How was General Conference?

Suwerte kayo. You get to see the prophets and apostles speak a week before me! But this was a great fast Sunday. We saw a lot of less actives come back to church yesterday. And although we were punted most of the rest of the day, we kept smiles on our faces. There's this one new family that has moved into our area and have been shy to attend the branch and adjust to a new congregation, but we taught them two hours before church, and then all six of them came (except for their mom who works abroad). It was a miracle to see our sacrament room more full than I've ever seen it before in the 6 months I've been here.

Satan tries so hard to keep us from drawing closer to Christ. There are so many temptations, including the temptation to get bothered by little things that turn into big things and drive the spirit away. I witnessed several experiences of that as our planned Family Home Evening almost fell through, and as one of the recent converts decided to be offended and not come to church for the time being. We have to stick to the basics (magsimba, basahin ang aklat ni Mormon, manalangin--I tell people this all the time because the power from doing them is real) and build our testimonies so that when trials come (and they will), we're prepared. Like Helaman 5:12 ... And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

This is what our mission president closed his e-mail with last week: " This is God's work! This is his glory! You are his amazing instruments! Keep winning the battles!" It's so true. This is a battle. And we will win in the end, but Satan is taking too many of our brothers and sisters down with him. If we rely on God and strengthen ourselves through the gifts He's given us, we will be better able to lift others around us.

Mahal ko kayo.
Sister Cope

Pictures of the Week:
1. Dinner with the Patricio family. Sister had a horrible migraine when we first arrived, but we offered a prayer over the food and included her in it and by the time we left, wala ang sakit niya. Ah-mazing. Prayer works :)
2. Family Home Evening with the Tagle family. Their father recently passed away, and he always wanted to have FHE so we made it happen. It was a very special experience, and of course afterward we played games which included punishment of powder and sampling a talent... Bliss and I sang one verse of a hymn since apparently we had the most powder... I tried to erase some of mine to get out of it... It didn't work.
3. The kitten I'm holding is so small you can barely see it. I was so excited as you can see from my facial expression that makes me look like a crazy person. Beside me is Chole one of the little sisters of an investigator, but she's been reading the pamphlets, too, and in the closing prayer of our last lesson asked for a Book of Mormon. We forgot to bring extras, but it's amazing how even at 11 years old she desires to know more about God. And Teresa Lanot is one (to the side) is one of our returning less actives who referred her neighbors to be taught, and it's amazing how ready they are and how sincere their desires to know the truth are. We are not in each other's paths by accident. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us.