Man in the Mirror

August 10, 2014

Good Morning from Good Ole' Cogeo!!

Things here are going wonderful and this area is just so fruitful! I cannot even begin to explain how wonderful this area is doing!!! AND to top things off, it hasn't rained in 4 days! 4 DAYS PEOPLE!! This is a new record!! I am only soaked with sweat now, not rainwater! Wahooo!!

We extended two more baptismal dates to our investigator Lailyn and her 18 year old daughter Shimar.. and they accepted! We had a WONDERFUL lesson with them about the Plan of Salvation and I am so excited for this journey that they've begun.

Augusto, Norma, and Lita are basically the most GOLDEN investigators anyone could ever ask for. They live in really rough circumstances and they are extremely poor, but their love for the Savior is bigger than anyone I know. We had a lesson the other day with them about Tithing, something that could really test someone's faith especially if they don't have much money. At the beginning of the lesson, we followed-up to see if they had read the pamphlet we'd left about tithing. They responded that they did, and then Augosto basically went on to share his testimony about tithing, as well as the importance of it and the blessings that come from sacrifice. I could not even believe it! The faith of the people here in the Philippines just blows me away!

We had zone conference this week which was awesome and also zone training. At our zone training we listened to a talk given by Elder Holland that was one of the most powerful things I have ever listened to. He talked about serving missions and how they are supposed to be hard. They allow us to shed just one of the tears that our Savior did when he suffered for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. This has given me a whole new outlook on my life here as a missionary. When things start getting tough, I am immediately humbled when I reflect on what the Savior went through. My problems are nothing compared to what he did.

At church yesterday, we had 9 investigators! 9!!!! I am telling you- MIRACLES are happening here! We even had a referral whom we had never even met come to church and he brought his friend and his 3 year old son. They really enjoyed it and we set up a time to meet with them next Sunday! During the investigator Sunday school class though, Sister Magro gave a lesson on Honesty. She then started talking about the Michael Jackson song, "Man in the Mirror" and how it connected to being honest... She grabbed her phone and we all thought she was just going to read the lyrics to us, but then all of a sudden she started blasting the song! All 4 of us missionaries sat there with our jaws on the floor... What in the world?! Basically everyone started singing along and dancing... it was like our class turned into a Baptist Church or something... Oh the things that happen in the Philippines!

Things are going fine and dandy here on the island! Love you all! Take care and enjoy your last few weeks of summer!!

Sister Anderson