Today we attended the meeting in Tarlac, about an hour from Angeles. We were all asked to come fasting for this meeting. At the beginning of the meeting Elder Teh discussed section 44 of the Doctrine and Covenants. That we had all been called together. We needed to be faithful and exercise faith and "He will pour our his Spirit upon those assembled". We were asked to feel the Spirit and to take notes of things that are reveled to us during the meeting.
It was a wonderful meeting where many scriptures were discussed and related to our lives. We again talked about the 'Rescue' effort that is part of the 2012 Philippines Area Goals. President Martino discussed the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. We discussed how things in the mission and our lives resemble this parable. Sister Martino talked about the importance of temple attendance and referred to the Doctrine and Convents section 109 - the dedicatory prayer of the Kirkland temple. She quoted Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone: "I promise you that all who faithfully attend to temple work will be blessed beyond measure. Your families will draw closer to the Lord, unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when satanic forces tempt them, the veil will be thin and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people." What a wonderful promise! If we will attend the temple regularly, our families will blessed.
President Teh referred the martyrdom of James in the Acts 12. There are several lessons that we learn from this. 1) We learn the Power for Prayer ~ in our time of need He is always there for us; 2) To be able to follow the Lord with no hesitating and to Trust the lord always; 3) God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves ~ we should not wait for miracle to happen, but rather make them happen.
At the conclusion of the meeting, President Teh asked the missionaries to share something that they had felt and learned today. Then he asked me to bear my testimony of what I was thinking at this time. Now those that know me well know that I can be a very emotional person so I don't do this very often. I was feeling the Spirit so strong. I had been reading through my notes and the thought of how I decided to go on a mission came to me. So I told my story . . .
When Wade & took his parents to the MTC when they went on their first mission, I felt so strongly that I wanted to do this someday. Well, the years went by and my heart hardened about a mission. I had told friends there was no way that I would go on a mission . . . But the Lord had a different plan for me. After I was laid off my job, I spent the first summer working in our yard every day. I was loving life! I had wanted to just stay home for several years but felt I needed to continue to work. Well, my hear was softened over the next year. I felt that there was more that I could be doing to serve my Heavenly Father. Wade had been mentioning a mission for several years but I always said no. But after my heart was softened, I told him we should go. After all, there were no weddings or babies coming so this was a perfect time for us to go!
As I look back now, I can see throughout my life, Heavenly Father had put me in the right place to learn the skills that I needed to be where I am now. My medical background has been used as well as my office skills. Even my paper craft skills have been needed here in the mission. I was guided and molded to learn skills to help me to be able to serve here. My church assignments have also taught me skills that are helping in the mission. Our Heavenly Father does have a plan for each of us, we just need to listen and the follow Him. He will never give us more than we can handle. We need to seek Him in all that we do . . . He will bless each of us when we choose to do what is right!
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| Elder & Sister Jewkes and Elder & Sister Teh |
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