we are implementing something that Cebu Mission does: Shining Moments. Each night, each companion tells each other something well they did that day. I've been doing this since i've returned to Tacloban since my companions have been reassigned in Cebu/Cebu East missions. It really helps at the end of a stressful day.

We started teaching a couple who are 7th Day Adventists. I was grateful to see another religion that actually requires something of their members: they go to church all day on Saturday, pay tithing and fast offerings, read the Bible daily, etc. It also built my testimony of the Book of Mormon---how crucial it is to our religion. It is the keystone. It is what makes us unique and set apart from the world. Without it, our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ would crumble.

Random: When people ask me where I'm from, I say i'm from Utah, which in the language translates to I'm from the earth/ground. I get funny looks sometimes. . haha.

Oh and I sort of tried balut this week. We accidentally bought a 19-day egg instead of a 15-day egg so we didn't eat the bird part, just the egg and whites. Feathers aren't terribly appetizing. . .My stomach wasn't so happy the next morning. . . I like the yolk part though. It has a softer and lighter flavor than normal eggs.

In sharing the gospel, you can't just immediately bring up the subject, obviously. In my mission we call it BRT. Build a Relationship of Trust. Then we ask them the "questions of the soul" (see Preach My Gospel, the chapter about the Book of Mormon for sample questions) based on clues we see about them. Maybe invite them to a place where there would be more church related stuff to talk about, like a ward activity or mention the temple being build in Payson. Try and get a feel of what aspect of the gospel would most appeal to them. Share experiences in your life so it doesn't come off as pushy. But most of all, just seek the guidance of the Spirit to know what to say and how to act. Let me know how things go! :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

stake conference at catarman

the spider was HUGE. like palm-of-your-hand big

and i ate part of the balut. i didn't eat the bird part, haha. it already had feathers.