In This Family We Serve Missions: Teaching the Gospel and Eating Pansit

We taught the Mostoles family with the missionaries this week. We met the elders on the road and walked through the dark with them back into the neighborhood. There was no path, just hard dirt that we passed between small homes to get to the Mostoles home. We passed lots of barking dogs, smiling faces and a few homes with a single light shining in the darkness. We had our flashlight out and were happy it had not rained or we would have been walking in mud.

We prepared a lesson on making and keeping covenants for tonight. Mom was carrying a big 7 foot stick she found in our backyard, for an object lesson. We must have looked like we were going on a hike. After a 1/4 mile walk through the dark, dodging bushes, barbed wire, low clothes lines and over-protective dogs we were greeted by sister Mostoles. Most of the family was gone, but she was cooking dinner over an open fire and we know the others would be coming home for dinner soon, so we waited a little. Sure enough they came back home.

We taught our lesson to 8 (3 members, 5 non-members) of them in a little 6' X 8' room. We felt the Spirit, taught the lesson and shared our testimonies in English and the elders translated our message into Tagalog for them. Mom gave an object lesson by comparing us to a toothpick that can easily be broken and God to the big stick. Then she taped the toothpick to the big stick with masking tape that had "Covenant" written on it. When we covenant with God we are strong and Satan cannot break us, but if we break our covenant (tear off the tape) we stand alone and Satan can break us. They understood and we felt their joy in this new knowledge. The missionaries recommitted 5 of them to baptism on March 17 and they are looking forward to that.

Sister Mostoles disappeared for a minute and came back with a large dish of pansit noodles and deep fried eggs. The missionaries were ready and soon everyone was busy eating dinner. We are so grateful for their love and hospitality to us as we brought them a simple lesson of the beautiful principle of making and keeping covenants.