What a wonderful week it has been! This past week includes everything - work, bowling, baptisms, sealings, interviews, sushi, birthdays...it has it all! But to start, I want to wish everyone a happy 4th of July! I think I did last week too. I can't remember...But it sounds like everyone had such a good time. I'm glad. It feels weird when you all say that I'll be home for the fun next year. This week has be so spiritual & uplifting. It has almost brought me to tears a few times this week when I think about leaving all of this. This is my life. My heart is in Cebu.
So to start, I guess I will talk about interviews. My interview with President McCurdy was yesterday & it was a wonderful opportunity to sit down & talk with him one on one. He is such a great man! I'm so excited to have him here. The work is going to be great. The best part of the interview is that he gave me permission to have Casey come down & see me! He was all for it. I already sent Casey the information so we will keep you updated on when that might be & what exactly is going on. I'm so excited to see you, Casey!
The coolest part of my week happened when I received a text one morning informing me that a few families from my first area (Pinamungajan) were being sealed in the temple that day & requested that I attend. I had never seen a family sealing before. It was such a beautiful experience! I took a picture outside of the temple & uploaded it to dropbox. I was so happy to see these families that I worked with make the decision to enter the temple as a family. I am so proud of their hard work & dedication to make it happen. It's not an easy thing, but I know that they will never regret it.
We went bowling last p-day! I'm not going to lie & say that I bowled an incredible game, but it was so much fun to spend time with the zone. Some of them had never been bowling in their entire life & had a blast! It was really cool to see how much they enjoyed it. It really made me appreciate the blessing that we enjoy back home. Often times it is things that we take for granted & don't even think twice about.
There have been so many miracles in the work this week! I will start with the best news... I have told you all about John, the guy who is having problems with his family right now. His situation is improving drastically. He has made contact with his family & they are working on the problems that they have. Through it all, it sounds like his wife has felt a small change of heart & may be open to listening to the missionaries again at some distant time. The best part is that because of the progress he has made, he is getting baptized! His baptism will be on July 26. It's such a sweet, peaceful feeling knowing that all of our hard work with him will all pay off. He has such a strong testimony. I love him so much!
Last Friday was Elder Glines' birthday! Naturally we all went out for dinner & celebrated. Me & Elder Harris were actually on splits that day so you won't see him in the pictures. The huge rugby player from New Zealand on my right is my batch. We were in the MTC at the same time & it was really cool to work with him.
Last but not least, I broke my involuntary fast of sushi on Monday. Don't be fooled. Just because I am in Asia doesn't mean that there is sushi all over the place. Very few places have it & when they do it is very expensive. However, one of the missionaries going home had his parents come & pick him up & they took us out to dinner one night. We went to a really nice restaurant & I ordered sushi. It was amazing.
So much more has happened this week, but most of those things can't be explained. Everything that happens in a mission has to be experienced personally to be fully appreciated. I hope you can receive at least a small glimpse of what happens in my life everyday. There is nowhere that I would rather be.
Elder Staheli
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