This is actually Monday morning but I wanted to express my feelings regarding our experience at the Morong Branch. First of all it is air conditioned so it is easier to concentrated on the message. When we arrived about 20 minutes early there were members and investigators already in their seats with the piano playing prelude music. The young Filipino member was practicing her new skills by taking part in the service in any way she could. All the members take the time to greet everyone with a handshake and to mention each others names when doing so. They are all dressed in the best they have even if it is jeans and a t-shirt. Most of the sisters have dresses, skirts and blouses and the brethren have shirts and ties and slacks. The young Aaronic Priesthood holders come dressed in white shirts and ties to administer the sacrament. All are ready to participate in this important ordinance.
The Bishop greets everyone and his counselor conducts the meeting. Most of which is spoken here is Tagalog but with some English thrown in. So we get the jest of the meeting. All hymns are sung in English even if the pianist is rather slow in tempo. She is just learning and is brave enough to practice her skills with us singing.
It was fast and testimony meeting where members have an opportunity to express their feelings about the gospel and bear testimony of it truthfulness. We can pretty much understand their feelings of what they say.
Sunday school is great. The Gospel Doctrine class is taught by the former branch president and he is very astute in the Gospel. He is well prepared and he teaches with conviction and testimony. His occupation is a "Driver" for an executive here in Manila. Oh I wish I could afford a driver. It can be stressful here in traffic. Our drive to Morong and back is less of a hassle than previously and the countryside is very beautiful. Back to the teacher......is lesson was number 35 in the lesson manual about Amos being called of God to be a prophet and about listening to our prophets as quoted from scripture, if it is by God's mouth or that of his servants it is the same. Good lesson. The counselor to the District to which the branch is under was there today and had given instructions to the Branch Presidency to instruct the members about what to give a testimony about. It is about five items, testimony that Jesus is the Christ, Church is true, Joseph Smith is a true prophet of the restoration, Book of Mormon is a true testament of Christ, and President Monson is our living Prophet today. We were all cautioned about giving a "storymony" I can relate to this. We usually have a Sister Testimony or a Brother Testimony every month that gets up and drolls on. Good counsel I thought.
Relief Society message was given by our Relief Society President who chose to relate one of the articles from the Liahona regarding unity. The article discusses one sister in Peru who provided her perspective on unity and compared it to a stone wall. Even though we all have differences as the various stones in an ancient wall, we can all fit together like the cut stones in the wall that are actually cut to fit. All corners are cut to fit in. As we all have differences we can learn to love to give, to tolerate, to help and to provide strength to each other to build a strong wall of spirituality and love. Good thoughts I thought. We then had a testimony meeting which most participated in. I was invited to share my testimony. I included the five areas of course but I wanted to let the sisters know that as members of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are all unified in heart and mind with Christ. It is true all over the world and it unifies us as daughters of our Heavenly Father and as sisters in the Gospel one to another. One day we will all be in the Celestial Kingdom with Heavenly Father who created us all with differences and know that He loves us very much and wants us to be happy and wants us to be with Him again someday. Gives me the feeling I feel when I am in the Temple. I love the Temple and when I am sitting there with all these Filipino people I am grateful for the knowledge we have.
There is a responsibility of the knowledge which the Filipino Saints really embrace and are so diligent in living the Gospel. It really shows in their behavior and willingness to serve. They can recite scripture and participate very well in Gospel discussions. Their love of the Temple and willingness to pay tithing on very little that they have is inspiring. It is the same here as it is in the United States or where even else I am. Truly this is the truth. In Jesus Name Amen.
In the evening we invited Elder and Sister Ayres over to share dinner with us. By their request we had Boeuf Bourguignon Julia Child's recipe. We all enjoyed it. I made a killer salad and some rolls served with sparkling grape and peach soda. Chocolate chip oatmeal walnut cookies for dessert. We talked about current and past Missionary experiences.
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