hello everyone good news. imie got baptised ha :) nope her baby didnt have random seizures and infections the night before again. but she is not a baptised and confirmed member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints.

ive been blessed to see in a short period of time the "bigger picture" of the lord/ and heres the story....

with imie i know i told you a couple weeks ago that she was scheduled to have a baptism and that it didnt happen because of her daughter that she had gotten sick. this placed us and the church in a very had situation! of course when a problem comes especially when we are making correct choices in our lives we first ask ourselves... why is this happening? am i doing something wrong? and so when you are deciding to change religions its very easy to pin point which choice it is that you could be making wrong. imie expressed to us that there were a few nights when she was sleeping in the hospital with her sick daughter ( sleeping in the crib sized bed with her daughter in a room with about 4 other sick children and their parents ) that she asked herself that question. she said she had made the decision at a couple points that she wasnt going to continue and be baptised. ( we definately were doing a lot of praying for her while all this was going on ) but somehow something happened... she chose faith. she was doing a lot of thinking and she remembered the feelings and the things she was taught and made the decision... no i will believe this is just a trial. and eventually she was released  from the hospital and allowed to take her daughter home. we began teaching her again amazed at the faith in jesus christ during such adversity and set a new date for her baptism. it wasnt untl last week we were able to see the real plan that god has for his daughter that had excersised so much faith in him. .  .  .

imies husband works in manila. from what we had known about him he was okay that imie wanted to be baptised but had no plan himself to follow in her footsteps. but for the reason that his daughter got sick.... he came home from manila to see her, while here we were able to share a message with him and her.. families can be together forever,.. and after that lesson he asked the greatest question ever... what do i need to do to be married in the temple so my family can be together forever.. ( rough translation from tagalag ha ha)    imie was beaming her face lit up like a christmas tree and the reality hit me and my companion. if nicole ( her daughter ) hadnt gotten sick then christopher ( her husband ) wouldnt have come home, we wouldnt have taught that lesson, he wouldnt have attended her baptism and confirmation and he wouldnt have asked how he can be taught by the missionaries and go to church while he is working there in manila. there would be no "seed of faith" planted in the hearts of this young couple that will hopefully grown into a forever family. 

ive thought about it a lot and how much time in my life ive spent questioning the things that are happening to me. ive thought about anxiety and why its been such a struggle to me my whole mission. i remember the hospital and probably the thoughts of my parents while i was making the decisions i was. im sure there were a lot of nights questioning to themselves "what did we do wrong"? this is a normal thing for us to think... this was one more testimony to me that god has a plan. hes mindful and knows us and our situations and in the long run all the trials and problems when you look back will be things you thin about and say " man i was an idiot for worrying so much ". i dont know how gods plan works but i believe theres a plan and that somehow thats very incomprehensible he is very involved in every one of our lives and is helping us as long as we have "faith in every footstep" 

im grateful for all of you, and most of all for a loving heavenly father that was willing to see the good in me when all i was showing was bad. im greatful for parents and teachers before and during the mission that were willing to hope and pray that the boy they "once knew" would come back. i'm grateful for bishops and young mens presidents that would keep coming when i was very entertaining and fun to be around and hope they know the efforts didnt go forgotten,  thank you all for all your support and i love each and every one of you. take care and "press forward with a steadfastness in christ with a perfect brightness of hope and a love of god and all men "                                                                                                       another week gone.. elder landeen