This has been a crazy week.
First of all, I had my first baptism! Brother Mark A. was baptized on October 29, 2011. He has been incredible. Very open and accepting of the Gospel. He always knew that there would be another prophet, but he never knew who he would be or when we would come. Then we showed up. I have had the opportunity to know Mark throughout his entire conversion process. I arrived in the Philippines in time to join him in his 2nd lesson. It was an amazing experience to baptize someone. Standing in the waters of baptism with someone holding my arm was an unforgettable experience. I was able to help a soul come unto Christ through making a sacred, everlasting covenant with our Heavenly Father. I thought to myself, what an incredible opportunity. What a large responsibility, to hold the Priesthood of God. Such power. What else could be more important on this earth than the ordinances of God. Nothing. It is a privilege for me to be here serving a mission. I have already learned and experienced so much. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.
There has been quite a bit of negative tension this past week as well. A number of elders in our zone haven't been trying their best to be exactly obedient (to put it nicely). Word got out and the President was made aware of such behavior. He came down pretty hard on the elders and one elder was even sent home. It is too bad. They really are great guys and have done a lot to help the work progress, but they made some stupid decisions. I don't mean to dampen the mood by bringing this up. This has been a large portion of my last week and I have learned a lot from it so I felt it necessary to bring up. I have seen how even a couple poor choices can drive the Spirit away and focus is lost. Also, it would be awful to be sent home from your mission early because of one slip up. At first, putting everything aside for two years and just focusing on missionary work sounded daunting to me. All of the rules, all of the prohibited things. But now I see how positive this chance can be. It is two years to help a lot of people come unto Christ, including yourself. I am helping many people build their faith, including myself. You pick apart and apply the gospel on a whole new level on a mission. This is going to be an experience that will change the rest of my life. I'm not going to blow it.
Anyway, this is kind of a short letter this week, but I hit the main things I wanted to write about.
Attached are a few pictures of the chapel we meet at, Mark's baptism and a shot of the Solid Cement factory. We took a different route this week into solid and it turned out to be the most beautiful hike in our area. Score.
I hope all is well on the other side of the earth! (12 hour time difference between EST and here)
Much love,
Elder Stallings
First of all, I had my first baptism! Brother Mark A. was baptized on October 29, 2011. He has been incredible. Very open and accepting of the Gospel. He always knew that there would be another prophet, but he never knew who he would be or when we would come. Then we showed up. I have had the opportunity to know Mark throughout his entire conversion process. I arrived in the Philippines in time to join him in his 2nd lesson. It was an amazing experience to baptize someone. Standing in the waters of baptism with someone holding my arm was an unforgettable experience. I was able to help a soul come unto Christ through making a sacred, everlasting covenant with our Heavenly Father. I thought to myself, what an incredible opportunity. What a large responsibility, to hold the Priesthood of God. Such power. What else could be more important on this earth than the ordinances of God. Nothing. It is a privilege for me to be here serving a mission. I have already learned and experienced so much. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.
There has been quite a bit of negative tension this past week as well. A number of elders in our zone haven't been trying their best to be exactly obedient (to put it nicely). Word got out and the President was made aware of such behavior. He came down pretty hard on the elders and one elder was even sent home. It is too bad. They really are great guys and have done a lot to help the work progress, but they made some stupid decisions. I don't mean to dampen the mood by bringing this up. This has been a large portion of my last week and I have learned a lot from it so I felt it necessary to bring up. I have seen how even a couple poor choices can drive the Spirit away and focus is lost. Also, it would be awful to be sent home from your mission early because of one slip up. At first, putting everything aside for two years and just focusing on missionary work sounded daunting to me. All of the rules, all of the prohibited things. But now I see how positive this chance can be. It is two years to help a lot of people come unto Christ, including yourself. I am helping many people build their faith, including myself. You pick apart and apply the gospel on a whole new level on a mission. This is going to be an experience that will change the rest of my life. I'm not going to blow it.
Anyway, this is kind of a short letter this week, but I hit the main things I wanted to write about.
Attached are a few pictures of the chapel we meet at, Mark's baptism and a shot of the Solid Cement factory. We took a different route this week into solid and it turned out to be the most beautiful hike in our area. Score.
I hope all is well on the other side of the earth! (12 hour time difference between EST and here)
Much love,
Elder Stallings
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