Hello! This is Sister Dilag. I am currently serving in the Philippines San Pablo Mission, San Pablo Zone. I am waiting for mission changes on my original assignment to the California Sacramento Mission.
I will give you weekly updates on my current mission. I will also attach interesting attachments! I hope this finds you entertaining!
Heads up! This week was incredible! To sum everything up: I had an interview with my Mission President, I proposed service, Book of Mormon and Free English Class and a great discussion with Family Members in the Ward. As you go along with the email, I hope you find this interesting.
Teaching Appointments
We were able to teach Members this week! I love the activeness of the Ward. We are fully booked with Members for this week for the upcoming week! For this email, I will talk about our discussions with these families:
• Madriñan Family
On the 16th, we had a dinner appointment with the Madriñan Family along with a discussion. As we were talking about challenges, we felt prompted to discuss a wonderful topic from the General Conference, October 2020 “Be of Good Cheer” by Elder Dallin H. Oaks (First Counselor in the First Presidency).
The whole discussion was great, as we remembered the phrase, “troubled on every side.” President Oaks also stated, “Brothers and Sisters, the First Presidency is concerned about your challenges. We love you and pray for you. At the same time, we often give thanks that our physical challenges—apart from earthquakes, fires, floods, and hurricanes—are usually less than our predecessors faced.”
The statement was clear, no matter where you go and whatever you may do in the world today, be of good cheer. For God will make the calm storms and still heavy adversaries. “Be Still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10).
It was my first time to offer that topic in my whole mission (no, kidding there). I felt prompted, and I do know it was the right message to discuss with them. They were happy to be reminded of the topic. A few of them cried, and we knew the Spirit was strong, it rapidly became clear to them to be Still and have Peace with God.
• Evangelista, Reyes & Torres Family
On the 17th, we had another dinner with the Evangelista, Reyes and Torres Family. Phew! That was a long one. To kinda explain it why, three families packed up into one, they are relatives and friends from church. We gathered into one house! Hehe. I hope you get the point of this, but anyways let me jump into the greater part of this day!
We were able to talk a bunch from schooling and working. It was great to hear from them. At that time, we felt prompted to discuss, “God Wants Us to Pray.” It was a reference from a video on, “His Grace.” But! We did not discuss the whole video! It’s part of our resource on our discussion.
As we were discussing, we asked a few Inspired Questions on, “In times of trouble, were you able to see God’s Help for you?” It sunked into them, each one of them shared an experience and it rolled into, “Prayer.” Brother Torres shared his experienced with his Brother:
“A few weeks ago, my Brother had epilepsy. The Ambulance took him to the hospital one morning, and he looked terrible. I felt terrible. I felt that God wasn’t there. A few days after his epilepsy attack, he had an attack again. It was the worst. All of a sudden, I felt the gut to pray. I began to pray and knelt down, shouting to God if he was there and I needed help. The next day, I felt excited. I do not know why but I felt it strongly, but as I looked over to my Brother he got well! I knew from that moment, God was there and he heard my prayer.”
It was amazing to hear Brother Torres’ story. It was a test of faith. I ended up saying, “You see, God wants you to Pray. He loves and cares for you. He will listen to your heart and desire. He will give it unto you, if you show an act of faith and repentance.”
Brother Torres was so happy, he felt peace and the whole family felt it too. After the discussion, we watched, “His Grace: God Wants You to Pray.” In reference of, Psalm 34: 17-22. It was a great discussion! We were happy the discussion went well, we were surprised it turned out well! The Spirit was amazing! We were able to sing a Primary Song, “Love is Spoken Here.” It has been too long since I heard this song. I love this family, they all sing with wonderful smiles!
District: featuring our Zone Leaders
We had our District Council Meeting featuring the Zone Leaders: Elder Perlas & Elder Games (San Pablo 4). They are amazing, we had an amazing Workshop about, “The Importance of Members.” Preach My Gospel, Chapter 9 page 164.
We watched a Book of Mormon video about Alma preaching the Word of God to the City of Ammonihah along with Amulek. It was a good watch, we were able to analyze and answer the whole video. It was about, “Amulek” he was the Member of this story. It connects to our work in the mission, we cannot work alone without the members.
They had a bunch of resources and references too. Which was great! We had an activity using the Orange Box on page 166, and we had our practice teaching! Then, we jump into the conclusion we need to provide service for the Members in return for Lessons and Referrals. It was terrific and funny too! They are the funniest Elder Missionaries, in the best way they can.
Departing
There were three Missionaries, departing in our mission: Elder Lopez, Sister Maningding and Sister Estrella. I missed them! We had a phone call with Sister Maningding and Sister Estrella, they were saying their goodbyes. I love them both, they are amazing missionaries! Another was Elder Lopez, my Zone Leader of San Pablo Zone. He left honorably! We were able to have our Zone Prayers twice with him, before he leaves! I do miss him too, he was a wonderful missionary!
Mission Updates: Handwriting
What are you up to lately?
We had a Liahona Challenge in the Mission! The challenge has points and all the total points we got this week will be reported by the Assistants and to the Mission President. It was exciting and to clear it up, this is not competition. It’s a reminder for all Missionaries to work.
A few weeks ago, we had our Book of Mormon Service and Free English Class with the Members and Investigators. It went well, we received New Investigators on our Service and Class! Yay!
I love service, specifically in teaching! I will definitely teach them. I was able to provide, Book of Mormon Reading Service and Free English Class with the Primary and Youth Ages! We’ll see how it goes, but I am excited to see the goodness of it!
Are you close with your District and Zone?
Sure do! Tomorrow we will be having a Zone Activity Practice for our Zone Conference on Wednesday with the Sta. Cruz Zone. We will be singing, “Peace in Christ.” Lol, I know I did not meant this email to be mentioned, “Peace.” I haven’t realized it, until typing everything out. But! It’ll be exciting, all of us will be singing.
Also, I’ll be cooking for them. Ay ya yah, no way right? I cook? I cook, but I’m not a chef. The Zone Leaders rapidly called and asked us to cook. I don’t know, but I’ll definitely cook soup for them. Just plain soup, like the ones in Mang Inasal. Kidding there, we’ll see how it goes.
I love our Zone, it’s family-like! We get the chance to have Zone Prayers, if we have celebrations and transfers! The best Zone!
How was your interview?
My interview with President Lohner was the best! We laughed and shared a bunch, “Fishing” and “Hiking.” Those were good topics, but we were sharing a few verses in the Book of Mormon. It was incredible. I was able to share the miracles in our area, and the children we are teaching. It was the best conversation.
Also, Sister Lohner and I messaged a lot, and I was able to share my handwriting. Sister Lohner loved it, and we were able to talk about it. She asked if she could featured it, and I said, “Definitely!” I jumped as I saw my handwriting got posted on the weekly letter! Hooray! I love the Lohners!
Anyways, this sums everything up! I do want to add a few families, but it will take us tomorrow to finish it. And! I’m no novelist, I did not meant to be exact in the stories, but that’s all I could remember. I hope you have a great week! ♡
Love,
Sister Dilag
Sacramento • San Pablo
