January 6, 2014

Hello all!!
I can't believe it is 2014! It was a great start to a wonderful new year here in Makati Philippines. WE were blessed to see the Enciso family really come along in this past week. For the first time we were able to share with the whole family together, more than just one time! Usually a couple of the kids are out playing so we just share anyways. This last week though we helped all of them get really excited for their baptismal dates for January 25! All 7 of them came to church this last Sunday and I can tell they are just stoked for baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can't think of a better way to start off 2014. We are really focusing on reactivating Brother Avila this month. He has now come to church 3 times in a row and he is loving it. We share with him and his sister who is way active and every time we go there they feed us a ton of food. It's awesome. His sisters name is Sister Oyong. They are so old but they absolutely love missionaries. They are like my grandma and grandpa here in the Makati area, I love them so much. new Year's was fun. We all had to be in our places by 6 pm, so Elder Bautista and I, and our two roommates Elder Tacuban and Elder Nanol just stayed in our apartments and played card games to spend the time. It was sweet and we played this cool game called "Bobo game" which I just might take back with me to the States. You guys will get a kick out of that one. At new years I was the only one that didn't wake up from the fireworks going on. The next morning they asked me how in the world I was able to sleep through that, to be honest, I have no idea. I love this work so much and being with Elder Bautista is such a blessing. We have seen so many miracles happen already and we continue to see more and more as we continue to be exactly obedient and work as hard as we can. I know this is the work of the Lord!

Elder Stephens