top of page
RECENT POSTS:
SEARCH BY TAGS:

Philippines Mission--Week 31--Back to Bohol Island

  • Writer: Lisa Johnson
    Lisa Johnson
  • Nov 10, 2015
  • 5 min read

Maayong hapon! (Good afternoon).

So... this last week has been..very disappointing and very sad.. But it also has many surprises for me too!

November 3rd, Tuesday, Sister Acosta and I attended District meeting, and that's where we found out who was transferring.. Before I tell you all who, I'll tell you what was happening to me before transfer calls. So the week before the transfer calls, I had a dream about Sister Acosta and I. I had dreamt that I wouldn't be finishing Sister Acosta's training, and that after just 6 weeks, she'd be training. It was the weirdest dream ever! haha. And throughout the week, Sister Acosta and I kept talking about Sister Simmons, and I kept getting the feeling that I would leave and return back to Bohol. So then transfer calls were on Tuesday and guess what?? I don't get to finish Sister Acosta's training after just 6 weeks. Sister Simmons is going to be finishing her training in Carmen, Cebu, and I will return back to Bohol to follow up Sister Herdegen. My new area is Valencia, Bohol, which is actually only 20-30 minutes away from my 1st area, Jagna. It's so weird that I will be serving in the area that I've taught in before! I've gone on splits with my sister training leaders in Valencia, and have taught/met a lot of the members/investigators already. I definitely know that it's not a coincidence. I know that I'm supposed to be here in Valencia again.

November 4th, Wednesday, Sister Acosta and I went over to the Rosales family's home and we had one last dinner together and shared one last message with them before I transferred Thursday. It was probably one of the hardest goodbyes I've had to say. Even harder than saying goodbye to people in my 1st area. I've gotten so close to them and they've learned to open up and trust me with anything they need help with. They're literally like my family back at home and so it was the hardest having to say goodbye. It was like saying goodbye all over again to my family back at home.

After our message, we stayed and sang together, and I sang a song that Brother Riri Rosales (son of Jerry Rosales, 22 years old) had written for me. Sister Acosta and I then said our goodbyes and started walking away when Sister Jeda Rosales (daughter of Jerry Rosales, 19 years old) grabbed my hand and said, "Please don't forget your promise to me. Return back here and visit us." I said, "Yes. I will return. But I have to go now." She wouldn't let go of my hand and kept saying, "Okay .You can leave. I'm okay," but she still wouldn't let go! Oh man. It was so hard. It still hurts to not be able to go back and teach the family, or teach Sister Aijen Rosales (daughter of Jerry Rosales, 9 years old) and finish her lessons before her baptism on November 28th. To tell you the truth, before my mission, I always thought that the missionaries never got close with the members, so I thought that a mission would be easy. . . but I was wrong. You do get close with the members and a mission is one of the hardest things ever! But I know that Heavenly Father gave me them, and vice versa, because we needed each other at that moment. But it's time for me to move on and finish my mission.

November 5th, Thursday, Sister Acosta and I traveled to Danao with all of my bags and said our goodbyes (which was the hardest to do because she's my anak; my child in the mission!) because I needed to travel to Lilo-an to the mission office, to travel to Bohol on a ship. When I got off of the ship, all of the new missionaries went and found their new companions. I found mine! Her name is Sister Herdegen, and she is from Albany, New York. That's right, she's American. So this transfer is definitely going to be different and hard. We're both pretty new and still struggling with the language, and the people here love Americans, so we will definitely get more attention than we're used to. I was pretty upset that my new companion would be American, but the moment I stepped off of that ship and saw her I KNEW that I needed to be her companion. I could just feel in my heart that she needed me to help change her. Even though we can't quite understand everyone during lessons, I definitely know the Lord will provide for us and help us out. We just need to rely on Him more. This transfer is definitely going to be a faith builder.

November 6th, Friday, Sister Herdegen and I had our first weekly planning together. We then went and visited a Brother Bill Smalley. Bill Smalley is actually someone that my 1st companion and I had visited a couple of months ago. He's an American who was excommunicated when he was younger. He still believes the church is true and wants to be baptized again. His wife is a recent convert, and so we taught her about the spirit world/kingdoms of heaven. It was so crazy seeing Brother Bill Smalley and his wife again! I had taught them before and didn't think I'd ever see them again.

After teaching them, we went and visited the Tagud family. I had actually taught the daughters before as well in my 1st area and never thought I'd see them again. We ended up playing games with them. We played Swedish Twister and taught them about being a good example and how they need to help people out. We then played "Hello Harry, Hi Harry" and taught them about repentance. It was a pretty fun lesson! After we taught them, we went to Nanay Paz, a member in Valencia. I knew her before in my 1st area because I'd always go over and have dinner in Valencia if there were meetings/splits with the other sisters.

November 8th, Sunday, was my first time going to church in the Valencia ward. It was very different. There were 5 new missionaries in the ward besides me, and so we all had to get up and bear our testimonies. It was weird getting up there and talking to people that I already knew and had become close with before.

After church, Sister Herdegen and I were in Garcia and all of a sudden, I had remembered some investigators that I had visited before when I went on splits. I even remembered where they lived too! We decided to go and visit them, and they remembered me! The moment that Sister Mary Grace and Ambrosia saw me they yelled, "Sister Johnson!!!" It was so crazy that they remembered me because I had only taught them twice and that was months ago. I then found out that they were dropped and no longer investigators. So we decided to teach them again. We extended a baptismal date for December 19th. It's crazy knowing that I got called to a place with all of these people that I already know and have taught before. Definitely not a coincidence!

It's been one of the hardest transfers because I had to say goodbye to people that I was close to and I really love. But I know that it's not an accident/coincidence that I got called to Valencia again. I know that I'm supposed to be here to try and help out all of these people here draw closer to Heavenly Father. I'm definitely nervous about having an American companion who is new and doesn't know the language, because I'm not good with the language either. But that just means relying more fully on the Lord and asking for more help. All I know is . . . trust the Lord. Even if you don't know why . . . Just trust in Him.

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Johnson

 
 
 

Comments


© 2023 by NOMAD ON THE ROAD. Proudly created with Wix.com

  • b-facebook
  • Twitter Round
  • Instagram Black Round
bottom of page