Such a Great Week!

Well last week was great, we baptized tatay Julius and you should hear this man's testimony! He is such a good guy. I'll tell you a little background story about him.

So the missionaries found tatay Julius about 2 years ago and tried to teach him, but whenever they tried to teach him he would always stumble out of his house drunk. He was known as "ang lasinguero ng bayan" or the town drunk. Well, I found tatay Julius again about 2 months ago while I was on exchanges with another elder in the zone. I just had a feeling that we needed to go down the alley a little further and knock on some more houses. I'm glad I followed that prompting because what I found was a man that had been prepared to receive the gospel. We asked Julius why he wanted so badly to be baptized. He told us that he wanted to show his family and Heavenly Father that he was still able to change. He is evidence of how living the gospel can turn your life 180 degrees, and get you headed in the right direction. Last week as we had our last lesson with Julius, we were asking him some of the baptismal interview questions. After that we asked if we could hear his testimony. He said how thankful he was for Heavenly Father sending us to his house, and how thankful he was to be numbered among the brothers and sisters of this church. The Spirit was so strong, it was incredible. I love tatay Julius and am so proud of him!

We went to the Edrada family last week and the mom came to the door and asked if they could stop taking the missionary lessons. I was pretty sad, but then my companion asked her "have you prayed to know if these things are true?" She admitted that she hadn't, we invited her to continue to pray about it. She had a change of heart and said we could come back and continue the lessons. The rest of their family is so prepared, we just have to get her up to their level. I know that our Heavenly Father will prepare a way for them.

Well I'm so thankful for my community and family and friends back home. You guys are great! I hope you continue to cherish the words in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. You will find the strength to overcome life's trials if you do. I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Furniss

ps. yes that is a rice combine ;) #godblessamericanengineering