I didn't get to send all of the pictures that I would have liked to last week. There are still so many! I might make a drop box account like you were telling me, Starr. Maybe just write back & remind me how to do it? Elder Glines does it & says it's great! Also, some bad news, my camera died & I left my charger in one of my last areas.... I am going to try & look for a new one today, but I'm not sure because we live in a pretty small town. If not, they for sure have one in Dumagete & I'll pick one up when we go down there in a few weeks. I'll send you some more pictures though that Elder Glines took on his camera. It's of the most amazing sunset I have ever seen in my life! I wish I could have stayed in that moment forever. It was so beautiful, so peaceful. My eyes were filled with tears as I looked across the sea, filled with old fishing boats, & the sun setting in such a way that could only compel one to tears. I'm not sure if I will ever have the opportunity to return to the Philippines, but whether I do or not, this place that seemed once so foreign has found such a special place in my heart forever. This is my home away from home.
As for the work this week, it has been great! It has taken a week or two to adjust to the area, (a new companion, teaching styles, streets, etc.) but we are finally starting to make progress! This area was only opened a transfer or two ago, so the teaching pool is still fairly small. However, this week alone we have found about 10 new investigators, so we are keeping busy! I want to share one experience in particular with you. This is about a lesson that we had justyesterday.
It was about 1 or 2 in the afternoon & me & Elder Pantilo were working in an area called Poblacion. There are many less active members in this area & that was our focus for the day. We went to the Martinez' family & started speaking with them. Their home is very small, as is the case with most of these people. The Philippines is an extremely poor country as you are all aware. We invited everyone to join in the lesson, so we ended up having about 7 people not including me & Elder. These people included part of the family (some were not home) & three friends of one of the daughter. I want to focus on one of the friends. Her name is Jenny. She is 22 years old & has one child. As we started teaching, our plan was to focus on the family, which we still did, but of course whenever you have someone new join in you adjust your plan to also focus on the new faces. This is what we did. In this case, we had originally planned to teach the Martinez family about families & the temple. When I saw that there were new people there, I felt like we should change the lesson to make it more applicable to everyone present. I changed the lesson to something very simple & easy to understand: Faith in Jesus Christ. As we started the lesson, everyone was listening & we were discussing about our Saviour, His life, ministry & atonement, & why it is important to have faith in Him. As I taught these things, the spirit filled the room. Before too long, I looked over at Jenny & tears were running down her face. It was hard for me not to do the same thing. I testified to her & everyone else that Jesus Christ lives, & if we are willing to follow Him, we can return to live with Him someday with our families for time & all eternity. I testified that the feelings that they had were Holy Ghost testifying to them that these things are true. I asked sister how she felt at that moment & she responded, "malipayon kaayo." She gladly accepted the invitation for us to return to her home & teach her family.
It's experiences like these that that touch my heart everyday. I think of the struggles & doubts that I had at the beginning of my mission, & while I still have them everyday, it's moments like this that fill me with gratitude that I have the strength to keep going.
I love you all very much. I will try to send those pictures shortly if Elder Glines can get it to work. I will also send you pictures of the Jamito baptism!
Until next week,
-Elder Staheli
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