Maayong udto!
July 11th, Monday: Today we didn't have P-day, but we visited Sister Tomimbang and her two little girls and shared with them about missionary work. They were so happy that we visited them and were willing and ready to help spread the Gospel. We gave them some pamphlets and challenged them to hand some out to their friends/neighbors. Afterwards, we went over to the Liston family because they had a friend/neighbor that was interested in listening to our message. So we went over and got to share with Brother Ed. He was pretty receptive and accepted our message. We didn't get to share everything that we had wanted because he was very talkative, but it was still good to just help him understand a little more about the Church.
July 12th, Tuesday: Today is our district meeting and we have transfer calls. Today is the day that we find out who is transferring and who is staying in the area. Dun, dun, dun . . . Sister Paget is transferring! She is becoming an STL and moving to Danao, and I will be staying Canduman for my last 6 weeks! My new companion is Sister Huxtable! She's an American from Salt Lake, Utah. She's SO beautiful and cracks me up. I love her already! We're pretty excited for these next 6 weeks. I'm excited for 2 reasons: 1) I get to be with her and she's such a good missionary and 2) I'm one step closer to coming home! hehe. After the meeting, we visited Sister Booc and taught her about reading the scriptures. She's pretty good at reading her scriptures so it was pretty much just a little reminder for her to keep going. Afterwards the Elders came over and gave her and her daughter a priesthood blessing because they were pretty sick.
July 15th, Friday: So, today was weird! So before my mission, if you told me that somebody was possessed, or that they felt bad spirits in their home/around them, I wouldn't believe them. But after being here in the Philippines, oh man! I definitely would believe it now! Throughout my whole mission there have been some freaky, spirit moments happening either to me, or to companions, or to other missionaries that I know. And in the apartment that we live in, it just feels dark and scary. I remember Sister Paget telling me that the old Bishop of the Canduman ward drove by our house one time and noticed that there were dark, evil spirits waiting outside our windows and doors trying to get in. Isn't that just creepy?? And then, Sister Paget and I would always feel really creeped out like we were being watched every night after work. So this time, Sister Huxtable and I had a little experience. After our nightly planning, Sister Huxtable and I were just talking and I had told her about what Sister Paget told me about the old Bishop. Sister Huxtable kind of just rolled her eyes and didn't believe me. But I told her that I felt uncomfortable and so we started taping up pictures of Jesus Christ on the windows/doors, and she went into our bedroom and started taping up the pictures on our sliding glass door and the screen door. She noticed that the screen door was kind of broken, so she started fixing it and when she opened up the screen door, she literally felt this dark, evil figure right in front of her face, pressing up against her body, trying to come inside the house. She told me that she couldn't speak and the only words that she could get out were, "No. No." And the moment she said "No," it left. When she told me I got goosebumps. Sister Huxtable is a pretty tough girl, to be honest she's kind of like a guy in that she doesn't get scared easily. But she said that she had never felt anything like that before. That it felt evil, and so real. We called the Elders and had them come over and blessed the home. So far we don't feel so creeped out anymore, but oh man. Being here in the Philippines is legitimately like a horror movie!
July 16th, Saturday, Sister Huxtable and I had some planning that we did for the next week, and then we went out and visited Brother Juanies Pocong who is a "part-member." We taught him about Christ's ministry and the Restoration. He seemed to understand it pretty well considering he's a little slow at understanding things. But he did awesomely! He's doing really well with accepting this Gospel and trying to change. I can see Sister Rosalie's feelings for him change too. She's a lot happier being around him now. It's so sweet! We then visited Sister Sacnanas and shared with her about missionary work and spreading the Gospel to everyone she knows. She's a very diligent member that is always praying/reading/coming to church. She's awesome.
July 17th, Sunday: Today was church! Sister Huxtable got to introduce herself and she loves being in Canduman! After church, Brother Carlo's friends came over and wanted to interview Sister Huxtable and I. We asked them if we could share a bit with them before the interview. We just shared a bit about the Restoration and gave them a pamphlet to read. They don't live in our area, but we were happy to introduce the church a bit to them. They then interviewed us about the businesses in America. It was pretty fun answering their questions! Afterwards we visited Brother Rodel and Sister Rosalie and taught them about the Atonement. It was a good lesson. It was really filled with the Spirit. We then visited Brother Juwarsi Pocong and taught him about courage to stand up for what's right even when others don't. He's having a hard time because he has friends at work who aren't members and he's trying to be good and investigate the church but there's so many temptations around him. But he's a good guy. At least he's trying!
I love you all!
Love,
Sister Johnson