HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you all have so much to be
thankful for in your lives. I sure do! I wrote a little list in my journal –
not in any specific order – but here are the first 10 things that came to mind:
Electric fans
Shoes
Running water
Showers
Screens on windows
Bug spray
My companion
My family
The Gospel
The Atonement
When I read back through the list I realized the first 6
make it sound like I have been camping for a while. Maybe for a year. :)
Thanksgiving was so great. We walked over to the other
sisters’ house to combine forces. We brought over mashed potatoes, gravy, jello
(thank you gma and gpa J – I’ve been waiting until Thanksgiving to eat it), green
beans, cake and chocolate chip cookies. SO GOOD! The other house got a couple
of chickens, some DELICIOUS yams stuff made by Sister Mortell, rolls, corn,
stuffing (also from Sister Mortell) and ice cream. None of us Americans are
used to eating meals – we just snack all day…We got super full after we hardly
even made a dent in the food. Then we went straight out to work and I almost
barfed on the side of the road. Hot sun + full tummy + walking with a purpose =
not good.
Anyway, it was a lovely Thanksgiving; one that I will for
sure remember forever.
So, we HAD an investigator. Annie. She is 16. Annie is
related to some recent converts in our ward. We have been teaching her for a
couple weeks. She came to church once, Family Home Evening twice, and things
seemed to be progressing well. Then, all of a sudden, she turned cold. My companion
and I couldn’t figure out why – Did we do something? Did something happen at
church? We finally caught her outside and after lots of digging we FINALLY
figured out her concern. She said, “If I become Mormon, no one will pray for me
when I am dead!” (She was worried about how her soul would become clean.) She
also said, “You guys haven’t even told me where I will go after I die.” First,
we taught the atonement – Christ paid
for our sins, and that all we need to do is repent and be baptized while we are
here on earth in order to enter into His kingdom. We actually don’t need to
pray for our deceased relatives souls in order for them to be cleansed from
sin. I asked if we could teach her about life after death next time. She said
no, so we taught that too. Seriously – one of the coldest teenagers EVER! After
learning about the Celestial Kingdom, and the qualifications to enter, I asked
her if she was willing to do those things. She said yes. I asked her to pray to
know if our message is true. She said she would ask God. I said, “If our
message is true, will you let us continue to teach you?” Annie said, “No.”
*Awkward* “We can still be friends though.” #agency #logicthesedays #badbreakup
So that was by far the most kawawa lesson of the week…But if
it weren’t for the kawawa lessons I wouldn’t be thankful for the UTTERLY
RIDICULOUS lessons. GET EXCITED!
Last night we went to the Ordinarios. Their grandson, Arrol,
is SUPER excited to be baptized. He is 14. Their two youngest sons were there,
along with some cousins. So we were teaching five young adult/youth age guys
and nanay. All the guys (except Arrol) were SUPER talkative and giggly. It was
so funny. They were asking my companion all sorts of questions – How old are
you? Where are you from? etc. Then she said, “I have one question for you. What
were you all drinking before we got here?" #mycompanionissofunny They all
denied it at first, then, after a while, Joel admitted, “ok…so I’m drunk…” Then
the other three were like, “We’re not, we’re not…” more talking, then randomly
Jason said, “All four of us our drunk.” Haha. That’s what I thought. Then they
asked why alcohol is bawal (forbidden) and Loui said, “God said. It’s in the
Bible…READ!” Bahahah! Loui is confused. Jason doesn’t want to come to church
until he can come “dircto” or all the time. Joel is confused about curses – I think
someone “cursed” him and he is concerned about that. Arrol was super bummed
that we left without really sharing anything. What a great kid. And he is only
14! :)
Those UTTERLY RIDICULOUS lessons make me extra thankful for
those funny sacrament meeting moments. Cause who doesn’t love to smile?
Sacrament meeting. I was sitting beside some recent
converts, less actives and investigators (ok, can we just take a second and
appreciate how AMAZING that is). One of our recent converts has the cutest,
CRAZIEST two year old that I was trying to manage without holding him in my
lap, carrying him, etc. I put an ice breaker in my hand and hid it. I did the
thing that you used to do, dad, where we’d peel open your fingers one by one
then you’d hide it again, then right before we got frustrated, you give it to us.
Well, I forgot that ice breakers are a choking hazard. (I forgot choking
hazards even exist because people here just give their kids everything.) Anyway,
Ninyo didn’t eat the candy right away. He pinched it in his fingers and licked
it. Then, started panting and waving his arms around until his mama gave him
water. This process repeated until he accidentally swallowed it. He was doing
that coughing/choking thing and he ALMOST puked. In sacrament meeting.#badmissionarymoment Just wait, it gets better. This kid wears pants to church,
but that’s about it. He never has pants on – birthday parties, hanging out
around the house, the neighborhood…wala. So he took off his pants in sacrament
meeting. Then he relieved himself on the floor. Good thing it’s tile! They used
the pants to wipe up the mess, but it didn’t quite do the job because the floor
got a little muddy as kids walked out of church. #ilovemylife :)
I really do love my life here in the Philippines. I love the
people and the culture. I’m so happy to be here as a missionary right now. I
get to spread the gospel message of peace and joy at this special time of year.
I hope your homes will be filled with the spirit of Christ’s love this holiday
season.
We tried to make a Thanksgiving cake in our rice cooker. Failed.
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