"No Witness Until After the Trial of Your Faith"

You know, you can never know how everything is going to work out. You just need to go forward in faith that everything will turn out right in the end. 

On Tuesday I was just stressed out about everything that was going on. I had received some discouraging news about some friends of mine on P-day, and then some investigators had texted us wanting my old companion, Elder Lungay back. I don't know, I had just come out of a fairly punted week, too, and I was a bit nervous to go out and work, only to be punted again. There were a few other reasons as well that I won't go into, but basically Tuesday was my breaking point. The stress was just a bit too much. I did lots of praying and reading my patriarchal blessing. I talked with my kabahays and my new companion Elder Olila, and they really helped. Once we went out to work though, it was amazing!

Even though we did get punted from appointments, the work was incredible! We did some finding and found one former investigator that the missionaries stopped visiting for no apparent reason! He asked us to come back and share with his family. I looked for a progress record for him in the area book, but there doesn’t seem to be one! I’m so glad we found him. And the work just continued from there! The next day we had another awesome finding day where we were able to teach a full lesson one to a random house we knocked. The woman we taught was super interested, and we set for next week to come back and teach her family. We also had some really solid lessons that day. 

On Thursday we went on exchanges with some other elders who have actually been proselyting in a neighborhood that’s in our area! It was a handing off of sorts to get the boundaries fixed. It was an interesting day! We also received four referrals from a member there who is anxious for us to work there! So awesome! I really felt the love and support of the members this week.  

On Friday it was All Saints Day, which means everyone has a ton of food and heads to the cemeteries to get drunk and party. And we happened to be working really close to a cemetery that day! We got fed a ton! It was awesome! We also taught a ton of lessons, which was super awesome! 

Saturday, we did some more finding again, and found one family that was super interested in our message. I felt like it was the most well taught lesson I’ve been a part of yet. We were able to really relate our message to their feelings and questions. We were also able to teach that one sister that we knocked her house a couple weeks ago and she had already had the first discussion before. She just loved the plan of salvation. She has huge potential; I’m excited to continue teaching her. We also taught some investigators that day that had awesome questions for us that we were able to answer with the spirit, and we ended up setting baptismal dates for both of them!

Church was good.  We had a few investigators come to church, but many still didn’t come. Oh well! All those with baptisms soon came, so that’s good! We had another good day of work, where we found even more investigators! It’s like people just lined up for us this week, it was kind of weird! We were able to make great progress with the investigators we currently have, and introduce the gospel to many! This was easily the most hardworking week I’ve had! It felt great, too. I hope that I can continue to work hard and make this fantastic week worth it!

My new companion is amazing too.  We work hard and strive to have the spirit and great things have been happening. I look up to him so much.  He's a humble servant of Christ and serious about the work, and yet knows how to have fun! He's just the man, that’s all.

And also, every last concern, worry, and uneasiness I had last Tuesday has either been resolved and in just one case I have a plan to resolve it now. I have received a witness from God this week, but it definitely didn’t come until after the trial of my faith.

 I love you all!
 “Everything is going to be alright. Stay strong. Believe!”

--Elder Christensen

More on All Saints Day:

Every 1st day of November, Philippines give honor to the dead. It is a public holiday in the country. People from all walks of life remember their dead relatives by lighting candles, offering flowers and foods. During this events all cemetery in the Philippines look festive. People come and go and some stay there overnight. In every family’s house there are native delicacies prepared in the table and it is a custom of every Filipino to come, eat and exchange foods to their neighbors as a part of the celebration.  In the cemetery aside from material offerings the most important is the spiritual offerings. Since most Filipinos are Catholic, a mass is held in the cemetery to pray for the souls of the dead. There are some who prefer to say some prayers in front of their relatives’ grave.