Sister Brown in the Philippines: A Baby Named Joe Burt‏

Pamilacan family

And then it was Monday again... This was a pretty crazy week. We had mission tour on Wednesday, which is where one of the members of the area presidency (basically a missionary movie star) comes and speaks to your soul. Elder Shane Bowen came and told us who we were. I thought I already knew who I was. I was wrong. Do you know who you are? Do you know why it's important that you understand who you are? Because when you understand who you are, you act differently. There are certain things that you can never do, things that you can never say, and places that you can never go because of who you are. You are a child of a very loving and all-knowing God. You have the potential to become like Him. You have divine potential. And you can do anything because of it. Even be a clown magician.

Speaking of clown magicians, we taught the clown magician's wife. Unfortunately, the clown magician was off clowning so he couldn't join us but his wife's name is Dhory and she is just full of potential! We felt like we were lead to a lot of new investigators this week with a lot of potential and we are super excited to work with them. As for the investigators we already had, Vergie and Gilbert got baptized! And guess what, every single thing on the program went exactly as planned, every single speaker showed up prepared, and most of them were even in their Sunday best. Vergie and Gilbert bore amazing testimonies and they were just glowing with happiness. It was the first perfect baptism of my mission, and maybe in the entire Philippines.

Next week, Sister Edlyn Yuson will be getting baptized. She just got married in July and her husband is a returning less-active member. They are just the cutest things ever and I am so excited for them! We have been teaching Edlyn for a long time and she wasn't really progressing. But then we elevated the goal. Because baptism really isn't the goal. The temple is. And since then, she's been totally on board :) She is super pregnant and she just found out that it's a boy! And get this, she wants Sister Burt and I to suggest a name. In the Philippines, everyone combines the mom and dad's names to get some crazy baby name. So naturally, Sister Burt and I have hopelessly been trying to combine our names so that they won't forget us. So far we've got Shane Clark, Joe Burt, Burbro, and all kinds of other awful names. So if you've got suggestions, send them my way. This child's future depends on it.

Update on Brother Makulit. We didn't get to teach them ALL week since they were gone and then we were gone and then they were gone again. Brother didn't even come to church because his friend got married. But we got to teach him last night after the wedding and the fact that we went to a wedding with all of his friends and didn't drink is a BIG deal. He's going on week 4 :) The reason they were gone this week was because they had doctor's appointments for their bunso (youngest) in Manila. Her name is Avea and we're pretty sure she is a mature spirit stuck in a baby's body. I love her. She has a whole in her heart and if it doesn't heal on it's own, she has to get surgery. She's been on a list for a long, long time and they are expecting a call in about 3 weeks. Guess what else is in 3 weeks. That's right. September 26th, Brother Pamilacan's long awaited baptism. Avea comes before all else, of course. So prayers for this sweet family would be greatly appreciated.

I hope you all have a great week! Make someone smile :)

XOXO, Sister Brown