This week. Every week is a good week. I'm also learning that the
longer I'm out here the more challenging it gets, but its a good kind
of challenging that comes from loving the people and caring so much
about them.
This area really is the promised land. I pray every night and say that
I don't understand why I'm being so blessed but I'm gonna work so hard
to always be worthy of it. Sister Lainhart is awesome, I think we just
get each other. Before she arrived I was praying that the right person
would come here for these people, and I know she's it. Her Tagalog
makes me want to study harder, sometimes she understands things I
don't even get. Shes awesome. Plus we had 12 investigators at church
yesterday. We set at goal that we are going to have a baptism a week
for our time together, which is so achievable, and we're really gonna
do it. We had less actives come on Sunday that haven't come in years.
We're really making a difference here.
Our recent convert family are the world most solid fellowshippers.
Every time we go out to their area they come with us and end up doing
more of the teaching to their friends and neighbours. We have another
family getting baptised on Dec 7th and we get up there to teach them,
and our recent converts tell us that they already taught them about
chastity, word of wisdom and tithing. All of which they're completely
all for. Then both families - recent converts and investigators - come
with us to teach our other investigators about tithing and end up
teaching the whole lesson. Life is so good.
Except this one little moment. We have 3 ladies getting baptised
supposed to be this coming weekend. We went to their house on the
weekend to prep them for their inverview, we walk in and two of them
are sitting there and they say Sister, we're not going to continue.
They continued to tell us all their concerns and why they wanted to
wait, which mostly has to do with their husbands not being supportive.
I stood there in shock and agreed with everything they said and said
we could wait until they truly truly felt ready. Then we sat down for
the lesson just as the third one walks in. Since we now can't teach
the lesson we had prepared, we whip out a Restoration pamphlet and
start again at God is our Loving Heavenly Father and the Gospel
Blesses Families. We just ask them questions over and over about how
they feel God's love in their lives, how the Gospel will bless their
families and how they can be happier. It comes to my turn to share,
and I literally just broke. I cried and cried. I had no words to say.
At that point, I really felt like I understood them, and I understood
even just the tiniest bit the Atonement. We go in there every day and
tell them that their families are going to be together forever and
they're going to be so happy, and then they get sad and ask what
happens if their husbands never join. I just felt such sadness for
them because they just don't know whats going to happen, but despite
that they still know the church is true. Then passed it over to Sister
Lainhart, and even though shes only known them a week she cried, then
I cried more. Then after the lesson as we were leaving our recent
convert family cried together outside. The one sister who came in late
asks whats happened, and they explain they're gonna wait to be
baptised, and she reluctantly says she'll wait so they can get
baptised together. So on the way home our phone rings like literally
20 times. We finally answer it and one of them is yelling down the
phone saying WE WANT TO CONTINUE! WE'RE READY! The third sister
apparently had words with them and helped them realise that this is
what they needed to do. Words couldn't describe how happy I was. I
love those girls, we've been teaching them since like my second week
here so to see them finally make it is going to be incredible. The
next day their husbands came to church again and I can really see them
changing, they're starting to get testimonies. There's just one
husband who won't even look at us and I know it breaks his wifes heart
every day. This is why we work so hard - for these people.
Tapos theres this poor little family that lives in this little hut
that we pass every day. They have this tiny little girl that stands at
the end of the road and when we come she just goes morrrrrmonnnnss
mormonnnnssss over and over. The mum is always super shy and runs
inside when we walk past. Then the brother with us told us that when
she saw us the first time she cried and prayed because it was the
first time she had seen white people. Philippines.
K love you all, so much, this week I just really thought, I really
love everyone at home. But on the other hand, I'm not in a hurry to
get home.I only have like....not enough months left of my mission. Its
going way too quickly!
Be good. Be strong. Mahal ko kayo!
Sister McKim xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment