The
next chapter begins. It is once again transfers. Sister Abarabar is
being transferred and I am going to stay in Goa to train. The big batch
of American sisters we have been anticipating since November arrives tomorrow.
I am somewhere between very excited and quite nervous that I will now be the language
expert in the companionship for the next 3 months. “Give me mountains to
climb!”
I
have been focusing a lot on Faith during my personal study lately. I have been
thinking about what creates strong faith and what that faith does for us. What
is the importance of faith? President Packer once said, “Faith, to be faith,
must center on something that is not known. It must go beyond that for
which there is confirming evidence. Faith must go into the unknown and
must walk to the edge of the light and then a few steps into the
darkness. If everything has to be known, if everything has to be
explained, if everything has to be certified, then there is no need for
faith. Indeed, there is no room for it.”
I
feel that I am taking a pretty big step into the darkness because I have always
had a Filipina companion as a backstop for the language. I know that we
are in the Lords hands though and if I will put my trust in him it will be
okay.
We
are teaching a 27 year boy (man?) named Edward. I call him Edward Cullen
and he likes that because he thinks he looks like a vampire. We have been
teaching him for a few weeks now and he is now at the point where he is going
to have to take a step into the unknown and test his faith. He comes from
a Catholic family and is very active in the youth group at their church.
He has attended church 4 times now. He enjoys our lessons and the YSA in the
ward have done a great job in fellowshipping him. He has not yet read the
book of Mormon on his own though. As we have been in the last 2 lessons
it dawned on me that he may be afraid of what the truth will mean. He told us
that his whole family is Catholic, all his friends are catholic and they are
wondering why he is going to a Mormon church. I realized that if he
really reads and prays and gets and answer he will have to abandon everything
he has ever known. He will have to take a giant leap into the unknown.
I am realizing that in order to have strong faith we have to make sacrifices
which are generally painful. When I was training for the marathon, those long
runs were pretty painful. But because of the pain it became easier the next
time because my muscles were stronger. When we submit to stretching our
faith it is generally uncomfortable, but that makes us stronger for the next
time.
We
had a successful baptism on Saturday for Brother Joel! His wife is a member
and they were married a few weeks ago. Joel is a wonderful person who
radiates joy and life. He was in the Marines stationed in the southern
part of the Philippines (where I am not allowed to go because of my skin color). He
left the marines when his wife got pregnant so that they could focus on their
family. He really struggled with the word of wisdom at first because it
was such a big change but he wants to follow Gods plan. After his
baptism he bore his testimony and he firmly stated “I know this is God’s true
church.” I was a little taken back because this is the first time I have heard
him say these words and I was felt genuine happiness for him. On Sunday
morning his wife went into labor and now they have 2 new twin boys! He called
to tell us about the babies and then said that he was on his way (making the 2
hour drive ) from the hospital to the church so that he could receive the
Holy Ghost. We assured him he could receive the Holy Ghost the following
week but he insisted. His faith in God’s plan for him is so inspiring and
I couldn’t help thinking about how their family is going to benefit because they have
a father that is committed to God.
A day in the life: One morning this
past week Sis Abarabar was feeling really sick so she slept and I hunkered down
over a basin of water to wash my sheets for the first time in a while. It
is actually quite difficult to wash sheets because they are so large and we
wash them by hand. My hands suffered greatly. We then spent our lunch
hour chasing a rat back and forth from the stove to the fridge. We have
no idea how it got into our house - but after a lot of broom smacking and
screaming it finally left. I then went to take my water bottle from the fridge
and a frozen 2 liter water bottle of juice crushed my big toe. It’s not broken -
just black and blue. Don’t fret however; it only hurts when I walk.
Unfortunately, we walk everywhere. We then spent the day going from house
to house and no almost one was home. Those that were home were busy. It
was tough and I wanted to complain but God is so aware of us and we ended the night
at the Candelaria’s where 12 year old Jelissa taught her youngest sibling how
to pray by whispering in his ear. It was so tender and reminded me that
God is aware of us and waiting to bless us if we will slow down enough to see
his loving hand. Never a boring day in the pines! I am so happy and so
grateful to be a part of this work. I know with all my heart that this is
God’s work. I am grateful for the gospel in my life and ever grateful for
the chance to share it with others.
Because I am training in Goa, I will stay in the Naga
mission when the mission is split on July 1st. That means my Mission President will be the
couple from Brigham City. I am excited to meet the new Mission President but
can’t believe they are coming so soon. I remember when I got my call
thinking I will have a different Mission President for the last 6 months. Now
that is right around the corner - ano ba iyan!!!!
We are leaving for Naga really early in the morning and then
we have training (train the trainers) and on Wednesday afternoon we meet with the newbies and have more training. Then Wednesday night we are back to Goa.
Meg and Speen both sound great. I heard from both of them this past week.
Hope
you all have a good week! I love you all!!
Mahal
kita –padaba ko ika,
Sister
Meish
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