Maayong buntag kamong tanan! I can't believe how fast the mission has gone. 21 more days. Oh man.
July 25th, Monday, Sister Huxtable and I visited the Deladia family and had some dinner with them. Because our time was short and our curfew was coming up, we decided to hurry and share a small message with them. We shared about sharing the light with those around us to help them draw closer to Christ. The Deladia family is pretty active but of course, even if you're an active member, it's a good reminder to us all to share our lights with others. Also, later on at night, I was washing my clothes outside, and I out of the corner of my left eye, I saw a HUGE rat running behind my back! It hurried and squeezed it's body into this hole underneath our apartment. It was so gross! But I'm still alive. It's okay.
July 26th, Tuesday, we had our district meeting, and then left for the Espina family's house because we were going to have some lunch with them. After eating, we shared a message about trusting in God through our trials. Our message really hit Sister Espina because she started crying hard. The Spirit was so strong. I even started crying! haha. It was a really good message. Afterwards, we visited our recent convert, Sister Anjie. We shared with her about missionary work. She's such a cute member. She loves to learn and really wants to help others learn of the truth. We then visited Sister Rocelie, investigator, and shared with her about faith. She's struggling with coming to church. She says that it's because she's always busy, but we know that there's something more. She's such an amazing investigator, she just needs to show her faith a little more and come to church. After that, we finally got to visit Sister Ann and Brother Jonas (investigators before). We shared with them how the Gospel can bless our lives individually and our families. Sister Ann really wants to be baptized into the church, she's just so busy with her work that missionaries can't ever visit her.
July 27th, Wednesday: Today Sister Huxtable and I visited Sister Brina and Brother Gino Liston, recent converts. We taught Sister Brina about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and with Brother Gino about being a good example for his friends at school. After sharing with them, we had to travel to Danao because we had exchanges with our STL's, Sister Bertoldo and Sister Paget! Just so you all know, if you are in the city in the Philippines, travel earlier than you are planning because the traffic is bad. And it's even worse when motorcycles and cars drive on the wrong side of the road trying to get ahead of traffic. Oh man. We finally made it to the sisters' house and they were the sweetest! They bought a cake to celebrate my birthday. I was really shy, but I loved it. They're pretty awesome STL's.
July 28th, Thursday: Today was our exchanges with our STL's. I got to be with Sister Paget again! (Even though last transfer we were companions). We visited some little old women that were members (mainly because Sister Paget didn't really know the area except where their homes were). We first visited Sister Aiva and taught her about attending church for the whole 3 hours and not just Sacrament. We also got to visit Sister Franscisca and share with her about the Restoration. She's been a long time less active, so she's kind of gone back to being Catholic. She was the cutest little Nanay ever. I loved her.
July 29th, Friday, we were able to visit Sister Flora, investigator, and teach her about the Restoration. She's doing okay. I think she's struggling with truly understanding that we aren't just there to share a happy message, but to share the truth. A lot of people in the Philippines think that missionaries just "Bible- share." We then visited Brother Juanies Pocong and taught him about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Brother Juanies is struggling with his hope that he can change and become better. I absolutely love the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It has definitely had a huge impact for me in my mission and I love sharing it with others to help them realize what Jesus Christ really did for all of us. We then taught Brother Rodel, investigator, about faith. Brother Rodel has a baptismal date, but he hasn't been attending church. He's pretty busy with work and so he struggles with going to church.
After that, our time was pretty short, so we decided to just visit a bit with Brother Juwarsi Pocong and remind him about church. He was talking to his mother and told her that he's going to stop going to church because Brother Rodel has a baptismal date. Filipinos love gossip and so I'm guessing the word got around about the baptism. Brother Juwarsi really wants to be baptized, but can't because he's not married yet and is having a hard time finding money for the marriage. He's slowly starting to lose hope but we told him to continue to go to church to show his faith in Christ.
July 30th, Saturday, Sister Huxtable and I visited Sister Brina and Brother Gino Liston again. We taught Sister Brina about paying tithing, and to our surprise, she hasn't paid her tithing yet. Even when she had a different job before, she thought that if your income was small, you didn't need to pay tithing. Good thing there's recent convert lessons for those that are barely baptized. We shared with Brother Gino about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Filipinos struggle with keeping the Sabbath day holy. They like to buy things on Sunday and that's one of the big "no-no's" on Sunday. But Brother Gino is a smart guy, he'll remember to keep Sunday a holy day. We then turned around and taught their younger brother, JunJun Liston about the priesthood. He has the Aaronic priesthood and really wants to serve a mission. We encouraged him to stay active and worthy in order to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and serve a mission. After pretty much sharing with all of the Liston kids, we went over to the Booc family and had a little FHE with them. It's so fun having FHE's here because of the cute/fun games that Filipinos make up. We shared with them about the Holy Ghost and the importance of Him in our lives. We then did a little demonstration about the Holy Ghost. I love the Booc family. The kids are so cute and love missionaries!
July 31st, Sunday: Today was one of the worst Sundays eve,r to be honest. Sister Huxtable and I planned on going early to an investigators home and going with her to church so she's not alone; but then she texted us in the morning when we were studying, and told us that she and her mom were leaving and she couldn't go to church. That was disappointing. But wait, it gets better. We then got to church and attended the first class which was relief society/elder's quorum combined, and we were very shocked to see that Brother Juwarsi Pocong was not there, because he usually attends the whole 3 hours of church. But then we just thought that maybe he was late and would show up at Sacrament (For those that are confused, Sacrament is last instead of being first). But then when sacrament started, we still didn't see Juwarsi. And what was even more shocking, was to see his WHOLE family show up to church, except him. When it comes to attending church, Juwarsi is SO good at coming. We started singing hymns and Juwarsi still didn't show up and in the middle of the hymn, I just start crying. And then I looked over at Sister Huxtable, and she's crying too! So we both ran into the bathroom; cried a little, wiped our tears, and then just waited outside the doors because they were passing the Sacrament. After the Sacrament, we walked back in and sat down. But then in the middle of the talk, I just started balling. It was so bad.
After church, we went and visited Brother Juwarsi to see why he didn't come to church. Sister Huxtable and I were pretty ticked, especially because Brother Juwaris knows better. We had to get out all of our frustration before sharing with him. When we showed up , we knocked at the door, and Brother Juwarsi answered it. Usually when we show up, they just yell come in and we go in ourselves. But this time, Brother Juwarsi opened the door and just stood in front of us acting like he didn't know why we were there. Ah! That made us even more frustrated. But long story short, we figured out what had happened, talked it out, and helped Brother Juwarsi to realize the truth. He's such an awesome guy. I love him and his family so much!
I love you all! Amping!
Love,
Sister Johnson