Hello family!!!
So I went to the mission home and picked up my anak (child) :) My new companion is Sister Tio, she is 19 years old and is from the Philippines, she is so so cute! I'm way taller than her haha When she also found out that we were opening an area, she was nervous, but I had to be strong and told her "we can do this, Heavenly Father will help us" The other sisters in our ward had worked only a few times in our area so they had about 4 investigators. So our first few days we went and tried to find those investigators, visit some members, and do some finding. We were blessed to find two families that all accepted a bap date and plan to come to church next Sunday. One of those is Kira, he is I think 21 or so. When we extended the baptism date to him he told us, "yes sisters, I promise. This is what I have been looking for." We asked him why he feels like this is what he is looking for and he told us "I see hope in your message and in this church. I need hope in this life." So amazing. Sister Tio also was so excited as she saw people accepting the message that we had to share! So from 4 investigators that we had in the beginning, we found 9 new investigators and 13 now have a baptism date! We are so excited for what else the Lord is preparing for us :)
Let me just start off by telling you all that I am so so happy :) Last week you might have noticed some fear or nervousness in my email, but all of that is gone now. We had a wonderful week!
First off, I left Quezon City Wednesday morning and saying goodbye to those in the ward was so hard. I had to say goodbye to Dess to Tess and I said the closing prayer. As us 4 sisters knelt outside and said a prayer, the spirit was so strong and I felt the Lord comforting us. Sister Dess was going through a hard time at the moment and she also didn't want me to leave. We both cried as we hugged each other and she said to me "I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for sending you into my life." I told her that I could say the same thing to her. I know that Heavenly Father needed me to meet these people here in Quezon City and that the Lord has also prepared those for me in Quezon City. I have loved my past 3 transfers there :) I knew though that it was time for me to go to a new area and find more people!
One miracle I want to share as well. On Monday and Tuesday I started getting a sore throat and it hurt so bad. On Tuesday I could not even eat or drink water. When I looked in my throat it was swollen like a golf ball. It hurt so so bad. On Tuesday night I prayed and prayed, pleaded and pleaded with Heavenly Father to heal my sicknesses before tomorrow and before I went to the mission home. When I woke up the next morning, I had had a wonderful sleep and my throat was only a little bit swollen, but I could eat and I felt so much better. Prayer is so powerful!
So I went to the mission home and picked up my anak (child) :) My new companion is Sister Tio, she is 19 years old and is from the Philippines, she is so so cute! I'm way taller than her haha When she also found out that we were opening an area, she was nervous, but I had to be strong and told her "we can do this, Heavenly Father will help us" The other sisters in our ward had worked only a few times in our area so they had about 4 investigators. So our first few days we went and tried to find those investigators, visit some members, and do some finding. We were blessed to find two families that all accepted a bap date and plan to come to church next Sunday. One of those is Kira, he is I think 21 or so. When we extended the baptism date to him he told us, "yes sisters, I promise. This is what I have been looking for." We asked him why he feels like this is what he is looking for and he told us "I see hope in your message and in this church. I need hope in this life." So amazing. Sister Tio also was so excited as she saw people accepting the message that we had to share! So from 4 investigators that we had in the beginning, we found 9 new investigators and 13 now have a baptism date! We are so excited for what else the Lord is preparing for us :)
WE also had our stake conference yesterday and the messages that were shared were wonderful! A member of the area 70 was there, Elder Pajaro and his wife. They gave wonderful talks and I will share a few ideas. Sister Pajaro talked about how the Lord does his equations in a complete different way than we do. When we subtract, our numbers are less, but as we subtract in spiritual things, the lord multiplies. Here are a few examples. When we subtract 10% from our tithing, the Lord multiplies the 90%. When we subtract 1 day from our week to keep the Sabbath day holy, the Lord multiplies the blessings within the week. As we subtract 10 minutes from our day to read the scriptures, the Lord multiplies our spiritual power that day. Just like in the book of Matthew in chapter 14, the Lord is given 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. He blessed it, fed 5,000 people and had 12 extra baskets left. If we subtract for righteousness sake, the Lord will multiply. As I think about my experience as a missionary. I am subtracting 18 months of my life, giving up school, career, family, but the Lords blessings that he is giving to me, my family, and my future family is eternal. We can't count the number of blessings that the Lord will give us if we subtract for righteousness sake. Wonderful lesson right?
Also, Elder Pajaro gave a wonderful talk about families. He said that the first thing Heavenly Father wants us to know is to be grateful for our parents. We all have read I Nephi 1:1. The Book of Mormon begins with Nephi being grateful for his "goodly parents". He did not say perfect parents, but parents that did all they could him and taught him well. Just like Nephi, I am grateful for my wonderful parents. I love you mom and dad so much and I am blessed beyond words to have you as my mom and dad. I can't express my thanks to Heavenly Father for sending me into this family. I will never be able to repay Him for the blessing of a loving and eternal family that He sent me into. I love you all so much, Mom, Dad, Nicole,Jake,Lyla, Noelle,Wesley, Samantha. I love you all. I look forward to skyping you all in just a few weeks. Its been a long time, and I've been waiting and the time is so soon! Thank you all for your love and prayers :) Mahal ko kayo :)
Love, Sister Latham
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