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| The zone yesterday... mga chuploks! |
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| My beloved Fontamillas family... <3 Brother Jun is in blue and Sister Baby is in orange. |
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| Honest-to-goodness infographic posted in the Stake Center. ... Oh, the cultural differences! |
I successfully finished my transfer as a lone sister training leader and I must say, it was a blast. Sister Gison is transferring to Valenzuela in Metro Manila and I'm staying here and getting a sister training leader companion. I'll miss her like crazy! We've become so close and it's sad to see her go. But the neat thing is seeing her progress from her first day here in the field to where she is now. I can really see, even in her countenance, how Heavenly Father has helped her.
I was strengthened in ways this transfer I didn't expect by all the wonderful sisters I got to go on exchanges with. This week I went with a brand new sister from Fiji. She just converted to the church a year ago and is the only member in her family. She and her testimony is amazing.
Thanksgiving I didn't go hungry! The bishop had us over for dinner. It was Filipino food but I was grateful. I think this was probably one of the better Thanksgivings I've experienced because being out here has made me realize how much I really have to be thankful for. Truly, I don't think I've ever been more aware of my blessings in my whole life. I'm now looking forward to Christmas because it will truly be focused on the Savior. President Bertin is focusing our proselyting based on a recent video release of the church: "He is the Gift" (Christmas.mormon.org)
Brother Marvin is finally gaining back his faith in Christ. He invited us over for a family home evening with them where he prepared several object lessons on how hard it was for him to gain his faith back. One of them he had us pass a candle down a line of people in the dark with the fan going, symbolizing how many times his faith had died and how he felt lost and in the dark. But then he told us that over the process of us teaching him he has gotten back on the right track. They made a little stand for the candle with a picture of Jesus on it saying that he is now the foundation for their family and they thanked us for helping Marvin find his way back to Christ. They made us our favorite foods as a way of showing us their gratitude and as a "late Thanksgiving" for me. We were so touched.
Sunday we worked with "the 3 Nephites" as we like to call them, 3 really tall almost missionaries leaving in January. They had some referrals for us so they took us to one of them, a former investigator who was going to be baptized last year but it was intervened by her mother. I felt prompted to ask the other 3 boys how they gained trust in God which ended up being perfect because one of them ended up being the only member of his family as well, against his mother's will. The girl got emotional and said she couldn't believe the perfect timing of our coming there because she said she was feeling depressed that her faith had died not being able to attend church. "She said it was exactly what she needed and hoped this time it would be the right time to be baptized.
At transfer announcements yesterday, the zone leaders thought it would be funny to make me think I was getting pulled out of my area. It wasn't funny to me... but it made me realize how much I love everyone in Malolos. My first thoughts were, "What's going to happen to Marvin? Jun? Baby? Takder?..." etc. And after transfer announcements we held a surprise FHE with the Fontamillas family. Brother Jun shared his thoughts at the end which really gave us hope; he said how grateful he was that we had brought the gospel to his family. He said even though we don't see it, they were always fighting but it has stopped. Baby often reminds him, "Remember what teh sisters told us!" He also said he is developing a relationship with Heavenly Father and thanked us for our patience in the process. He knows he still has a long way to go, but as he put it, he intends to finish his journey through baptism. His remarks helped me understand that however small or slow the progress of investigators, it does make a difference! No efforts are wasted.
I love you all,
Sister Wilson
(P.S. - Here's a reminder to always use the toilet properly, brought to you by Malolos Stake restroom.)
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