Elder Bryce Larson: Tis the Season to be Jolly

Is it really December already? I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Put Up Christmas Lights Saturday. Here in the Philippines, we didn't really even do anything for Thanksgiving. But I celebrated it in my heart and we had a great week, with many significant events.

For starters, we have our first baptism this upcoming Saturday. Lyka Domingo is 10 years old and comes from a part member family that was not too active until a little before Elder Merza and I came to Cabarroguis. But since we've been here, she has been to church every week and the lessons we have taught her have gone great. She has been a golden investigator and Nanay Domingo has also been very helpful too. It's been awesome for me to see her make progression in the gospel so quickly and I'm excited for this Saturday!

Another family I want to talk about is the Estoconing family. They have been less active for a long time and even though we had taught their 11-year-old daughter Hanesa a lot of the investigator lessons in our first month here-as well as lessons to the family trying to emphasize the importance of coming to church-they still were not attending. Well yesterday, their whole family except the dad came to church and their 14-year-old daughter bore her testimony for the first time in her life. I was so happy to see them there and Nanay Estoconing said that their family is going to come every week now because she wants for Hanesa to eventually be baptized.

This last week, I gave my first blessing in the field. Our investigator Jessica was really sick and even had to go to the hospital the next day, but she is doing much better now. As I gave that blessing, it was not all Tagalog. I am not sure she understood every word that I said in English. But as it states in Preach My Gospel, the language of the Spirit is universal, and that is the most important language.

Lastly, on Saturday I finished the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time of my life. When me and Elder St. Gelais started back in the MTC, we decided we were going to highlight everything in the book that talks about the prophecies and gospel of Jesus Christ. As I'm sure you can probably guess, there is definitely a lot! It took me exactly 2 months and I've made a long-term goal over the course of my mission to complete the quad (BOM, Bible, D&C, PoGP) and the four-book set of Jesus The Christ, Our Search For Happiness, Our Heritage, and True To The Faith. On top of that, I want to read the Book of Mormon additionally at least two more times so I have a lot of studying haha. But I know that it is a true book and that Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God. It is so important in all our teachings because it is the keystone of our religion and as Joseph Smith personally testifies, "it is the most correct book on the face of the Earth and a man would come closer to God by reading and abiding by its precepts than by any other book". That is not the exact quote but I know the message to be true. I love the Book of Mormon so much and whatever trial we have in this life, we can turn to it as another testament of Christ. It is such a powerful testimony to everyone! And I feel like I should close this little testimony in His sacred name, even our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!

P.S: Wednesday marks my first cycle in the field so that's what the pictures are about.