Two Baptisms and Lots of Finding!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been a great one! We had two baptisms which were wonderful. Jonathan and Joshua were baptized and confirmed members the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What a glorious thing. In our branch right now we have a very active branch mission leader who made a program, contacted and the members and even arranged for a musical number. It was pretty nice to not have to worry about those things. The baptismal service was great and my favorite part was hearing the testimonies of Jonathan and Joshua. Jonathan talked about how for his whole life he has gone to church was there was always something missing. He said that the first time he attended church here he felt something different and he found what he was missing. Even though Joshua is young he still has a strong testimony too.

This past week we had appointment after appointment fall through. However we didn't get discouraged we just tried to find new people to teach. Through our efforts this past week we found 11 new investigators! That's a lot of new investigators for one week. We found all of them in different ways. It helped strengthen my testimony that God prepares his children to hear and accept his Gospel. I just really pray that they will all continue to listen, to keep commitments and to come unto Christ.

This past week I have a great experience. One night during nightly planning we felt like we should visit a less active member. She is a mother of 5 children and we had taught a couple of her children but had never actually taught her. When we went to her house we had no idea what we were going to teach. I started to ask her some questions and I listened for the spirit to know her needs. I shared a verse from 3 Nephi and then she opened up to us. She has been inactive for years because she committed a sin and didn't know how to repent to how to go to the Lord for comfort. It turns out that this sin has been a heavy burden in her life a long time. Elder Burog and I were then able to teach a powerful lesson about the atonement and about repentance. The spirit was so strong. We taught purely to this sister's needs and the Holy Ghost gave us the words to say. We were able to give this sister a hope that she hasn't had for years. That's one the beauties of the Gospel. It gives us hope. During this experience I can say that I honestly felt like an instrument of the Lord.

I also had the opportunity to go to the mission home this past week for zone leaders council. It was a wonderful day and a half. I learned so much more about the mission and how everything works and I was able to get a fuller vision of missionary work. We talked about a lot of things at this conference but one of the things that really impacted me was the assistants workshop about leadership. I realized that I need to be a leader not a manager. It's not about managing numbers and people, but about inspiring hearts and making a difference. The way to lead is by example. Through thoughts, words and deeds. I learned about the importance of love. Without love a leader is nothing.

I really love being a misisonary. I say this every week but it's so true. I just love the Gospel. I love the Savior. I love the wonderful Filipino people. It's all about love.

Mahal ko kayo.

Love Elder Leishman