Letter #37 (April 18th, 2012)

Hey all,
Next month is the start of "wet season"... really just "wetter than normal season" Oh something really cool...in the photo. Our baranggay (like suburb thing or town) has just made it bawal (illegal) to smoke anywhere... just check out this sign! You should show it to the government representatives for parramatta and tell them to step up! jujuju I should be getting some pants made this week when we grab the material after email karon... one pair brown and one greeny brown... i will send photos sa sunod(the next time) Not too much happened this week that was exciting kaayo... but... We did work our butts off this week to try and catch up after the zone interviews on Monday and we had the best week we have had so far this transfer. We had so much fun pushing ourselves saying "just one more lesson, we'll try one more place..." It was a great experience. And we have two baptisms going ahead this Saturday. We are so excited and happy for these individuals and especially one as his family just recently came back from inactivity and hopefully his father will be baptizing him this Saturday. We also have a couple who will be going to the temple for the first time this coming month. They are really excited to get to go to the temple and we are too because they have been members for a while now. The branch continues to progress with this last Sunday we had a branch FHE with the family of Brother R., who just left on his mission. The family expressed their gratitude to the members for their support and really felt the love of the branch. It really helped the members to pull together. We have been focusing on that with the members, helping them to realize that they are all brothers and sisters with the same goals and they need to be working together. I had a great experience this week with achieving the goals we set for our lessons. Even though the lessons we had planned didn't all go through, we followed the spirit and were able to teach some really good lessons this week. We really focused on the two boys being baptized this week and visited with them as often as we could this week to ensure they understood the gospel and the importance and reason for baptism. One that is youth age has been fellow-shipped really well by the youth and is currently attending the district youth conference in Dumaguete. We have had a great experience teaching him and seeing him progress from where he was before. This week I have been studying from the Doctrine and Covenants and using the institute manual before going to bed to achieve a greater understanding of the principles contained in the various sections. I have focused this week on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the signs of the times and also on building and establishing Zion in the church and in our own homes. I have felt the Spirit so strongly this week in my studies and received a Spirit of peace for things to come. That's about all I have to say for this week... I love you all and miss you much... I will let you know when I send the package. Love always, Elder Taylor Addison Cox