"Let It Go"

So this week was full of exchanges and kwan.  There was just a whole lot of going-hard. My mind is kind of all over the place so this email might reflect that kaguluhan.  The first exchange I went on was with a white boy from Utah. His name is Elder Merrill.  He went to Woods Cross and is pretty much the man.  It was nice to work with another American for a day. We had some great experiences.  We taught a great family that had like 9 kids.  Elder Merrill told me before that they weren't really progressing and Tatay wasn't extremely interested. We taught a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation and the attitude of this family just changed completely.  We really focused on using the scriptures and letting the prophets teach.  You can always count on the prophets (coupled with the spirit of course) to change someone’s heart.  At the end of the lesson we had the father offer the closing prayer.  He was hesitant but offered a great prayer.  After he ended the prayer, he grabbed his chest and expressed that he had the most amazing feeling.  He then invited us to come back everyday.  I guess we can probably do that.

We also met a less active man that hasn't been seen in years. It turns out that he lives right by my apartment. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was all his golfing trophies.  Yep, my new best friend is a golfer. We talked about golf for a while, sports and all that fun stuff.  He told me that a large bucket of balls costs 40 pesos here.  That's less than 1 American dollar. The Philippines has the right idea. He then invited me to go golfing with him.  He said that whenever I wanted to go I can just stop by his house and he'd take me to the course that's only 10 minutes away.  You bet I’ll be taking him up on that offer.  Not only was he the man, he was also quite receptive.  He really has a desire to change. Hopefully there will be more news concerning him in the future.

Went on another exchange with Elder Manongas (the same Elder Manongas that was in my last zone. We transferred together). It was a great time.  We talked about the good times back in the Pasay north zone.  We did some missionary work though too.

We had the most amazing Sunday in the history of Sundays yesterday. Honestly, I couldn't have imagined up a better Sunday.  We have been working extremely hard in this area, but the results just haven't been coming.  It's been pretty frustrating.  The blessings finally came when we had 11 investigators at sacrament yesterday.  What made it even better was that they were nearly all families. We had a family of 5 that have been going through some really tough relationship problems bring their whole family to church.  We have been trying for weeks to get them to close their store and come as a family.  Heavenly Father finally made it possible. We also had 3-part member less active families come to church. Part Member families are my favorite. Their is a special place in my heart for those types of families especially when they come from less active families.  There is nothing sweeter than seeing a part member family reactivate and become completed through the waters of baptisms. The Sunday service seemed to be tuned to the needs of our investigators.  Everything that was taught, shared or testified pertained perfectly to our investigators. The ward just took over as they showed these families to their respective classes and clung to them like a long lost friend or sibling. It was perfect.  These families will never miss another Sunday because they felt the love of the ward and the love of the lord. It's great to actually witness the plan of our Heavenly Father rolled out before you. He truly is aware of every single one of us and will do everything in his power to help them.  Not only that, but he blesses us with the opportunity to act for him.  He gives us his children to love and to care for. We truly are answers to prayers when we follow the guidance of the spirit. President Monson stated that there is nothing sweeter than following a prompting of the spirit and later coming to find out that it was an answer to someone’s prayer. We are so blessed.

Just had the best morning in the world. We pulled together a last minute zone activity before transfer day.  We got approval to watch the movie that I have been dying to see, the movie that I have heard all about and the movie that has the catchiest song in the word: Frozen.  Oh my gosh.  It was pretty much the best 2 hours of my life. From a missionary’s standpoint that hasn't seen a movie in about 14 months, it was the best movie ever created. "Let it go, let it go."

Well that's about it for this week. Nothing else too exciting happened. I'll be staying with Elder Manares for one more transfer.  I think we might be the modern day Alma and amulek.  Who knows though.  I hope you have a wonderful week.  Keep doing what you do and keep being who you are.  "Let it go."