For reals though, I was sitting in a lesson and who would
have thought I’d be thinking, “I hope all those chickens in that tree don’t
poop on me!” Just another day in the Philippines!
On Tuesday, we had a wonderful quad zone Christmas party.
President and Sister Balledos are great! They gave us some training, then a
delicious catered lunch, followed with a gift exchange! Afterwards each zone
performed a little 10 minute Christmas production. Then we watched a Babylonian
movie! “We are Marshall”! The whole day was so great – filled with friends,
laughter and good times. In his opening comments for the day, President said, “We
are doing our best to show you your Heavenly Father’s love for you.” I am so
privileged to serve in the Baguio mission at the same time as President and
Sister Balledos! It makes being away from home during the Christmas season a
little more doable.
Before showing the new Bible nativity video, President
challenged each of us to think, “What does Christ want me to do?” during the
video. I challenge each of you to think that and watch the movie. I received
some pretty cool inspiration!
Wednesday morning, I prayed and promised the Lord that I
would work even harder than I had before. Do you know what happened? The Lord
blessed me with a cloudy, drizzly, WINDY day! It was so amazing! I was able to
work more efficiently and listen better because the sun wasn’t zapping all of
my energy – but really because the Lord helped me keep my promise to Him. “The
Lord doesn’t make up the difference – He makes all the difference!” (Courtesy
of Sister Golightly)
Top 3 new investigators this week:
·
Alvin and Imelda – we taught them twice this
week. It was so great! They live in Saudi Arabia, but are here for Christmas.
They leave in 20 days. The lessons with their family are so great! Yesterday,
Alvin said the closing prayer to the “Plan of Salvation” lesson and asked the
Lord to let us share our message with every person in San Fernando. I love their family! They make my
mission worth it.
·
Medemail – when we talked to her randomly on the
street, we gave her a pamphlet about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Sister Gehards turned to me (expecting me to explain it) and all I
could think to talk about was families being together forever. After I finished
talking, Sister Gerhards didn’t explain the pamphlet any further. When we
walked away, she told me the only thing she could think of to say was about
families! When we returned to teach her, we found out that her son has severe
mental damage from a hit and run. She told us that our message brought her so
much peace and comfort. She said she knew we were messengers from God.
·
Alexandra – we gave her a Book of Mormon this
week and asked her to read the title page. She said she knew it would be a good
book so she would finish the whole thing! I am so impressed by the faith of
these people. Throughout the whole lesson she kept thanking God that we came to
her.
Perks of trying to speak Tagalog:
·
Courage – when an investigator told us, “A
missionary tried to give me a Book of Mormon but I gave it back to him and
slammed the door on his face” and I had no idea what he just said, but I recognized "Book of Mormon," so I just
pulled one out, handed it to him and said “This is for you. It is
the Word of God”!
·
Temperance – when another person was going on
and on trying to Bible bash with me and all I understood was “You’re going to
Hell!” all I could do is share a simple testimony of Jesus Christ. No engaging
in contention for me!
·
Humility – Have never been so humbled in my
life. I literally cannot do anything that I need to do without the Lord. I need Him all the time. I am so
grateful for His constant help. Learning Tagalog has definitely compelled me to
be humble.
·
More spiritually in tune – Since I cannot
understand what anyone is saying, I have to rely on the spirit to know what I
should testify about in a lesson. Although sometimes I am totally off base, I
am learning every day to listen to the spirit.
And every day!
Here’s the
link to the new Bible nativity video:
dito sa area ko
My kasama and I outside the Sister Training Leader's apartment where we are staying
Mission Christmas Party!
The San Fernando Zone
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