Philippines Legazpi Mission: Elder Feraer

After the Sacrament service and Sunday's schools, we visited a member who's in jail together with her family. This is a first-time experience for me. As we talk to her, I felt sorrow and compassion towards her. I don't know and I didn't ask what exactly happened to her but one thing is for sure. I really felt that she's really sad about whatever happened to her. Her husband also left her in this hardest trial in her life. 😢 The justice system in this country is really slow if you're just a normal/regular person. I know this process is really hard and all we can say to her is to not lose hope and have faith always in Heavenly Father. Being with her kids someday is the biggest fuel of her hope. Before we left, we all prayed together. 

I had a productive personal study. I really like what I read in Moroni 7. We had a wonderful week. We had baptisms and a total of forty-six lessons. It is really awesome. All our hard work is always paying off. 

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Baptism day for Jason & Mikaela (with Marjorie)! 😃 We all traveled to Bulan Chapel and held this sacred and memorable covenant at the District Center. Many members and investigators attended their baptism to show some love and support. 😊 

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During my personal study, I read Elder Hollister's article about "Becoming a consecrated missionary". It really inspires me to be a better disciple of Christ. That's what I wanted to be, not just being good or great but a consecrated one. 

We had a wonderful day in missionary work. We split again to accommodate all our appointments today. I'm with Bro. Porcado and he's one of the most diligent members that I've been with. Sharing and testifying about his experiences in the Church is always a big help. We had a total of twenty-one lessons today including six new investigators. It was really awesome! The Holy Ghost really guides us where to go. Short and powerful lessons (with a great plan) really help too. One of our investigators (Gibada Family) celebrated an occasion today and they invited us and prepared a delicious meal. We're thankful for their kindness. 😊

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We had District Meeting and companionship exchanges today. This is the verse D&C 92:3 that our new DL (Elder Bumadilla) shared with us. After the meeting, we proceed to our exchanges and my companion for today is Elder Puyat. He is from Ilocos and he's a new missionary here in the Philippines Legazpi Mission. The most memorable moment during this exchange is when he showed the Christ-like attribute of charity when we are eating lunch at Jollibee. He gave food to a homeless man outside. That's really good. 

Mostly, we spent our time in studies because he's a new missionary. The travel time consumes a lot of our schedule. Even though our time is short, I made sure that he learn something today during the proselyting time and our evaluation. We had a good day overall. People in Bulusan are nice too. Elder Puyat is a good missionary and hopefully, he'll continue to be.

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Fireflies can be mistaken for a star sometimes especially when you are traveling at night in the sea. I had a similar experience when I was in Catanduanes. Like the fireflies, temptations and trials loom large because they are close at hand. Meanwhile, the promised blessings like stars can appear very distant. Let's keep in our minds and our hearts that we must focus on the eternal perspective even though it may be really distant/challenging right now. Let's focus on bigger blessings. Hebrews 11:6

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Yay! It feels so good to achieve a lot of SoE again! We hit IASM, MP, OLT, PI, Referrals, NI, and the total number of lessons. We are doing really well in our area and also as a Zone. 😃 We had an interesting lesson in Sunday school. Matthew 7:1-5 Sister Annalie is great at teaching. She's really interactive and good at making lessons fun and not boring. We had four new investigators today and we had a productive day in missionary work overall. 😊

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FIFTEEN!! Today is my fifteenth month on the mission. 😃 We had a busy day. My companion and I decided to split for today to accommodate all of our scheduled appointments. I went with Bro. Porcado and together we went to Salvacion and Batang. The most memorable moment for me today was when we answered a question about the plural marriage practices of the past. The prophets of old times have practiced the God-given principle of plural marriage because 1 Corinthians 11:11. Since the great prophets of old had these wives we believe that they will have all of them in eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:14 It is also noted that His ways are greater than ours. Isaiah 55:8-9 

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We had companionship exchanges today. I'm in San Isidro right now together with the District Leader of Bulan, Elder Acebes. It's a calm and peaceful area. The recent challenge that they had is the declining number of church attendance. He also told me everything I need to know so I can help. 

We had a good plan for today. Elder Acebes also invited some members to work with us. They are also nice too. We had a good day overall. The most memorable moment for me today is with our last appointment, Nanay Melva's Family. I really felt the spirit and it is really a strong feeling of emotion. D&C 132:16-17

At the end of the day, I had a better understanding of the situation in their area. Elder Acebes is a good missionary and a better District Leader. He's really hands-down in his duty/calling as a District Leader based on what I know today in our exchanges. I'm also glad that I helped him with some of the things that he wants to improve. It was a good day overall. I also like the "party lights" that they installed in their room to sleep better. It was hilarious. 😂

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We had Zone Training today and it was my first Z.T. as a Zone Leader. I am really overwhelmed at first because I'm not used to it. I've only led a maximum of four missionaries when I was a D.L. and now it was way more than that. 😅 I like this Zone and I'm glad that I'm assigned here. I have good zone mates and I can say that we are united to our purpose. 

Our workshop on how to approach the head of the households went fine D&C 98:16. Sister Eñeja and Sister Dellona were the ones who are assigned to me in practice teaching. They handled it well and they are united. They're good at approaching and teaching. 

I am also close to some of my zone mates now. They are really fun and friendly. Some of them thought that I am a snob or quiet person but I'm not. 😅 

Our schedule for this day was really loaded. We didn't have time to rest and gladly we finished all our plans and went to all of our scheduled appointments. We had a good day overall in proselyting. 😊

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