Hello everyone! I’m so glad that I’m here this Monday getting to email you. For some reason this was one of my more busy weeks with traveling and stuff but it has actually felt very slow moving! haha. It’s been a good week! 

 

So just to jump straight in it. I have no pictures this week! It’s one of my weekly goals to at least take two pictures a day! If I keep taking no pictures I’m going to regret it down the road! It’s just hard sometimes to think about taking pictures going from house to house! haha but this week and the weeks to come I will do the 2 or more pictures a day!

 

So Monday:

 

Monday I spent my day in Bacolod! That was way fun! Bacolod is such a fun city and just has lots of little markets with just hand crafted little things! While walking around that day I was talking to one kid in my zone.   He said "are you related to a sis sargent that served in Quezon city? I said yeah tha't’s my cousin. He said that’s my missionary! haha he said that her and her companion Sister Rolamae or Sis Rebelde taught him and I think his sister.  His name is Elder Tallano! Hopefully she remembers him.  And also his companion Elder Albao was in the ward she served in at one point! Crazy to see that Tessa's efforts are paying off and I can see them.. first hand witness! So Bacolod was nice! Lots of good food at the mission home including spaghetti and lots of ice cream. Not enough for me but still I guess some is better than none! So Zone Conference was good! Very interesting topics. Learned lots. Prez Lopez talked about agency and obedience which was good! Then sister talked about the law of tithing and the whys of why we pay tithing. The Zone leaders from two zones focused on how to introduce and teach commandments and the others taught how to perform a baptsimal interview. I liked that one cause that is something I may be doing pretty soon here in the mission and I better be able to do it whenever I am needed! I actually had the opportunity to sit in on a baptismal interview with my Zone leader, Elder Tanaggan. He is really a good elder. Has about just under two months left in his mission and I learn the most from him out of any other missionary.  Just sitting in with him in an interview... it was so cool to see him just automaticlly click with these people we interviewed, making them feel comfortable.  And he asked all the questions he needed to, but the way he asked them just weren't robotic but filled with actual interest and concern.  I learned a lot from him and it was cool to see people ready to enter into the waters of baptism this next week!

 

Speaking of waters of baptism... we still don’t have a progressing investigator but we feel so good about this Jomare Chaves guy! He speaks English which I kinda feel like the Lord was like alright if you get lost in your lessons just speak English! Here he is- now go teach. We both feel that way about him.  He asks so many questions and I know he is worried about his salvation.  He was asking about who's Alma and who is Mormon. Is Joseph Smith a God or a prophet. He's heard a lot about our churh just through rumors and just really wants to know. He is Baptist, but he doesn’t debate us like Bro Simeon. Bro Jomare knows the bible pretty well and always quotes scriptures and asks if we beleive that. The other day he was driving us home on his motor and he said you know elders I believe all that you have said so far! Hearing that was a relief for me and I know Heavenly Father is instrumental in putting him in our hands for working hard and not losing faith these past 10 weeks!  We are planning on stoppping by and teaching him twice this week about prophets, Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon! Just everything and just really answer his questions and getting him to church and tani(hopfeully) with a baptism date! We taught him last Friday and the lesson was a little rough. We took too long with getting into the lesson and struggled with the langauge a little and he kept asking questions about  Prophets and what not so after the lesson I was a little down hearted. It was really the first time in my mission were I have felt inadequate to do this work. I went home that night and was reading in Ether and came across the famous Ether 12:27  "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humbled; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."  I really thought about that and wondered where in my life I can humble myself.  Then yesterday in Church we actually had stake conference and it was Satellite from Salt lake for the Southern Philippines. The speakers were David F Evans of the Seventy, Sis Coon or Cook form the YW general presidncy and Elder Holland and Robert D Hales. I’ve never really gotten into Hales before just cause he's always been slower delivery or I’ve just fallen asleep on the couch during conference, but as he was speaking I felt like I should just focus in on him real hard.  As I did this his talk was good but didn’t seem to click or  apply to me in the way I wanted when at that same time I thought to zone out he said.... "All great missionaries feel inadequate. This is the Lords way of building them up to what He wants them to be as long as they trust in Him."  That hit me really hard.  It was an answer to my prayers. Humbling doesn’t mean just becoming poor in heart or poor in spirit, but what it really means to me is just totally, 100%, full heart trusting, in the Lord to guide HIS work. Not me guiding my work or His work but Him guiding His work and me just being the instrument or tool that he uses to accompish HIS work.

 

I'm so thankful for prophets and apostles and for their guidance in the Lords work to help me with my trials or my many inadequacies. I've realized that answers to prayers don’t always come in feeling, but in acting and listening, thoughts and words. I’m so very thankful for this work and for the oppurtunity that I have to be an instrument in the Lords hands. 

 

That’s my letter... that’s my time... that’s my week! Hope you enjoyed!

 

Love you all and miss you all!

 

Love

 

Elder Sargent