The Kids
Well
it sounds like everyone has had an exciting week all across the world! We don’t
watch conference until this coming weekend but even the Philippines is a buzz
with the exciting news about the lowered missionary age. What a wonderful
time to be a part of missionary work! I think this change is so inspired and
shows how anxious the Lord is to have as many soldiers out on the
battle field as possible. Missionary work is hard. It is really
hard actually. But this experience is nothing less than incredible.
A mission has been said to be “the best university,” and that it is. On a
mission we pray about every ten minutes, I am constantly bearing my testimony
and I cannot count the number of times I open my scriptures, but the number is
quite high. If I wasn’t a missionary, of course I could still read my
scriptures frequently, I could pray this often and I could bare my testimony
multiple times a day. I could do all of these things, but I probably
wouldn’t. Reaching these totals without being on a mission would take
a very long time. So my advice to anyone who is thinking about going on a
mission --- GO! This new revelation is a great opportunity. The mission
will still be hard but the good out-weighs the bad ten- fold. Okay, I
will now step down from my soap box.
Rice Fields at Harvest Time
It
is harvest time in Ligao. Most of the rice fields have turned to a beautiful
golden brown and small coned shaped hats can be seen scattered through the rows
of gold as workers thrust in their sickle. When rice is harvested it is
brown and after being separated from the stem is laid out on tarps to be
dried. It is not however, placed in some factory or in a rice-drying
building but right in the middle of the road. Of course I was shocked to see a passersby walk over this freshly harvested rice and tricies and motorcycles
drive right through it. Apparently this is fine and doesn’t faze anyone
except the 5’9” blonde, American girl.
Another
story of the week is that I am a threat to the community. There we were
walking from our apartment to the centro to catch a tricy and ride to our
morning appointment. I was waving to some of the children in the nearby
school when all of a sudden sister Cabanag gasped and I looked as a Padyak
(pronounced padjak - a bike with a cart to carry people in) ran into a parked
car! Apparently he was looking at us and trying to get our attention instead of
paying attention to where he was driving. I am causing car
accidents. I knew that I would stand out in the Philippines but I never
imagined that it would be dangerous. If this continues, the president is
going to make me the first ever office sister.
The
missionary work is going well. Each week I feel so blessed to witness the light
of Christ bringing change and joy into the lives of the Ligao 1st
Branch Saints. The De Asis couple are an elderly couple in our
branch. They are the first ones at church and sit in the exact same spot
on the second row of our chapel every week. I learned this week that they
are pioneers. They have been members for over 30 years; all of their 5
children are returned missionaries and have been married in the temple.
Before they became members, the father, whose name is Sixto was in and out of
every prison within 40 miles. Their family had a solid Catholic
background and had no desire to worship otherwise. Tatay Sixto invited
the missionaries to their home one night. His wife pulled him aside and
the following conversation transpired:
“Sixto,
why did you invite those Mormon girls over here? You are crazy. Don’t you
know that Mormons have a bunch of rules and things that are forbidden? You are
a drunkard. They will tell you that you have to stop drinking.” Her
husband replied, “I am just curious. I don’t know why. Let’s just listen
to them for a while.”
This
family took the missionary discussions for one whole year. They had a lot
of questions and a lot of bad habits that needed to be taken care of before
they were willing to enter the waters of baptism. These two individuals
define the phrase ‘example of the believers.’ Tatay Sixto shared with us that
the Book of Mormon changed his life. It is the reason for his
conversion. He also shared that he most definitely plans on enduring to
the end. He made a promise to God – he plans on finishing this thing he
started. I admire his sense of purpose and determination to never deviate from
the path towards God. Something I have been thinking about a lot this
week is why as human beings we do things that are bad for us? The Book of
Mormon, the prophet and apostles, Jesus Christ himself, laid out a perfect and
simple plan for us. We have been given specific and simple guidelines to
follow to receive never ending happiness. And yet we slip up and we
forget the path we choose to walk. We begin looking for the short cuts,
or the path of least resistance. Why do I do this sometimes, even as a
missionary who is supposed to be firmly planted on following the Savior?
I suppose this is the battle of defeating the natural man, and perhaps it is
meant to be a life-long endeavor. How patient our Father in Heaven is
with us though. One of the best parts of missionary work is meeting
individuals who were pioneers in this area and took a leap of faith under the
scorning looks of all their neighbors. These individuals inspire me with
their ability to continue forward on the path toward Heaven.
Fun
Facts of the Philippines: 1) There are things called brown outs, aka the power
goes out throughout large areas. We had many brown outs this week!
Almost every day. This consistent flow of no power resulted in showers by
flashlight, companionship study huddled next to the window, and no electric
fans - meaning two very sweaty missionaries. 2) Filipinos dip their rolls
into warm milk – I was informed that this sanitizes it? Not sure. Also, milk is
for the most part all powdered milk. 3) Divorce is illegal, and you
cannot have more than one living, married spouse. 4) Christmas
celebrations have already begun; Christmas music, fully decorated trees the
whole shebang. It’s great.
Well
that is all for me! Thanks for all of the exciting updates from home.
Sounds like the Christensen family could go to 2 kids at home pretty
quick. Go missionary work! It is quite the incredible experience. I
guess the way I look at it is that I could either be at home doing the day to
day things or be here having life changing moments all the time. (soap
box again I realize).
This
weekend is conference weekend and instead of golden brown leaves I have golden
rice, instead of bran muffins, I have delicious Tinola soup and instead of
watching it on TV in our family room in my sweats, I plan on sitting in a
congregation with few other white faces. The church is true no matter
where you are in the world.
As
Always Love from the Pines,
Sister
Meish
My New Reggae Backpack
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