May 9: Love the love

The real bliss of a mission comes after much hard work and care – somewhat backwards from the worlds prospective of enjoyment.

We live in such a depressed area with so few leaders (in fact they were actually taking about dissolving the ward, but just last Sunday called a few high council members from other wards to be in the bishopric) that growth in my area has been slow. One reason for that is the missionaries get stuck on the idea that only poor people are ready to hear the gospel, thus most of the finding is done in lower income areas, which is most of Bicutan. However, this last couple of weeks, my companion and I have been going into some nice subdivisions to find the future leaders when our borrowed leaders return to their wards. This has been a great experience. We just started, but already have had success. No one has come to church, but we have found people willing to listen. It is a lot different to find in the affluent areas, but more rewarding. On small blessing (and problem) is we get a snack at every visit, even if it is just the first visit hoping for a return appointment. This was only a problem when we were fasting (trying to fast) last Saturday. Another strange thing happened. After this lady gave us a snack while we were fasting, she also tried to give us a "love offering" or an envelope with money in it. I am not sure how much but we strongly refused. It was a bit awkward.

This last week was also been Elder Perry's birthday, so on Monday night was had an crazy FHE. We had actually just made it a big party because Sister Parreno and Sister Fernando had birthdays too, but all the balloons had Elder Perry's name on it. The members love us here! And it is not from us being disobedience by hanging out at their houses every day, we just love the work and love each other and they see that. The FHE was great because Allan Jackson (recent concert when Elder Acob was here), the Mercado family, and the Bacal family all came. The little room was packed.

The sad news is that Mercado's baptism got postponed because they did not get to church. They were bathing and all ready when Danny got a last minute job that should have been quick. But was not, so we visited them after church; Hazel, the wife, was so excited about baptism after seen the Parreno's that they had an argument when Danny finally got home and they missed church.

Jellen Bunag is holding strong on her Word of Wisdom commitment. The Bacal family is a new referral from Sister Copada (she was the one that referred the Parreno family two years ago), they did not come the church because we did not prepare them enough. They are a humble wonderful family. They own a little street store (called in Tagalog tindahan) and have five great kids. The father, Kimpe, drinks a big, but is a family guy that loves his wife. Right now he just wants his wife and kids to be baptized because he thinks he needs to work on Sunday and does not yet want to give up drinking. We expect him to change when he see the blessings from the gospel.

We are being extremely blessed here. I am working on not getting content with my current skills. Continuing to learn and grow should be everyone's aspiration. My time here is flying so fast I can't keep up with it. A mission is truly one of the greatest decisions I have made. I love you all!