(Photos came from President Querido's facebook posts)
Hello Family!
I think today was one of the happiest days of my mission!!!!! Our zone acheived our goals for the month of May along with two other zones and so we got to go to a beach resort and play all day. And....our mission president let us walk in the water!!!!!! I was sooooooooooooooooo happy! We played in the sand and built a sand castle and played games and I got sunburned and we are all so tired. But it was the best day ever. It was fun to have a day to be able to relax a little. And, I got to try the watermelon that they have here that is yellow inside instead of red (which I've been looking forward to for a long time). It is more delicious than the red! That's one thing I really love here....there are SO many fruits here and they are all really delicious.
This week was pretty good. We had a couple neat experiences. The first one is a huge testimony to me about how important visiting and home teaching is. One of the members came up to us at church and said there was a member that was having some really hard family problems and asked if we would go with her to visit Sis Corpus. So we all went. When we showed up there, she was kind of having the leftovers of an asthma attack and was kind of sad looking. So we chatted for a while and it ended up going longer than we thought it would. As missionaries, we're told to keep visits with members brief so Sis Empalmado and I thought that we would just leave a prayer with her. But Sis Corpus said, "Aren't you going to leave a verse? Even just one?" I felt a little chagrined because we're missionaries! That's what we do! So immediately I thought of Alma 36:3 so I shared that with her. As she was reading, she said "Oh! this is us! Yes, this is so true!" She then read the verse 4 or 5 times and just kept going over every word. Then the member with us shared a quote by Pres Monson about trials and how we need to turn to the Lord. Almost immediately upon reading the verse, Sis Corpus's whole countenance changed. I couldn't believe it. And at the end, she gave the prayer and in her prayer thanked the Lord for our visit and said that at the beginning, she felt sick and tired and low in spirits but now she feels light and strong. When she closed her prayer, she said "That is true sisters! I feel like I could do anything right now and before I could hardly walk out into the front room!" It was such a huge testimony for me about how valuable the visits from the members are. Even just a short visit can make such a difference in the lives of people. Although they are members, we all still need the help and support of others. We cannot do this life alone. We need our families and we need the church members. I know that the home and visiting teaching program is inspired of the Lord. Please, please, please, do your visiting assignments! I know that you will be blessed for your time and they will be blessed from your visit and the spirit in their home. And we learned that this sister (who was baptised about 2 years ago) was also thinking of going back to the Born Again religion because it is hard to be a member of this church. But I have a feeling that she is more strengthened now and will be able to face this challenge. You never know what effect you can have on others.
Also, we had 5 investigators at church and 9 less actives!!!! I am really excited for this month. One of our investigators (Bing) we went to and taught the plan of salvation. It was kind of hard to teach and concentrate because her kids were loud and distracting. Sis Empalmado whispered to me to just end the lesson. But first I felt like I should extend a baptismal committment to her. So I did. Amazingly, her kids were quiet and stayed quiet for the rest of the lesson. She said "Agad agad?! (Immediately?)!" but we reassured her that we would help her get ready. So she hesitantly/nervously said "Yes". We then told her that she needs to come to church in order to be ready for baptism. She's never come to church becauase she's worried that her kids won't behave but we told her that's okay. There's lots of kids there. So she agreed that she would come. And she did!!!! And her kids were pretty good. I was very glad that I followed the spirit and invited her to be baptized again.
Well, I'm out of time. It was a really good week but I'll just leave that much with you. I hope you are all doing wonderful and seeking out missionary opportunities. Even little ones. And doing all of your callings. I know that if we are given a calling, it comes from Heavenly Father. And it means that we have the talents and abilities to fulfill it. I know the Church is true! I'm so grateful to be serving here in the Sta Cruz area!
Mahal ko kayo!
Sister Sirrine
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