This week we had the interviews of Brother Conrad E. and his son Eugene. They both passed! So next week, Bacnotan ward will be having 2, maybe 3, baptisms depending on one of the investigators of my kabahay (my house mates). 

Last Monday, after P-day (personal day) we were about to get ready to go to work, when a storm passed right over our house. The winds were insane and it was dumping rain. We didn’t go out for fear of having a tree fall on us, or having lightning strike our umbrellas. Even after the storm passed we still got Thunder and lightning for a long time, it was the loudest thunder I've ever heard! It was so big that sometimes the thunder would make our house rumble, and you know the lightning is close when there's only a split-second between the lighting and thunder. 

We decided to sleep in the main room of our house, instead of our bedroom for 2 reasons: 1, because we didn’t have electricity for our electric fans, and the only air we would get would be coming in from the open door to our balcony and 2, because the night before Elder Dosdos saw something standing in our doorway watching us as we slept. He said it was about 4 feet tall, so it couldn't have been me or Elder Centeno, and that he kept checking again and again to see if it was still there. He said he saw it for 5 minutes, just standing and watching... so we sleep in the other room now. It’s more fun, more airy, and there’s safety in numbers.

In some of the houses, in less populated areas or older homes, the elders sleep with their name tags on their shirts to protect themselves from any visiting spirits. Sister Denis said we probably saw it because there is a cemetery within 60 yards of our house. Here in the Philippines, ghost stories are not just for fun to scare people, they’re real. 1/3 of the Hosts of Heaven were cast down to earth, and while they don’t have bodies, they serve their master, who wants all of us to become miserable just like they are. In order to keep our house safe we put up lots of pictures of Jesus Christ on the walls, and we always play hymns from the speaker to keep good vibes. Since last Sunday, Elder Dosdos, or the rest of us, have not seen any more visitors in our home.  

On a happier note we're in Mango season here in the Philippines. That means no matter what area I’m in, I can find ripe mangos for free. In the market they're 60 pesos a kilo ($.55 per pound), which is way better than last month’s 110 per kilo.  But I've learned that even if they're green on the outside, you can just bite right into them eat the inside and spit out the skin. I realized also that next year right before I come home I'll get one more Mango season!! The blessings really are true if you serve the Lord haha ;)

Hope you are having a good time, and hopefully there are no problems with ghosts where you're at.

Elder Hennessey