Thursday, August 12, 2004
We had a good discussion with a tatay that lives on Corazon de Jesus where we’ve been tracting and OYMing the last few days. His name is Filipe Ocampo and he is a Jehovah’s Witness. We were just finishing up our hour of tracting when we said hello to him and he invited us into his house, or shop, or whatever you want to call it. We talked a bit and he asked who we were and what we were doing so we answered. We told him that we’d like to share our beliefs with him. He consented but he first wanted us to explain our beliefs about Jehovah. Elder Sangco did a great job explaining it. He used the “Ang Gabay sa mga Banal na Kasulatan[1]” and explained from there. From there we just sort of developed into a first discussion. It was great. He was really smart and answered all our questions correctly. I think he is really seeking the truth and wants to find it. I hope that he will read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I felt the spirit really strongly while I was testifying of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. That was really a great boost.
An interesting experience is connected to our finding this brother. Today after follow-ups, when we got back to our apartment I had a blazing fever. I rested for a while and then went downstairs to eat. After I finished eating, I decided to rest some more. When I went upstairs though to sleep I couldn’t rest. The story of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball when they left for their mission to England and were deathly ill but they still went. I tried to justify just staying in bed because I still had a high fever but the thought wouldn’t leave me that I should go and work. I did go out and work. If I hadn’t gone we would never have found Brother Filipe. Maybe this is the beginning of my ability to really hear and follow the spirit. I hope I have more experiences like that. It was really a good experience. To add to the goodness of the experience I was reading the Ensign this morning an article about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” It talked about having trials to bring us close to Jesus. I am trying to let this sickness do that but it’s really hard. I really still hope that I’ll get over it. When tapos na! Magandang Gabi!
[1] Ang Gabay sa mga Banal na Kasulatan: The Guide to the Scriptures. This is included in the foreign language Book of Mormon copies instead of the index that is in the English scriptures.