Hello everyone!
This week was super awesome! We didn't have a lot of time to be out and proselyting, but that's 'cause we were so busy doing all these other things. On Tuesday afternoon we left to Puerto so we could catch a flight to Manila Wednesday morning. The moment we arrived we went directly to the Temple and did a session. It was an amazing experience. This is my first time to do that in over a year. I forgot how awesome it is in there! They did a little bit of rearranging at the end of last year and I was a little bummed to see that my favorite chandelier has been replaced. It's still super beautiful though. Now it's one of those ones that has like 7,000 little glass balls that make lots of mini rainbows. I think that the last chandelier was too awesome to exist in this world any longer and was taken up to heaven as Elijah was. It's probably hanging in a celestial museum shining light onto holy objects such as the gold plates, and the Sword of Laban.
After the Temple we went to work in the AP’s area for a few hours which just so happened to be my first area in Makati. You may not remember me talking 14 months ago about one Divina Lopez, but I showed Elder Zesiger to her house and she was home. The missionaries had stopped visiting them a little after I transferred, but she was really excited to see us. We taught her and Elder Zesiger can now finish off what I started and baptize her after she comes to church a few more times! I really miss that family!
Thursday was MLC so we got to learn lots of sweet stuff from Pres. Ostler about how to find better and make our prayers more meaningful. It was really great! The crazy thing is that our flight back to Palawan was unexpectedly moved forward so we had to finish up MLC a bit faster than usual and get to the airport. (I didn't get my package yet by the way. Maybe I'll get it in a couple weeks when President comes to Palawan for Zone Conference. Lets pray for that! haha)
The most exciting part of the week was Saturday. Saturday morning was the wedding of Sister Marissa and brother Jeolito, then that evening their whole family got baptized! The mayor was funny during the marriage. She gave them lots of advice about being a happy couple and everything, but they have already been living together for like 15 years. Also it was pretty much just everything we taught them from The Family, A Proclamation to the World, and the Law of Chastity, then she spent like 5 minutes warning them to be careful with their wedding rings or it could get caught on something and "putolin ang daliri mo (rip off your finger)." The baptism was really great. I got to baptize the dad, Jeolito and their 9 year old, Jiny. Jiny said something really cool. Afterwards she said to me, "I was feeling nervous before you baptized me because the water was hot, but afterwards I was really happy." I think she was really feeling the spirit though, because to me the water was sort of chilly, and it was only up just passed my knees. She was in passed her waist. Also it was really yellow again. hahaha. Then on Sunday they all bore their testimonies in Sacrament meeting. The only problem was that there wasn't a lot of time for the members to bear their testimonies because of the 6 confirmations that also happened. This is what being a missionary is all about! I would like to send some photos but the computer isn't letting me view my pictures for some reason so I can't send them. I'll figure it out sometime and send you them as soon as I can!
That's a crazy awesome atonement analogy. You'll definitely have to remember that and figure out a way to express it more clearly and with fewer words so that when you are chosen to speak in General Conference yourself you can share it with the entire world. Then you can also show pictures of explosions and stuff. I always like it when they show pictures during the talks. :) That really is cool though! I had semi-similar ideas flowing through my head once at the beginning of my mission that led me to the conclusion that it's all about love.
I don't remember if I told you about it or not, but it was more in a Harry Potter sense. Basically, Harry's mom died for Harry Potter which was the extreme expression of love. As Jesus himself said, "Greater love no man hath that that he should lay down his life for his friends." This act left a mark on Harry that protected him from the Dark Lord. Dumbledore explains at the end of the first movie, "This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives within your very skin." He then explains that it was love. It's not a perfect example considering that Lily Potter wasn't resurrected, but these things are not without symbolism. Just as Harry's mom's love protected him from Lord Voldemort, Christ's love and atonement protect us from the effects of Satan. Thus, "sin and death are swallowed up in Christ." It's pretty cool. I love reading the Book of Mormon like this. I'll be finishing Mosiah tomorrow, and I'm super excited to see all the other referenced in there. Everyone always says the Book of Mormon is all about the atonement, but I didn't really get it until now.
That's a funny story about Grandpa. I guess everyone probably has at least one thing that brings the brutality out of them. I'm just glad that for Grandpa it's the apple trees, and not me! I wouldn't want him chasing me around with those pruning sheers! hahaha
That's awesome that Gary works at Taco Bell. He's one of the coolest people I know, and Taco Bell is one of the coolest restaurants that I know. It's sort of like cool squared. hahaha I have a plan that when you pick me up from the airport in about 6 1/2 months, before we go home we are going to Subway so I can eat a footlong, then Taco Bell so I can eat a Beefy 5 layer. I hope you're okay with that. :)
I am really happy you had a nice week and general conference. I'm excited to watch it this weekend! Anywho, I hope you have another super awesome week this week and I love you so much! Ingat!!!
Elder Fawson
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