June 9, 2014

Life is so awesome:) I love being here on the Island of Mindoro. It is very different because here the missionaries kinda run the church. The doctrine and teachings of the church are the same, but the way things are run are very different here, haha. We have already seen lots of improvement and have prayed and fasted for help and now we need to set goals and make plans and expect miracles to happen:) I love the Gospel, that it is a gospel of change:) I know that we can do all things through Christ:) 

The people here are so sweet and I love to teach them and help them realize that there is more to life than a little Island that they live on. There is a recent convert in the branch named Apollo, a 25 year old man and  he has cerebral palsy and it's pretty extreme. He is perfectly fine mentally, but physically he can't walk or even hold anything in his hands and just has zero control of his body. He has a hard time talking but can still talk.  Well, he actually is also a branch missionary and works with the missionaries a lot. We just push him to our lessons in a wheelchair.  The first time I taught with him and heard his testimony it just pierced me through the heart. He talked about before he thought he was worthless and just a burden. He really was thinking, "Why am I here?  I can't move on my own and I can't even hold anything or just it's so hard for me to exist!" He  used to drink a lot of alcohol. His friends would just pour the alcohol into his mouth and they would get drunk a lot together. He said that he knew that everyone in the village knew that he didn't care about life. Then he learned the gospel and quit drinking because he understood finally that he was so valuable to God, that He has a purpose on earth and needed his body the way it was and now he can help others know their purpose too:) He just says, "I really had no idea why I was here, I can't even feed myself. Now I know why I am here and that I am loved even more than I can imagine and that Christ atoned for even me:)"  It's just so cool to see how happy he is, he is the happiest person I have ever met:) This really is the joy and hope the gospel gives:) 

Love, 

Elder Blackham