May 6, 2013

Hey there all!
So this week was absolutely crazy! First off, we had an emergency transfer, which means Elder Wardle is now in Makati. He got stepped up from District Leader to Zone Leader over there in the big city! We have no idea why there was an emergency transfer. Anyway, since he left I actually became the District Leader here in Aborlan! I'm pretty excited and know that I am going to get to learn a ton as a District leader. We had a strange week because of the emergency transfer though. I worked in another area for 3 days while I was waiting for my new companion to come. One of those days I already to go do my first few interviews as a District Leader. I actually love it so much@ It is awesome getting to talk to people for the first time while they are getting ready to enter the waters of baptism. I'm really looking forward to more interviews in the future. Before Elder Wardle left, we were able to have a one day mission here in the Aborlan Branch! It was great because we got to teach a little lesson on how to be missionaries, so we just taught a little bit on how to teach so the members weren't too afraid to share. There are actually a ton of returned missionaries here in the Aborlan Branch so they have a lot of experience which helped us out a lot too. One Sunday we talked with the Branch President, President Pamugas, and he said there was a lot of success from the one day mission and wants to have more in the future. So I am way excited for that, of course. On Friday, my new companion came. His name is Elder Vang and we are actually the same batch! We were even in the MTC together in Provo. Crazy, right? Anyways, he is pretty great. Really obedient which is always good. I'm real excited for these next few weeks we have together. I have really been focusing on strengthening my faith in Jesus Christ for these past few days. I know that with faith, we can do miracles. Christ even said, "If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoeverthing is expedient in me." (Moroni 7:33) As a mission we really are starting to focus more on finding and we have to have faith in order to find those who are prepared to hear the gospel. I know that God loves us and wants to help us, and all we have to do is trust Him and have faith in Christ to accomplish His will. This week has been pretty nuts but I am very excited for the next weeks to come!

Elder Stephens