hi!!
so i'll try and be fast, idon't have much time. so this week has been awesome!! first was zone conference in Calbayog which is elder Ebisa's new area (my last companio) so afterwards i got to work with him in his area, and it was awesome! felt like we were companions again! he is really one of my favorite companions! then the next day, president Andaya had asked 6 of us from our zone to help translate and be volunteers for the medical mission that came to Samar Island. the US mercy ship was there along with the US marines and Navy doctors. so we got to help translate for the american doctors to the filipino patients. it was really awesome! and so nice to talk with AMERICANS!!!! and the doctors that had on a light blue shirt were actually members. i guess the church actually funded 75% of this medical mission. what they do is they go to a place for 15 days and do opperations on the ship and just help the people and its all free! so they were in calbayog for 15 days but we only got to help one day, and we had the yellow helping hands vests on. it was a great experience!
This week, the training that we recieved was to find professionals, those elect people. cuz most of the less active are these just really pore people, and what the church needs here are some good leaders. so we are looking for the elect. and friday night, we went to our investigators house (Jomar's house) and it just happens to be one of the biggest houses, and they invited us right in. our purpose there was to meet his father and teach him cuz he is a professional. and he was finally there! and so we meet him, built some trust and he let us teach him. we taught him and his family the message of the restoration. is was a great lesson! very spiritual! and afterwards he expressed that he always wondered why there were so many religions yet only One God and he wondered which one really was the true church. so we testified that our message was true and that the church was true. and we committed him to pray and to ask God if it is true..if our message is true. and he said that he would. and he is looking forward to our next visit. so i think something could happen from this. i hope and pray that he will continue to listen to us! his name is Carlito Mariano. so if you want, please keep him in your prayers that he will except our message! so i was so happy after that and feel like there is a lot of potential there! so that is one of our success stories. and guess what? one of my investigators, Jhonald, went to the temple!! just the other month or so..the one that got baptized right after i left. ah it made me so happy and brought tears to my eyes!! so glad that he isn't less active!! (there are so many less active here!!!) but really, i was happy to hear that!
we also had our stake general priesthood session, and i was one of the main speakers. it went good, and it was a good turn out. we then had permission to play basketball afterwards with the priesthood. it was fun! and some of these filipinos are ballers! they know how to play!! so it was fun!
so my week was fun and awesome! i love it here, and it has just been a very..spiritual week this week. i had a great fast sunday..even tho the start of sacrament started with 26 people there...but more showed up..(a lot of the priesthood that attended stake priesthood saturday didn't come cuz they were tired..probably from basketball..haha)
but i just want you to know that i know this church is true! i know the Book of Mormon is true, and i know that Jesus Christ lives! and i love him.
thanks for all your support! love you all!!
Love
Elder Nelson