Week 8: Laboring With Might

Jacob 5:72 "the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them."

Magadang lunes!! I love P-day. This has been a pretty amazing week. Its seems like its just been full of ups! Nothing but good so far honestly. I love this scripture in Jacob. We are laboring with all of our might in the area of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Lord of the vineyard has definitely been with us this week. We've seen some pretty big miracles.

We met a sweet lady named Mary. Mary has been through a lot, and has been meeting with the missionaries every week to do bible study for over a year now. She called us on Tuesday asking us where we were! We didn't know that we needed to go over there, but we went over later that night and began to read in 2 Nephi 31. We invited her to be baptized, and she said she's ready. It was a great experience. When we were teaching and praying with her, she would say "amen" "hallelujah" and "praise Jesus" when she liked what we said. It was awesome. At first it was weird and different, and a little funny to be honest. But as the discussion went on and as I tried to open my heart to feel God's love for her I became to overcome that barrier of different backgrounds and different ways of worship. I found myself wanting to join her in praising Jesus's name. Praise Jesus! Hallelujah to the Lord! I am thankful for his light and his ever outstretched arm of mercy.

Our follow up with Thomas and Leslie went really, really well. We gave Thomas a blessing for his leg and it was such a good experience. It was humbling to be the voice for that blessing. The blessing brought the spirit into the lesson, and we taught the Restoration. Thomas and Leslie accepted our invitation to follow the Savior's example and be baptized. Leslie accepted the invitation and told us that she just knew that this was a change that they needed in their life. Thomas was so immersed in the Book of Mormon that he didn't hear me when we asked him to be baptized! I had to tap him to get his attention, then he said he would be baptized. I'm so excited for both of them and their desire to be on the path towards God. After the lesson we were walking back, and I was just amazed at how prepared they both were to hear the restored gospel. I had never felt more happy in my entire life. Both Elder Jeppson and Cox said it was one of the best lessons they've ever had. The people of Kenosha are prepared to receive the gospel, and our work here is just getting started!

Well, lots more happened this week. I don't want these weekly emails to be super super long so I'll try and keep them simple and short. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your support. I have truly felt it out here. A HUGE thank you to all you lovely people who have reached out to me and to all of you who take the time to actually read these.

Love you all. Mahal ko kayo.

To all who are wondering- how is Elder Childers doing? Is he annoyed about his visa problems? Also do people even live in Wisconsin? My answer: I'm doing really, really well. This past week has held some of my happiest moments. I've made some great friends with my companions, the other elders in our district and even the sisters! I'm loving it. The ward is great, and the people are nice. The food is pretty amazing. I'm having the time of my life!

I didn't really expect much when I got reassigned to Wisconsin. But it has far exceeded my expectations. The other day- Elder Flores told me that he was going to cry when I got my visa. So far everyone's told me that they're praying my visa doesn't come through hahaha. They're so sweet, I'll have pretty mixed feelings when I leave for sure.

Ingat! Have a fantastic week :)

Elder Childers