June 2, 2014 Hey Hey Hey

A cool sunset here in Pawo

Leonard Manga was baptized!!!!!

 And....this is him the NEXT DAY!  He's in a white shirt and tie.  He looks like a Mormon!!!!

Hey hey hey!!!

Okay so the highlight of the week was that Leonard got baptized!!!!  Oh man it was awesome.  I think he is one of the only baptisms that I wasn't stressed about that he might not show up or something would happen (like happened to Ellen and Bing that they weren't married....) and he couldn't get baptized.  He was so ready.  So prepared by the Lord.  So he was baptized on Saturday and then on Sunday, he showed up to church in a white shirt and tie and he even bore his testimony in sacrament meeting.  I was so happy!  He totally fits in here in the branch and it helps that he really has a lot of friends here that welcomed him immediately.  And, he worked with us again yesterday after church and so I'm really hoping that he'll serve a mission in the future.

Also, I think I told you about Manolito that was a referral from his sister and we taught him on Saturday and he came to church on Sunday.  When we went back to him on Wednesday, he accepted the baptismal goal date for June 21!!!  When we told his sister, she was so happy because she said that she's referred a lot of missionaries to him, but I guess he was just never ready yet.  I guess this is his time!

And, we had a really great lesson with Mark, Erik and Sonny.  We've been teaching them since before General Conference but they kind of got scared off for a few weeks because their neighbors told them about the word of wisdom and that they couldn't drink or smoke if they joined the Mormons.  So for a few weeks, they kind of avoided us, but they still came to church (huh, go figure...).  So we finally went back to them on Monday and taught Erik and Mark about word of wisdom and they accepted it as a commandment and said they would live it.  When we went back on Friday, Sonny was there and he said that they had told him about it and he wanted to know why coffee wasn't allowed.  so we taught Word of Wisdom again (luckily he doesn't smoke, just the other two) and I could see on his face that he accepted the alcohol and smoking but not yet the coffee.  So we bore testimony that it is a commandment of God.  Then, I felt like we needed to have the member who was working with us share his experience when he was taught the Word of Wisdom because he used to drink coffee too.  So he shared his experience and then said he had something else to share.  He said "what if I loaned you my white shirt and you took it and ripped it up and got it dirty and stained?  How do you think I would feel?" sad of course.  "Okay, so how to you think heavenly father feels when he lends us our life and our bodies and we take them and ruin them and make them sick? Hurt, sad of course.  And that's what we are doing to this gift that Heavenly Father has given us when we drink or smoke or drink coffee.  We are ruining his gift to us. And all of these things make us sick eventually."  He talked for about 5 minutes and the spirit was so strong there.  When he finished talking, immediately Sonny said, "Okay, I'm just going to drink milk instead!" I was so grateful for the testimony of the member that was with us and because of what he said, our investigators were touched by the spirit and convinced of the truth of this commandment.  It was a pretty incredible lesson.  I was convinced too!

Well, that's all for this week.  Kind of short on time but I love you all and I know that this church is true!  I know that God gives us commandments to make us happy, not to make us miserable.  They are for our peace and freedom in this life and the ticket to inheriting eternal life!

Mahal ko kayo!
Sister Siirrine

Ellen finally got the paper work and was married and baptized!!!! (the mom of Melvin) 

AND....Melvin was the one to baptize her!!!!!  

 I am so so so so so happy~!!!!  Ellen has been waiting for 3 months for the paperwork to come...what a trooper.  She knows how to endure to the end! (4)

Picking mangoes up in the mountain.  One of my favorite pastimes. I've gotten pretty good at it.  they use big long bamboo sticks with a hook or a net at the end to pick them. I kinda look like an Amazon, don't i???  Just kidding