We really enjoy meeting with our English class. It is a great way to meet some wonderful Filipinos and hopefully help them with their English. The students are a variety of ages and have differing English language skills. We completed our first course and are still working on finishing the second course. Some of our students have attended both courses. We have had two non-members attend our class. One of them recently was baptized and we were fortunate enough to go to her baptism. While Eden was coming to our class, I called on her several times to say a prayer in English. The first time I called on her she wasn't ready, but said she would be willing to do it after preparing. The next time I called on her to pray, she had her prayer written down so she could say it. On the last session of the class, Eden was not able to attend and one of our other students told us she wasn't a member of the church. This really surprised us. One Sunday we attended church in the area where Eden lived and saw her at church. That was when we found out she was going to be baptized the next Saturday and she invited us to attend. Below are pictures of Eden preparing to be baptized and another picture with her family:
One student that we got to know pretty well from our first class came back and visited one week during our second class. She told us that she was getting married the next week and wanted to invite us to attend her wedding. We were very happy to go to her temple wedding. Her name is Danica and her husband's name is Joenice. After the temple marriage ceremony, the officiator told Danica and Joenice that they could kiss. They started to move away from the altar, but the officiator said, "No, you can kiss over the altar." Danica and Joenice are both short Filipinos, so they had to stand on the kneeling cushions to be able to kiss over the altar. It was a humorous moment. Here are two pictures of the happy couple:
We have made some really nice wonderful friends in our English class. It is one of the blessings we enjoy as missionaries in the Philippines.
