August 25, 2014 Progress in Pilar

Our aso (dog in Tagalog).  He really wants to come in the house but of course he can't :) 

With my little companion, Sis. Domingo.  She's actually 4'9"

Hello everyone!

Well, this week was pretty good we had a lot of investigators come to church which is always really exciting but most of them have the problem that they aren't yet married.  Some of them don't have birth certificates so it's not an easy fix.  But we're relying on the scripture in 1 Nephi 3:7 that if there is a commandment, there is a way to accomplish it.  We can do it!  We can get it done!

And, really exciting, Delio passed his baptismal interview and  is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!! Woooohhh!!!!  And hopefully, his family will follow in September.  Man, he really does have a solid testimony of the Book of Mormon.  He quotes from it all the time and anything he reads in there is absolute truth to him.  We asked him if he believed that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and he said yes!  There is no way any person could have written this book if he was not called of God to be a prophet.  So I'm really excited for him and I can tell that he is going to be a Sunday school teacher some day.  He is really good at interpreting the scriptures.  We've never had to explain scriptures to him but he still understands the meaning.  Like the prophecy in 2 Nephi 3 about Joseph Smith, he understood all of that by himself without any explanation.  I'm super excited for him.  I keep thinking there's got to be something that is going to come up because it's almost too good to be true that he is this ready for baptism.  But there you go!  The Lord really does prepare people.

And I had a neat experience this week about the power of the Holy Ghost.  We met this man who was taught years ago by the Elders.  To this day, he still reads the Book of Mormon and the gospel principles book.  He believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true.  But he wasn't baptized.  He said that he did his commitment and prayed to know if this is true and right and if he should be baptized but so far, no answer.  So we tried to figure out why and found out that it is because he is Catholic and his family has always been Catholic so that's where he is staying.  He said, "That's my decision." During the lesson with him, I was praying really hard to have the Spirit give us what we should say to him.  and I felt like I should share Moroni 10:4-5 to him.  So I did and then started to explain the scripture to him and explained it in a way that I had never explained it before.  All I can say is that the words were not my own.  I was amazed at my own explanation and how I said it.  In summary, I told him that if he asks but doesn't have true intent or if he's already made the decision, is God going to give him an answer? If we've already decided, God knows whatever he tells us isn't going to make a difference but we're already closed on the decision.  Celso was quiet for a minute and then said "I get it.  So that's why I didn't get an answer." We asked him,  if God gave him an answer that this church was true and he should be baptized here, would he follow that answer?  And he said, "I don't think I can answer that." As of right now he's not willing to follow the answer when God gives it to him, but he realized that he is being his own obstacle.  And he even said, "Someday I'll come to church and see what's there." So he's slowly opening up to the possibility.  I am so grateful for the spirit!  I know that we are not good at explaining or discerning problems and reasons but the Spirit is.  It is so important to have the Spirit with you always!

Anyways, I love you all and I'm have a great time here in Pilar.  It is progressing! Our sacrament attendance was 74! It just keeps going up and up.  I can definitely see the Lord's hand in the work here!
Well, love you all! Patuloy lang sa pagsunod sa mga utos ng Diyos at pagtitiis hanggang sa wakas!  Marami ang biyay na ibubuhos ang Panginoon sa atin na hindi masasukat!!! Basta, matapat tayo sa kanya at tatanggap tayo ng kanyang plano. Kaya ninyo iyan!

mahal ko kayo!
Sister Sirrine