Happy Easter!

Hello All!

I hope you all had a sunny and happy Easter! It was definitely the hottest Easter I've experienced in my life. Even with all 12 ceiling fans spinning on full blast in the chapel, I could still feel the sweat dripping down my back as we sat in sacrament meeting yesterday... :)

Miracle of the week: Sister Delia finally accepted her baptismal date! She has been praying so hard to know if this is the right thing for her to do and she has decided that it is, even though her very strong Catholic children do not approve. We know this is the answer to ours and her prayers! :)

Brother Ronell is so excited for his baptism. It is such a blessing to be able to witness the changes people make in their lives. :) When we first met him about six weeks ago, he was so shy to pray and would barely do so out loud. Now he prays all the time. He told us yesterday with a huge grin on his face that he prayed before he went to harvest crabs from their fish pond that the crabs wouldn't bite him. We left a word of wisdom pamphlet for him to read and when we asked him about it yesterday he was so willing to give up alcohol and coffee and said he knows the word of wisdom is revelation. What a blessing it is to be able to witness people changing their lives! 

We have been having great success this week in finding new investigators using the members. We go to their houses, teach a short and (hopefully) powerful lesson about missionary work and invite them to come outside and introduce us to their neighbors. A lot of times it takes a little boldness and love, but they are usually willing to do so. We introduce ourselves and our message and schedule return appointments. We should be reaping the fruits in the next few weeks! This works really well because Filipino culture is really centered on relationships with family and neighbors and usually all live in one compound. They are so willing to share their blessings with each other!

We had our quarterly zone interviews wither President Monahan on Thursday and he set some pretty high goals for our area, 4-6 baptisms for the month of May. Wow! We will do our best and I know Heavenly Father will bless us with success as we continue to be exactly obedient and do what Heavenly Father has asked of us!

Sister Lapura is doing great! She has an incredible attitude. Whenever I ask her how her day was at the end of the night, she always says with a smile, "Tired but happy" :) We are enjoying our companionship and are developing a really close relationship! 

One thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is Jesus Christ's peace. We can receive His peace in our crazy, hectic lives as we sincerely seek time to ponder and pray for it. Peace is a state of mind and being that we can achieve as we are worthy for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and earnestly seek His peace. I've felt this peace as I say silent prayers, walking through the dark night along windy dirt paths in between fish ponds and in lessons where I need to know what to say to investigators who are struggling. Pray for and seek His peace! It's better than anything the world has to offer :)

That's all for now :) Mahal ko kayong lahat!

Sister Gustafson