Hi Mom :)
The week has been good, even if the work continues to be a bit of a struggle. We're still making a lot of progress with our Investigators though, and we may even have a few interviews this week! Anthony Valdez and Roger Arcilla are both doing a great job keeping commitments and everything, and so we'll have a mock-interview to review principles and commandments and see if we can get them okay-ed for baptism either on the 10th or the 17th. Maybe the 17th because of Conference on the 10th and 11th. So ya, super excited :D For both General Conference and for Roger and Anthony. I REALLY hope I'm still here for their baptisms, and I've got a feeling I still will be, but if the Lord has any different plans for me, I guess it'll just have to be "Come what may, and love it" :P
So, here's a day-by-day rundown:
Monday: We had a really fun Zone Activity and just played a few simple games like signs or Missionary Tag, and then Elder Chand and I headed off with the Zone Leaders to do some work at their house and then just did the typical P-Day stuff with them. We went to Greenwich, which is the really good Pizza Place, and then got to do some shopping in SM! SM is THE mall here in the Philippines, and it's awesome. This one was only a MegaCenter, so it wasn't full-blown SM status, but an official one is opening on October 9, so that'll be fun :P I spent most of my time inside looking at watches and not buying anything, but it was def a good time :P After we got home, we went and taught Kathleen Cababat, a Part Member in the area. We don't focus with her because she doesn't really progress, but she's really nice and welcoming, so we stop by every now and then to share a message and hopefully get her to become more committed.
Tuesday: We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and I was with Elder Johnson, which was awesome. He's really good at Tagalog, and so I was able to get a few pointers from him, and he gave me some advice about helping the Elders in our District, which did a LOT. It was a lot of fun, and we ended the Night with a Ward FHE which is basically a couple really crazy games and then the Relief Society dances to a sketchy song that they don't understand :P It's actually sort of funny, but really uncomfortable at the same time. Oh, Philippines :)
Wednesday: We got the news about Elder Richard G Scott :( It's crazy to see how many of them are going, and in such a short amount of time, but it's a huge blessing knowing that their work here on Earth is done, and that our Father in Heaven is preparing to bless us with 3 more inspired men that he has called or will call as Prophets and Apostles. It's making General Conference a lot more exciting :P
Thursday: We had a Stake Open House which just means that the Stake Center is open for 6 hours for people to come in and learn about the Church Groups and Organizations. We invited Anthony to come and he of course said yes, so we accompanied him and went through for about an hour and a half. The Priesthood and Auxiliaries weren't all that well set up or maintained, but the PEF, Job Help, and Family Search Presentations were awesome. The 1st Counselor in the Talavera Bishopric talked about Family History, and the Spirit was so strong, just testifying about the importance of the work and blessings it will bring to both us and those we do the work for. Anthony is really excited to try it out and has already throwing done names and dates on paper while he waits for access to a computer. Cool stuff :)
Saturday: We were able to get a lesson in with all of our Super Investigators in a single day, so that was awesome :) Roger, Anthony, and Frank Valdez's family, and they're all responding incredibly well to the Gospel, which isn't surprising in the least. It's a HUGE blessing to be able to work with all of them, especially at once, and really helps with the struggles we're facing in other areas of the work. Things are really looking up for these people, and we're doing all we can to help them gain that lasting conversion and be committed to the Restored Gospel. They all attended Church on Sunday as well, and so we're looking at getting interviews set and scheduled to move them on towards baptism :)
So, that's the week, and the rest of my time, so I'll write some more again next time :) LOVE YOU!!!!
Elder Syphus
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