Sister Delgado serves in the Great Legazpi! : Faith and Beautiful Views‏

Hello family and friends!

Well, the past 8 weeks with Sister Ramada have been the best, but she is leaving her short term mission and I will be receiving a new companion fresh from the MTC. So yeah, I'm staying in Legazpi and training again! J I'm so excited for the new adventures to embark upon this transfer. Sister Dizon and Jemino are also transferred so they will be leaving me L but it's all good because change can be fun. Me and my next companion will be inheriting some of their old investigators and recent converts and less actives so more people to teach and more life changing experiences ahead!

SO of course, the Gonsales family as always is the highlight of my week. They are seriously progressing so much with their church attendance and the members of the Legazpi ward becoming so involved in fellowshipping them. I have no doubt that they will be baptized. No doubt. Hahahah they keep telling me that when I come they want to see my wedding in the Temple because we always teach about the temple and the importance of families being sealed forever. It makes me laugh because I have no idea why they are so certain its going to happen so soon. Haha. But the highlight of the progression of the Gonzales family was when Oddette said that she wants to be baptized. For weeks she has been saying that the only reason that she has been going to church and attending our discussions is for her children. But just last night she told us that she wants her whole family to be baptized because she knows this gospel will bless her family. She even said that despite her fear of leaving the comfort zone of being a Catholic and the changes that will be made in her life, she cannot deny the peace she feels when coming to church and during our lessons when we read scriptures and pray. Her testimony especially grows when she hears the powerful testimonies of the members. Bishop Francisco and his wife accompanied us during of our lessons about the faith in Christ and how Faith in Christ is the leading motivator as to why we make changes in our lives that help us grow closer to Christ. I'm so grateful for the resources that are here in Legazpi to make missionary work possible.

Another highlight was the Manga family. After sharing with them about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and giving them a Book of Mormon, they came to church! I was so surprised actually. It was a complete blessing to see them enjoy sacrament meeting and take a huge leap of faith. Brother Manga usually comes home from work around 1 am on Saturday nights so we for sure didn’t have much expectations. But through prayer and trying our hardest, the Lord makes miracles.

This whole transfer so many investigators of ours have been coming to church and I'm just in shock every week with the progression our investigators gain by excercising faith. Seeing the slow but sure progression of their faith increases mine.

I want to speak a little about faith. As reading about it in the book of Alma, I can never get enough when studying about faith. Faith is more than just doing things because you know you’ll get a certain result because of it. I've realized that faith is also changing your entire thinking about a certain situation that may bother you because you trust that God has a plan. Even for me as a missionary, yeah. There are times I feel so sad for investigators who don’t keep their commitments or become baptized in the time frame Sister Ramada and I plan for. But when things don’t go according to plan, one thing living in the Philippines has taught me is that everything has its own time due. As missionaries, we just need to be prepared for that proper time the Lord has set for his children to enter the waters of baptism and become members of the church. My seven months on my mission thus far has taught me how to have complete faith and trust in God because I know He will never forget or leave his children. I have seen and felt so many miracles in my mission and my life to ever deny that. Even if the wait for that silver lining feels like its never going to be met, we just need to be patient. The Lord’s plan will always prevail and we need to be happy, patient, persistent, and have full trust and faith that things will work out. My life isn’t perfect, and the people of the Philippines’ lives are so hard. But no matter how hard and poverty stricken they are, no matter how scared they are for their children’s next meal, no matter how small/ dirty their little bamboo homes are, no matter how much they try and try and feel like they just don’t succeed, one thing is for sure: their faith in God. Even though life is hard sometimes, it could always be worse, right? Even if life seems umbarable, Christ is always there. We just need to do our part and seek Him. God has a plan for all His children. In fact, that plan is perfect. So fear not during times of dismay. Just follow Christ and He will lead you towards His plan of everlasting happiness. Less than 100 years of life is nothing compared to the eternal life we are promised. 18 months is nothing compared to the sufferings Christ went through for me and for you. Over 30 years of life given by Christ was for us, and thus His whole existence. the next 11 months of my life is the least I could give for Him that has given me all.

Have a splendid week full of faith and grattitude :)

mahal kita!

Sister Delgado