"I walk around giving out a gift..."

March 14, 2016

[Today is daylight Savings.  Does the Philippines have daylight savings?] No, there's no daylight savings. The sun is up and ready for the day at 6:00 and down for the night at 6:30. There's not enough sunlight to save. Haha. ;D 

Sack and me

[Is Sister Cuenca's time up? When is transfers? What does she intend to do when she gets home? School?] Sister Cuenca's last day in the field is the 29th, which is the last week of the transfer, so I'll be in a trisome for a couple days before I get my new companion. She plans to work. She's already finished school and has a degree in marketing. (: 

[Where do you email from?] We just email from an internet cafe where ever we can find one that works. (; 

So! This week I found out that my investigator Justoni and his "wife" are finally going to get married on March 30th! Justoni comes to church every week with his family and would be baptized already, but his dad petitioned against Justoni and Hydie getting married so Justoni could get a visa to work abroad in America. But! Justoni finally stood up to his dad and will now be getting married and then April 12th be baptized! (: Hydie is already a member, so in a year they'll have the opportunity to be sealed together as a family for all eternity! Woo! I'm so happy for them and their decision to follow God's commandments and Plan of Happiness. (: 

Anyway, life is great! I really enjoyed this week. I had my first zone conference which was a lot of fun to meet more of the missionaries. The two things that stuck out to me the most is first, Family Home Evening is a commandment; it is not optional. It is a commandment from God and we all need to help unite our families by giving an evening to God by focusing our home and family on Jesus Christ. 

Second, everyone has personal agency. I used to really struggle with being discouraged because people won't keep their commitments and exercise faith by reading The Book of Mormon or coming to church. It was so heart breaking for me when people would literally hold the evidence of everything we teach them in their hands and they won't read it and come to know the truth for themselves. It's still heart breaking, but I now take into account that that is their own choice through their own personal agency, not my lack of being a "good" missionary. I am doing my part, they have to do theirs. Anyway, I was able to learn all this by a very simple analogy President Deyro shared with us. As missionaries I walk around giving out a gift, and some accept and appreciate it, GREAT! But some don't want my gift, OH WELL, at least I still have the gift. 

So those are my thoughts and insights. K, love you, bye. Ask me to write about my daily schedule next week. LOVE YOU!