Our MTC Experience

Yesterday we went down to the MTC to spend a day with the newest missionaries who just arrived less than a week ago. Each time I saw a sister missionary, I could see Paola’s face and when I saw an Elder I saw Christian Holt who is also serving his mission and many other missionaries who are the children of our friends whom we know so well.

I felt an immense feeling of gratitude for their service. Speaking in sacrament meeting to these young men and women was priceless! How we love our dear missionaries and yesterday was the best way to spend our Sunday.

You would have been so proud of Daniel speaking without reading any notes. I had to write mine because otherwise I wouldn’t have known what to say. I needed some direction. I decided to explain my thoughts by using the few Tagalog words I know. Here is my talk:

Dear Elders and sisters,

We are so happy and excited to be here with you today!

Every Sunday, my husband Daniel and I attend a different Ward or Branch as part of his work as the Director for Temporal Affairs in the Philippines.

No one has asked my husband to do that, but he does it anyway because he likes to go the extra mile in anything he does. If there is one thing I want us to remember from my talk is this; in life if we want to excel at something it’s not enough to do the minimum required, we need to do MORE. We need to go the EXTRA MILE in whatever we are doing. Whether is at school, or at work or at home, or in your mission or in our calling. Always be willing to do more than asked.

What I love about attending different Church units each Sunday is that we get to meet people. These are Filipinos who were taught by the missionaries in most cases. They were receptive to the gospel’s message and they are coming to Church each Sunday because of wonderful missionaries like you, so, first, I want to thank you for making the decision to give of your time 100 percent to the Lord as you embark on your mission and for some of you that even means moving far away from your homeland and learn a new language.

As I attend wards in Tagalog I find it easy to understand the topic that is discussed because most people mix a little English with their Tagalog and some words sound like Spanish which is my native tongue.  These few words so familiar to me mixed with Tagalog are all I need to understand what is important to know. Let me give some examples:

Let’s take the word *Importante: Which means important. I hope you realize how “importante” you are to the growth of the Church in this part of the world! Of all the countries in Asia, is in the Philippines where the Church is growing most rapidly.

Every time we attend a ward on the first Sunday of the month we listened to many *Testimonios or testimonies of the faithful members that are there sharing their thoughts and in many instances, they give thanks to those missionaries who taught them.  My “testimonio” is the most “importante” thing in my life that I possess, it is more precious than diamonds, gold or any amount of money.  My “testimonio” is priceless, is something I want to be remembered for when I die.

I like to maintain my “testimonio” alive and growing by doing three things: praying daily, reading the scriptures and going to Church. I keep a log of the things I learned in Church each Sunday as I write it down. In 2017, I can go back as far as January 1^st which happened to be on a Sunday and continue up to today. It’s here recorded each Sunday. I can go back and read exactly where I was and who spoke on any given Sunday and what I learned.

Another word in Tagalog I know well is *Dios: which means God I am thankful that my Heavenly Father or my “Dios,” the same “Dios” of Adam and Eve from the very beginning to Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and so on, that same “Dios” we read in the scriptures is my “Dios.” He listens to my prayers and he knows me and loves me. I have felt of his love in the temple. There was a time in my life when I was going through a hard trial and sometimes I felt that maybe my Heavenly Father didn’t love me all that much and even forgot about me but before we came to the Philippines, I used to be a temple -worker in the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Temple and without any doubt whatsoever one day I had a very special amazing experience similar to what it would feel like if I were in Heaven and felt Heavenly Father’s love as His daughter and not only that, but I understood why is so important to visit His home regularly. In D&C 25:1 we read: “For Verily I say unto you, all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom.”

Next let’s look at the word *Instrumento: or instrument I want to be an “instrumento” in His hands and do what He needs me to do to help His kingdom and that is why my husband and I are here today. That is why you are here today; that is why President and sister Carlos are here today. We all want to be “instruemntos” in His hands so we need to pray daily to find out what he wants from us and how we can help His cause.

I believe in *Milagros; or miracles. I believe in milagros that still happen in our day. I have witnessed many milagros in my own family that I could never deny.

All of those miracles are possible because of *Jesucristo:  or Jesus Christ. I feel so honor to belong to the His Church that bears His name and at a time when He has promised to return.

 I am thankful for his atoning sacrificio or sacrifice for me and you and every person that has lived. I don't comprehend how was that possible but I think about his “sacrificio” every time I take the sacrament. I went with my family to Jerusalem and when we entered the room where the very first sacrament took place or the last supper, I felt an impression as if I had transported myself into that time-and felt in my heart the most special feeling of His perfect love for us.

This brings me to the next word *Perfecto: or perfect. The only perfect being who has walked this earth is Jesus Christ. We as members of His Church are not “perfectos,” we make mistakes but we are continuing to strive to be better each day and all we are asked to do is try.

I often hear the word  *Evangelio: The “evangelio” or gospel is perfecto, all we need to do is study, learn and apply its teachings. It is not enough to have the knowledge, we must also show what we know by the way we act. In Romans 1:16 we read: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believeth.”

When I hear the word * Complicado: or complicated referring to the world we live in. It can be “complicado” and confusing but remember to trust in the Lord and not your own understanding.

The same goes with the word * Problema or problem. We all have “problemas,” there are no perfect families and if you think your family is perfect, you have not lived long enough. Our “problemas” are there to help us grow.” One scripture that helps me when I feel overwhelmed is found in Matt 11: 28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

One of my favorite Tagalog words is * Familia or family I am also grateful for my familia. Whenever I think of a happy time in my life, I think of a moment spent with my “familia.” My immediate as well as my extended “familia.” I can't think of my life without my “familia” and I am thankful for the knowledge of eternal families.

Another word I hear a lot is *Trabajo or work! It takes trabajo or hard work to accomplish anything worthwhile and that goes with our faith too. We need to exercise our faith by serving others and service equals “trabajo.” It all starts and ends with Charity, the pure love of Christ. One of my favorite scripture is found in Matt 25:40 many of us have it memorized: “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Take a look at the word * Ordenanza or ordinance. I am thankful for those ordinances in my life like *Bautismo and that is another Tagalog word that means baptism.  How “importante” that one day was for me. I think of my “bautismo” as the day I decided to be a disciple of Jesus Christ from that day forward. And here comes my conversion story. We all have one story in our family of how we learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ because either we were lucky to have been born in the Church or we were taught by the missionaries.

About 60 years ago, missionaries were first sent to El Salvador where my grandmother and my aunts were first introduced to the Church. There were only about 100 members at the time when my Grandmother and my Aunts joined so nothing was known about the Church the way it is now so that was hard for them.

My mother was already married and was out of that household so she wasn’t there when the missionaries came but even though my parents were not members, they accepted for me to attend Church with my aunts and grandmother and that is how I was exposed to Primary from a young age.

My Aunt Norma was the Primary President so when I turned eight my she asked my parents’ permission for me to be baptized but my parents decided that I should wait for a later date when I was a little older or to have missionaries teach me more. The missionaries religiously came to teach me and month after month after each one got transferred a new set of missionaries would come. I think I had about five sets of missionaries who came to see me and taught me the lessons to the point that I even had them memorized and if one of them forgot to mention something, I would correct them,18 months later, when my mom saw that I had memorized the “charlas”or lessons it was clear that I was ready and got permission to be baptized.

My Aunt, Silvia Allred, moved to El Salvador during this time and was living with us, she took me to Church each Sunday and that is how I developed my love for Keeping the Sabbath day Holy each Sunday. Later she even became the First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency of the Church and my grandmother Hilda is featured on pg. 92 in the “Daughters in My Kingdom” publication from the Church. I only say this because who would have thought that out of a tiny little country of El Salvador, we could have amazing leaders today.

The children and young men and young women of today will naturally be the leaders of tomorrow. Today out of that one family of one mother and three daughters, there are over 100 descendants who are members and are teaching their children and grandchildren as well which only means that the people that you are going to bring to the Church will have a ripple effect for years to come. I am so grateful for elder Prina and his companion who knocked on my grandmother's door and were not afraid to ask if they could hear their message.

Remember my mom who was not a member, 10 years ago, on January 6, 2007, my mother was baptized by my son in law who had gone on a mission to El Salvador. He was one of the many, many missionaries who visited her. On that special day, prayers and talks were given by her sisters and a musical number was offered by her granddaughter, my daughter.  This is an example of how for some people it might take a long time, 49 years for my mother but those seeds were planted and that is what every missionary who visited her did for her and I am grateful for each one of them.

In closing, let’s discuss one last word in Tagalog. The word *Profeta or Prophet I am grateful to know that I live in this time such as this when we are enjoying the fullness of the gospel with a living “Profeta.” We know that due to his age, he is experiencing some limitations and we miss him but we know that with the aid of his counselors he is still in charge and the head of the Lord’s Church. 

President Monson is that true Prophet we read in the scriptures when we look in Corinthians 12 we read how Apostles, Prophets and miracles are found in the true Church. I am grateful for President Monson and all the teachings he has bestowed upon us for so many years from the time he was an Apostle to today so in closing, I am going to leave with you one of his remarks that I keep dear to my heart. In the April conference 2017, he said:  "My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven's help in our lives.”

Let me repeat this once again, and this time place your name as if he were talking directly to you…”My dear (and think of our own name) in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives.”   There is so much wisdom in those words that I hope we all take to heart what he wants us to do each day. I don’t say this because I heard someone else say it, I say this because the Holy Ghost has testified of these truths to me, that he knows why this is important for us to do and I will start reading the Book of Mormon more consistently than what I am used to. He ended his talk and mine by saying:  I also testify with all my heart in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

These missionaries were a ton of fun to spend time with. I love how thirsty they are for knowledge and growth. I love that they are full of hopes and dreams for the future. I love their energy and excitement for life. Later, we went to hear a devotional on repentance and how I wish every young person would have this wonderful experience. Bottom line, it’s never too late to do the right thing!

Con amor,

Veronica