Sister Brittany Robertson: Week 61

This week did not go as I was expecting but it was a happy week nonetheless. My keyboard that I type on broke so I need to retype everything so it may not be as detailed as it was at first:( Sorry.

Sister Baczuk and I have witnessed a lot of miracles in our one week together. There was this one guy that literally came up to us and asked "I want to become a member of your church how can I do that?" And we were like well we know the answer to that! He already has started reading the book of mormon and even said "I think this book is somehow going to help me get rid of my smoking habit." And we were like yes!! And then we have found some other people that seem really prepared for this gospel. We have this really cute couple we are teaching that when we taught about families and temples to them they said they are going to come to church on Sunday so that one day they can go to the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity to their family. They are awesome. We love them!

This week was different than we thought it would go for a couple reasons. One, because Sister Baczuk got some weird food poisoning we think and she was out of work for a few days, so that left me to clean the whole house, write a lot of letters, do some laundry, and study a lot hahha. But it felt nice to get those things done. It was also weird because she ate all the same things I did and I didn't get anything. And then the second reason is it started storming super bad and there's apparently a typhoon right now and it got crazy these past few days especially on Sunday morning- the only time us missionaries pray that it won't rain. So yeah barely anyone showed up to church, members and nonmembers alike. Filipinos are so scared of getting wet and getting sick so rain is a huge interference in the work here. If it is raining, the work is really slow. So yeah I got pretty down yesterday because I am the one leading the area and I felt a bit like a failure.

Butttt the BEST thing happened also yesterday! All of the Alegria Boys with Haziel CAME TO VISIT ME from Bago!!! All of them!! All 6 of them!! I was literally crying when they showed up because I was so sad and then they showed up and I have never felt so happy to see anyone on my mission. It felt like God was literally saying "Look, I know you and I love you so here's my way to show that." It was so happy. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time at church. They all expressed how much they miss me and how they are all either preparing to serve a mission or to go to the temple in November. My missionary heart was FILLED. I love them will all my heart.

And then to add to my happiness, RJ got baptized on Saturday!!! It was the most spiritual baptism I have yet to attend on my whole mission. Our branch president was AWESOME too. We got to the church early that morning on Saturday and our branch president was already there and had set everything up and started filling the font. That was the first time in my whole mission it wasn't the missionaries setting everything up. He already coordinated the program and we really didn't need to worry about everything and I think that made the spirit so much stronger. I will include RJ's conversion story:

Rex John (RJ) Catin is such a sweet soul that changed his life for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He grew up in the baptist church and stayed coming to church because he had people paying for his school from the baptist church so that was his motivation to keep going to church. But once he got old enough where they stopped paying for his school, he stopped going to church and has been just hanging around his house for a few years. We got to know RJ when we would be teaching his parents and he would come in and out of the house sometimes just doing this and that. He was very shy and would follow what his parents told him to do but never really paid attention to us. And then one day, Sister Regacho and I showed up and his parents were like "RJ wants to come to church and he asked if he could" and we were like yes!! So he came to church and has come every Sunday since then even though one Sunday he could barely walk because he had a huge pain in his leg that he couldn't figure out what it was. Every sunday he would invite a new friend of his to come to church. He is a great missionary already!

We had been focusing on his parents because they were close to getting baptized but then once they got baptized, we had the chance to focus on RJ and his conversion. We taught him on exchanges one time and all of the sudden has asked "I have a plan to get baptized is that a possibility?" And of course we smiled and said a resounding, Yes!! And since then, he really has been progressing. He has understood everything we have taught him and reads multiple chapters in one day of the Book of Mormon and gained a testimony of that book through his reading. He always expressed that he felt so happy and light and peaceful if he prayed about our church and about Joseph Smith and expressed that he knows it's true because of that. And then on the day of his baptism, he bore the sweetest testimony. He said that he has never been a person to like going to church consistently but as soon as he started coming here to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he started liking to come to church every sunday. He also said that he has been wanting to change his life for awhile and hasn't found the way how until he started listening to our lessons. He was always so willing to follow our commitments we gave him, everything from praying about our message to getting rid of the earrings he liked to wear. He was so touched by his baptismal service. The spirit was very strong and we got to do a musical number (6 of us sisters that are in La Carlota) and it turned out so good. We did a rendition (that I made up) of I Feel My Savior's Love in english and I Am A Child Of God in Hiligaynon. The spirit was literally so strong and RJ cried the entire time. I could see how he felt the spirit that was there and was more than happy with the decision he made. And he felt that same way on Sunday when he was able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We love RJ so much and are so happy that he has found the true church here on the earth. He is also excited to one day to go to the temple and be sealed with his family for eternity. RJ is the best!!

That's all for my week. Hopefully I didn't forget anything. I'm sad my keyboard broke but come what may and love it(:

LOVE YALL!!
Sister Robertson