Week 52: 1 year mark and Newfound tip

Maayong hapon sa tanan :) 

(heres a picture so yall arent too bored with so much text)

So this email has a great subject line for 2 reasons: 

1) I have now been out on the mission for a FULL YEAR. Dang! That was fast. I only have 6 months left to serve the Lord and I feel that so much more of His work needs to be done, but what a blessing it has been to take part in His work for the past year. 

I havent seen my parents in person for a whole year now, but WHAT A JOY it was to speak with them and video call for Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day lovely Mamma :) 

2) Last night I learned a great tip for all those who will ever visit the Philippines. There's a bit of a back story so you get the full history of how I came to know this. It was very hot last night and the electricity came on and off so the fan was not much use. I got the grand idea to lie down on the tile and found myself happily asleep for about 10 minutes when I woke up to a feeling of something touching my hair. I leaned up and was greeted by the normal 3 inch cockroach "ipis" and practically jumped on my bed. For the next bit I had the pleasure of watching 2 cockroaches "lagaw lagaw " Hang out having a grand ol' time on the floor of our room. Let's just say I sprayed much Permethrin up there. 

So in short: DO NOT lay down on the ground at night in the Philippines. 

This past week we had the great privilege to review the Baptismal Interview questions with Clide, a 12 year old and Christian a 9 year old who will be baptized this May 26th. 

Clide is a part member and we are teaching him and his mom. Clide reads the Book of Mormon and he is oh so very excited to one day receive the priesthood :) We enjoy hearing about his progress in the Book of Mormon and the story of Nephi and his family :) 

Christian is a 9 year old that goes to church with a neighboring member family. His parents were being taught, but due to work they have not been able to continue but are very supportive of him being baptized and he is so excited. He wakes up himself, gets dressed, comes his hair and comes to churhc with the member family. Im amazed by his responsible little self. As we have taught him, we have come to learn that he hand washes his OWN clothes, cooks ":sud-an" for his family (The food that you put over rice) and siya ang nagatig-ang. He is also the one to cook rice for his family. He is amazing is is the most responsible little boy I have ever met. As we were asking him the Baptismal Interview questions for practice, we asked him about tithing and the cute little Christian said, "Diba, ina ang ginabayaran ang aircon?" "Thats what pays for the A/C right?" We got a good laugh out of that. He is so cute and he jsut told us how he is so excited to be a member and he has such a desire to serve a mission. 

Another story is of Rochelle. She is a referral of a YSA in our ward and she is 17 years old. She teaches in her Catholic church and is truly so amazing. She reads the Book of Mormon and has told us she has felt that it is true. We had a great experience after church when we were able to teach her with her member friend and another investigator, Margie also 17. During the investigator class some of the catholic doctrine conflicted and she began to question a bit and we answered and she was obviously a little hurt to realize what we were telling her. But as I sat in Relief society class before we taught her after church, I had a thought come into my mind to read 3 Nephi 11 where Jesus Christ comes and appears to the people and ministers to them. We began that lesson with Rochelle having doubts and we took turns reading 3 Nephi 11:3-17 and as we read the Spirit filled the room. As we read we shared thoughts and Rochelle expressed her love for the Savior and the ocean that He created for if there were no ocean her dad could not fish and feed their family. She said "Indi ako kahambal" I cannot speak, as she said she felt the Spirit so strongly. I testified that the Book of Mormon is true and it is the word of God and they agreed and we committed her to continue to read and ask God if it was true. This gospel is so simple. It says something to the effect in Preach my Gospel that if a person has a struggle with doctrine that the only thing they need to resolve for them self is to know if the Book of Mormon is true, the word of God, for if it is, Joseph Smith is a prophet and this IS Christ's SAME church. I know this gospel is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true because it has lifted me up iun the darkest times, turned me for better in the times I was lost, and has enlightened my understanding and testifies of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

This is the truth and I am so happy to be a messenger of this joyful message I get to bring to people every day. 

I hope you all are doing well. I hope you all are reading the Book of Mormon and if not, try to with a prayer and sincere interest to know of its truthfulness. I love this gospel and I love my Savior Jesus Christ. 

Halong/take care!! 

I love you all, 

Sister Masters