The Area Plan

(Monday letter)

Hello family:

I am back! We went to the Mission Presidents seminar right after I got back from the US last weekend and what a treat that was! I love, love attending those seminars. Every area has an Area Presidency (3 General Authorities) who prepare the topics discussed in these seminars and the DTA is invited to attend too. I learned so much each time I go. Let me give you a little taste of all the things that were discussed.

For starters, The Area Presidency has an Area plan. Do you know what is the area plan where you live? The Philippines area plan is made up of three words: Obey, Covenant, Establish and the missionaries in our area need to know that.

We also have a vision statement: By exercising faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, members will obey the commandments, make honor and renew sacred covenants and more fully establish the Kingdom of God in the Philippines.

Obey: We will show our love to God by obeying His commandments.

Covenant: We will live worthily, receive the blessings of the temple and be true to our covenants.

Establish: We will build strong, self-reliant, multigenerational Filipino families and share the joy of the gospel with others.

We will exercise our faith in Jesus Christ and work together to accomplish His will.

The missionaries here in the Philippines have a lot of success. People are humble and teachable here but on the other hand it can be a hard mission because it lacks comforts of life. I love what a statement someone said in the seminar about missionaries “ …that moment when the missionaries figure out that it doesn’t have anything to do with them, forget themselves and focus in those who they are serving and Jesus Christ is when they start to succeed. “

I will continue on some more thoughts next week. All I can say is that I love missionaries. When you see them, smile at them and give them a high five!

Con amor,

Vero