ELDER DILLON BAKER: NOTHING CAN STOP THIS WORK! WEEK 102

Absolutely nothing can stop this work! It’s Gods greatest work! He will not allow it to be stopped! This week we had a couple of hindrances to the work..but! we wouldn't let it hold us back! My comp has been struggling with some health problems these past few months with migraines and now just recently this week with stomach problems so quite a hindrance to the work but he has been good at trying to get out and work the times that he can and puts a smile on for the people around us! We were able to get out this week and go to a new area to us. We found a place called a "relocation site" which just means all the people that lost their house in a typhoon back in 2006 got relocated there... well THESE PEOPLE ARE SOO HUMBLE! They are all super close with God and love to hear anything about God! So we walked up to the first house in the place and as soon as they saw us they immediatley yelled and told us to come in haha! We went in and got to teach them and it was a really good lesson 3 different religions in the one lesson so lots of different opinions but it was an overall good lesson. One sister was super interested in Joseph Smith so she promised to read about him in the pamphlet we gave her! We’ll be going back this week! Then we wanted to go teach more people but we had an appointment coming up so we would have been tight on time so we just went talking to everyone and set like 10 return appointments for this week soo hopefully this week we will be able to go back to them all! This is like the promised land!! haha

Well we had a super cool lesson this week also with a lady named MARIFE we taught last last week. So when we showed up at her house I saw little pages that looked like hymns from our hymn book so I looked at them and she said it was from the jehovas witness hymn book so we talked about how she’s been going to church there for like 5 years now but not yet baptized.. and then she said she went to born again for a couple years also.. but wasn’t baptized also.. she said she just really loves searching for the truth.. so we related her story to Joseph Smith and his experience and she was SUPER interested and then when we said that we believe in a LIVING PROPHET she like looked up and was like "really we have a prophet today?" so she was super interested in learning about how Joseph Smith became a prophet and if he’s a TRUE prophet! So we told her about the BOOK OF MORMON! And how she could know Joseph Smith was a true prophet by reading and she looked pretty excited and said she would read it and pray about it! It was one of the most awesome lessons I've had! THEN we left and I was talking to some kids in the dialect here in Daraga and they were freaking out that I spoke bicol and told their mom and she came out to see me and then we were talking to her for a while in front of the house of Marife and then guess what? The missionaries for the jehovas witness showed up and went to Marifes house... HOPEFULLY they didn't get mad at her for having a Book of Mormon now hopefully we can still teach her this week! We’ll see what they talked about on Wednesday haha! But that lady that we talked to outside was super cool also and super interested in listening to us! I've seen some awesome investigators out here in Daraga that have soo much potential they just need to put their faith into action!! I think this area will see some awesome progression soon!

I LOVE THIS WORK! I love seeing these people get soo happy just to talk about God I'm sure gonna miss that! These last 2 years have been a ROLLER COASTER! It’s been a rough time! And I could not have gotten thru it without the Book of Mormon!! And THE AWESOME SUPPORT from each and everyone of you!! Your emails and prayers have been like rocket fuel in my system to keep me going!

I’M SO SAD to leave this people! The Philippines definitley owns a part of my heart! And the people here have helped me see the true beauty in life! And I've learned what true happiness is! It’s gonna be hard to leave them here but I know my mom still owns a pretty big chunk of my heart! haha and I need to come home to her! And continue my mission back home!

I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!! AND CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN ON THE 27TH!

LOVE ELDER PANADERO

HAKUNA MATATA!!

This may be Elder Baker’s last letter home! He will be making his way to the mission home next P-day and might not have time to write. He will then go to Manila from where he will be traveling home on Thursday July 27th! We want to thank you all for your love and support to him throughout his mission. It has meant the world to us to know you are all out there praying