Happy Weekfulness!

Hey hey hey!

It's me again! Your favorite missionary! So, this week has been good. We had a baptism on Saturday for 2 girls we have been teaching, Harlene and Christy. They are really cute, sweet girls, and they were really excited to get baptized. It was really cool to see them be baptized and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost. Christy said after she was confirmed she really felt like her sins were gone. Before her baptism, she was really shy to share her testimony, but after she was confirmed, she was sitting in on a lesson with 2 of our other investigators, and she wasn't shy about sharing her testimony about baptism. It was really cool.

We are also teaching a girl named Jessica. She is the cousin of Harlene and Christy. At first she was just sitting in on the lessons, and we didn't think she was really interested, but then she surprised us by asking us when she can be baptized. So we have scheduled her baptism date for September 15. It's cool the change we've seen in her since we began teaching her. She really seems ready to be baptized now.

Another of our investigators is named Marlon. We found him while we were walking around one day looking for someone to teach. He was out on his front porch, and he we said hi to him as we passed, and then Sister Asuro suggested that we should teach him. So we found one of the young women in the branch to come with us (because we can't teach guys without a girl present), and we went back to his house to teach him. It seemed like he had a lot of doubts when we started teaching him, and I think he still has some, but little by little he's been more and more receptive to the gospel. Last time we taught him, he said that he feels closer to God since he has started praying everyday, because before we started teaching him, he only prayed when he needed something. He also said that when he reads the Book of Mormon he doesn't feel that it is bad, so he feels like it's true. He still hasn't come to church, and he still hasn't accepted to be baptized yet, but I really, really want him to be baptized SO MUCH! We're going to try to get some college-age guys from the branch to fellowship him because he is shy and that is why he hasn't come to church.

Sister Asuro and I are still staying with the Batac sisters. It's been really fun to stay with them. In fact, we might stay with them for the whole next transfer. We've been looking in Paoay for a new apartment, but housing is kind of limited there, so it's kind of hard.

I gave my first talk in Tagalog on Sunday. It went okay. I read the whole thing, and it lasted about 3 minutes. I think I should've been the first speaker, but sister Asuro went first, and her talk was a lot longer than mine. Oh well.

Oh, by the way, I think I experienced my first earthquake today. It was very small, so don't worry. I was sitting on a bench, and suddenly it started moving a little bit like a little-kid carnival ride. It was fun. :)

Well, it looks like I'm about out of time. I was going to attach photos today, but it's not letting me for some reason, so I guess I'll send them next week.

Thanks for your emails and your prayers! They really help a lot! Sorry I am not able to answer your individual emails today. I'll try to do that next week.

Love, Sister Boekweg