November 10, 2019 Kabankalan Second

maayong agaaaa kamusta na kamo!!!

wow what a week of MIRACLES!!! we are just seriously feeling so blessed over here. im just so happy here yayayyy this email might be a long one just cause we had so many cool experiences this week but they're all worth the read :)) 

but i wanna tell yall about my friend Rojelio!!! Hes 82 years old and basically the coolest man ever. we met him a few weeks ago on the street. he asked us if we believe in the book of mormon and we said we do! we believe in the new testament and old testament and we have one more testament about Jesus Christ! And he told us that he found a book of mormon on a tricycle 30 years ago and has been reading it ever since!! he has never met the missionaries, never been to church, but just found this book and has read it multiple times and researched it historically and knows that it is a true record of ancient people in America. we were just kinda shocked hahaha cause like talk about golden. but he has now been to church twice and is so happy to be finding out about what else there is in the church of jesus christ. such a little miracle that we found him. 

okay miracle #2

we have been teaching this woman named Rica! She has been meeting with missionaries from a lot of different faiths and is really confused as to what is really true. She had been reading the book of mormon for a few days, but had not been able to pray about it yet and ask God if it is a true book. so we encouraged her to really try and find out for herself if its true. so later that night after we left, there was a HUGE typhoon. like the wind was going crazy and the rain was just pouring and she was inside her house with her kids and they were super nervous. cause their house is just made out of bamboo and it isnt super strong. so usually when big storms come, theres a ton of damage to most of the houses here. but while she was worrying, she had a thought enter her head- "sister johnson told you that if you prayed about the book of mormon God would answer your prayer." so she gathered around her kids and she told them that she was gonna test out my promise. and so she told God that she has enough faith to see miracles. so if the book of mormon is true, stop the storm from happening. and the second that she said amen, everything went perfectly still. no more wind, no more rain all the way through the night. and she just said with tears in her eyes, "this is a true book sisters." and she came to church yesterday for the first time :)) like talk about miracles wow i love the mission 

okay miracle #3

we are teaching this awesome family and they always come to church and love it. but their dad never comes. hes always super nice and always sits in on the lessons but wont go to church. so the other night we went to his house and we asked him why he wasnt coming to church with his family. and he told us a crazy story that happened to them. they used to go to church every single week at their church until this one day where a bunch of men broke into their house 12 years ago and held them at gunpoint while they took everything they owned basically. and left them with absolutely nothing. and from that time on, Tay Fernando had felt so abandoned from God. he said he couldn't understand why God would let them happen. he was a good man, didnt smoke or drink, went to church every week, read the bible. so why would God send something like that to him? he just had this pain in his heart ever since that day and has not been inside a church in 12 years because of it. so we talked with him about it. we talked about how trials are a sign that God knows we are ready to grow. he knows we are ready to take on just a little bit more and use those experiences to push us forward, instead of pull us back. and we expressed to him how he is so loved by our Heavenly Father. tay fernando thought about it for a long time and then he said "okay sisters. ill go to church on sunday." and he did!!! it was so special. him and his entire family. he just cried and cried through the meeting. all the bitterness in his heart and anger towards God was just melting away and he just felt the warmth and love that God has been trying to show to him all these years. i really saw how coming closer to Christ really can heal our wounded hearts. 

basiscally we're just surrounded by miracles. what an awesome week. we had 3 whole families come to church on sunday. 15 people! im just so grateful to heavenly father for the blessings hes been pouring out. i love the mission. theres no place else id rather be right now. ive never been this happy in my whole life. i cant thank Heavenly Father enough for sending me to this special place.

i hope you all have a good week!!

sister johnson