First Baptismal Date!

Hello there!  So life is good here.  Real good.  I have found that my biggest de-stresser is when I sit on a tricycle (motorcycle with a sidecar) with the wind drying off my sweat and I get to stare at the beauty of green rice fields, palm trees, and colorful homes that are small and large.  Oh the peace that I feel to be in the wonderful land.  The Philippines has my heart. These people have it too.  The kids make me smile and the men and women are kind and generous.  I wish you could all just be here to see what I am experiencing.  I try my best to describe my amazing experiences here. 

This week we had the "New Missionary Check Up" with President.  It was amazing to see all my MTC friends and see how they have been going through all the same struggles.  One of friends has already lost 20 lbs here!  Nuts.  President gave us some amazing counsel.  My favorite thing he said was that we are here to bring people "unto", but the spirit brings them "into".  So powerful, right?  And then he gave us all this talk called, "The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence Something... I cant remember.  How grateful I am to have read that at the beginning of my mission!  It taught me so much on how I need to let go of all these things I am holding onto.  I need to learn how to surrender my will.  I need to place my heart in the loving hands of the Savior, and then His Will will be done and miracles will happen.  That's my new process I am beginning.  It is honestly so much harder than it sounds.  I have found that there are memories, wants, and desires that I have, but I just need to let them go and surrender.  I need to lose this battle in order to "win".  Just thought I would share this new insight and process I have begun. 

This week we set our first baptismal date!  With Brother Bermudez, he is 10 and from a less active family.  We are trying to help his family come to church, but he has committed and I couldn't be more excited!  I included a picture of our Plan of Salvation visual aid for him.  It's hard for me to teach a kid when the way I learned Tagalog is in the formal way, but we are making it work!  He is really quiet and I hope he is truly gaining his own testimony, but I am just thankful for a fluent companion and ward members who are helping in his conversion. 

Also, we attended the baptism of two boys of a recent convert.  This was my first time attending a baptism here and oh what joy it brought my heart!  Those boys decided to follow their Saviors example and were washed perfectly clean.  Oh how amazing this work is.  It brought me a vision of what I can accomplish here through my own acceptance of the Savior in my life.  Because I made that choice, I want others to know that they can too.  In every first lesson, we tell the investigator that they can know if this church is true by doing one simple thing, asking God through prayer.  It breaks my heart when people don't do that simple commitment because that is all it takes. 

But this week we got a wonderful referral of the most amazing family.  They seemed so receptive and really participated in our lesson!  I hope they receive an answer for themselves because they are practically a golden investigator.  They already have a support system and they seem so prepared and ready for this in their young family's lives. 

Today we had Zone P-Day!  So fun!  We went to these botanical gardens and it was beautiful!  I included some pics!  It is so fun being with other missionaries.  It's kinda like normal life again... hahaha

Well,. I just want you all to know how I know this is the same church that Christ established on the Earth when he lived.  This church contains the fullness of the Gospel and has the same foundation through it's prophet, the priesthood, and revelation.  I am so grateful to be apart of this amazing work in finding those prepared people who are ready to accept it in their lives.  I love you all and hope all is well!

Mahal kita,

Sister Waldrom

Matthew 16:25-26

Pday break.  The Botanical Gardens