Miracles!

Hello family! 

This week was so wonderful! I don't have tons of time so this might be a little short.

This week we had 3 random people walk up to us on the street while we were out proselyting and ask us to come to their houses and teach them! MIRACLE!

We also had a 10 year old little brother of a recent convert- Jonrel- say Sisters I want to be baptized! and we had never even met him before! MIRACLE! 

We worked in a new neighborhood that I had never been to before and set return appointments with 10 people in like an hour! MIRACLE! 

I can speak and understand Hiligaynon! Every lesson and OYM the Holy Ghost helped me understand and respond! My teaching skills have like exploded this week! The spirit is with us! Also I successfully taught about family history in front of 50 missionaries in Hiligaynon and didn't die of nerves! MIRACLE! 

We taught a new person John Paul about prophets and introduced Prophet Russell M. Nelson and he got so happy and said Sisters today is the first time I've learned that we have a living prophet. Please come back and teach me more! MIRACLE!

My new companion Sister Clark is from CORVALLIS! And she knows ADDIE!! MIRACLE!

Sister Adams is here!! MIRACLE! 

Basically this week has been one straight miracle. I know Heavenly Father loves us so much. Keep keeping the commandments! Try try try! 

I love you all

Sister Zollinger

p.s. the computer usb port thingy is broken so I can't send pictures :( Next week!!

Families can be together forever!

Hello! This week was wonderful!

This week I got to work in Bacolod while my companions were at MLC that was really fun and the transportation was nuts! I like calm Kabankalan. 

Also this week we had zone conference! The spirit was amazing. I can feel the mission elevating and we're becoming what God needs us to be. 

Also we did like 5 FHEs this week with members, new converts, part member families, and new people to teach!! It was miraculous and so much fun. I felt the spirit of family all week and I have a strong testimony that families really can be together forever. 

This Saturday was Christine's baptism!! It was such a happy happy day. Her big brothers gave the talks at her baptism and Christine stood up in front of everyone and bore her testimony even though she's so shy! She also prays all the time now like a champ. I'm so incredibly proud of her. I really know that Heavenly Father does his own work. All we really did was show up and follow the spirit. The conversion happened with Christine and her Father in Heaven and it was such a gift to be able to watch. I'm so excited for her. Next year her family will go to the temple and become a forever family! I love them. Also her cousin came to her baptism and he really loved it. We've been able to teach him a bit in the past but we're really going to focus on him this next transfer. Yay yay yay for families. 

 

 

All of my companions I've had in the Philippines are officially going home! :( I'm really going to miss them and I'm so grateful for everything they've taught me and all the miracles we've seen together. I know they will continue to become as the Savior is. I've been so blessed. I also got to see Sister Aguda at zone conference and today at the transfer meeting! I've missed her. Pray for them for me as they travel to their families. :) 

Transfer news!! I'm staying in Kabankalan and I'll be training a new missionary!! Sister Schenk (My MTC companion) is training too! I'm really excited for this new transfer I know we're going to see more miracles than ever before! 

I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us and I can't deny the love and the peace and the help I feel from the Holy Ghost everyday. This is the restored church of our Savior. I know it I know it I know it. 

Palangga ko kamo. Padayon! 

Sister Lola Z 

Palagpat gd sa akon lawas

Hello!!! Welcome! Come on in! Kaon ta! 

Um I'm still incredibly sick but it's fine because SO MANY MIRACLES.

Tatay Jerry! So we received the missionary dream text this week from Tatay Jerry. It said I'm going to get baptized I need your advice! (except it was in Hiligaynon) Then he texted us a few days later and he was like sisters you have to come over I've made my decision! So we went over!! And he gained his testimony and his desire to be baptized because of TITHING! Wow. Last week he asked us what our church did with our money and we didn't think much of it we just answered his question with the scriptures and explained that no one in the church gets paid for their work or service. But apparently at the church he's been going to he's been donating tons on money and they've basically been robbing him and he finally asked them what they've been doing with all the money and no one could answer him and the head pastor just told him that all the money was gone. So that was pretty crazy. But now he's for sure getting baptized! Miracles

Christine! This week Christine had her baptism interview!! And she passed! Her progression has been so wonderful to see. She's finally praying out loud on her own and she wasn't shy at all with the district leader. I got to sit with their family and Sunday and they're all so excited. Her baptism is this Saturday :) Stay tuned. 

Mario! So Mario is the guy we met last week who is the cousin of a recent convert- Angel. He's so receptive. We taught him this week the beginning of the Restoration and at the end of the lesson we felt prompted to invite him to be baptized and he accepted! Then we saw him and his friend later in the week and Mario told his friend that he was "going to church with the Mormons" (we're still working on correcting that) but still it was wonderful! He told his friend to come to church with him. 

Rodnell! Rodnell is Tatay Lopez's nephew and when we went up to the mountain this week to work Rodnell was there visiting for a few days. Tatay Lopez asked us to share with him. Rodnell was baptized with his whole family when he was 10 but the next year in 2001 they got lost from the church. Since then he has been kind of looking for the truth again and has gone to a lot of other churches but hasn't even felt like home again. Our lesson with him was incredibly inspired like 100% guided by the spirit it was so powerful. I felt prompted to share the story of the Prodigals son and my language skills pulled through! AND THE NEXT DAY he came to church with Tatay Lopez! He's from Bacolod and he told us that he's going to go to church there every week from now on. It was such a beautiful miracle. 

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.  

Even through sickness I've seen so many miracles!! The work will go on! No unhallowed sickness can stop us! Haha 

Stay Bakod. 

Sister Zollinger 

Ah I should probably explain the bottles picture. So we met the cutest old man ever- Nelson. And invited him to meet with us and he was so happy and excited that he gave us three enormous bottles of homemade vinegar!! We'll have to teach him the word of wisdom soon ;)

"If you don't do the right thing you'll get struck by the lightning"

Direct quote from President Sumagpao. He was telling us to be obedient so we can be safe :)

This week was wonderful! Except I got super sick and couldn't get out of bed for like 3 days. But still it was wonderful! So many miracles

We taught Jerry and Tata the word of wisdom this week. We made a plan with Jerry so he can stop smoking. We wrote it on his calendar and then he wrote "I will stop smoking" at the top and signed his name. :) He also came to Nanay Petronia's baptism this Saturday. He's so eager to learn more he texts us and asks when we can come next and if he can work with us just so he can hear the word of God. He's the best. Tata also loved the lesson and he said he wants his own one on one lesson so he can ask us all his questions. It's so fun to teach them. 

This week we did a baptismal interview questions review with Christine. She's so ready. Her big brothers are going to speak at her baptism. Their whole family is so excited to be sealed next year it's the most amazing thing to see. I love that family. 

Wednesday through Friday I was bed ridden coughing and dying and sleeping but I'm better now! No worries!  Also Wednesday and Thursday night we had dinner with President and Sister Sumagpao. We're so spoiled. I love them so much.

We also had interviews with President which was a huge blessing. This is pretty personal but I feel like it might help someone so I think I'll share. For a lot of my mission I've been struggling feeling like I wrecked my potential because of the mistakes I made in the past. Before my mission too I really struggled feeling like I even deserved to go. I finally decided I should open up about that because it's probably been hurting my ability to be effective as a disciple of Christ. It's hard to be bold and rely on the Spirit when you're battling self doubt. So I opened up about everything- all my fears and doubts and struggles. It was probably one of the most freeing things I've ever done. Once I got it all out it didn't sound so overwhelming or daunting. I realized that the steps I took to repent were acceptable to Heavenly Father and He had already moved on. It was just me holding on when I didn't need to. The past few days have been so peaceful. I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and when we take those leaps of Faith He's right there to catch us. And then He blesses us with more strength and growth and ability to help those around us. 

I want to invite all of you to find those things in your life that are waiting for your leap of faith. Find it and then act! Christ is ready for you. He's always always there I know it. He's been there for me every single time. If your struggling talk to someone. Trust the Lord's servants they're here for a reason. 

Anyways. We had a beautiful baptism this Saturday for the

Sweetest Nanay Petronia. She was so happy all day. She beat us to the church before the baptism and she brought her friends and her grandkids with her. The spirit was so precious and after her baptism she bore her testimony on all the commandments she has learned and then got teary and said she was going to live all of them for the rest of her life. On Sunday she was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a blessing to witness. We really love her. She's come so far. 

Another miracle- two of our teaching appointments got canceled on Saturday night and we didn't really know where to go so my companions asked me if I knew anyone close by we could go see and I felt prompted to go visit a recent convert Angel. I knew she was on vacation in the mountains though so I was really confused why God wanted us to go over there. When we got to her house she was gone like I thought but we met her cousin Mario and talked to him. He asked us to come back the next day and teach him. So we did! And he's so prepared. So humble. We got to help him learn that Christ lives. He didn't know that before. I know the spirit helped us find him. We're really excited to continue to teach him and Angel's aunt finally sat in on a lesson for the first time. What a blessing.

I'm so blessed. Everyday I'm just in awe of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm honored to be his servant out here in Kabankalan. The church is true. Jesus loves you. 

Halong a. 

Sister Zollinger