Dearest family,
It’s weird to realize that the world keeps moving on even though I feel like I’m in the twilight zone here in the Philippines. It’s always summer so I feel like no time passes at all.
I hope Dad’s recovery from surgery goes well so he can give me a decent hug, haha. And Alex’s job sounds crazy! He’s a zombie target for a shooting range??? That’ll be fun for him.
Also, congrats to Terin and James!!!!!!!!!! I can’t put enough exclamation points.
Aquino is still going strong. However, Glenn is facing persecution from his wife. She joins the lessons but refused to read (we’re pretty sure she knows it’s true but she doesn’t want to leave her comfort zone). Now she won’t allow him to attend church again. Super sad!
I’ve been studying a lot about faith lately and I love the chapter in Hebrews 11 that shows all the things we do through faith. Read it! Sorry this letter is super short this week. . . Next week will be better!
LOVE YOU ALL!!
Sister Amanda Smith
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Days Left: 44 Can-Avid, Borongan Zone - No Unhallowed Hand Can Stop the Work from Progressing
My dearest deary family,
Can-Avid continues to be amazing. Aquino (the former lay-minister and leader for the Catholic Couples for Christ) is still on date for November 8. He will be baptized along with another one of our investigators, Monicel. We also have Glenn (an active member of Couples for Christ) and Dennis (the husband of Sister Morales) scheduled for November 22! Aquino came with us to our lesson with Glenn last Saturday and then Glenn went to church for the first time with Aquino. I’m glad we’ve been able to help create relationships between investigators and members so they have a source of strength to draw on.
The persecution is starting to pick up here, which is a natural consequence of the success we are having. We are striving to have daily contact with our investigators to keep the Spirit strong in their lives and warn them of coming trials. We’ve had a handful of our investigators stop or drop off because of their relatives’ disapproval. But Glenn and Aquino are so solid! They both read and study like crazy. They are very excited for their baptisms and also for being pioneers in Can-Avid. During our last lesson, Aquino exclaimed, "We are PIONEERING!" They are already planning how to establish the church here. They are both professional so they are definitely future leaders. I wish I could see Can-Avid in a year’s time!
I've been pondering about the power of charity lately and I've realized that we can do everything with love. Love should be the motivating factor behind everything we do and say. There's nothing that we can't or shouldn't do without love. Anything we say or communicate should be done in a loving manner. We can be Christlike at all times and emotions. It all comes down to our agency: we choose to be Christlike, even when our initial reaction is the exact opposite. We can be the master of our souls.
LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!! Remember, every member a missionary!
Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith
Can-Avid continues to be amazing. Aquino (the former lay-minister and leader for the Catholic Couples for Christ) is still on date for November 8. He will be baptized along with another one of our investigators, Monicel. We also have Glenn (an active member of Couples for Christ) and Dennis (the husband of Sister Morales) scheduled for November 22! Aquino came with us to our lesson with Glenn last Saturday and then Glenn went to church for the first time with Aquino. I’m glad we’ve been able to help create relationships between investigators and members so they have a source of strength to draw on.
The persecution is starting to pick up here, which is a natural consequence of the success we are having. We are striving to have daily contact with our investigators to keep the Spirit strong in their lives and warn them of coming trials. We’ve had a handful of our investigators stop or drop off because of their relatives’ disapproval. But Glenn and Aquino are so solid! They both read and study like crazy. They are very excited for their baptisms and also for being pioneers in Can-Avid. During our last lesson, Aquino exclaimed, "We are PIONEERING!" They are already planning how to establish the church here. They are both professional so they are definitely future leaders. I wish I could see Can-Avid in a year’s time!
I've been pondering about the power of charity lately and I've realized that we can do everything with love. Love should be the motivating factor behind everything we do and say. There's nothing that we can't or shouldn't do without love. Anything we say or communicate should be done in a loving manner. We can be Christlike at all times and emotions. It all comes down to our agency: we choose to be Christlike, even when our initial reaction is the exact opposite. We can be the master of our souls.
LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!! Remember, every member a missionary!
Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Days Left: 51 Can-Avid, Borongan Zone Principles of godliness
Dearest family,
First off, I am some questions for all of you:
When did you first know the church was true? Or, what events in your early life contributed to your growing conversion? I want to hear your conversion stories. :)
Also, as parents, how do you cope when your children are outright defiant and disobedient?
We had a busy week! We had Zone Training Meeting, Zone Interviews with President, and of course GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! We were worried that we would have to go all the way to Borongan for conference, but a member here downloaded the talks so we could watch here.
Our investigators are continuing to progress and they attended General Conference with us. It's really so nice to be united with the members. We plan together for the area, they know most of our investigators, and they help us know where to go and how the investigators are progressing. And it's I love how the Relief Society is more involved than the single adults (usually it's the other way around). Now we can find appropriate fellowhippers for our investigators.
Aquino continues to be awesome. It's been 11 days since he's smoked or had a drink. Going strong! He's also inviting his friends and neighbors to listen to the gospel. He's on track for his baptismal date for November 8.
Dennis, his nephew, is also staying strong with following the Word of Wisdom. Before, he used to avoid the missionaries and wasn't really interested. Now, he'll randomly show up at our lessons with other investigators because his wife always works with us. He is thirsty for the word of God. And this week he gave away a Word of Wisdom pamphlet to one of his best friends, Peleo. Cool story: we were punted at one of our appointments while working with Dennis's wife and suddenly she had a strong prompting to drop by Peleo's house. He is a policeman who lives alone. His wife died of a heart attack 3 years ago and all his children have moved away from home. He just drinks and drinks every day so he's rarely sober. As we passed by his house, Sister Morales (the wife of Dennis) peeked in the window to check on her husband to see if he was drinking with Peleo. She jumped away excitedly and exclaimed, "They aren't drinking!!! Quickly, quickly, let's go inside!" So we taught brother Peleo about temples, the Plan of Salvation, and related it all to the restored gospel, our unique message to the world. He didn't say much during the lesson, but he was captured by our message. At the end of our lesson, he said that from his childhood and throughout his whole life he had never heard the gospel explained the way we explained it to him. He committed to really search and pray to know if our message is true.
Glenn, an active member of the Catholic Couples for Christ organization, just committed to be baptized! He's been searching online at mormon.org to find out more about Joseph Smith and he watched the Restoration video. He speaks like a member of our church and he loves how we have more complete knowledge about the Plan of Salvation. We feel like he knows this church is true, he just needs to sacrifice in order to come and follow. We will keep working with him to develop the faith in Christ to attend church and face his friends about his decision.
I know that this life is for our self-improvement, not self-contentment. We are being given trials to shape and mold us; we are learning principles of godliness. I really loved how Jorg Klebingat talked about smiling, looking upwards, and saying, "I know what this is: a chance to prove myself."
Anyhoo, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith
First off, I am some questions for all of you:
When did you first know the church was true? Or, what events in your early life contributed to your growing conversion? I want to hear your conversion stories. :)
Also, as parents, how do you cope when your children are outright defiant and disobedient?
We had a busy week! We had Zone Training Meeting, Zone Interviews with President, and of course GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! We were worried that we would have to go all the way to Borongan for conference, but a member here downloaded the talks so we could watch here.
Our investigators are continuing to progress and they attended General Conference with us. It's really so nice to be united with the members. We plan together for the area, they know most of our investigators, and they help us know where to go and how the investigators are progressing. And it's I love how the Relief Society is more involved than the single adults (usually it's the other way around). Now we can find appropriate fellowhippers for our investigators.
Aquino continues to be awesome. It's been 11 days since he's smoked or had a drink. Going strong! He's also inviting his friends and neighbors to listen to the gospel. He's on track for his baptismal date for November 8.
Dennis, his nephew, is also staying strong with following the Word of Wisdom. Before, he used to avoid the missionaries and wasn't really interested. Now, he'll randomly show up at our lessons with other investigators because his wife always works with us. He is thirsty for the word of God. And this week he gave away a Word of Wisdom pamphlet to one of his best friends, Peleo. Cool story: we were punted at one of our appointments while working with Dennis's wife and suddenly she had a strong prompting to drop by Peleo's house. He is a policeman who lives alone. His wife died of a heart attack 3 years ago and all his children have moved away from home. He just drinks and drinks every day so he's rarely sober. As we passed by his house, Sister Morales (the wife of Dennis) peeked in the window to check on her husband to see if he was drinking with Peleo. She jumped away excitedly and exclaimed, "They aren't drinking!!! Quickly, quickly, let's go inside!" So we taught brother Peleo about temples, the Plan of Salvation, and related it all to the restored gospel, our unique message to the world. He didn't say much during the lesson, but he was captured by our message. At the end of our lesson, he said that from his childhood and throughout his whole life he had never heard the gospel explained the way we explained it to him. He committed to really search and pray to know if our message is true.
Glenn, an active member of the Catholic Couples for Christ organization, just committed to be baptized! He's been searching online at mormon.org to find out more about Joseph Smith and he watched the Restoration video. He speaks like a member of our church and he loves how we have more complete knowledge about the Plan of Salvation. We feel like he knows this church is true, he just needs to sacrifice in order to come and follow. We will keep working with him to develop the faith in Christ to attend church and face his friends about his decision.
I know that this life is for our self-improvement, not self-contentment. We are being given trials to shape and mold us; we are learning principles of godliness. I really loved how Jorg Klebingat talked about smiling, looking upwards, and saying, "I know what this is: a chance to prove myself."
Anyhoo, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith
 |
| sister chu and i at the beach |
 |
| homemade dumplings taste sooooooooo goood! i'll make some for you. it's pretty easy. the dough is just water, flour and salt. you roll it out as thin as possible and make sure it's not too sticky. then you fill it with ground pork, cabbage, corn, ginger, pepper, and carrots. then you boil or fry it! dip in soy sauce with garlic. soooo yummmy. . . it makes a nice soup too. |
Monday, October 6, 2014
Days Left: 58 Can-Avid, Borongan Zone A Marvelous Work
Dearest family in the whole wide world,
This was one of the most exciting weeks of my life! We experienced so many miracles with the members here in Can-Avid. Day after day we keep finding potential priesthood holders through referrals from the members!!!
One of our most amazing experiences is with Brother Aquino, a former lay-minister for the Catholic church. This week we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he knew straightaway that he needed to stop his smoking and drinking. As we began the lesson and followed-up his reading of the Word of Wisdom pamphlet, his nephew Dennis (the husband of a relief society sister that always works with us) joined the lesson. Dennis is a non-member who has never been interested in the gospel despite many visits from missionaries. His wife excitedly joined the lesson. We taught both Aquino and Dennis about the power of the Atonement to change lives.
Towards the end of the lesson, they both solidly committed to give up their vices and be baptized on November 8. When we asked Dennis, he couldn’t stop smiling and gave us a big thumbs up. They both attended church for the first time yesterday (which was also the first time the entire family went to church together). Every first Sunday the Can-Avid group travels to Dolores for a combined sacrament meeting. Dennis’s wife bore her testimony about missionary work and how Can-Avid is ready to harvest. Then Brother Aquino stood up to bear his testimony too! He shared with the branch his decision to keep the Word of Wisdom. He related to us what he told his wife a few days ago:
“Honey, make me my last cup of coffee. Buy me my last pack of cigarettes. Then buy me my last bottle of wine." He shared how free he feels now and he ended by saying "I am the happiest man in the world." The members are very excited about the success that is happening; our branch president even said that Aquino is a potential branch president for Can-Avid in the future. The church is being established. :)
Another cool story: A few weeks ago we taught a man and his wife (Glenn and Dina) who are active members of Couples for Christ, a Catholic organization. We shared with them the Restoration and left them a Book of Mormon. We weren't able to have another appointment with them until this past Saturday, but we had been following up with him. Turns out, he loves the Book of Mormon and was so interested to find out who Mormon was that he skipped to the end and read the Books of Mormon and Moroni and then started 1 Nephi! We brought members with us to the second lesson this past Saturday and we were all blown away by his knowledge and love for the gospel. He admitted that he dislikes how his current religion doesn't follow all the 10 Commandments, but since he's made special agreements as a CC member it will be hard to leave. His concern is mainly social, not doctrinal. We know that in time he and his family will be able to develop the faith to be baptized.
Christian told us he's 70% willing to be a Mormon. We had our first lesson with him and he's unsure of commitment because this is the first time he's become more interested in religion. (His aunt gave him as a referral.) Appropriate fellowshippers make all the difference in the lesson.
Honestly, I can't even explain all the miracles we are experiencing here. A few days ago, I was just overwhelmed with all the success that was happening that I took some time during lunch to just say a prayer of gratitude for the privilege of being involved in this work. This is truly a great and marvelous work and God's purposes will be fulfilled no matter what.
Sister Chu is so cute and she makes me laugh everyday. She taught me how to make dumplings last Monday! I love hearing about her culture and she opens right up.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Sister Amanda Smith
This was one of the most exciting weeks of my life! We experienced so many miracles with the members here in Can-Avid. Day after day we keep finding potential priesthood holders through referrals from the members!!!
One of our most amazing experiences is with Brother Aquino, a former lay-minister for the Catholic church. This week we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he knew straightaway that he needed to stop his smoking and drinking. As we began the lesson and followed-up his reading of the Word of Wisdom pamphlet, his nephew Dennis (the husband of a relief society sister that always works with us) joined the lesson. Dennis is a non-member who has never been interested in the gospel despite many visits from missionaries. His wife excitedly joined the lesson. We taught both Aquino and Dennis about the power of the Atonement to change lives.
Towards the end of the lesson, they both solidly committed to give up their vices and be baptized on November 8. When we asked Dennis, he couldn’t stop smiling and gave us a big thumbs up. They both attended church for the first time yesterday (which was also the first time the entire family went to church together). Every first Sunday the Can-Avid group travels to Dolores for a combined sacrament meeting. Dennis’s wife bore her testimony about missionary work and how Can-Avid is ready to harvest. Then Brother Aquino stood up to bear his testimony too! He shared with the branch his decision to keep the Word of Wisdom. He related to us what he told his wife a few days ago:
“Honey, make me my last cup of coffee. Buy me my last pack of cigarettes. Then buy me my last bottle of wine." He shared how free he feels now and he ended by saying "I am the happiest man in the world." The members are very excited about the success that is happening; our branch president even said that Aquino is a potential branch president for Can-Avid in the future. The church is being established. :)
Another cool story: A few weeks ago we taught a man and his wife (Glenn and Dina) who are active members of Couples for Christ, a Catholic organization. We shared with them the Restoration and left them a Book of Mormon. We weren't able to have another appointment with them until this past Saturday, but we had been following up with him. Turns out, he loves the Book of Mormon and was so interested to find out who Mormon was that he skipped to the end and read the Books of Mormon and Moroni and then started 1 Nephi! We brought members with us to the second lesson this past Saturday and we were all blown away by his knowledge and love for the gospel. He admitted that he dislikes how his current religion doesn't follow all the 10 Commandments, but since he's made special agreements as a CC member it will be hard to leave. His concern is mainly social, not doctrinal. We know that in time he and his family will be able to develop the faith to be baptized.
Christian told us he's 70% willing to be a Mormon. We had our first lesson with him and he's unsure of commitment because this is the first time he's become more interested in religion. (His aunt gave him as a referral.) Appropriate fellowshippers make all the difference in the lesson.
Honestly, I can't even explain all the miracles we are experiencing here. A few days ago, I was just overwhelmed with all the success that was happening that I took some time during lunch to just say a prayer of gratitude for the privilege of being involved in this work. This is truly a great and marvelous work and God's purposes will be fulfilled no matter what.
Sister Chu is so cute and she makes me laugh everyday. She taught me how to make dumplings last Monday! I love hearing about her culture and she opens right up.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Sister Amanda Smith
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