Happy New Year

Us after playing basketball in the morning with the sisters from Villasis and San Jacinto and Sister Camille, a recent convert who is preparing for a mission! Fun fun fun :)

Hello everyone and Happy 2015!!

We had a super awesome and busy week! With two exchanges and two surprise studies with the sisters, it seems that we were giving out a ton of hugs and doing a lot of fun things this week :)

We had an awesome miracle in our area this week- Bro Rick. Bro Rick is a man that Sister Flores and I talked to waay back in July when I was here before. We got his info, but never had a chance to go and contact him. We would always see him delivering soft drinks in his tricycle around town, and he was always so friendly to us. Well, sis Gregory and I saw him again this past week and finally set an appt to go and visit him with the YM president. Bro Rick opened up to us on the first lesson and told us how his wife left him and how his mom died and his dad is in bad health. He is truly an honest seeker of truth looking for a way to find peace again in his life. To make a long story short, he is progressing so much after only a week and a half, came to church yesterday and really wants to be baptized!! I am so sure that he is one of the reasons I came back to Villasis and it really strengthens my testimony that the elect will always be led to us or we will be led to them! :)

We also had a lot of success with less-actives this week. Something I've learned from Sis Gregory is the importance of just loving people. One of the greatest blessings of being a missionary is just feeling so much love, even to people whose hearts are not yet open to receive the message. :) Sis Sarte always used to say that there is no hard bread in hot chocolate and the same thing is true. How can people's hearts be hard when you are constantly telling them how much you and Heavenly Father care about them? We had a great lesson on Saturday with Bro Roger, a long time LA with an endowed wife and son sealed in the temple. We built him up and told him how much he is needed in church and how much the ward could use someone with as much knowledge as he has. and lo and behold,  yesterday Bro Roger showed up to church yesterday in his nicest blue jeans and a sharp blue polo with his wife and son! :)

I also learned that this week as we taught Sis Baby and Sis Adelina, two die-hard Catholics who are living with an active member. They really wanted nothing to do with us until sis G and I just kept telling them that we love them and hugging them and letting them know how much God loves them. They still have not come to church, but at least they know that we truly care about them and maybe will be ready for the next set of missionaries that come through! :)

Something I've also been learning about a lot this week is how to help investigators and recent converts with repentance and addiction recovery. It's amazing to see the truly penitent coming unto Christ, giving up their cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, and gambling and becoming clean through the Atonement of Christ. These brothers that we are working with have the Light of Christ and I can see that light growing as they repent and turn their backs on these harmful substances. I always tell them, "Hindi mahalaga sa Diyos kung ilan beses po tayo nadapa, mahalaga sa Kanya kung ilang beses po tayo bumanggon and magpatuloy!" It doesn't matter to God how many times we trip, as long as we get up and continue to be better each and every day :) That's all for this week! :)

I love you!

Sister Gustafson :)

In Manaoag with the 4 Manaoag Sisters