Philippines Mission--Week 51--An illness, a threat, a break-in, a chase, a baptism . . . and the &qu

Maayong buntag kamong tanan! Well, this week has been a week of little trials and pain, but I still hope you enjoy the letter!

March 28th, Monday, today was our p-day and I started to feel kind of sick when we were emailing but we kind of have to email/buy things because its the only day to do it. So we traveled to the Super Metro, and my sickness just got worse. I could barely walk around because I felt like I was going to pass out. Sister McMaster felt my head and told me that I started to get a fever. It really sucked. But the worst part about this day, was that when we were done shopping, we got into a Filipino transportation (called trike) and waited to go back home. But the driver tried charging us 50 pesos even though it's supposed to be only 17 pesos. And then on top of that, his little trike buddies come over towards us and just surround us trying to talk to us, but we really didn't want to because they were pretty rude. A lot of them just kept "joking" around saying how it'd be nice to just kidnap us and have two American wives. They were SO rude. And the whole time, the brother that drove the trike was just sitting there quietly because he didn't know what to say to his friends. But we did end up getting help sent to us. A member in our branch showed up and she told us that the ride was only 17 pesos and the drivers are just trying to rip us off because we're white; so that was a lovely moment, especially while being sick.

But after we dropped off our stuff at home, we traveled to Canhabagat and started teaching. Because I was sick, Sister McMaster and I just played some church music to one of our recent converts and talked about how we can have the Spirit more in our lives if we surround ourselves with uplifting music. They really loved the songs that we played for them and asked to have some copies to listen to as well. After the lesson, we waited around for one of our investigators that has a baptism date, because he told us that he'd come back to the house and then we could teach him, but we ended up waiting for about 2 hours. We got pretty tired of just waiting so we left and started walking down to the highway. When we got there, I noticed a motorcycle that looked just like our investigator that we planned on teaching that night. And then we saw him sitting on the ground next to his other buddies just talking. He looked kind of guilty when he saw us because he lied and made us wait for 2 hours. Sister McMaster and I weren't really mad, we were just disappointed because we know that he knows the truth, but he's just scared.

March 29th, Tuesday, I was still sick but we had to go to our district meeting. We traveled to Kawit and had a workshop with the other missionaries. And then afterwards, Sister McMaster and the senior couples just told me to stay home because I had a really high fever and looked like I was about to pass out. So we got a member to watch over me while Sister McMaster worked with the senior couple. This whole day I just slept so there's not much to tell you about, haha.

March 30th, Wednesday, there's good news and bad news to this day. The bad news is that in the morning, I noticed that my camera, watch and wallet with money were missing because someone broke it and stole it. So that really sucked. But the good news, is that Sister McMaster and I set up an FHE with one of our recent converts, Sister Jolina and her family (the parents are members but less active). We played this temple game that Sister McMaster had made in her last area and it was actually pretty fun! Before we started the FHE, we made sure everyone in the family was there but noticed that one of the sons, Johnathan, was missing. The family kept telling us that he was really shy and didn't want to join. So we decided to go to the house next door and secretly "corner" him and persuade him to join the FHE. but the moment we got close to the front door, he ran out the back door! Sister McMaster and I looked at each other and just for some reason got the feeling to chase after him! So we ran out the back door and couldn't find him, but then he came running out of nowhere and started running behind Sister McMaster and then stoped because he noticed that I was behind him. We then all start laughing, and we told him to join because we're playing games. And I'm so glad that we invited him because he REALLY opened up! That family is probably one of the most shy families I've ever met. I loved having the FHE with them. It really helped them to open up and draw closer to the missionaries, and to learn about temples.

April 1st, Friday, Instead of weekly planning, Sister McMaster and I traveled to Bogo because we had splits with our STLs. I went on splits with Sister Magdaraog again, and Sister McMaster went with the new STL, Sister Ross. Sister Magdaraog and I were punted badly but had 2 lessons. We went and visited a less active, Sister Helen. When we showed up, she was about to leave and told us that she has to buy something and that we should return a different day. I then put on a "puppy dog" face and tried persuading her to let us teach. It's what the Filipinos call the "charchar effect." It's when you try to sweeten someone up to get what you want. And it worked! She let us in to teach her and Sister Magdaraog told me that it was the first time that she was able to teach her because Sister Helen usually has an excuse as to why she can't stay/listen. But this time she stayed and listened. It was pretty good too because we learned that Sister Helen has little faith. She doesn't really have a testimony of anything. If we hadn't taught her, we wouldn't have known that. The "charchar effect" works!

April 2nd, Saturday, Sister McMaster and I got to travel to Bogo and watch the Women's Conference from General Conference! I was pretty excited because it was the first time since my mission that I got to watch the Women's Conference. It was just a Spirit-filled conference that really helped me because a lot of questions were answered after watching it. Sister McMaster and I are really excited for the General Conference that we can watch next week!!

April 3rd, Sunday, Sister McMaster and I taught some of our investigators who are actually part members, because their parents are members but less active. (The family we had the FHE with on Wednesday. We taught Johnathan/Romel Catalonia about the Restoration and showed them the video. It was such a Spirit-filled lesson and was SO awesome to see Johnathan/Romel just absorbing everything we've taught them. We committed them to be baptized on May 7 and they agreed! I'm so excited! I'm hoping that I can stay one more transfer to see them get baptized.

Well this week has just been filled with opportunities to grow my patience, faith and hope. But I know that without the many trials in life, you can't grow! And I've seen a HUGE difference in myself since I've been on my mission because of the trials I've experienced here. I've never been more physically, mentally and spiritually drained in my life, but I wouldn't trade this experience for the world!

I love you all! Amping kanunay!

Love,

Sister Johnson