Sister Dixon: Teach Me to Walk in the Light

Hello Everyone!

This week went by so fast! We worked really hard this week and sure had a lot of miracles because of it. On Monday after p-day we had FHE at our recent convert, Spark's, house. There were a ton of his friends there, so it was really fun. We had an awesome lesson on repentance and then played games. Boy, do Filipino teenagers know how to have a good time! haha

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Isabela sisters. I went to Isabela with Sister Tampos and Sister Fanene came to Pontevedra. I I learned a lot from Sister Tampos' diligent and loving Christ-like attributes and we worked hard despite the rain. We had quite a few lessons and met a new investigator named Kimberly. She was very receptive and accepted a baptismal date! After we finished the lesson, she thanked us and we could tell she was excited for the sisters to visit her again. We also taught Sister Lapinosa. She has a word of wisdom issue, but during the lesson, after a few inspired questions, she basically convinced herself through the spirit that smoking is bad for her and she needs to quit. And she kept saying, "what IF Joseph Smith is a true prophet...I mean..he could be! Why not just try learning about him to know if he's really a prophet? I mean, there were prophets way back when..." Needless to say, I'm excited for the sisters to go back and teach her the full lesson about the Restoration. :) We ended the night at the apartment in Isabela and guess what lives in their apartment? A toko lizzard! Oh my goodness, it was huge, loud, green, with purple spots, with the craziest light green eyes. My camera died otherwise I would've taken a picture. But look it up online or something. They're pretty crazy.

Wednesday we ended our exchange and met up with our companions in Binalbagan. Sister Batalero and I returned to Pontevedra and we couldn't stop talking about how inspired we were by the sisters. I think they inspired us more and we learned more from them than they did from us. Seriously. The sisters here are amazing! We took the things we learned from them, applied it to our work, and had a pretty awesome day. We were full of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we found so many new investigators. We came home so exhausted we could hardly update the area book. haha Jane worked with us as well and told us she wants to work with us all the time because missionary work is so awesome. I have to agree! One of the investigators we found was actually a bit drunk, but he kindly offered his home for us to teach a family that we had helped carry water to their home. He told us he wanted to come back and teach his family as well. It's amazing the results that come when you go about doing good and then preach the Gospel. :)

Thursday we went to one of our further areas and taught the sweet Morata family. The elders had been teaching them and so when we split the area, they gave us their teaching record. We taught the mother, Banji, and she was super receptive. The only issue was that with school starting, she'll always be gone helping at the school and she does volunteer stuff every Saturday and Sunday so she doesn't know when we'll be able to teach her, especially with the area so far. We had just had an awesome lesson, full of the Spirit, on the Restoration, so we were pretty bummed that she 'didn't have time' to have us visit again. We got her phone number though and we'll text her every once in a while to see if there's a time when we can visit them. This might not be the time for this family to accept the Gospel, but I know they will someday. :) Later that day we visited Haydee, and her brother Reymark (17). We have tried teaching Reymark before but didn't have any success. In this lesson, however, he told us he wanted to read the Book of Mormon and learn more. We were pretty excited. We followed up with him yesterday, and he's already in chapter 9 of 1 Nephi! He accepted a baptismal date as well! We're hoping that he and AJ will be able to be baptized so the three of them can be a good example and light to their parents. :)

Friday was Sister Batalero's birthday! We celebrated by having spaghetti (a must for birthdays in the Philippines), ice cream, and weekly planning. haha She was pretty excited for her birthday and we worked really hard to have that extra happy missionary feel when working hard. ;) We had this amazing lesson with one of our new investigators, Marianne. She speaks Tagalog, but through the spirit I could understand everything she was saying. She asked the perfect question..."why is your church different than any of the others?" She actually asked this question in the first lesson we had with her, so when we left her the Restoration pamphlet and told her she'd find her answer inside, when we came back she had read almost the whole thing. Her first question..."what is Priesthood?" She basically answered her first question with her second question. We were more than thrilled to tell her about the Priesthood and the wonder of the Restoration. The spirit was SO strong and completely guided the lesson. She committed to baptism, as well as her 4 kids, and said they'd come to church! Now we just need to meet the father so the whole family can accept the gospel! Later we visited Ricardo. He's slowly but surely overcoming his coffee and cigarettes, and he gave a very sincere prayer at the end of our lesson that he'd be able to overcome his addiction. He's waited so long to be baptized, but we can feel that he's finally getting close. :)

Saturday we had an awesome service project at the Elementary school. School starts up again today so we helped Irish Dunato, a member of our branch who's a teacher, clean up her classroom. Later that day was the baptism of Minerva and her kids Jomar, R-Jay, and Robelyn. :) Before the baptism, Jomar and R-Jay went missing for a bit (here the kids just play wherever they want to), so we spent about an hour trying to find them. We decided to just go on with Minvera and Robelyn, but as we were taking pictures, one of the members spotted them and we got them suited up for baptism just in time. :) Gotta love baptism experiences. haha The spirit was wonderful, though, as all four of them entered the waters of baptism. Later that night we visited Allyza at the Rusia's home. She came home from her vacation in Murcia. We asked her if her dad gave permission for her to be baptized and she said that he told her that it was up to her. She wanted to get a sure yes from him for an answer before getting baptized, so we helped her understand the trust her father had given her in letting her make the decision on her own. Our lesson was taught by candlelight and we started by singing, 'teach me to walk in the light.' The spirit completely guided our lesson as we read from 3 Nephi 12:13-16 about how when she gets baptized she will be a light to her family. She was still pretty hesitant, so we committed her to pray to know if she should be baptized and that the Spirit would tell her what to do. She gave the closing prayer, and it was probably the most sincere prayer I've heard in a long time. She's only 12, but her prayer was so long and heartfelt, and when she asked Heavenly Father if she should be baptized this Saturday, the spirit magnified immensely in the room. She started to cry heavily, and everyone else in the room was sniffling. Her sweet spirit is so contagious! After her prayer, she told us she received her answer and she wants to be baptized on Saturday. :) This is one lesson I will never forget. I'm so grateful for the power of music, the Book of Mormon, testimony, prayer, and especially the spirit.

I'm so grateful for my Savior and the light He is in our lives. I know that as we follow in His footsteps, constantly trusting Him and having faith in His atonement, that He will always lead and guide us in the direction we need to go. I'm grateful for His love, his patience and long-suffering in my weaknesses, and for the power of repentance. I know that when we truly lose ourselves in diligent work, replace doubt and fear with faith, and follow the promptings of the spirit, that miracles can happen. I know that our Savior lives and loves us. I pray that we may always learn of Him, His ways, and His love, and truly walk in the Light.

Have a wonderful week and know how much I love each one of you! You have all been lights along my pathway of life, for which I am eternally grateful. Palangga ko kamo!

All my love,

Sister Dixon