They ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ

Hello! This week has been another pretty good week, one main blessing being an incredible amount of teaching opportunities that we had this week (whether people that we met for the first time, people preparing for baptism for March, inactive members, or anywhere else in between), which is in due part to the fact that this week was a break week for the public schools here, so families were a lot more together and at home when we stopped by their houses. Through these teaching visits, I really felt the power that comes from following Jesus Christ and His Gospel and sharing it with others; if you ever want to feel greater peace, joy, and love, I invite you to study and focus your life on the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that will change you and your family's lives for the better more than anything else in the world can, it truly is that powerful, and I've seen its effects on me as a person and as a disciple of Jesus Christ over these past almost-19 months, as well as its effects on the lives of those I've met with and shared His gospel with. Aside from many teaching opportunities and continuing to find part-member families for us to visit and teach, Ashley (the cousin of a less active member in our branch, Margie, with whom she has been staying while her parents are away for a while) has agreed to prepare herself to be baptized on March 25! She told us about the feelings she had as she prayed to know if it was the right decision, which was awesome, and then when we asked Leandre, Margie's son, about him praying to know if he should be baptized too, he told us that he did pray about it....and then fell asleep 😂 haha, which is very relatable, I know I've done that several times as well lol. He's still uncertain about baptism because of some slight conflict from the different faiths in his family, but we'll continue to work with him about it and help him to progress towards baptism as well, if he wants to. Ashley will be baptized on the same day as Bella, the daughter of another less active member, and she will be joining Aida, Rosalinda, and Rose Mary in becoming the newest members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this upcoming March, followed by a few more people that we'll be hopefully be preparing for baptism as well in the next coming months. Speaking of, Rosalinda and Rose Mary continue to do great, they're awesome, and we've even started to teach Rose Mary's son, Ross Gray, as well. If things continue to go well with him, he could probably even be baptized alongside his mom on March 18, or at least shortly afterwards, we'll see. His birthday was also yesterday, so we were able to have a good time with him and his extended family (some of which are recently baptized members as well). Aida, unfortunately, could use some prayers; it's been difficult to meet with her, and she's been having some family issues, and if these things keep up, we may have to postpone her baptism (which will hopefully be on March 11) until things get more settled with her. The branch as a whole continues to make a lot of progress and seems to be becoming stronger and stronger with each passing month through God's grace and guidance. Sunday meetings are great with a much better spirit and feeling than the first little while that I was here, and we're making a lot of progress with greater ministering efforts in order to reach out to some more less active/inactive members, with Elder Secillano and I turning our sights now specifically to help the priesthood quorums become larger and more stronger as we help more potential priesthood holders come back to church and prepare to receive the priesthood, we have good hopes and feelings for this branch's future progress. Aside from that, I don't think I have any random or goofy stuff to throw in this week, nothing comes to the top of my head. I saw a bunch of kids playing with a live snake the other day, so that was pretty neat haha, and I had a Technology Council on Saturday to set/discuss some plans and goals for the future of social media in the Philippines Cauayan Mission, which is another thing that I have high hopes for as I've seen God continue to guide us and bless me over the past few days with additional ways to fulfill my assignment and help our technology efforts become stronger and stronger. With these plans being developed, discussed, and/or initiated, I have an optimistic look on the future of these parts of the Lord's vineyard that I've been privileged to work in, whether it be the social media/technology front or whether it be Mallig itself, and I can't wait to see how God will bless and nurture these people as they strive to come closer to Him and help others do the same. Anyways, after all these successes and boasting/glorying in the strength of my God, I can't wait to see what trials/tribulations are lurking just around the corner ;) haha. That's just part of life, they will come someday. Just remember that no matter what life throws at you and no matter what trials you will or may be facing, there is always light at the end of that difficult tunnel. Every single time. And the best way to obtain that light, peace, comfort, and direction is through Jesus Christ, the source of all light and every good thing, who is always inviting us to come unto Him and receive His mercy, strength, grace, and power into our lives. Hope you guys have a wonderful week! Elder Enger 1-3 - Pretty sunset 4 - Ministering blitz with the Elders Quorum 5 - The moon was on fire 6 - The after effects of one of several games that I've been learning and will be introducing when I come back 👀 7 - Biking 8 - Guinea pig 9 - Another nice sunset 10 - The snake that some kids were playing with last week

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