Happy Birthday MOM

mooommmmmm I am so so so grateful for you. Seriously you are a wonder to me with all you do for me even across the globe and for our family and for those you meet how can you just remember everything so much and are such a light to all and have the best and biggest heart ahhh you are such an inspiration to me mom I want to have the same patieance and christlike charity and ability to see the good in all people. You have the most incredbile leadersthip skills and help to strengthen and lift others no matter what your other responsibilities are. YOu are the definition of putting others first and I miss you so much every day. Mom seriouysly I didnt realize it before but all of those costco trips and gym mornings and times spent together ah  I miss them so much but they helped me to see the MOST INCREDIBLE WONDERFUL AMAZING LIGHT FILLED PERSON THAT YOU ARE AND WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BEST DAY I LOVE YOU SO SO S OMUCH YOU ARE THE BEST YAYYYYYYAYAYY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brother Ronel

Hi!!!! Brother Ronel Ligaspi got baptized my heart is still singing AHHHHHH WE LOVE HIM GUD he was so happy and bore the most powerful and simple testimony that God answers prayers and was able to answer his prayers that this is the truth. And then we got to celebrate his 17th birthday on monday and just imagine someone so so happy and he wants to be a missionary too one day!!!

 Also I just want to testify again and again that how wonderful that God has a perfect plan for each of us of who we met and who we talk to each day, we were supposed to meet with a trike drive we had met one day but then realized we had no idea where he lived, and first miracle we found his house! and even if he wasn't home his wife just invited us in no questions asked and we got to invite the spirit through our reading of the Book of Mormon, and then she informed us of her neighbor who we should met and this sweet sister, sister Mag ah her life story was so heavy, so many hard things, and everything she loved was gone but she just stood there and testified that because she was still standing it was a testament to all of us of how there is a God and He really is our Loving Father in Heaven. 

Everyday my own testimony of the gospel is strengthened by the experiences of others and I know that it's so true!!! I invite you all to pray to Him, pray to your Father in heaven and ask how much He loves YOU. If He knows and cares about YOU. because He LOVES to answer and I know He loves each and every one of us.

Here's a side note  - We started teaching English and these people are fluent holy cow they just laugh as I try to explain what the difference between "I am, I have, and I can" is and struggle so much haha also I want to testify of the power of laba. there are alwayssss people doing their laundry like any hour of the day you can always find someone in the process of doing laba and I testify hearts really do open as you sit together and use brushes to wash clothes in a bin or hang them on a clothesline I LOVE YOU ALL HAVE THE BEST WEEK!!!!! 

My Nephew

Hi!!!! I have a nephew ahhhh!!!!! And Old Escalante ah it's still thriving I feel so blessed to be here and my companion is Sister Banares from Bikol, Luzon and man imagine just being fluent in Bikol, Tagalog, Bisaya, and English like she is a wonder and teaches me so much everyday!!! As in, 9 people came to church and felt the Spirit and got to partake of the sacrament such a blessing!!!! This week we taught a Brother named Lards who had soo many questions about the Plan of Salvation and was shocked to know we lived with God before we were here on earth and then asked if it was true that God loved Him. I love the testimony Ammon bears in the Book of Mormon in Alma 18:32 that YES God looks down upon all the children of men and He knows all the thought and intents of our hearts for by His hand were we all created from the beginning. Ammon had such a strong testimony of the love of God for us as His children and this came though his sincere prayer, fasting, and learning about the characteristics of our Heavenly Father. So often we hear about how people have a hard time believing in the love of God with so many trials or problems and with how heavy these burdens can be. Honestly, sometimes to hear about how the members here in Old Escalante are giving their all and exercise faith and come to church and study the scriptures and try their very best and there still physical needs that are unmet. If we look at this through natural man eyes we see trials but if we just remember the OUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES US and no matter the situation or what we lack in physical needs, He wants the best for us and we can rest assured He is SOOO aware!!! We had a returning member couple that hasn't been to church in 4 years come on sunday and they testified that as they read about their purpose on earth they were reminded that God STILL loves them, and wants us to prepare to return to His presence! I know God loves us and He was able to show me so many reasons why this is exactly where I need to be, exactly when I need to be here. Just like Nephi we may not know the meaning of all things but we can know that God loves His children. I am so happy I get to share that good news each and every day, and that even when seriously HUGE rain storms with insane thunder and lightning come (seriously, so strong I thought it was an earthquake haha) there is always hope that the sun will be out the next morning because God loves us, and loves us enough that He sent His Son Jesus Christ and through Him, we can have hope, peace, joy, love, comfort, strength, ah all good things!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL please give my nephew baby kai so much love if you're in Utah haha LOVE YOU

4th of July

hi i just dont want to forget some things that i told you about this week about brother rufo being so excited to go to church and to go to the baptism of brother romulo and how brother jimmy spoke at the baptism! And sister jocelyn and taty hit tellimg us about all their experiences as a missionary that they do so much and invite people to come listen to the gospel and to come to church every sunday and how we get fed sooo much even we are trying to fast there is no time i just wanted to write a little that migjt go on the blog so i dknt forget this week ah sister leavitt helped us celebrate the 4th and such a good week LOVE YOU PAMILYA

Hiking (pics in previous post)

Hi!!!!! Yes sorry it is sooo late but we went on a hike this morning!!! SOOO BEAUTIFUL AND SOOO FUN AND BONDING AND I MISS HIKING AH IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!! I am so gla dyou are still getting things done and sooo kugihan haha (diligent sa bisaya) and ah aubrey I haven't seen pictures of her for a while but I can imagine she is so ready AH its soo close!!! Lindsay is so good that girl knows how to work and seriously is probably swimming in the cash haha and emily YAY Im glad the jeep is getting easier! Okay yes brenna was soo excited for oakcrest I can only imagine how much she is loving it and that bishops night is so good I still remember when they came to visit and we ate twinkie sundae things haha yay!

Ah I am so behind in CFM I havent studied about this week or last week yet!!! But it sounds sooo good I will get back to you on that for sure. I just ghave noticed how much more I am able to gain from my study if it is focused on the needs and concerns of others and how to answer their questions which is incredible!!! 

Okay so brother Joel, we dont have any updates yet because he has to wait to get paid before he can buy a phone but we are still praying so much. Mildred... saturday we prepared all this bihon we cooked it for her again, round 2 but serached all around her house and all the computer shops nearby and couldnt find her anywhere so we were a little bummed and then sunday we went to their house to kuyog them to church and arniel was sleeping we could see him through the window and we tried to ayoo really loud but he didnt wake up and mildred wasnt there so we were sad and then we got to church and MILDRED WAS THERE IN HER SUNDAY BEST AHHH she chose to come and got dressed and all ready I LOVE HER and we were able to visit her last night and reset her baptismal date and this time for good on August 3 as long as she continues to come to church and we are able to teach her on a consistent schedule haha but we are still praying for brother arniel her older brother who we havent taught in so long and need to change his date to be baptized.

 Sister Jocelyn. Okay. we love her she is soooo good and is the one who reads the book of mormon sooo much like so many chapters every day and we taught her on sunday and learned that she and her husband are actually just living in and have been for 1 year and they both were married before but both arent with their spouses anymore and its been so long like 16 years since they broke apart but they arent allowed to get married because divorce isnt legal here and after we learned that we had already planned to teach the word of wisdom and so we continued with that and she immediately said she would stop drinking coffee and just drink milo which is like chocolate milk because she was sooo willing to follow the commandments of god. We already had a set appointment on tuesday with her and we thought so much about how we were going to teach and explain the law of chastity because this is her life and her family and we studied about it and prayed right before we went to teach her for the spirit and to know what to say and do and we got there and asked about her reading in the book of mormon and she had really liked Alma 37:33 and 37 

(33 ^aPreach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be ^bmeek and lowly in heart; teach them to ^cwithstand every ^dtemptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. and then

37 ^aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.) and asked if she could read them aloud for us. Okay those verses. I KNOW that god has a perfect plan for us and as we began talking she told us about how she read int he book of mormon about the law of chastity or being pure and she knew she wasnt following it and that is why she really liked those verses about repenting and relying on christ to overcome temptation and to pray always and then we explained what it meant for her and she asked us with tears in her eyes what our advice would be to do (because this is her husband and way of income and they love eachother) and we didnt tell her what to do but invited her to pray and ask god what he would have her to do follow the law of chastity and then we all cried together and she asked if there really was no way she could be baptized on july 13th and it was really really hard but we have so much hope and are still praying so much for her and for her to get an answer 

ahhhhh we are having an fhe at a members house tonight and are going to pick her up so we can go together with all of her family and neighbors hopefully!!!! But I just sat there and just KNOW God has a perfect plan that she would be reading those verses and that she would have  desire to do whats right and that we were able to meet her at this time in her life. We dont know what will happen next but prayers would be appreciated!

Brother Ronel!!!! He is 16 and we are like such goood friends ah we love him and he continues to be good and learn and grow as we teach and still walks with his mom and siblins sooo far to come to church. The ligaspi pamilya has shown me true sacrifice and committment to the gospel ah love them

Also sunday! last week we were walking and felt a need to stop to talk to a tatay and he met with missionaries before actually and had a book of mormon but not anymore and we were able to give him one and set an appointment to come back and we didnt have a girl kuyog so we walked to a nanay and tatays hosue down the road where they are always outside and we had planned to talk about the restoration and give an overview of the book of mormon and then as we gave a brief overview we said how he would need to pray to know if it was true and he said: tinuod siya gani which means like of course its true and then he said: unsay atong buhaton? like because its true what do we need to do next? so we went straight to 2 Nephi 31: 11 and talked about baptism and repentance and he just accepted a date to be baptized on august 10 WOAH UNSA and we are going back tomorrow and are so excited and he is going to go to church with the nanay and tatay and yes so good!!! He just wants to learn so much aboutt h book of mormon and the truth yay!!!!

 I know god is preparing people to teach and that are so ready we just need to be worhty and continue to try to find and do our best! We have been picking topics for our companionship study that help us prepare for our lessons and I have noticed that we are better able to be united which is so goodand it seems like the people we teach are able to learn more and understand what we are saying!!!! We have this couple Joy and Christine who are just so nice but mostly just like to chika chika and say we just need to have faith thats it but they are so nice and we went to their house on sunday for their only childs birthday and Brother joy had been drinking and he just had such a big desire to know and kept asking what religion would save him and how he could find peace right now and we tried to explain and testify but he kept asking over and over and we didnt use a scripture and we hadnt done personal study because sunday mornings are so crazy and we have to get to church and we really didnt have any power without that and then later I studied a bit about that and how incredible we have the bible and the book of mormon to testify of the church christ built and how WE NEED the saving ordinances of the gospel and the priesthood and there is no other way and then they have been lving in for 10 years but they are getting married TOMORROW WE JUST FOUND OUT and we didnt talk about that or anything they just had made a promise when their son turned 7 they would get married so yay tomorrow!!! And we just have hope that they will continue to have a desire to learn and also that she will use the skirt we gave her to come to church!!!! Theres even more haha but this is probably so long already I just love this work and would love if you have any advice on how I can better be using the atonement and forgivness on a more hourly or daily basis AH LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH I HOPE YOU HAVE SUCH A FUN 4TH OF JULY THAT IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY AH YAYA and also that you continue to read and pray and study like you have always done ah what examples you are for me of being a disciple of Jesus Chrsit. I love you so much guid HAVE A GOOD WEEKKKKK!!!!!!!!!! NAHIGUGMA KO KANINYO

End of June Email

Okay there is so much to be said but I just want to testify of some special moments that happened this week. I KNOW God knows us and has a perfect plan for us. The timing of EVERYTHING in how we meet people, what we read, when we feel prompted to do things, certain times in our lives it is all part of a bigger time table and I feel soo blessed I have been able to see His hand in that this is so much bigger than just Sister Leavitt and I in Old Escalante but this is Heavenly Father guiding us to help HIS MGA ANAK (children) and I just hope to be a better instrument in His hands each day!!!! 

Okay we met Brother Rufo once when we felt like we should stop and talk to him; gave him a Book of Mormon and when we came back to teach him we went to his neighbor who are such strong members in our ward and when we started talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how we need to ask to know if it's true he told us: tinuod siya gani (of course its true) unsay atong buhaton? (what do we do next?) and we read about repentance and baptism and he is soo excited to follow the example of Christ and he couldnt even stop reading the book of mormon long enough to take a picture ahhh milagro guid!!!

Sister Bett: she is the sweetest Nanay and we have to teach so simply and after we taught her about the restoration we asked her where the true church of Jesus Christ is today, and she pointed in the direction of our meetinghouse and said: Beatingo which is where is it. So simple and so ready to learn and receive the gospel ahhh milagro guid!!!

Sister Jocelyn: We just had the most amazing spirit guided lesson and she had been reading right before we got there from Alma 37 and she has a desire to ask God what she should do ahh milagro guid!!!!

Sister Christine and Brother Joy: who we have been teaching for so long and they are getting married tomorrow and want to come to church the next sunday this is bigggg news because they haven't really had a desire to act until now ahhh milagro guid!!!

we were so late coming home and there was a huge storm coming apparently so the road was silent with no trikes and then one trike happens to drive past and the sister riding with her husband was baptized 30 years ago but lost her Book of Mormon and hasnt gone to church since then but we were able to talk and will go visit their house ahhh milagro guid!!!

we got to go hiking and I am so blessed to be in the most beautiful place ahh milagro guid!!! I know there are so many milagros all around us if we take the time to see how God really is guiding our lives and all we do have the best week love ya!!! 

End of June Pictures