Philippines Mission--Week 45--Another record-breaking week & the gift of tongues!

Maayong udto! Can you believe I just have 6 months left?? Whoo, time sure is flying by! But here's my wonderful letter to you all this week.

February 15th, Monday, Sister Delos Reyes and I went to the Bogo chapel to have interviews with President Tanner! It was a pretty good interview. We talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ because I want to study it more but don't know what to study. I love being able to talk to President Tanner because he always knows EXACTLY what I need him to say to help me with whatever I may need help with. I can always feel the Spirit/his love for me every time I look in his eyes. He really does love the missionaries and wants nothing but the best for them. It'll be sad to see him and Sister Tanner go home in July. After the interviews, the other sisters, my companion, Sister Tanner, Sister Bock, and I all went to this ukayukay store (which is pretty much like a ghetto D.I. haha) and looked around for some clothes to buy. After shopping a little, we went over to this little cafe and had a Valentine's Day dinner to celebrate our sad, lonely Valentine's Day.

February 16th, Tuesday, We went to the Bogo chapel to have our District meeting and then afterwards we worked with the senior couple, Elder/Sister Bock in Canhabagat, and visited the Inot family. We planned on teaching them about the plan of salvation because they're recent converts, but ended up sharing about enduring to the end because Brother Inot mentioned that he's been having weird moments where spirits are attacking him, and it's not when he's sleeping. But Sister Delos Reyes and I are thinking that it's just him when he's been drinking. We shared Alma about trusting in God to take care of us and our troubles/problems in life. We're thinking of having priesthood holders give him a blessing and visiting him to try and keep his mind off of the alcohol.

February 18th, Thursday, Can you believe that I hit my one year mark already?? To celebrate my one year mark Sister Delos Reyes and I... WORKED! haha. That's the missionary life. But I was so happy with this day because we had 7 lessons, and it's kind of hard to get 7 lessons in our area. We were so happy! We got to visit many less actives and investigators in Don Pedro. After teaching all of them, Sister Delos Reyes, Sister Hagedorn, Sister Nalbog and I went to this dockside hamburger station and celebrated my 1 year with eating hamburgers and taking pictures on the dock! It was a pretty good way to celebrate the 1 year to be honest.

February 19th, Friday, we visited an investigator, Sister Abigail, and her family and taught them about the Restoration. When she started talking to me I couldn't really understand what she was saying to me. And then I realized, "Oh man. She's Tagalog!" (Tagalog and Cebuano are completely different languages). I then asked if she was Tagalog, and she told me, "Yes. But I can understand Cebuano, I just can't speak it." Before we started the lesson I was thinking, "Oh no. I only understand a little bit of Tagalog." But as we were teaching her and she was talking, I could pick up on the Tagalog words that I understood and then put her sentence together to understand what she was saying! It was insane! It was a little gift of understanding her language when I haven't been studying it.

February 20th, Saturday, we had another exchange with the STL's today! Sister Canar (my 3rd companion/STL) is going home in March and wanted to go on splits with me one last time. So she and I stayed in my area and Sister Delos Reyes/Sister Magdaraog went to their area in Bogo. The first person we visited was an investigator, Sister Felisa. She's pretty old and is devout Catholic. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and loves reading it, but the problem is that she hasn't been praying about it, or Joseph Smith, or the church. She just believes that it's all true because we're the ones to tell her. We have extended baptism to her but she always says she won't switch religions. So Sister Canar and I retaught her about the Restoration and really made sure that she understood it before we extend baptism to her again. The lesson was so good and she really did understand everything. Sister Canar and I were bold with her and explained everything really well but then when we extended baptism to her she told us that even if she knows it's true she still won't switch religions because she was born a Catholic. It literally felt like someone took my heart and crushed it. It hurt me so much to see someone understand the truth but still deny it. It was the saddest.

After visiting her, we visited Sister Idsan. She's the one that was really active until she got a heart defect and lost a ton of weight and her memory. She's being taken care of by her younger brother's wife who isn't a member. And Sister Idsan's husband's sisters aren't members either and they've been making Sister Idsan go to the Catholic church, wear Catholic necklaces, and are putting the little idols in her home to worship. And Sister Idsan doesn't understand what's going on because she doesn't remember anything. She always forgets our names so we have to reintroduce ourselves to her, and she sometimes mistakes her younger brother for her husband because her memory is really bad. But despite having no memory, and not remembering anything about her life, the one thing that she always remembers and always mentions to me and my companion is that she's Mormon. It's the most amazing thing ever! She forgets everything except that. Nobody has to remind her, she just always mentions that she's LDS.

When we visited her, we saw that she was wearing her garments, and some Catholic necklaces, so we talked to her younger brother (who is inactive) and told him that it would be best if Sister Idsan didn't wear the necklaces because she's LDS and is wearing garments. The brother agreed and took the necklaces off! We taught her about prayer and how important it is. I love visiting her. If we're ever punted or have a bad day, we just go to Sister Idsan and we can quickly be cheered because we always feel the Spirit dwelling with her whenever we go over. I love her and hope she gets better soon!

February 21st, Sunday, Sister Delos Reyes and I went on splits again so she could go to church in Canhabagat, and I could go to the church in Lamintak Norte. I had to give a talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy and partaking of the sacrament. I was so nervous! I'm not a fan of talking in front of lots of people, especially in a different language. But I didn't pass out, so that's good. Church was awesome because so many less actives/investigators came to church, and, Sister Delos Reyes and I got 29 lessons for the whole week (which is pretty awesome because the requirement in 25).

This week was full of struggles but I thought it was a good one. I can slowly see the Lord changing me from the person I was before. I love looking back and seeing myself grow and change into a better person. This year on a mission has really helped me to realize what's important and what I need to change to have a better future.

I love you all and I'll see you in 6 months!

Love,

Sister Johnson