MISSIONARY HIGH

February 9, 2015

I think the shock has faded. I don’t really feel like I am in a dream anymore. And standing at the bottom of the mountain, I don’t look up and think, “What the…why am I here?! I can’t climb one more step.” 

It’s good. Sore muscles have faded. Determination has grown.

The people here are so different. We yell, “Tao po” and most hide. One lady came to her door, saw who we were and started shaking her head and arm. Almost like she was waving to us. But…she wasn’t. :) Another guy didn't get up and come to the door. He just yelled, “What do you want?” and I said, “We are missionaries…” and he interrupted me yelling, “There is no on home! Goodbye.” So funny!

MLC. Cause I’m a “mission leader.” It was so fun! I got to have a sleepover on Monday night at the Sister Training Leader’s house in San Fernando. That’s Sister Beckham’s house!! It was so fun to catch up. Talking. Hanging out with friends. It sort of felt like Girls Camp. SO FUN! All of the STLs are from far away places – La Trinadad, Baguio, Mauacon, and Agoo. So, I gave a bunch of letters to the Agoo Sisters to give to all my people. Yes! (Sorry family…no letters for you this week.) The Zone Leaders told us on Monday afternoon to pack our bags cause we’re going to San Fernando. We got there and President told Sister Beckham to have everyone get up early for sports, but no one brought clothes or shoes for sports. Most people just decided to go anyway, but Sister Smith and I stayed home so we wouldn't have to fight for showers. At 6:30am everyone’s phones started going off. #missionaryprobs (We went through everyone’s bags to find their phones and turn off their alarms!)

Sister Balledos cooked us (all the zone leaders and STLs) breakfast. Pancakes! And rice, of course. It was so good! We then had a stats review for 2 hours. After that, we talked about the budget for a few hours. Lunch. I used the Bauang STLs phone to call Sister Golightly. It was so great! Ah! Then I saw SISTER CAMPOS because she stopped by to pick up a t-shirt. Ah! So fun! She is assigned in Sevilla. She is going home soon. So Crazy!

In the afternoon we had more meetings and training. They kept passing out snacks to help keep us awake. They even passed out GUM. I was so surprised (bawal for missionaries). I was thinking, “Maybe it is a test to see if we are obedient or not??” Nope! I saw President and the APs chewing it…so…not a test. Just a snack. So weird. We talked about teaching skills and creating quality lessons for investigators. It was great.

After MLC…I got mail! A package! Thank you so much family! I’m sorry…I feel so bad I haven’t written you letters in forever. It was so good to “see” your faces on the Christmas card. Y’all are as cute as ever!

We waited for FOREVER to catch a bus back to Baguio. But it was totally worth it. I had a blast and learned so much.

Sister Lacdo-o and I received a great referral this week!  A less active lady in our area. She was baptized when she was a young adult. We taught her and her kids and she cried saying that this is what was missing in her life.

The cool part about this though, the member who gave us the referral said she has been praying to have an opportunity to share the gospel. This member teaches at an elementary school. She met one of her student’s parents months ago and noticed how great this lady was. Then, after so many months that parent texted saying she wanted to come closer to God. She asked if she could come to church with her.

So cool! Such a win-win-win situation. I don’t know who is happiest – us, the member, or the woman who is coming back to church. Missionary work is SO GREAT! When everyone works together… Doctrine and Covenants 50:22  “Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.” That’s my challenge to you this week. Pray for a missionary opportunity and follow through with courage. Really. Anyone and everyone can feel that “missionary high.” It’s the best feeling ever!

This morning we got up at 3. yup. That’s right. 3. Cause our whole zone rented a jeepney (can seat 21 tightly... we crammed 24) and toured Baguio this morning. We met at the church and left by about 4:45. We headed up to this great look out place to watch the sun rise but it was too cloudy.... bummer. It was still a great view though! We had fun sitting on the top of the jeepney waiting for the sun to come up. #bonding

Then we went to this haunted house/hotel/mansion/church. It was cool. Defs creepy when Sis. Faka'osi and I were the only ones on the third floor. And it was light by this point. So I can’t even imagine what it would be like at night... :) haha it’s fun to psych yourself out sometimes though.

Then we visited the strawberry fields (which was a little underwhelming). But none of the Filipinos or Tongans had seen strawberry plants before so that was cool for them.

We had 4 other places planned but it’s actually really hard to herd a huge group of missionaries and of course everything takes longer than expected. But we finished at the Philippines Military Academy. Saw some airplanes. They had these cool fountains and it totally reminded me of Disneyland - maybe just because everything was so clean :)

Well. I have been going strong since 3 AM. It’s 1 PM now... my head is KILLING me. But that’s ok.

Sister J