Philippines Mission--Week 58: "It's literally been almost 18 months since I've slept on

Maayong buntag! I never had the chance to email this letter because the internet was so slow. But here you all go!

May 16th, Monday, It's P-day, and our power went out. We thought, "Oh, it's a brownout/blackout, we'll just go and have our P-day and then come back home and it'll be on. So my roommates and I traveled to Daanbantayan (about 25 minutes away from our house) because we were having a district activity near the beach! We got together with some of the youth in the other missionaries' area and had a spiritual thought/lesson and then played some games like "Ninja" and another called, "Hair game," (it's what the Elders came up with, I'll show you all when I get home). I loved being in Daanbantayan because it's all right next to the beach and so the air feels SO nice! In every one of my areas, my companions and I try to go to the beach so we can feel the cool wind on a hot day. After the activity, we all went to Bogo again and played some volleyball with the whole zone.

After all of the activities, my roommates and I traveled back home and guess what, there's still no electricity. But it wasn't because it was a brownout, it's because we never paid for the electricity bill because they never gave us one for April. So it was really dark and hot inside our home because we couldn't turn on any fans. So we decided to call our district leader and ask him if we could spend the night at the senior couple's home since they had left to visit the temple with the youth and there was plenty of space for the four of us sisters. We were able to pack our bags and spend the night at Elder and Sister Bock's home!

We turned on the air conditioner and all watched "Meet the Mormons" until it was time for us to get ready for bed. Sister Calagui and I got to sleep on their bed and it was the best! It's literally been almost 18 months since I've slept on an actual bed. But the funniest part about sleeping on their bed was what my companion, Sister Calagui said to me as she was laying next to my side. "I feel like Sister Bock! And you're Elder Bock!" hahaha. It was the weirdest but funniest thing ever.

May 17th, Tuesday: After our District meeting, my roommates and I all went and paid the electricity bill in Bogo so we could have some power on at home. Sister Calagui and I then traveled to Don Pedro (which is pretty much a less-active village) and taught Sister Olivar (less active) and Babylyn Olivar (her daughter that always works with us). We shared with them about how our purpose here on earth is to accept the Gospel and live it. Whenever we teach Sister Olivar, she agrees with every thing and loves what we share, but she doesn't actually follow what we teach to her.

After we taught her, we wanted to visit Sister Maria Paz Sollano (less active also) but she was busy so we taught her daughter-in-law, Sister Sheila, instead about The Plan of Salvation because she just had a baby about 2 weeks ago! She was pretty accepting of our message.

We then went over and taught another less active, Sister Barrios. We started talking with her about God and Jesus Christ and she was pretty confused because she thought that they were one. And then she thought that God was just a Spirit. So we decided to teach her about the Godhead and prayer because she also thought that we prayed to Jesus Christ. She's so confused because it's been a LONG time since she's gone to church, and that pretty much means that they go back to their old ways/religion. It was pretty weird because whenever we'd ask her a question, she'd come up with an answer that had nothing to do with what we asked. We decided to close the lesson early because she just did not seem interested and kept trying to rush us because she had to hurry and cook rice.

We then went and taught another less active in Japitana, Sister Lorna Sollano, about being a good example for her family. She REALLY wants her family to be united and go to church but her husband is really less active and has a word of wisdom problem. Lately, whenever we visit her, she's been really smiley and happy to see us. I love it! I'm hoping our messages can speak to the heart of her husband and help him to change.

We then went over and taught our recent convert, Sister Jolina, about The Plan of Salvation because she kind of forgot a lot. But after reviewing it, she could remember, it's just a lot for a new member to take in everything we teach.

May 18th, Wednesday, Sister Calagui and I visited Sister Flores and taught her about being a good example for her children and grandchildren. Everyone is a member but they are less active, and her husband is not a member yet. Sister Flores is the only one that's active right now, and she really wants her family to come back to church and have her husband become a member so they can all be sealed together. We then traveled to Don Virgilio and taught Sister DosDos about our purpose here on earth and what we need to do to prepare to meet God. She's a less active and her husband also isn't a member, so it's been hard on her. All of her kids are members except the youngest and so we're trying to help Sister DosDos become active so she can help her youngest son, Novy, become a member and help her other kids stay active.

When we all came home, Sister Arguilles actually ended up passing out and we had to take her to the hospital! President Delarama gave her a blessing because she wasn't waking up no matter what we did. We ended up staying in the hospital until around midnight. It was really scary, but she's okay now.

May 19th, Thursday, Sister Calagui and I worked with some of the youth and visited Sister Babylyn Olivar and talked about 1 Nephi 8. Sister Babylyn is SO shy and kind of reminds me of me when I was in young women. She's always working with us and REALLY wants to serve a mission. She's hoping to go to Idaho so we can see each other again. haha!

We then taught Brother Aldrin Barrios (son of Sister Barrios) about the word of wisdom. He's been less active for a while too, so he's kind of forgotten a lot of doctrine. We really want him to baptize Jonathan because they're close, but he doesn't want to because he feels like he's not worthy enough. We're really trying to help him be ready for a mission because he's already 18! After teaching them, we went and taught our investigator with a baptism on May 28th about the covenant he'll make when he's baptized. He's so ready! He always comes to church, even by himself, and that's saying a lot because he's SUPER shy. He's always reading and praying about our messages. He's really progressing.

May 20th, Friday, Sister Calagui and I went to one of our investigators, Sister Jenessa and were planning on dropping her because she just wasn't progressing. She loves listening to missionaries, but it's been hard trying to get her to come to church and let us teach her because of her job and her husband. We shared our purpose as missionaries and we shared from 3 Nephi 27:19-22 and really went into detail about the verses to really try and help her understand that if she doesn't repent and isn't baptized, she cannot return back to Heavenly Father. We committed her to let other missionaries down the road teach her because she might be ready for the gospel then. It really hurt to tell her that we couldn't visit her anymore, but Sister Calagui and I REALLY felt the Spirit so we knew that it was the right thing to do. I know that God has a plan for her, and accepting the Gospel right now just wasn't her time.

We then walked to Brother Jonathan's home because we wanted to teach one of our less actives, Rostom, because we couldn't teach him at his home because his grandma doesn't like missionaries. We taught Brother Rostom about the Book of Mormon just to refresh his mind. He really wants to go on a mission; even BEFORE he was baptized, he would always work with the Elders. He's such an awesome member; the only problem is his work. We're hoping that he realizes that if he puts God first, everything else will be taken care of.

May 21st, Saturday, Sister Calagui and I traveled to Don Vergilio and had gotten punted by some of our investigators so we decided to go tracting. We had run into these girls, Sister Sofia, Sister Mia, and Sister Mary Christian, and had some conversation with them and then taught them about the Godhead. I love teaching kids because they just accept and are willing to listen and have not harden their hearts. They were really receptive and are letting us come back again. After we taught them, we walked a little while and then introduced ourselves to this lady, Sister Silvano. She was a little hesitant to let us go and talk to her, but once we started a conversation, she opened up to us and talked about life and she started crying. We gave her a pamphlet and we're hoping we can visit her again, because she doesn't live in Don Virgilio, she was just visiting.

After teaching a bit in Don Virgilio, we traveled to Japitana and taught our part-member with a baptismal date next Saturday! We taught him about missionary work and service. Brother Jonathan Catalonia is such a sweet kid and loves to serve so we didn't have a problem with teaching that. But when it comes to spreading the gospel, he's REALLY shy (the whole family is REALLY shy), and so he's kind of hesitant about serving a mission. But I know that the more he studies the doctrine of the church, the more he'll grow that desire to serve a mission!

May 22nd, Sunday- After church Sister Calagui and I went on splits and I went to Canhabagat with Sister Babylyn Olivar. We ended up teaching Brother and Sister Inot about faith. Their faith is pretty strong. Especially Brother Inot. His faith in Christ is huge, but it's always good to remind them every now and then how we can increase our faith in Christ. After teaching, Sister Calagui and I got back together and traveled to Elder and Sister Bock's house because it was Sister Bock's birthday and she was having a party! Sister Bock cooked food that the Filipinos like, Americans like, and her favorite food. It was all SO good! I really miss a good home cooked meal.

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Johnson