Hello! I hope each of you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving week! Now it is time to prepare for and celebrate Christmas! I can hardly believe that tomorrow is December. It was another great week in paradise. :-)
In Abucayan Norte, we have been really working with our recent converts, the Abano family. They are all so wonderful, Rosendo and Claudia are the parents, and they have eight children, John Rel, Jessa, Gorge, Jason, Nico James, Jhon Paul, Lika, and Nino. All have been baptized except for John Rel - who works in Cebu, Lika and Nino - who are not yet eight. They are incredibly poor, but honestly, Claudia is the best example of Christlike faith and selfless service that I have ever seen. Her greatest desire is for her family to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity, but with their seemingly endless temporal challenges, and the fragile conversion of the rest of her family, it is seeming to be an impossible wish. We are doing all that we can to help and to encourage their faith in Jesus Christ. All things are possible through Him. Although they have each been baptized within this past year, only Jessa and Claudia are attending church. Rosendo and their sons, have become less-active and it is really breaking Claudia's heart. They live very far from the chapel, and I am sure that the "plete" or money for transportation is one of the reasons that they have stopped coming to church, and because they have stopped acting on their faith, it is quickly diminishing. We have begun to involve the branch members, and put emphasis on the Self Reliance program here. We hope and pray for a miracle for them. And this is an important reminder to us of the necessity of constantly moving forward in faith. That is the only way it will grow! Such a simple and powerful principle of the gospel!
As well, we have great news for Sister Enidelyn! She has accepted a baptismal goal date! I am so impressed with her pure desire to do good, to follow the example of Jesus Christ and accept His gospel in her life. And now, we have ordered a Korean Book of Mormon for Narra, and hope to teach her according to the spirit. We have plans to accompany Rosalie and Reylan to the Municipal office tomorrow morning to determine the exact steps needed, and we hope to have their marriage and baptism before the end of the year!
Thank you for your faith and hope, we are surely seeing the Lord's hand in our lives and in His work here in Calape. Have an absolutely wonderful week! Mosalig sa Ginoo!
Sister Stanley