March 4, 2013

Hello!
How is everyone doing? I would just like to let you know the weather in the Philippines is HOT. That's it. HOT. No actually it feels really good since we're kind of by the ocean and there is a nice breeze. It is getting in the summer months though so it is getting hotter and hotter. It's alright though! So actually transfers were last week. Last transfer was only 5 weeks due to the changes in th MTC for dates and stuff because of the number of missionaries coming out. Very exciting by the way. So the news about the transfers is, Elder Pugmire transferred to Ternate which is actually still in the Naic zone. Very exciting as well. And I am still here in Carissa with a new companion! His name is Elder Acosta, a Filipino who is really good at Tagalog which helps me a lot to learn more. We are actually the same batch so we have been in the field the exact same amount of time. I get to be the senior companion which is very exciting. the best part is I get to really serve and learn a lot form Elder Acosta for these next few weeks. i am very excited. We were also really blessed to have some awesome work this past week. We had an awesome lesson with a few investigators, one of them is Leo, who we thought was going to move but ended up staying here with his mother. We taught about baptism and confirmation and just the importance of being baptized. It went very well and we extended the baptismal invitation and they accepted the invitation right away. It was awesome and I can feel that they are really excited to learn more and especially about being baptized! It was so great to feel the Spirit work through us as we taught and seeing them feel the Spirit as well. I loved it! We also had a Family Home Evening with the Gamazan family again and Sister Gamazan had the lesson. It was a sweet lesson because she had a board of all types of pictures and the lesson was to pick one and explain how important that picture and the principle behind it is to you. It was great because Brother Gamazan chose the Atonement picture of Christ and it was nice seeing him explain how the Atonement has been a blessing in his life. I felt the Spirit so string as he bore testimony of the Atonement and as everyone bore their testimonies as well. It was a great idea and a great lesson as well. We were also really blessed to have a lot of investigators come to church this week! That has been a real struggle for us in this area, so we were really grateful when a lot of investigators came and felt the Spirit and were able to learn from other members of the church as well. I was so happy. Later that day we were able to work with some of the members. They have started a new activity where every first Sunday all the Priesthood meet in one place to go out and do their home teaching. It was awesome because we were able to be a part of it. It was great because we were also able to go to some of the investigators and we were also able to meet some new less active members though the activity. I am excited to continue that next month! It even has a great name, "The Priesthood Caravan." Classic. This week was great! Oh and there is some pretty great news about the Philippines Manila Mission! For those of you who do not know, it is getting split into the Manila and the Cavite missions! There are just so many missionaries coming into the mission that it had to get split! there are also 3 other new missions just int he Philippines. It is crazy because they have to get all new apartments and furniture and stuff for all the new areas being formed as well! It is excited how much this work is going forth! It's eve more exciting to be a part of it. Well that's about it from me! I will write again next week!

Elder Stephens