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| Sister Cuenca |
Friday, Feb. 5, was sooo fun! I absolutely LOVE Sister Naua! I honestly hope she can be my Kasama one day. So..I’ll just get to the point. I had the funniest experience of my entire life today! ;D No joke, I about died five times from laughing so hard! So! Earlier in the day, Sister Naua was telling me to wave at everyone to get their attention so we could OYM them [Open Your Mouth]. It was all fun and games until it actually started working! So as we were walking past this man, kind of on the side of the road, doing the famous Filipino stance, I waved and yelled “Hello po!” As I said hello, SO many things happened! First! The guy looked at me with complete disgust. Second! Sister Naua laughingly yelled “What the heck!?” at me. And third! I looked more closely at the man and saw his bare butt! OH MY GOSH! The man was NOT doing the Filipino stance! We was squatting down pooping! Hahahaha! I yelled and waved at this guy all while he was trying to poop! :D WHAT ARE THE ODDS!? :D Oh my gosh, Sister Naua and I both cried for 10-minutes laughing so hard! And to make it all better! Just before all this, Sister Naua was recording me because it was super windy and I had to walk funny to keep my skirt down. AND! In the background of the video you can see the guy pull down his pants and squat down! :D Oh my gosh! I cannot believe how that all happened! So funny :D I guess that’s what I get for trying to OYM! ;D
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| Sister Piutau. This was in Urdaneta when we had follow up training this week. (: |
[With a new companion in the area, does she rely on you to get around town? Meet people?] And yes! Since she's new to the area I now lead the area. I actually love being able to show her around the area and meet everyone, because it makes me feel less like a trainee. I feel like I'm actually helpful and have a say in things.
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| Elder and Sister Jensen. Sister Ortega and her new companion Sister Alfonoso. Sister Ming (standing in the back) Sister Latorre, Sister Dariano (yellow) (Branch President's wife), and sister Linda Estrada (a recent convert) (the T-shirt in the front) and I don't know the kids names. |
[How big is Aguilar?] Aguilar is actually probably just a little smaller than the size of Menan, ID. It's a fairly large area, which are mostly farms, with not a whole lot of people.
[How's that turning point? You still in the zone?] I'm definitely and 100% still in the zone. I LOVE MY LIFE! Missionary work truly brings happiness that cannot be felt any other way; the way to not get homesick, not feel like a failure, and stay happy is to just work. Work, work, work. Work is always the answer. Whenever people get sick most people say to just drink more water and it'll solve the problem. Well.. They're wrong. Water is not the answer. It's work. (;
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| Sister Ortega, Latorre, Alfonso, Nanay Linda Villanueva |
With the hard work Sister Cuenca and I have been doing we now have 8 new investigators this week! :D Also.. I'm happy to announce that on Saturday I will have 2 baptisms! :D Luzviminda made it to church for her fourth time in a row and passed her baptismal interview with flying colors (according to my District Leader Elder Smith). I cannot express how happy I am for Luzviminda! There's no greater feeling than seeing the difference in someone's smile when they accept and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Also.. Richard, a 16 year old, will be baptized on Saturday as well.. I know, I know. You're all probably thinking "who the heck is Richard and why haven't you told us about him before!?" Well.. Here's why. I just met him on Saturday. Haha. I guess Richard went to get a temple recommend and they found out that he doesn't have a Baptism and Confirmation Record. I'm not entirely sure how it was lost or if they ever even did make a BCR for him, but.. I now get an extra baptism this week even though he's been a member his whole life which is kind of cool. Even though it's a messed up situation and Richard was kind of upset about all of this, I was able to help him realize that everything happens for a reason and that this experience will help him with a future experience later on in life. Everything truly does happen for a reason. I promise you that.
[What do you do on your p-day's.] For P-Days.. I do laundry.. Yeah, that's about it. It's a hard life having to spend my one day to play and have fun doing stupid laundry.. Haha, no joke that's about all we do. We do laundry, go grocery shopping, email home, and if we're not poor we eat out for lunch. (; PERO! MABUTI ANG BUHAY! :D Mahal ko kayo lahat! [But its the good life! I love you all!]
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| MyraFe, Sister Alfonso, Sack (green), Genesis (red), Sister Ortega (pink) |
[In a letter Kelsey writes to her dad she says] “God is SOOO merciful! The generosity He shows because of the temple work we are blessed to be able to do! Never take for granted the amount of temples you have all around you. The closest one for the people here is in Manila which is not only hours away, but A TON of money for most of these people to go! Along with all that…I’ve noticed that the recent converts and less-actives I’ve taught don’t really know anything about the temple. Why aren’t missionaries elaborating the importance of going to the temple!? I feel like no one teaches lesson 5 in Preach My Gospel very well; And I don’t know why..! Because for me, I cannot wait to talk more with Luzviminda about how she can do temple work and be sealed to her husband even though he’s passed away! Pretty much…tell the Pocatello missionaries to stress the importance of going to the temple within a year after they’re baptized!”
