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| I'm officially a Filipino. (; (Yes.. That's rice.. And I'm walking on it..) |
10-24-16 (Monday)
Oh my word! Today was the best! Honestly, I love it here! Anyway.. I LOVE Sister Buna Cruz! She is
just the best. I kid you not, she is the best companion I have had in lessons.
She is the perfect amount of silliness and knows perfectly how to take control
of lessons. And the way she teaches, Oh my word, her insights are insane! She
is truly led by the Spirit. (:
Another thing that I absolutely loved is how she would ask
me to pick the scriptures we used and share my insights and actually be the one
to start teaching some of our lessons. That sounds silly, but I am so grateful
for that/her because usually when I get transferred I get lazy because I don’t
know the area or the people and my companion usually just takes over all the
time because they too know they’re leading the area. But NOPE! Hindi ako
magiging tamad kailanman! ;D [I won’t be lazy here!]
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| Sister Burton |
And on a side note… Sister Buna Cruz is 23 and from Bayambang
Zone. Wait, what? Bayambang Zone…! Isn’t that in the Urdaneta Mission? Haa!
Yes, yes it is! ;D Sister Buna Cruz is totally serving in the mission she lives
in! Yiiikes. (: I guess when she applied for her mission she was
living/studying in Manila so that was her address when she submitted her
mission papers. But man! I find that really interesting that the Lord sent her
to the mission she’s from. I never would have guessed something like this would
happen. But no matter what, I am sure grateful she is here. (:
10-25-16 (Tuesday)
Well today started out as the best ever! I thoroughly
enjoyed life this morning! I REALLY like this area! It’s a lot like Aguilar
except bigger and less poor. But it’s more rice field than anything. (: But
yeah! I went out to work this morning with the right attitude and it sure paid
off with 4 lessons before lunch. (:
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| Sister Buna Cruz, Jimuel, Rosaldo, me |
10-26-16 (Wednesday)
Today was actually an awesome day! I really truly enjoyed
all that happened. (: So to start.. I just have to say, Sister Buna Cruz is literally
the best missionary ever. I kid you not she is fearless! She does not care if
people are ayaw [unwilling] or not. She will teach, testify, repeat, and extend
baptismal date. Even when we’re just on the street OYMing people. She’s
literally my idol. But.. It also makes me very aware of my weaknesses because I
see how good she is at literally everything. So therefore I’m a little insecure
at times. But! I am determined to get over that and just learn as much as I can
from her. (:
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| Sister Alversado, Buna Cruz, Jimuel, Rosaldo, me, Sister Reyes |
So my favorite experience today was in our lesson with Tatay
A. Oh my word. He wanted to Bible bash so bad! You would think it would be a
frustrating situation, but I was kind of like whatever. He honestly wasn’t rude
but man.. He is so incredibly misled! Like, Satan’s got him gooood. But after
Sister Buna Cruz and I were able to get A to listen to us I just testified to
him what I know to be true. And that the Book of Mormon is true. And it was
translated by a prophet of God named Joseph Smith. . And that we can all come
to know what I know if we simply open our hearts and ask Heavenly Father to
help us come to know the truth.
But what was crazy.. I honestly don’t think I was the one
talking. I kid you not my Tagalog seemed perfectly fluent AND I just talked.. I
was not thinking in English and having to translate into Tagalog. My mouth was literally
being filled by the Spirit. It was the most powerful testimony I have ever
borne. I don’t know if Brother A felt the Spirit or not because his heart
truly is shut tight but he had nothing to say after my testimony. That’s the
best thing about bearing a testimony; people can’t try and debate it. They may
not believe or agree with what I testify, but they can’t argue with me if I
know what I testify of to be true or not. (:
10-27-16 (Thursday)
I really love this area! It honestly reminds me of home. And
as silly as this might sound… when we were riding in a trike to a further area
and I was looking out “the window” at the scenery, I honestly felt like I was
going for a ride up Middle Canyon [in Tooele]. Haha, I don’t know how or why, considering
there’s not a single pine or maple tree in the whole Philippines, but I just felt
very at home today. (:
I also saw a firefly again today and it made me miss my
Raymond. (: I actually told Sister Buna Cruz about how fireflies always remind
me of dad and she just died! Haha, she was like “AHH! I need to marry someone
like your dad! ;D” But for real.. I got pretty lucky to have my dad show me my
whole life what I want my husband to be like. (: [Raymond is a firefly in the movie The Princess and the Frog]
And.. I really do love Sister Buna Cruz! She really makes
sure I talk just as much as her in lessons. I’m honestly not used to that..
Usually my companion just takes over because they can get things done faster
than I can in Tagalog. But nope! Not Sister Buna Cruz. (: She is very helpful
and supportive of the effort I put into learning Tagalog. It’s great. She
definitely knows how to make sure I don’t get lazy. (;
10-28-16 (Friday)
We got to go to a wedding today for a returning, less active
couple. And man, it was so cuuute! Oh my word it was just so precious seeing
how sacred the marriage was to Jesse. You could just see how good he felt that
he was finally marrying Jeanny. AHH.. The Feels! (;
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| Sister Buna Cruz, Jeanny, me |
Man.. Today was just awesome! I got super lucky getting
assigned in this area because it is very progressive right now. (: So! With that
said.. We had a baptism today! Jimuel was baptized by his father, who was just
baptized this last March! :D But I kid you not, it was a sweet moment when they
both walked into the water together and Jimuel had to wipe away tears before he
grabbed his dad’s hands. Gahhh! I love how happy the gospel makes people! (:
Also.. After Jimuel was baptized, Sisters Buna Cruz, Reyes,
Alversado, and I sang “Come Unto Christ” and I had multiple solo parts. AHHH!
They all think I have a good voice so they made me sing more than them.. I
really hope I didn’t embarrass myself in front of everyone! (;
But then after the baptism we went to Danica’s house to fill
out her BCR [Baptismal and Confirmation Record?] and have her mom sign the
parental consent form for her baptismal interview tomorrow. Yesss! We’re
actually baptizing every week! Kaya namih iyan! ;D
Honestly.. a ton happened today, but I don’t know what to
write because it was all just so happy. Well.. This morning we helped with the branch’s
Family Day Activity which was a ton of fun. It was an all day sports fest and
we even had about 6 investigators there playing with everyone. It really was a
lot of fun seeing how bubbly this branch is. I think I’m really truly going to
like it here. (:
10-30-16 (Sunday)
So! Jimuel was confirmed a member and received the gift of
the Holy Ghost today AND D passed her baptismal interview! YEAAAH Baby!
Now that is a good day! ;D
Anyway.. This branch is stinkin’ loaded! People here are
dang rich! This branch has a church all to themselves that’s only like maybe
five miles away from the “stake” center AND it has aircon. For real.. I’ve
never heard of something like this here. Or even in America as a matter of
fact.. But I’m not complaining at all! I love it! We have aircon AND our
investigators have enough money to get to church on their own. (: All 9 of them
that came today! ;D wait… That was a lie we paid for one because we all rode in
the same trike. But either way.. Life is great here in good ole’ Hundred
Islands!
