Called to Serve in the Philippines: WEEK 60: Tender Mercies

Hello to you all! Well, it's been one of the best weeks I've had here in Ligao....haha and then I found out I was transferring! So this will be short since we are pretty busy. But, I will update you all on my last few days here :)

#1 - Well, this week was a testimony builder for me for sure. The Lord was good to us. We saw SO MANY tender mercies in HIS work this week. Let's go through them real quick:

Tuesday, we received a referral from the members. We contacted it the next day when we went to that area. She was SO RECEPTIVE. To the point where she asked us how she can become a member of our church because of the way she said she feels when she goes to church. We taught baptism and she accepted for November 22nd! :)

#2 - After we taught her, we asked if she had any people that we could also share with to help them come feel the happiness she feels at church. She then gave us another referral! So we contacted that one, and it ended up being a family of TEN that are so so so incredibly receptive!!!!! It was the coolest thing. When we contacted the referral, all of them were home so we were able to teach them right then and there!!!! Some of them even came to church yesterday. It was SO GREAT! We have a return appointment with them later.

#3 - I ate a peanut butter sandwich for the first time IN MY LIFE this week. Who would have thought I had to come all the way here to the Philippines to eat peanut butter? It was actually good!!

#4 - This week we ate dinner at the same families house like every other day. S/O to the Llanera's. THEY ARE AWESOME and will be blessed! It made our days go so much better because we didn't have to go all the way home to eat!

#5 - We had another super successful service with the evacuees! If you have heard, the Mayon hasn't erupted yet, so they are still there. This time we took a different approach on it and taught them by room. There are about 50-60 people in each room and they are stuck in there like all day. They aren't allowed to leave because the government doesn't want them to go back to the danger zone where their houses are. The teaching was awesome and even though there were so many of them, the Spirit was so strong. They were super receptive and anxious to learn more. I am sad I will miss it next time!

Well I could go on and on, but those were the highlights for the week. Being a missionary is awesome. I love it more and more every day! I know it's true when Nephi said:

But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

The Lord's tender mercies are really all over us. He loves us and shows His love in many different ways. I know that prayer is real. We have a way to communicate with our Heavenly Father! Isn't that awesome?!?!

Well, I will go to transfer point tomorrow and I'll find out where I go and who will be my companion! So, I'll update you all more next week :)

Hope you all are well. I challenge you all to always look for the tender mercies in our lives. They are there every day, sometimes we just don't recognize them.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Nagmamahal,

Sister Reategui

pictures:

our service with the evacuees!