My parents just said goodbye to Elder and Sister Wakolo. They were originally scheduled to come a couple of days after the Typhoon that hit in September and since that was cancelled, this time, they took a whole week out of their schedule to visit. My parents only had amazing and great things to say about the visit! The Wakolo's are portrayed as incredible servants of the Lord that are humble, kind, smart, and amazing scriptorians! From them, my parents have felt encouraged going forward to study, memorize and know the doctrine even more and were inspired to have the missionaries do the same. Funny because in my eyes, my parents are amazing scriptorians! It is humbling to be reminded that we always have room to have our testimonies grow, and that there is always more knowledge to gain.
They spent the week on a mission tour, doing zone conferences and other mission things with the Wakolos. A powerful story that Elder Wakolo shared with the mission was about a "good nonmember friend of his" from Fiji, who had many missionaries come and go in his life, 22 of them to be exact. This man had been a part of 7 different religions throughout his life and was currently attending the Born again Christian church. When he was the age of marriage he wrote a list of all the things he wanted in a wife and when he was done he realized it described a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that he knew. He ended up marrying this member but told her that she could never have the Book of Mormon in their home and he kept her from going to church. This sweet sister didn't want to cause contention and she loved him so she didn't talk about the church or read the Book of Mormon. However, she never lost her desire to be apart of the church and thought to herself "how am I still going to serve?" So she asked her husband if she could feed the missionaries, as it would be a great service and explained to him that it was really needed. He agreed as long as they didn't talk about the church while they were there. This opened the door to her husband meeting his 23rd set of missionaries. Even though they were asked not to share the gospel while they were there, one particular time something happened (I suppose the missionaries felt inspired) and they asked if they could share a scripture with them. After this visit he told the missionaries that he had been taught it all before and wasn't going to change but if they could answer some questions for him using the bible then they could come back to talk about more the next 3 nights. The first night they came back, he asked them the questions and they answered from the bible, and he was satisfied. The second night, he asked them the questions, they answered from the bible, and was satisfied. The third night he said that he just had one question for them and if they answered it positively then he would be baptized. His question was "can I be baptized?" Elder Wakolo concluded this story with the words "I stand before you today as that man". My mom said it gave everyone chills! What an amazing man to have changed his heart and come so far! I'm sure it gave the missionaries quite the pumped up feeling to hear this story and know that there are many others out there waiting for them. I hope this story can be an example to us all as we share the gospel with those around us. Never give up after hearing a no! Always be kind...be a good example of service and love and we cannot go wrong.
Interesting to note that during their visit this past week Elder Wakolo gave out 4 Books of Mormon.
The latest news we received last night was that my parents just had their first earthquake-nothing too serious but definitely felt, and that ANOTHER super typhoon (this one is at about 200 some km) is on its way, and could hit their mission hard again. They are praying that the typhoon will be diverted or that it will weaken... but are going forward with plans to, once again, bring all their missionaries into Laoag where the mission home is. They are better prepared for the power outages this time around- all the missionaries were given solar powered lamps that double as a charging station for their phones. The people there are being tested and hopefully it will lead to more people coming to the gospel! Opportunities for service are all around as well as opportunities to see blessings through all of the tests and trials.
-Lacey
*pictures and video below include captions from my mom
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"This choir sang at the event. They had just taken first place in a competition the day before."
"Another song from the award winning choir"
"Special "Sisters Meeting" with Sister Wakolo after Zone Conference Day 1"
"Our Mission Leadership Council meet with Elder and Sister Wakolo"
Special "Sisters meeting" with Sister Wakolo after Mission Tour Zone Conference Day 2."
"Mission Tour Zone Conference with Elder and Sister Wakolo Day 2."
"Elder Swann is one of our assistants and he is from Fiji just like Elder and Sister Wakolo"
"Sister Wakolo and I head out to do some proselyting. We actually did "splits" with some of our sister missionaries."
"President Peterson and Elder Wakolo headed out to do splits with the assistants."
" A visit to the historic Paoay Church with Elder and Sister Wakolo"
"This nun was explaining that this historic church would be closed for two years to renovate- could be longer depending on if they are able to get the funds needed. After that, as we slowly walked down the isle of the church taking in rich history around us, Elder Wakolo said he felt it would be good to make a large donation- suggesting $5,000-$10,000 US dollars- in the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have no doubt that he was receiving revelation at that moment concerning the donation. He suggested using our PR people and making the gift public knowledge. The amount of money would be huge to the Filipino people. It will be a generous outreach and soften the hearts of many. We love our Catholic friends- they are the ones who brought Christianity to the Philippines, and once they are taught the fullness of the gospel, they accept it readily. Having these interdenominational relationships is so important and Elder Wakolo brought that to our attention in a big way."
"Elder and Sister Wakolo are both scripture scholars and master teachers! All of us here in the Philippines Laoag Mission have been extremely blessed by their visit- especially Dad and I!"
" A fun unity exercise for our MLC with Sister Wakolo"
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"This week zoomed by with all the incredible teaching and enjoyable moments with the Wakolos!" |