Hi mom and dad!
-As for the earthquake, (there was a 7.9 earthquake in the southern island of the Philippines) we were planning and we slightly felt the house swaying! It was so like I didn't notice it until Elder L. pointed it out!
-No mail this week. We have Zone Conference this week so I could get mail.
-Thanks so much for sending pictures!!! They're so much fun to see and a boost for me!
Well it was a fun week and some great things happened in our area. We had the most investigators come to church that I've had on my mission, twelve! What's nice is that they're relatively newer investigators. This week we were finally able to teach both the White Rabbit investigator and her husband. When you're assigned in more provincial areas, you find that a lot of husbands work up in Manila, and their families live in the province. A lot of them only come home once a month or so. This brother works in Manila, so we've had a hard time reaching him. He's been a member since '87, but has been LA for 10+ years, and now smokes and drinks. We had a great lesson with them, and this brother even cried! He told us that he feels his Spirit is really hungry, and he'd rather not have real food than not be spiritually nourished. He told us he was giving up drinking, smoking, and was going to return to the church. He said he wanted to find a job closer to home, even if it meant a decrease in income. All this came because, his investigator wife said to him, "You need to come back." They have a tentative wedding/baptism date for Sept. 29, which hinges on the Sister not smoking. Keep them in your prayers!!
About two weeks ago we met a man while he was doing his family's laundry. We sat down and started talking to him about his family. His wife left him for another man, and he's been left to care for some young grandchildren AND kids of his own to raise. A few years ago his only son was stabbed to death on Christmas, and all of this has left him wondering whether God really exists. This is a problem I never thought I would encounter my whole mission here in such a Christian nation. It's kind of funny though that this atheist has a big tattoo of Jesus on his arm! It's been really slow progress with him. We've needed to teach slowly and simply, but his faith is starting to grow, and he's starting to read the Book of Mormon, he even came to an hour of church on Sunday. Whether he's recognizing it, the Gospel is changing his heart.
We had a really awesome experience this past Thursday. We got punted(appointments cancelled) a ton and had gone to all of our back up plans and had gotten punted as well. It was about 6:45 and we were both a bit tired and discouraged, and a Less-Active family popped into my mind, so we went to go visit them. As we got to their house, one of their daughter's husbands was at their house, and started talking to us. He had been baptized the previous Saturday as a Seventh-Day Adventist, and told us that he wanted to "interview" us, which of course meant he wanted to debate. We sat down, and started to teach him the Restoration. As we started, I could tell he was trying to find faults in what we were saying, but as time went on he just was quiet and seemed so interested. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to read, pray to know, and come to church. Well, he and the Less-Active family came to church yesterday and had a great experience. His mother in law said that he told them that as we taught he had questions pop into his mind, and then we would answer them by something we would say, without him even asking. I think it really surprised him and really helped him feel the Spirit. As I've thought about this, it's strengthened my testimony in the Inspired Teaching Method, and also that there was a reason we got punted all day on Thursday, so the Lord could put us where we needed to be.
I didn't know that was the Spirit that prompted me. I just had a thought pop into my head, I followed it, and later I learned that it was actually a prompting, yet in the moment I had no idea! All we need to do is live worthy, strive to have the Spirit with us, and the Lord will guide us and strengthen us to accomplish his purposes.
Love,
Elder Yost
-As for the earthquake, (there was a 7.9 earthquake in the southern island of the Philippines) we were planning and we slightly felt the house swaying! It was so like I didn't notice it until Elder L. pointed it out!
-No mail this week. We have Zone Conference this week so I could get mail.
-Thanks so much for sending pictures!!! They're so much fun to see and a boost for me!
Well it was a fun week and some great things happened in our area. We had the most investigators come to church that I've had on my mission, twelve! What's nice is that they're relatively newer investigators. This week we were finally able to teach both the White Rabbit investigator and her husband. When you're assigned in more provincial areas, you find that a lot of husbands work up in Manila, and their families live in the province. A lot of them only come home once a month or so. This brother works in Manila, so we've had a hard time reaching him. He's been a member since '87, but has been LA for 10+ years, and now smokes and drinks. We had a great lesson with them, and this brother even cried! He told us that he feels his Spirit is really hungry, and he'd rather not have real food than not be spiritually nourished. He told us he was giving up drinking, smoking, and was going to return to the church. He said he wanted to find a job closer to home, even if it meant a decrease in income. All this came because, his investigator wife said to him, "You need to come back." They have a tentative wedding/baptism date for Sept. 29, which hinges on the Sister not smoking. Keep them in your prayers!!
About two weeks ago we met a man while he was doing his family's laundry. We sat down and started talking to him about his family. His wife left him for another man, and he's been left to care for some young grandchildren AND kids of his own to raise. A few years ago his only son was stabbed to death on Christmas, and all of this has left him wondering whether God really exists. This is a problem I never thought I would encounter my whole mission here in such a Christian nation. It's kind of funny though that this atheist has a big tattoo of Jesus on his arm! It's been really slow progress with him. We've needed to teach slowly and simply, but his faith is starting to grow, and he's starting to read the Book of Mormon, he even came to an hour of church on Sunday. Whether he's recognizing it, the Gospel is changing his heart.
We had a really awesome experience this past Thursday. We got punted(appointments cancelled) a ton and had gone to all of our back up plans and had gotten punted as well. It was about 6:45 and we were both a bit tired and discouraged, and a Less-Active family popped into my mind, so we went to go visit them. As we got to their house, one of their daughter's husbands was at their house, and started talking to us. He had been baptized the previous Saturday as a Seventh-Day Adventist, and told us that he wanted to "interview" us, which of course meant he wanted to debate. We sat down, and started to teach him the Restoration. As we started, I could tell he was trying to find faults in what we were saying, but as time went on he just was quiet and seemed so interested. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to read, pray to know, and come to church. Well, he and the Less-Active family came to church yesterday and had a great experience. His mother in law said that he told them that as we taught he had questions pop into his mind, and then we would answer them by something we would say, without him even asking. I think it really surprised him and really helped him feel the Spirit. As I've thought about this, it's strengthened my testimony in the Inspired Teaching Method, and also that there was a reason we got punted all day on Thursday, so the Lord could put us where we needed to be.
I didn't know that was the Spirit that prompted me. I just had a thought pop into my head, I followed it, and later I learned that it was actually a prompting, yet in the moment I had no idea! All we need to do is live worthy, strive to have the Spirit with us, and the Lord will guide us and strengthen us to accomplish his purposes.
Love,
Elder Yost
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