Is it P'day already?

Hello po family and friends!

I can't believe its P-day again already, its always P-day.

Where to even begin. So this week was full of ups and downs as usual. We attended a funeral of a little boy on Thursday which was a really sad but humbling experience. We were asked to sing at it and I really felt the spirit strong, and I knew that the family were comforted that day. One of the bishopric gave a talk as he always does and his life basically revolves around missionary work and he literally gave us a ten minute shout out at the funeral which was super awkward for us, we sat up the back pretending it wasn't happening. Then just to make it more awkward after the closing prayer everyones preparing to go to the cemetary and he jumps up and announces that everyone still has to go to mission prep tonight. He is, so committed haha we love him he really helps us with the work though so hes great.

We had Stake Conference yesterday which was a while away so the church hired out a jeepney to transport us and all of our investigators there who couldn't afford it. So we go round them all up the day before, and one of our investigators has been heaps sketchy and avoiding us, but she seemed pretty keen to come. So in the morning we meet her there and shes got 3 friends with her so were thinking sweet, new investigators! So we get there and the four of them will not come inside, they're like go on ahead and we'll come in later, and we're thinking, it starts in like 2 minutes you gotta go sit down. So we turn our backs for a second and THEY'RE GONE! And we see them hiding across the street, and by this point we've got all the other missionaries involved so we all trek across the street and make them sit inside. We had to sit at the front because we were singing so we told the Elders to keep and eye on them. We got up to sing ten minutes in and they had already bailed. We were pretty gutted, and angry. So when its over we head back to the jeepney and they're inside! They make up some excuse about sitting at the back, which they didn't and it gets real awkward for the rest of the ride, especially when we have to pay for them. The worst part about it is she was telling us about her husband who works in Manila who was visiting this week, and when we see her holding hands with the man were like OH ITS YOUR HUSBAND so excited! And then he tells us his name and were like....thats not your husband. So we basically brought them on a free shopping trip to Paoay and harboured an affair. Great. But we had the worlds most solid investigator come so thats the plus side. The nicest man in the world, and he always makes his kids listen and always reads more than we ask him to and comes to church even though its hard, the only problem is his wife isn't keen, and they're not legally married yet so he can't be baptised unless they do. Story of our lives. Nobody here is married and nobodys that keen to either.

My favourite lesson ever was this week! We just find ladies on the street and they let us in and invite all their friends so they can hear us speak English. So we do that and are chilling with this lady and she invites us back. We walk in and shes keen to hear it until her drunk auntie waltzes in, expensive liquor in one hand and cigarette in the other and starts professing her Catholic beliefs and how she won't even touch the Book of Mormon because  she is so faithful she doesn't need anything more, which is poisoning the mind of our nice lady who suddenly isn't so keen and starts getting really rude. She says she will listen to our message because we were already there, but she will not ask questions because she does not want to appear interested and she will not be convinced so we shouldn't even try. These lessons are my favourite, because in Tagalog I can get as far as saying basic things like Joseph Smith was a prophet and basic doctrines. So she reluctantly agrees with everything we say until the apostasy, which is when she started to realise that the underlying message was that our church is the true church and hers...isn't exactly. So she starts firing off questions, and doctrines and bible scriptures are coming to my mind like never before. She starts trying to trick us, and I'd be like, thats fairly close but you see it says in the bible that....My favourite bit was when I'd just finished talking about how the other churches changed the doctrines and we said how it says in the Bible that Jesus was baptised by immersion, and she talks about how its ok to do sprinkle baptisms instead of immersion now, so I'm like I understand that your church believes that but in the Bible it says this, and OUR church believes in the Bible. That made her go quiet. So we finished up and she was speechless. She knew it was true and she couldn't deny it. So we were like, we know you said you didn't want us to teach you again so thats fine, we won't, and she goes.....you can come back. SUCCESS! I've never done a post lesson fist pump so hard!

Ahh so, this work is fun. I can't get over how much fun I'm having teaching, and how happy I am when people progress. I learn something new everyday that is going to help me in my life later and I can't imagine how much harder my life would have been if I didn't come out here. This is necessary for me to become the person I want to be, I'm so changed already and so so happy!

I love you all so much! Keep sending the photos and the updates. The photos attached are of our Zone birthday party for September, so me and Elder Ramsay celebrating together as usual, and the other one is when Sister Storey couldn't find the keys and we were locked out of our apartment and trying to break in with bobby pins.

The church, is true. Which means we all better step it up in life, otherwise eternity is gonna be rough, and I'm finally starting to realise just how long eternity is.

You're the best.

Love Sister McKim 

xxxx