I'm so blessed to be apart of this work :)

Hello Family and Love ones :)

It has been a wonderful week here in the Philippines!  It is still hot as ever, there are still mice in the house and cockroaches in the shower, but I am loving being a missionary and an instrument in the Lord's hands :)

So, you all are probably wondering how training is going? Who is my new companion?  So I will give you a little background.  My companion is Sister Tropia, she is from Pangasinan Philippines.  She studied at BYU-Hawaii for three years so her English is really good, but we mainly talk in Tagalog.  One of the many wonderful things that I have seen so far in her, is that she immediately loved the people.  She didn't so much love the apartment, or the city, but she loved the investigators, members, and less actives from the moment she met them.  It showed in her teaching and listening that she cares about them and wants to help them come more unto Christ.  We worked really really hard this week.  When I first picked her up from the mission home, our numbers were really low, but we worked hard, talked to a lot of people, met new wonderful investigators, and taught powerful lessons where the Holy Ghost was present and testified to the people we were teaching, that our message was true and from Heavenly Father.

I want to share a thing that I studied this week.  I decided to study about the Sons of Mosiah and the mighty change of heart that they experienced.  I loved following their story and their coversion process.  In the beginning the Sons of Mosiah were trying to tear apart the church, to pull people away from the truth.  However, they experienced a mighty change of heart and were converted unto the Lord through repentance and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Because of the testimony and desire that they had gained, they were called to preach the gospel amongst those that were against the church.  In Alma 23:5-6 we read of the success that they had amongst those people.  It says in these scriptures that thousands were converted unto the Lord  and never did fall away.   

While being here in my mission, I have seen this mighty change of heart.  I've seen it in investigators, less actives, and also in myself.  Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, WE can CHANGE.  One of our investigators, Des, will be having her baptism interview this Saturday.  Throughout teaching her, I have seen a mighty change of heart.  And she has told us that she is going to prepare to serve a mission so that she can help others experience the change, joy, and peace that she has experienced through her conversion.  Like the Sons of Mosiah, Des experienced a change of heart, and now wants to go and serve the Lord and His children.  I know that if we apply the gospel in our lives, and let the Atonement change us for the better, we will experience the joy and peace that Heavenly Father will give us :)

Thank you so much family for everything, I love you so much and I'm grateful for all the support you are giving me.  This is such a short amount of time to serve the Lord, but I'm grateful to share my experiences with you :) Love you all

-Sister Latham