Hello family! We have had a wonderful week here in Quezon City! It is busy, crowded, and always go go go, but I love it :)
First off, we have a baptism this week! Sister Edna :) She is just the sweetest lady and so ready to get baptized. Her daughter has been a member for over 10 years and she has finally come to accept the gospel into her life and we are so excited for her. She even worked with us yesterday as we went to visit another one of our investigators who is deaf, doesn't know how to do sign language or read, but she has one of the biggest hearts. A less active referred her and her mom to us and for now we have been teaching the daughter. You are probably thinking on how we teach her this, and let me tell you...it is so hard hahaha but it has actually gone really well. We have taught her word of wisdom and the plan of salvation and she understands it. We usually use visual aids and our hands to explain things, but sometimes we have to get up and act things out...For example, when teaching the word of wisdom and talking about alcohol, she did not understand until I got up and walked all wobbly and pretended to hit my head against the side of the house hahahaha I know I looked like an idiot, but at least she got the point! She comes to church every week and is excited for her baptism which is planned for August 29th :))
We also had another blessing this week. My companion and I were walking to an appointment and I saw this lady and her granddaughter. I started to talk to them, and a lot of the times when we try to talk to people they just seem annoyed and they give short answers, but this lady was so happy to talk to us, she was so open, and was so excited when we asked if we could come and share a message with her one day. So, we set a planned appointment and on that day we went to her house and she immediately welcomed us into her home, introduced us to her family, gave us some food, and said that she had been waiting for this day to come. As we shared the message of the restoration of the gospel, I saw something happen. It says in preach my gospel that the message of the restoration will sometimes have a familiar ring to our investigators. I saw that as we taught this message, it sounded familiar to her, almost a realization that this was not the first time she had heard it. The Holy Ghost works this way, where it reminds us of things that we have once heard. I know that everyone who has come to this earth, knew of Heavenly Fathers plan before they came here and were aware of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that would happen. As we pulled out the Book of Mormon and began to talk about how the Book of Mormon is evidence of the truthfulness of this gospel, she began to say, "Sister, can I please have that book. I want to read it to better understand your message, and find out for myself it is true or not." When we gave it to her, she even put it in a plastic case to take care of it while she is at work. I pray that this sister will continue to progress, and that she will put in the effort to come to church. Right now, she is working, but hopefully over time her testimony will become so strong that she is willing to do what she needs to come closer unto Christ through baptism. A miracle :)
This week, we also had my 6 month celebration! And we really made it a celebration with balloons and a cake hahaha It was so fun, but I also want to tell you all how wonderful these past 6 months have been. I've experienced so many life changing experiences. I've had challenges, frustrations, trials, but i've seen miracles, I've seen lives change, and the biggest change that I have seen here on my mission...is myself. I've truly let the power of the Atonement take place in my life and let Heavenly Father mold me into the person that He wants me to become, who he NEEDS me to become. And I know that it doesn't stop here, He still has more sculpting to do, I still have so many weaknesses and faults that I need to overcome, but I know that I can do that when I truly humble myself before Him and say "Here I am, I will do what you want me to do, I will forget about myself, I will leave behind everything, I will just go and do." I can say this without a doubt that serving a mission is the best decision I have made so far in my life. It is one of the hardest, but one of the best things I have experienced so far. I know that all of my family and friends have helped me up to this point in preparing me to serve a mission, now I have 18 months to live it, and an eternity to look back on and I am going to give it my all :)
First off, we have a baptism this week! Sister Edna :) She is just the sweetest lady and so ready to get baptized. Her daughter has been a member for over 10 years and she has finally come to accept the gospel into her life and we are so excited for her. She even worked with us yesterday as we went to visit another one of our investigators who is deaf, doesn't know how to do sign language or read, but she has one of the biggest hearts. A less active referred her and her mom to us and for now we have been teaching the daughter. You are probably thinking on how we teach her this, and let me tell you...it is so hard hahaha but it has actually gone really well. We have taught her word of wisdom and the plan of salvation and she understands it. We usually use visual aids and our hands to explain things, but sometimes we have to get up and act things out...For example, when teaching the word of wisdom and talking about alcohol, she did not understand until I got up and walked all wobbly and pretended to hit my head against the side of the house hahahaha I know I looked like an idiot, but at least she got the point! She comes to church every week and is excited for her baptism which is planned for August 29th :))
We also had another blessing this week. My companion and I were walking to an appointment and I saw this lady and her granddaughter. I started to talk to them, and a lot of the times when we try to talk to people they just seem annoyed and they give short answers, but this lady was so happy to talk to us, she was so open, and was so excited when we asked if we could come and share a message with her one day. So, we set a planned appointment and on that day we went to her house and she immediately welcomed us into her home, introduced us to her family, gave us some food, and said that she had been waiting for this day to come. As we shared the message of the restoration of the gospel, I saw something happen. It says in preach my gospel that the message of the restoration will sometimes have a familiar ring to our investigators. I saw that as we taught this message, it sounded familiar to her, almost a realization that this was not the first time she had heard it. The Holy Ghost works this way, where it reminds us of things that we have once heard. I know that everyone who has come to this earth, knew of Heavenly Fathers plan before they came here and were aware of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that would happen. As we pulled out the Book of Mormon and began to talk about how the Book of Mormon is evidence of the truthfulness of this gospel, she began to say, "Sister, can I please have that book. I want to read it to better understand your message, and find out for myself it is true or not." When we gave it to her, she even put it in a plastic case to take care of it while she is at work. I pray that this sister will continue to progress, and that she will put in the effort to come to church. Right now, she is working, but hopefully over time her testimony will become so strong that she is willing to do what she needs to come closer unto Christ through baptism. A miracle :)
This week, we also had my 6 month celebration! And we really made it a celebration with balloons and a cake hahaha It was so fun, but I also want to tell you all how wonderful these past 6 months have been. I've experienced so many life changing experiences. I've had challenges, frustrations, trials, but i've seen miracles, I've seen lives change, and the biggest change that I have seen here on my mission...is myself. I've truly let the power of the Atonement take place in my life and let Heavenly Father mold me into the person that He wants me to become, who he NEEDS me to become. And I know that it doesn't stop here, He still has more sculpting to do, I still have so many weaknesses and faults that I need to overcome, but I know that I can do that when I truly humble myself before Him and say "Here I am, I will do what you want me to do, I will forget about myself, I will leave behind everything, I will just go and do." I can say this without a doubt that serving a mission is the best decision I have made so far in my life. It is one of the hardest, but one of the best things I have experienced so far. I know that all of my family and friends have helped me up to this point in preparing me to serve a mission, now I have 18 months to live it, and an eternity to look back on and I am going to give it my all :)
I love you all,
-Sister Latham
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