Philippines Mission--Week 34

Maajong buntag kamong tanan! Hope you enjoy the letter!

November 23rd, Monday, Sister Herdegen and I got some YSA together and had a little activity at a member's house. We baked cookies and watched "17 Miracles!" It's the cutest thing because Filipinos don't have ovens unless you have a lot of money. And so they don't ever make cookies. So when Sister Herdegen and I were making the cookies, everyone just stood there staring at us like it was one of those cooking TV shows. They were so mesmerized by us making cookies. While the cookies were baking, we watched "17 Miracles" and it was so awesome! I never saw it before my mission; it was actually really good! It really makes you think about the pioneers' lives and what they ACTUALLY had to go through. It really makes you appreciate your life. Even though life is hard now because of the many worldly distractions, if the pioneers can endure, so can we!

November 25th, Wednesday, the Halladay missionary couple came over and inspected our house to make sure that it's up to par. They brought over some new things that we needed in our home and they also brought over snacks! American snacks! haha. They made some of the peanut butter rice krispie treats. It felt like being back home when we ate them. Lami kaajo! Not only did we get snacks, but we passed our inspection with a 60/60. Whoop whoop!

November 27th, Friday, Sister Herdegen and I visited Sister Emma Smalley, our recent convert. We taught her about keeping the Sabbath day holy and always going to church to partake of the sacrament and renew her covenants. I decided to tell you about her lesson because of something that she had told us about our investigator. Sister Emma's father is pretty old and can't take care of himself, so she hired 2 helpers to take care of him/the house, and they are both our investigators, Sister Adelyn and Sister Dodo. Sister Emma, before the lesson, told us that she was talking to Sister Dodo about her prayers and life. Sister Dodo told her that all of her prayers have been answered and she's so glad that Joseph Smith has been answering her prayers. . . . yes, she's literally been praying to Joseph Smith. Sister Emma cracked up laughing and told us that Sister Dodo thought we were supposed to pray to Joseph Smith because she saw the picture of Joseph Smith was in the sacred grove praying to Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ. She thought that the picture meant we need to pray to Joseph Smith. So we definitely need to reteach prayer to her. At least her intentions are true, right?

November 28th, Saturday, Sister Herdegen and I had an FHE with the Arais family (Nanay Paz's family). We read from the July 2015 Liahona; "Of Lambs and Shepherds" talk by President Faust. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you read it, it's pretty good! President Faust talks about his childhood and how his father found a lamb without a family and brought it home for President Faust to take care of. President Faust named it, played with it, fed it, etc. And then one night there was a storm and it was raining pretty hard and President Faust heard his lamb crying because he forgot to put his lamb in the barn. He was too scared to leave his bed and didn't want to get all wet and cold; so instead of getting up to put the lamb in the barn, he left him outside and was going to put him away the next day. But in the morning, President Faust went out and found his poor lamb dead because a dog had heard it's bleating too and decided to kill it. President Faust then quotes his father's words to him after the accident, "Son, couldn't l trust you with just one lamb?" 60 years later, President Faust still remembered the words of his father. Just imagine our Father in Heaven telling us those words when we go before Him and we didn't help out those in need. Whether they have the gospel or not, they are our brothers and sisters and need our help to be lifted up off of their knees when they've fallen to the ground. So if you know anyone in need, don't hesitate to get up out of your "warm cozy bed" and help them out of the "storm."

November 29th, Sunday, the Valencia ward had a Primary presentation during Sacrament! It was so awesome watching the little kids sing songs and quote scriptures. They were so good. It made me miss home watching the Primary perform in the family ward. For some reason it still shocks me how this church is the same ALL over the world no matter where you are. We teach the same doctrine no matter where you're going to church. The priesthood is the same no matter where you are in the world. The activities/presentations are the same. It just all makes sense that this church is true!

Also, this week for Sister Herdegen and I has kind of been filled with a lot of yelling and running at buses. Sister Herdegen and I need to catch buses to go to Garcia, our area, and whenever we got done with a lesson, a bus would just barely pass by us and we'd have to chase after it. I remember one day, it was raining pretty hard, and we were on a cliff and had to climb down, and as we were slowly climbing down, because we didn't want to slip and fall to our death, a bus started passing by, and so we yelled, "Wait sa! Sakay mi! Sakay mi!" (Which in English translates; "Wait first! We're riding! We're riding!"). The bus driver looked back and pulled to the side to wait for us. It felt like it took us an hour to get down the cliff because we were walking like turtles, and everyone in the bus and outside were smiling/laughing because there are two Americans climbing down a cliff in the rain, yelling at buses in Cebuano. haha. It's actually happened a couple of times this week. But that's my little "funny" story for you all this week!

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Johnson