Have I Mentioned That I Love Missionary Work?

It sure has been a great week.  These last two days have been jammed packed with some great moments.  It all started with conference.  All I have to say is that the general authorities did not disappoint.  It was an awesome conference.  Like I said last conference, something about being on a mission makes you more susceptible to gospel lessons. You get twice as much out of conference than any other time in your life.  I felt like I was being personally taught.  I can testify to the difference it makes when you go into conference actually prepared to receive answers.  One common theme that I noticed was the importance of trying everyday to become more like our savior. Everyday we should strive to do a little bit better than we did the day before.  Of course, we're not perfect. We mess up every now and then. Some days we end up moving a step backward instead of forward.  However, this does not give us the excuse to remain a step back. We should awake the next day ready to make up the lost ground and more. While I was pondering about this lesson and other lessons that were taught to us during general conference, a thought crossed my mind about growing personally. Rarely do we grow when we are within our comfort zone. This has kind of been one of the themes of my mission.  It seems like such a simple principle, but application of such a principle brings an outpouring of blessings.  If you want to grow in a specific area, push yourself.  The more you stretch, the more you grow. If you want to develop better social skills, talk to people, even when it makes you nervous.  If you want to be a better teacher, take opportunities to teach.  If you want to develop a talent, continue to work even when you're tired.  No matter what you may be trying to be developing, push yourself out of your comfort zone. 

Following general conference, one of the investigators that elder Tofi and I taught was interviewed for baptism. She will be getting baptized this Saturday.  I'm so excited for her. She has such a strong testimony.  Her name is Donnalyn.  Her husband is actually a member of the church but has been inactive for a while.  He has recently returned to church and is now helping his wife into the waters of baptism.  So awesome.  They have two kids and will be taking the first step to being together forever.  I have no doubt in my mind that they will remain active in the church and in one year be sealed for eternity in the temple. Seriously, missions are awesome. 

Yesterday was a pretty great day as well.  We had interviews with President Stucki.  He's such a great guy.  He has such a powerful testimony and seriously radiates light and the spirit. Just being in his presence makes you happy.  We also had district meeting yesterday.  I sure do love being a district leader.  I love my district so much.  Every single person is unique.  We have the widest range of personalities ever.  You really learn something from everybody in your district. 

After our interviews we went to a FHE at one of the less active members house near we live. Her name is Mirium and she is so close to reactivating.  She's awesome. It was just supposed to be us, her daughter and two of her daughter’s friends that are investigating the church.  However, I guess they invited all of their friends as well. We got there and found ourselves in the midst of like 15 girls from the age of 12-17 hahaha they all wanted to join in on our family home evening. I guess elder Villoso is just a ladies man.  The girls just flock to him. I think I found Chandler's wife though.  I'm gonna be setting him up with one of the girls that was there. She only speaks Tagalog but I think we can work past that.  They can use Google translator. You down Bing? She's a cutie.

Today has been an awesome day.  We had quite an interesting experience earlier today.  I was called yesterday by the APs and told that there was a member that just moved here from the states.  He doesn't speak any Tagalog and needed help buying a few things. So earlier today we met him at a mall nearby and helped him out. He was such a cool guy.  He works for the military and was called on a secret mission here in the Philippines.  He couldn't even tell me what he was doing here.  Crazy.  So we spent a couple hours with this bro buying stuff and talking about America.  I sure miss that country sometimes. Afterward, we invited him to McDonalds to eat with us and our district. When we got there he told us that he was going to pay for all of us! All 8.  Yeah this guy is the man.  I told him that he didn't have to do that and he responded by saying that he wants the blessings that come from helping out the missionaries.  Can't argue with that. I'll gladly eat free McDonalds so you can receive blessings.  

It sounds like life is great there in Layton.  Don't worry, in about 17 months, it'll get a heck of a lot better.