Dear Family Friends,
We had a really small group at church yesterday. Only 35 in the little meetinghouse. That was because it was raining all day yesterday. Literally all day. Turns out rain is a great excuse for not coming to church here. At church, I was playing the opening hymn on the little electric piano and then the power went out, or as they call it here "Brown out." The power stayed out for all the meetings. The little old meeting house, has a lot of holes in the roof. It was quite the sight watching all the buckets fill up with water. We would have to empty them throughout the meeting. But you know it was just one of those things that you say the church is still true-even in the old building house that we meet in.
It was kind of a rough week. We are still are working to get our area to the standard of excellence. I don't know this week has just been a hard one for me. I am not sure why, but sometimes I just feel really alone because it is hard to communicate with my companion. I am just trying to figure out how best to do help this area and our companionship.
We were going to go on exchanges on Wednesday with the Sorsogon Sisters, but then the Finance Elder called and said that we needed to go to Legazpi so that Sister Iqbal could sign some forms she needed for her exit clearance. So we spent the day traveling to and from Legazbi.
We did finally find a apartment. It is a nice bright pick house right next to the beach. So now we will be able to enjoy a nice sea breeze as we study each morning. I hate figuring out all this apartment stuff. We spent a lot of time on the phone with the finance elder to figure out the contract and things. Our new apartment is even equipped with a catholic idol. So just in case you wanted that. There is one inside and as a bonus they also have one outside.
We have such a busy week. The Philippines area president is coming for a mission tour and so we have leadership training tomorrow, zone conference/mission tour Wednesday and moving day on Thursday. So maybe we will have a little time to do some missionary work.
We also had a great week teaching and things. I was a great week.
-Sister Richins
Friday, March 7, 2014
March 3
Dear Family and Friends,
Wow I can't believe that it is already March. That is so crazy. This week was a lot better, thank you so much for the prayers!
We had a great Mission Tour with the 2nd counselor of the Philippines Area President, Elder Aldem, from New Zealand. It was really inspiring. He talked about using time effectively as a missionary. He talked about how we should come home everyday super exhausted because we worked so hard, and then we you get off the plane when we come home, our parents shouldn't be able to recognize us and they should tell us how awful we look. But he said you will feel great and your parents should be able to recognize that. It was really inspiring, just making sure that we don't waste a single second of our time here on the mission.
There is actually a song in the hymnbook that I have come to love here on the mission it is on pg 266 I don't know if have ever heard it, but it is a really cool song about missionary work. It is called The Time is Far Spent:
The time is far spent; there is little remaining
To Publish glad tidings by sea and by land
Then hasten ye heralds;go forward proclaiming;
Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven's at Hand
Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of you calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.
His arm is sufficient tho demons oppose
It is just one of my new favorite hymns!
Anyway though, Elder Aldem also talked about becoming Master Teachers and how to really develop teaching skills. He explained that becoming Master Gospel Teachers is a Life-long pursuit. He talked a lot about teaching skills in the leadership training too. He talked about powerful doctrine statements, use scriptures -help investigators dig into the scriptures, bear powerful testimony, and then when the spirit is the strongest close the lesson, so that they have time to ponder when we leave. It was really helpful.
So we are teaching this one family the Corrido Family, they are so cute. For the past two weeks we had only taught the mom and the kids, but this week on Thursday the father joined us. Brother Corrido has always read the bible and knows the bible really really well. But he says that he always felt though that something was missing. He went to a lot of churches, but there was something missing in all of them. He first asked some questions to us Who was Joseph Smith, What is the Book of Mormon, and What is the nature of God. Of course we were happy to answer those questions. We gave him a Book of Mormon and said I am going to study this. And when we left he was reading it. We taught them again last night about the plan of salvation. It was so cool to see his excitement, he asked if we could come back every night to teach them. Sister and her kids came to church, but brother had work, but next week he said he will be there.
This week really has been a lot better. I am teaching my companion Tagalog how they taught us in the MTC repetition. I don't think she will understand all the rules and stuff, but if she says sentences over and over she will be able to teach more and more. She absolutely loves me because she is finally understand and learning Tagalog. I won't feel that I have done anything. I just want her so much to be able to teach and enjoy her time here in the mission, rather than just enduring.
Oh I have to mention this funny story that happened on Wednesday when the APs were helping us move apartments. We were moving one of the desks and then there was this giant Spider or Gagamba. It was so funny to see these two american elders totally freaking out. They immediately decided that they needed to kill it. So they took a stick and chased the spider around the room for 10 minutes until they killed it. I just thought it was so funny. I was always told just to leave the big spiders alone because they get angry. Haha anyway it was super funny.
Well I am learning to love this area. It really is a great area. I know that they Lord sent me here for a purpose with my companion right now. Even though sometimes it may be challenging. I know that the Lord is here with me.
-Sister Richins
Wow I can't believe that it is already March. That is so crazy. This week was a lot better, thank you so much for the prayers!
We had a great Mission Tour with the 2nd counselor of the Philippines Area President, Elder Aldem, from New Zealand. It was really inspiring. He talked about using time effectively as a missionary. He talked about how we should come home everyday super exhausted because we worked so hard, and then we you get off the plane when we come home, our parents shouldn't be able to recognize us and they should tell us how awful we look. But he said you will feel great and your parents should be able to recognize that. It was really inspiring, just making sure that we don't waste a single second of our time here on the mission.
There is actually a song in the hymnbook that I have come to love here on the mission it is on pg 266 I don't know if have ever heard it, but it is a really cool song about missionary work. It is called The Time is Far Spent:
The time is far spent; there is little remaining
To Publish glad tidings by sea and by land
Then hasten ye heralds;go forward proclaiming;
Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven's at Hand
Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of you calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.
His arm is sufficient tho demons oppose
It is just one of my new favorite hymns!
Anyway though, Elder Aldem also talked about becoming Master Teachers and how to really develop teaching skills. He explained that becoming Master Gospel Teachers is a Life-long pursuit. He talked a lot about teaching skills in the leadership training too. He talked about powerful doctrine statements, use scriptures -help investigators dig into the scriptures, bear powerful testimony, and then when the spirit is the strongest close the lesson, so that they have time to ponder when we leave. It was really helpful.
So we are teaching this one family the Corrido Family, they are so cute. For the past two weeks we had only taught the mom and the kids, but this week on Thursday the father joined us. Brother Corrido has always read the bible and knows the bible really really well. But he says that he always felt though that something was missing. He went to a lot of churches, but there was something missing in all of them. He first asked some questions to us Who was Joseph Smith, What is the Book of Mormon, and What is the nature of God. Of course we were happy to answer those questions. We gave him a Book of Mormon and said I am going to study this. And when we left he was reading it. We taught them again last night about the plan of salvation. It was so cool to see his excitement, he asked if we could come back every night to teach them. Sister and her kids came to church, but brother had work, but next week he said he will be there.
This week really has been a lot better. I am teaching my companion Tagalog how they taught us in the MTC repetition. I don't think she will understand all the rules and stuff, but if she says sentences over and over she will be able to teach more and more. She absolutely loves me because she is finally understand and learning Tagalog. I won't feel that I have done anything. I just want her so much to be able to teach and enjoy her time here in the mission, rather than just enduring.
Oh I have to mention this funny story that happened on Wednesday when the APs were helping us move apartments. We were moving one of the desks and then there was this giant Spider or Gagamba. It was so funny to see these two american elders totally freaking out. They immediately decided that they needed to kill it. So they took a stick and chased the spider around the room for 10 minutes until they killed it. I just thought it was so funny. I was always told just to leave the big spiders alone because they get angry. Haha anyway it was super funny.
Well I am learning to love this area. It really is a great area. I know that they Lord sent me here for a purpose with my companion right now. Even though sometimes it may be challenging. I know that the Lord is here with me.
-Sister Richins
Monday, February 17, 2014
Feb 17
Dear Family and Friends,
Well transfers happened this week, I am now in Bacon. Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking of the food, but that is not how you say it. It is like Ba as in what a sheep says and then con like an ice cream cone. And no they are not famous for their bacon here, but actually well known for their fish.
My new companion is Sister Iqbal she is from Pakistan. She actually came out here the same time as me. I think she is still just really frustrated because she still doesn't know how to speak Tagalog very well. She is so diligent though. It actually is kind of hard because she doesn't understand me when I speak Tagalog so I speak it in English and she still doesn't understand me. So it is just some of the challenges that we have.
Also I am sure you may know that they have the position of Sister Training Leader in the missions now, it is like a zone leader, but for sisters. Sister Natividad and I were made new STL for Sorsogon zone. Usually in most missions the Sister Training Leaders are suppose to be companions, just like zone leaders, but because the mission is still growing and things, and Language barrier in a few zones like sorsogon it is not that way. So Sister Natividad is companions with sister Flake and then I am with Sister Iqbal. We get to go on exchanges with all the sisters in the zone.
It was different coming into an area that was already opened. I am however, the first American Sister this branch has. Everyone still thinks I am so beautiful. They call me an actor here. So I am in Bacon Branch, there are not very many members and actually they don't even have a chapel. They only have a rented meeting house. I remember when the Stake President told me when I was set apart not to worry about the circumstances that investigators come to church, but just remember that the spirit is the teacher. How true that is. Even though the circumstances are super humble the spirit is so strong in this branch. On Sunday there were 53 people in attendance. They say when they reach 60 consistently they can petition for a chapel.
I feel that I have already learned so much from this branch. They are so humble, and so so loving. This are probably the friendliest people I have met. And they have great leadership. We went to the Ward council meeting on Saturday night and it was so cool to see the humble branch president that really understands the use of council. They started talking about some of the less actives and why they stopped coming to church and how it all starts when they stopped reading the scriptures, and he asked everyone if they had any experiences with scripture reading and how it helps them in their life. It was a really spiritually edifying meeting.
So I forget how hard it is to transfer. It was hard this week. I just loved all the people in Bulan so much and it was hard not to always think about them. But I am starting to love this area. I keep on praying that I will love this area as much as I loved the dear people in Bulan. I know that I will, it is just hard when you don't see it yet. But I have a lot of faith that he Lord's hand will be able to help this area continue to progress. The teaching pool is really small here, but we are making sure we were obedient and using our time well and we have found quite a few new investigators. We are still working to get our area up to the standard of Excellence, but I know that the Lord will help us reach our goals.
Bacon is kind of a mountain town it is right up in the mountains, next to the beach. It is a lot different than Bulan. Our area is a lot of rice fields and we hike a lot- lots of hills. It is really super pretty, and the people are super sweet. So I get a lot of exercise. It was a little rough to adapt to the accent of the people here. Also I don't understand the Bicol here because it is a different dialect of bicol. So now I have to work on learning Bacon Bicol. Of course all the people know Tagalog, but it is a 2nd language for them, so it is good if at least I understand it. It's good though because the kids love to help me.
I hope everything is going well at home. Have a great week everyone.
-Sister Richins
Well transfers happened this week, I am now in Bacon. Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking of the food, but that is not how you say it. It is like Ba as in what a sheep says and then con like an ice cream cone. And no they are not famous for their bacon here, but actually well known for their fish.
My new companion is Sister Iqbal she is from Pakistan. She actually came out here the same time as me. I think she is still just really frustrated because she still doesn't know how to speak Tagalog very well. She is so diligent though. It actually is kind of hard because she doesn't understand me when I speak Tagalog so I speak it in English and she still doesn't understand me. So it is just some of the challenges that we have.
Also I am sure you may know that they have the position of Sister Training Leader in the missions now, it is like a zone leader, but for sisters. Sister Natividad and I were made new STL for Sorsogon zone. Usually in most missions the Sister Training Leaders are suppose to be companions, just like zone leaders, but because the mission is still growing and things, and Language barrier in a few zones like sorsogon it is not that way. So Sister Natividad is companions with sister Flake and then I am with Sister Iqbal. We get to go on exchanges with all the sisters in the zone.
It was different coming into an area that was already opened. I am however, the first American Sister this branch has. Everyone still thinks I am so beautiful. They call me an actor here. So I am in Bacon Branch, there are not very many members and actually they don't even have a chapel. They only have a rented meeting house. I remember when the Stake President told me when I was set apart not to worry about the circumstances that investigators come to church, but just remember that the spirit is the teacher. How true that is. Even though the circumstances are super humble the spirit is so strong in this branch. On Sunday there were 53 people in attendance. They say when they reach 60 consistently they can petition for a chapel.
I feel that I have already learned so much from this branch. They are so humble, and so so loving. This are probably the friendliest people I have met. And they have great leadership. We went to the Ward council meeting on Saturday night and it was so cool to see the humble branch president that really understands the use of council. They started talking about some of the less actives and why they stopped coming to church and how it all starts when they stopped reading the scriptures, and he asked everyone if they had any experiences with scripture reading and how it helps them in their life. It was a really spiritually edifying meeting.
So I forget how hard it is to transfer. It was hard this week. I just loved all the people in Bulan so much and it was hard not to always think about them. But I am starting to love this area. I keep on praying that I will love this area as much as I loved the dear people in Bulan. I know that I will, it is just hard when you don't see it yet. But I have a lot of faith that he Lord's hand will be able to help this area continue to progress. The teaching pool is really small here, but we are making sure we were obedient and using our time well and we have found quite a few new investigators. We are still working to get our area up to the standard of Excellence, but I know that the Lord will help us reach our goals.
Bacon is kind of a mountain town it is right up in the mountains, next to the beach. It is a lot different than Bulan. Our area is a lot of rice fields and we hike a lot- lots of hills. It is really super pretty, and the people are super sweet. So I get a lot of exercise. It was a little rough to adapt to the accent of the people here. Also I don't understand the Bicol here because it is a different dialect of bicol. So now I have to work on learning Bacon Bicol. Of course all the people know Tagalog, but it is a 2nd language for them, so it is good if at least I understand it. It's good though because the kids love to help me.
I hope everything is going well at home. Have a great week everyone.
-Sister Richins
Monday, February 10, 2014
Feb 10 TRANSFERS
Dear Family and Friends,
Well the Transfer Announcements are here and due to a few complications, it has been decided that both Sister Flake and I will be transferred. It kind of made it a bittersweet moment for the both of us. Also this is going to be a really short Email this week because we have a lot to do today.
We had a great baptismal service on Saturday of Brother Rodel and Brother Ceirel. They are both so prepared and I am so excited for them. Rodel is so great last week he worked with us and we are now teaching all his friends. He knows so many people. He was so prepared by the Lord and I am so happy that he is so strong. Brother Ceriel is great too. He was also so prepared by the Lord.
I am really going to miss this area so much. I have been here for 6 months and I have learned so much from the members. I love all of the investigators here and I am going to miss them so much. Please pray for this area because we are both getting transferred so there will be two new missionaries here. We are relying a lot on the Branch Mission Leader and the members to help this area progress. I just hope that the new missionaries will love this area as much as we do.
It will be exciting to know what happens tomorrow, where I am going and who will be my new companion. Change always brings about much growth. As much as it is hard to say goodbye I know that the Lord is preparing other souls in my next area for the gospel.
Love you all,
-Sister Richins
Well the Transfer Announcements are here and due to a few complications, it has been decided that both Sister Flake and I will be transferred. It kind of made it a bittersweet moment for the both of us. Also this is going to be a really short Email this week because we have a lot to do today.
We had a great baptismal service on Saturday of Brother Rodel and Brother Ceirel. They are both so prepared and I am so excited for them. Rodel is so great last week he worked with us and we are now teaching all his friends. He knows so many people. He was so prepared by the Lord and I am so happy that he is so strong. Brother Ceriel is great too. He was also so prepared by the Lord.
I am really going to miss this area so much. I have been here for 6 months and I have learned so much from the members. I love all of the investigators here and I am going to miss them so much. Please pray for this area because we are both getting transferred so there will be two new missionaries here. We are relying a lot on the Branch Mission Leader and the members to help this area progress. I just hope that the new missionaries will love this area as much as we do.
It will be exciting to know what happens tomorrow, where I am going and who will be my new companion. Change always brings about much growth. As much as it is hard to say goodbye I know that the Lord is preparing other souls in my next area for the gospel.
Love you all,
-Sister Richins
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
February 3
Dear Family and Friends,
Wow looks it is February! I think the Groundhog must not have seen its shadow here yesterday because it is super hot now. It is okay though, I think I have just been a little spoiled lately in the colder weather. This morning we had a zone activity with President and Sister Guanzon. It was crazy that is the second time in a row that Bulan zone has won. I just love being around President and Sister Guanzon. They are so great!
So of course we had a crazy week this past week. I love sister Flake so much, she has such a strong testimony and passion for the gospel. She is great. It will be interesting to see what happens next week with transfers.
So this whole transfer we have been teaching the Casals Family, they probably let us into their house at first because we were two white Americans, but they kept on letting us back. It is always so crazy when we go there. When we first started teaching them. They were okay, not super receptive, just amazed that we could speak Tagalog. They never really progressed very much until finally this week, when they started to read and pray as a family. Sister Dolores finally said that she read on her own and prayed. She is still waiting for an answer, but she says she will continue to pray. The kids on Sunday came to church. Slowly, but surely they will come to understand that this gospel can bring greater blessings than anything else in the world. Winston and Dolores still haven't come to church, but they are starting to understand, so hopefully the branch can fellowship them and help them come to church.
So I don't know if I won't about it but we have been teaching brother Renatto who was a street contact that we had. He is seriously so prepared by the Lord. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he starting reading it. Even though he is super super busy with school, he still makes time to read the Book of Mormon every morning after he wakes up before school. He is a college student, studying criminology. It was so crazy on Wednesday we taught him about the Word of Widsom and it was so crazy because he had no problems. Almost every single college ages lalaki here has a problem with something in the Word of Wisdom. Brother Bunso, our Branch Mission Leader, was working with us and was shaking his head the whole time-like he couldn't even believe it. Rennatto was truly prepared by the Lord and it is so great that we were able to find him.
Well this week should be exciting Brother Rodel and Brother Ceriel have their baptism on Saturday. Brother Christian was suppose to be baptized too, pero he is still struggling with a few thing so we postponed it, but it should be good because now Brother Rodel, his best friend, will be able to baptize him in two weeks. He was a little disappointed, but he is still excited.
Also crazy thing, we taught a lesson in complete English on Saturday. It was a weirdest thing. Because here the upper class doesn't use Tagalog, they use English. We had a refferal from a member of a rich teacher. We we got to the house she was speaking to all her kids in English and she said she preferred English so we taught it English. It was so hard to speak so much English. I don't know if we will get to go back, but at least we got to talk to her.
Well it is the start of a new week. Have a great week.
-Sister Richins
Wow looks it is February! I think the Groundhog must not have seen its shadow here yesterday because it is super hot now. It is okay though, I think I have just been a little spoiled lately in the colder weather. This morning we had a zone activity with President and Sister Guanzon. It was crazy that is the second time in a row that Bulan zone has won. I just love being around President and Sister Guanzon. They are so great!
So of course we had a crazy week this past week. I love sister Flake so much, she has such a strong testimony and passion for the gospel. She is great. It will be interesting to see what happens next week with transfers.
So this whole transfer we have been teaching the Casals Family, they probably let us into their house at first because we were two white Americans, but they kept on letting us back. It is always so crazy when we go there. When we first started teaching them. They were okay, not super receptive, just amazed that we could speak Tagalog. They never really progressed very much until finally this week, when they started to read and pray as a family. Sister Dolores finally said that she read on her own and prayed. She is still waiting for an answer, but she says she will continue to pray. The kids on Sunday came to church. Slowly, but surely they will come to understand that this gospel can bring greater blessings than anything else in the world. Winston and Dolores still haven't come to church, but they are starting to understand, so hopefully the branch can fellowship them and help them come to church.
So I don't know if I won't about it but we have been teaching brother Renatto who was a street contact that we had. He is seriously so prepared by the Lord. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he starting reading it. Even though he is super super busy with school, he still makes time to read the Book of Mormon every morning after he wakes up before school. He is a college student, studying criminology. It was so crazy on Wednesday we taught him about the Word of Widsom and it was so crazy because he had no problems. Almost every single college ages lalaki here has a problem with something in the Word of Wisdom. Brother Bunso, our Branch Mission Leader, was working with us and was shaking his head the whole time-like he couldn't even believe it. Rennatto was truly prepared by the Lord and it is so great that we were able to find him.
Well this week should be exciting Brother Rodel and Brother Ceriel have their baptism on Saturday. Brother Christian was suppose to be baptized too, pero he is still struggling with a few thing so we postponed it, but it should be good because now Brother Rodel, his best friend, will be able to baptize him in two weeks. He was a little disappointed, but he is still excited.
Also crazy thing, we taught a lesson in complete English on Saturday. It was a weirdest thing. Because here the upper class doesn't use Tagalog, they use English. We had a refferal from a member of a rich teacher. We we got to the house she was speaking to all her kids in English and she said she preferred English so we taught it English. It was so hard to speak so much English. I don't know if we will get to go back, but at least we got to talk to her.
Well it is the start of a new week. Have a great week.
-Sister Richins
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
January 27
Hello Family and Friends,
Wow another week has gone by. It has been great. The weather has
finally decided to warm up,so it is back to its warm self. Everyone
is getting ready for the hot season coming up. So I am super excited
for that. I love this area, it is so great. I love this branch and I
love all the branch missionaries here. I keep on praying that I won't
have to leave this area when transfers announcements come next week.
On Friday, President Guanzon came down for zone interviews. It was so
inspiring. President Guanzon is so great. He is so humble and I
learn so much from him. After the interviews he talked to us about
faith in setting goals. He said of course we need to set goals with
names in mind, but always remember the standard of excellence and even
if you don't have a name it back it up with set your goals with the
standard of excellence in mind and have the faith that the Lord will
lead you to those extras.
Rodel is doing so great. He is such a golden investigator. He was
truly searching for the truth, but just didn't know where to find it.
He is so excited for his baptism next week and he also really wants to
serve a mission in a year from now. So that is just great. Rodel is
really funny when we teach him, because he hates commitment
invitations. We will teach him about a commandment and then commit him
to live it and he gives us this look and is like of course I will live
it, that is why you are teaching me right. It is really funny.
Rodel is the best thing to happen for Christian. He just needed a
little extra push from a friend. He is so great. Yesterday he gave
us a referral and we taught her at his house and he bore his testimony
about the book of mormon and the restoration. He was so funny, he was
like here is the book of mormon, let me tell you what I learned from
it his week and then he told the story about the tree of life. It was
so great for him to testify. I remember when I first got to this area
and Christian was still struggling to get a testimony and it seemed
that he was one of those eternal investigators, but now look at him,
he is doing so great and is testifying how he knows it is true.
We also had a couple new investigators, Bro Nazer. Bro Nazer was just
a crazy store we met him and invited him to come to church and HE
CAME. That was like the first. He was kind of confused, but he had a
good experience and came and played basketball with us this morning.
One of the greatest things that I love in the phlippines is that when
we teach everyone just surrounds us so a lot of people join lessons
and it is a great way to find new investigators. We see so many
miracles and the Lord's hand his in this work.
We also taught a couple of workers that have been doing some work on
our chapel. They are from manilia, but are working here because they
are part of a contracted thing and they will go back in a couple
weeks. Renaldo actually had a baptismal date with the missionaries in
Manila, but left to come here for work. We taught him a couple times
and invited him to come to church. It was exciting and he was so
great. It is so cool to feel the love for these people, even when we
were not the missionaries who taught him, but just to see his faith
and testimony. He kind of has a crazy story because he is always
moving around to different areas for work, but he always seems to
manage to find the missionaries. He was talking about all the
missionaries that have taught him. He will hopefully get baptized
when he gets back home.
-Sister Richins
Wow another week has gone by. It has been great. The weather has
finally decided to warm up,so it is back to its warm self. Everyone
is getting ready for the hot season coming up. So I am super excited
for that. I love this area, it is so great. I love this branch and I
love all the branch missionaries here. I keep on praying that I won't
have to leave this area when transfers announcements come next week.
On Friday, President Guanzon came down for zone interviews. It was so
inspiring. President Guanzon is so great. He is so humble and I
learn so much from him. After the interviews he talked to us about
faith in setting goals. He said of course we need to set goals with
names in mind, but always remember the standard of excellence and even
if you don't have a name it back it up with set your goals with the
standard of excellence in mind and have the faith that the Lord will
lead you to those extras.
Rodel is doing so great. He is such a golden investigator. He was
truly searching for the truth, but just didn't know where to find it.
He is so excited for his baptism next week and he also really wants to
serve a mission in a year from now. So that is just great. Rodel is
really funny when we teach him, because he hates commitment
invitations. We will teach him about a commandment and then commit him
to live it and he gives us this look and is like of course I will live
it, that is why you are teaching me right. It is really funny.
Rodel is the best thing to happen for Christian. He just needed a
little extra push from a friend. He is so great. Yesterday he gave
us a referral and we taught her at his house and he bore his testimony
about the book of mormon and the restoration. He was so funny, he was
like here is the book of mormon, let me tell you what I learned from
it his week and then he told the story about the tree of life. It was
so great for him to testify. I remember when I first got to this area
and Christian was still struggling to get a testimony and it seemed
that he was one of those eternal investigators, but now look at him,
he is doing so great and is testifying how he knows it is true.
We also had a couple new investigators, Bro Nazer. Bro Nazer was just
a crazy store we met him and invited him to come to church and HE
CAME. That was like the first. He was kind of confused, but he had a
good experience and came and played basketball with us this morning.
One of the greatest things that I love in the phlippines is that when
we teach everyone just surrounds us so a lot of people join lessons
and it is a great way to find new investigators. We see so many
miracles and the Lord's hand his in this work.
We also taught a couple of workers that have been doing some work on
our chapel. They are from manilia, but are working here because they
are part of a contracted thing and they will go back in a couple
weeks. Renaldo actually had a baptismal date with the missionaries in
Manila, but left to come here for work. We taught him a couple times
and invited him to come to church. It was exciting and he was so
great. It is so cool to feel the love for these people, even when we
were not the missionaries who taught him, but just to see his faith
and testimony. He kind of has a crazy story because he is always
moving around to different areas for work, but he always seems to
manage to find the missionaries. He was talking about all the
missionaries that have taught him. He will hopefully get baptized
when he gets back home.
-Sister Richins
January 20
Dear Family and Friends,
Wow yet another week gone by, it is so crazy how fast this week went. It was an exciting week. We taught a lot and a lot of investigators came to church which was great.
The other sisters in the branch had a baptism on Saturday, and then afterwards there was an area broadcast where they announced the Philippines goals for the year. There goals are to strengthen families, rescue the one, share the gospel, develop the church and save the rising generation.
I am always just in awe of how the Lord's hand is in this work. I see it everyday. Rodel and his two cousins came to church on Sunday it was so cool. He was just so happy. He also came to the baptism on Saturday and the Area Broadcast that followed. He is so great and has such a strong testimony. We taught him about the prophet on Thursday night. It was a really weird night. For some reason both Sister Flake and I were really struggling teaching in Tagalog, and he started speaking to us in English. Turns out he is super good at English, but has just been to shy to speak it with us. He was really excited when we showed him all the 12 apostles and gave him an Liahona to read about what the prophets have said. He is actually a huge huge strength to Christian who testimony isn't quite as strong. Speaking of Christian he is doing great. Sister Flake and I put a picture of Jesus Christ on his Pedjack so that he could always see it when he was driving to remind him of his commitment.
We had exchanges this week with Sister Papica and Sister Eracho. I went with Sister Eracho again. So it was so much fun to be companions again for a day.
We also have a new investigator Brother Renatto. He came to church on Sunday. We see a lot of potential in him. We are honestly so busy now, especially at nights we don't have time to visit all of them. Right now we are working to keep on finding new investigators so that we will avoid the elevator effect from happening. I really really really don't want to leave this area. I just want to see all our investigators get more involved and be given assignments in the branch. I know that Rodel and Christian and Ceriel are going to be so great for this branch.
I love our branch so much we played basketball with some members from the branch earlier. It was a lot of fun. I have so many wonderful memories here.
So I don't know if I talked about Hartzell, but he is an investigator that we have only taught a couple times. He is 16 and his mom is a less active member. Sometimes okay all the time he usually tries to hide from us. But I have a lot of faith in him because I had a dream in which he was getting baptized and had a really strong testimony of the book of Mormon and was preparing to go on a mission. So even though my companion thought that we should give up. I am determined to help my dream come true. On Saturday my dream was starting to come true. He finally read. We gave him an the story about Alma the Younger to read, and he finally did. He told us what happened and loved it! And then he actually told us what time we could come back. He didn't come to church because he is shy to go because he has no friends there, but hopefully this week we can get the young men to invite him to come to church with him. After that lesson my companion finally said, I can see what you saw in him. So this week he will hopefully come to church.
We still need to be diligent in finding new investigators this week especially ones that we can teach in the Mornings and in the early afternoon. It is crazy our nights are super packed, but our mornings afternoons are really bare.
Well love you guys all so much!
-Sister Richins
Wow yet another week gone by, it is so crazy how fast this week went. It was an exciting week. We taught a lot and a lot of investigators came to church which was great.
The other sisters in the branch had a baptism on Saturday, and then afterwards there was an area broadcast where they announced the Philippines goals for the year. There goals are to strengthen families, rescue the one, share the gospel, develop the church and save the rising generation.
I am always just in awe of how the Lord's hand is in this work. I see it everyday. Rodel and his two cousins came to church on Sunday it was so cool. He was just so happy. He also came to the baptism on Saturday and the Area Broadcast that followed. He is so great and has such a strong testimony. We taught him about the prophet on Thursday night. It was a really weird night. For some reason both Sister Flake and I were really struggling teaching in Tagalog, and he started speaking to us in English. Turns out he is super good at English, but has just been to shy to speak it with us. He was really excited when we showed him all the 12 apostles and gave him an Liahona to read about what the prophets have said. He is actually a huge huge strength to Christian who testimony isn't quite as strong. Speaking of Christian he is doing great. Sister Flake and I put a picture of Jesus Christ on his Pedjack so that he could always see it when he was driving to remind him of his commitment.
We had exchanges this week with Sister Papica and Sister Eracho. I went with Sister Eracho again. So it was so much fun to be companions again for a day.
We also have a new investigator Brother Renatto. He came to church on Sunday. We see a lot of potential in him. We are honestly so busy now, especially at nights we don't have time to visit all of them. Right now we are working to keep on finding new investigators so that we will avoid the elevator effect from happening. I really really really don't want to leave this area. I just want to see all our investigators get more involved and be given assignments in the branch. I know that Rodel and Christian and Ceriel are going to be so great for this branch.
I love our branch so much we played basketball with some members from the branch earlier. It was a lot of fun. I have so many wonderful memories here.
So I don't know if I talked about Hartzell, but he is an investigator that we have only taught a couple times. He is 16 and his mom is a less active member. Sometimes okay all the time he usually tries to hide from us. But I have a lot of faith in him because I had a dream in which he was getting baptized and had a really strong testimony of the book of Mormon and was preparing to go on a mission. So even though my companion thought that we should give up. I am determined to help my dream come true. On Saturday my dream was starting to come true. He finally read. We gave him an the story about Alma the Younger to read, and he finally did. He told us what happened and loved it! And then he actually told us what time we could come back. He didn't come to church because he is shy to go because he has no friends there, but hopefully this week we can get the young men to invite him to come to church with him. After that lesson my companion finally said, I can see what you saw in him. So this week he will hopefully come to church.
We still need to be diligent in finding new investigators this week especially ones that we can teach in the Mornings and in the early afternoon. It is crazy our nights are super packed, but our mornings afternoons are really bare.
Well love you guys all so much!
-Sister Richins
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