February 27

Hello Everyone!

We have had another great week here in Lal-lo.  I feel like I say that a lot.  It's because its true (: We have been working this week on getting some referrals from members because it makes the work move so much quicker that way.  We talked with some members and they are going to work on it. One young woman invited some friends over to her house to meet us, but they were super shy, so nothing has happened there quite yet, but hopefully in the coming weeks we will get to meet again and build a relationship with them. We also have a couple of referrals we are going to try and contact this coming week, so hopefully we will see some progress there.  Many times here in the Philippines the people are ready to believe the message, they just have more of a problem on the social aspect of things.  So we are always looking for people who already have friends in the church.

We have been working lately with a part member family, the Vergonia family, and they are super nice.  There is only one boy who isn't a member yet.  His name is Wilson and he is 21 years old.  He was going to church before I got to the area, but in my time here I haven't seen him come out yet.  He says he wants to be baptized, but he has been busy lately with school, and so he hasn't been able to read his scriptures lately or go to church.  Hopefully in the coming weeks we will be able to help him with that.

Whenever we get cases like this I think of Mary and Martha when Jesus visited their home. There were things to be done around the house, and Martha diligently went to work.  Mary on the other hand chose to sit with Jesus and listen to Him teach.  Martha felt it unfair that she should be the only one doing the work, and complained to Him.  Jesus' simple reply was, "Martha Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

I feel so many of us just get so worried about this chore and that job and everything else that we begin to feel we have no time to just learn from the words of the Savior.  But in the end, we are just being worried about things that do not have eternal significance. In the end, there is only one thing that is needful (our salvation) and when we do things that help us return to God, that will never be taken away from us, and God will bless us for it.  That is a promise.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Elder Childs