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| Sister Ang, Elder McMullin, Diane, Sister Sterner |
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| Elder McMullin with Diane Lastimosa |
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| Elder McMullin, Diane, Sister McMullin, Sky Solomon |
From Elder Ron on April 6, 2019: Yesterday I had the special experience of baptizing Diane Mae Lastimosa. Diane began meeting with the missionary sisters about 6 weeks ago. She had an inactive friend at school who showed no interest in taking her to church or telling her anything about it, so Diane googled the church to see if a chapel was part of this compound. You cannot see that from the road, although the temple is prominently displayed on the highest piece of the property. So Diane ventured close, then followed some sisters to the building and came to church of her volition. She and the missionaries were looking for a place to have a discussion so we invited them up to our apartment. And of course, we fed them afterwards. For several weeks, the lesson was taught outside our apartment in the foyer and we enjoyed having them and others in to have Sunday dinner together. When deciding whom she would like to baptize her, Diane chose me and I was very happy to perform that ordinance. It has been many years since I baptized someone, I believe, Jayna was the last person I baptized (Jaron baptized Paul). Today, Sunday, April 7, Diane was confirmed by another brother in the Church, and after meetings, we held a little welcome dinner where a number of our Filipino grandchildren, Sister Ang and Sister Sterner, and Diane gathered for a bit of a celebration. We had a nice meal of roast pork in Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce, our usual rice mix of black, red, brown and semi-polished red, canned corn (that is really good), and our usual stir-fry (chop suey) that Austin and Ivan helped prepare, plus banana bread for dessert. [I made 4 loaves the other night so we would have some to give to all the missionaries but Belinskis were the only couple that got any. Brother Belinski asked me today where the other half loaf was. We had some last night when Clay and Ever and Sky came over, plus Diane and the Sisters after the baptism, and sent some home for Diane to share with her aunt and some with Ever to take home. So today, we went through two loaves.] [I'm sure you want to see the process.]
After our dinner tonight, we sat in our usual lesson circle and I asked everyone to give Diane a small piece of advice – people were good about sharing things that they felt were important for a new member. And then she talked about joining the church and her testimony. She is a very sweet young lady (16 almost 17) and I thought she must have some nice parents to make her that way. As it turns out, she comes from “a broken family,” and she lives with her aunt. But she is pleasant and always smiling. Now she has a bigger family circle, with several of the “apos” telling her they are now part of her family and vice versa. That is comforting as we and the sister missionaries will be gone in less than 3 months.
We will keep in touch. Last night Diane printed her name in the Bible that I had on my mission here in 1969-71 and I talked about the families and others I had taught while a young missionary here. She seemed to enjoy their stories. We are so grateful that we will be able to keep in touch on Face Book, etc. It's going to be hard to leave all the people we love so much.
This is mostly for ourselves--a long (15 minutes) video of the sometimes-inaudible advice given to her and her (much shorter)response. She is such a sweet young woman.
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| Advice to Diane |
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| Her response |
