missionary, always have to be prepared for. Thursday night we were
sitting out the back of the house, I was baking brownies for a
celebration the next day and Sister Roma was doing laundry when our
landlady who is a member came down to get the money for the bills. She
told us she was going to give it to her niece to pay their bills
instead because their electricity was about to be shut off for good.
Their mum, our landlady's sister has been in the hospital in Manila
for three months waiting for spinal surgery, which they couldn't
afford, so every day she waits in the hospital racking up their bills
and making it harder for them. The three teenage kids have stopped
going to school because they can't afford the fare to get there
anymore, so were over there all the time teaching them. Ones a recent
convert, one is less active and one isn't yet a member but is 17 and
pregnant. The landlady got a phone call, walked away and came back a
second later and just said, 'shes dead'. It was awful just watching
her process this as we sat there in our pajamas literally unable to do
anything for her. Then she got straight on her motorbike and went to
the funeral home. By the next afternoon the body was already home and
on display in their house. The branch put on a service at her house
yesterday as they always do, sung hymns and shared the plan of
salvation to everyone who doesn't know about it. Everyone kept it
together pretty well until after it finished someone got the guitar
out and started a massive sing-a-long of Ilocano songs. I didn't even
understand most of it except for the chorus which said over and over
'you're gone'. Everyone lost it.
I had this moment during the sacrament this week where I sat there and
looked at everyone in our area, and thought about all their problems
and their struggles that they've shared with us, and thought about all
the people who should have been there but don't go, and the people who
are having miracle changes in their lives for the good, and actually
just started crying. There are some people with some seriously deep
problems, and they're not the kind of problems that just go away. But
what I did think about, is how great is the grace of God, that He lets
us call ourselves the Saints, even though we are so imperfect and just
cause so much need to stress. And the way we can access that grace
more fully is by just being obedient to God's commandments. Its so
simple, just do it. Just do what He says and let him take away the sad
things and give you the blessings He wants you to have.
In happy news, a less active showed us how to make this little paper
boats, then we floated them down the sewer canal and had a race with
our entourage of people who follow us around. Mine won, but our
investigator got confused and thought it was hers, and then everyone
laughed at me because 'mine' came last and was the biggest fail of
them all. I said nothing. I leaned that day that I am better applying
charity which is good to know. We also found this disgusting eel in
the middle of nowhere and this girl in our branch picked it up and was
swinging it around. I can't get over how ugly its face is, I literally
still think about it all the time.
Transfer day next week, its probably me, even though I keep telling
Sister Roma its her. I don't want to leave, I feel like my work here
is still half done, but of course, I'll go where He wants me to go.
Love you all,
Just go on a mission! And if you can't, just go to the temple! What I
wouldn't give right now to be able to go inside the temple again!
Sister McKim
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