Philippines Mission--Week 54

Maayong buntag! This letter will be small but I hope you still enjoy it!

April 21st, Thursday: Sister McMaster left early in the morning to transfer to her new area, and Sister Kim Delarama (a member) became my companion for the day. We went and visited a less active, Sister Lorna Sollano. I had Sister Kim teach the lesson, and she taught about prayer. It was such a good lesson! Sister Kim is the type of girl that really wants to work with missionaries and has a soft side to her, but she puts on this "tough girl" face so people think she doesn't like others. But when she taught Sister Lorna, the Spirit was strong and it was like Sister Kim was a missionary. It was awesome to see her get so involved in the lesson and really try hard to put herself out there.

After we taught her, we had to travel to Bogo because our new companions were waiting there. I was pretty nervous to meet my new companion. We both came to the mission at the same time, but I completely forgot about her because we were in different areas. My new companion is Sister Calagui, and she is from Luzon, Cagayan Valley in the Philippines. She speaks Itawis and she's so funny! I love her. I was pretty shocked that I was staying in Medellin because throughout my whole mission, I've only stayed in an area for 12 weeks, and then I have to leave. But this time I'll have been in this area for 18 weeks. But I'm kind of glad because I get to try and help the members/investigators progress even more now.

April 24th, Sunday, Sister Calagui and I went on splits because we had appointments in different areas. She went to Don Pedro and worked with a returned missionary, Sister Carnetta, and I went to Canhabagat and got to work with Sister Babylyn Olivar! (my favorite member here). We visited Brother Arnel Jr. Arnaiz and taught him about the Law of Chastity. Brother Arnel complained to us one time and said that the only message that we missionaries have is about Joseph Smith, that we do nothing but preach that. So we gave him a Law of Chastity pamphlet and told him that we do more than just preach about Joseph Smith, that we teach about commandments of God that we should be following. Sister Babylyn and I taught him about the Law of Chastity, and he was pretty into the lesson. He told us that it's hard to follow, but he really wants to try and become a better person. It was awesome being able to work with Sister Babylyn Olivar. She reminds me so much of myself when I was still in Young Women's. I know that I'm supposed to stay here in Medellin for a reason. One of those reasons is because I need to help Sister Babylyn. I need to help her feel God's love and help her know that she is loved by others.

Sorry the letter is so small, but next time there will be more to talk about!

I love you all! Amping kanunay!

Love,

Sister Johnson