I can't believe my first 6 weeks is already over. It actually went by really quickly, looking back on it. At the time, it was horribly slow. But I can see how missionaries feel like time goes by so fast on the mission. It totally does.
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| My scriptures. They are TORN up. I need to stop reading them so much (haha...yeah right). I'm going to buy super glue this week to glue them back together. |
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A better
picture of my scriptures. They're really bad.
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So we had transfers last week, and Sister T and I are still together! I have 6 more weeks of training and then I'll be done! Training basically means that we do an extra hour of companionship study and we focus on the 12 weeks program during that hour. It's a really good program, because it allows you to focus on specific things rather than try to do everything at once. It's been really nice.
This week was hard! We did a lot of tracting, and came home just completely exhausted. Tracting in the heat of the Philippines isn't the funnest thing. I love tracting though, because I feel like it challenges me more. I've found out that I'm really bad at knowing where to start in sharing the gospel, and knowing how much to share. So it's definitely still a work in progress.
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| Pictures do not do it justice. It was SO pretty. |
There was this area we went to this week call Can-Abong. It's this neighborhood right off the hwy, about a 15 minute drive from our apartment. So we got to it and started walking. We walked down a series of streets until suddenly everything opened up into this gorgeous field! You could see cute little huts with farms, houses, animals, and then hills in the background. Everything just covered in green. It was so spectacular (that's the only word I can use to describe my awe). I finally felt like I was actually in the Philippines. The hills in the background were just covered in palm trees, and the street let back into the jungle with palm trees shading the street. I don't think I described that well enough, but it was so cool. I love that area, despite how hot and frustrating tracting is, it was just the first time I realized just how cool my mission is.
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| This GORGEOUS stream in the same area as the field. It was so pretty down there I just wanted to stay down there and stare at it. |
Anyways, before I head off to another week, I wanted you all to know how much I love you. I feel so alone here sometimes, and then the Lord reminds me of all the people who love and care about me. I'm so grateful for that. The mission is so hard, and there will be weeks where I'm really down, and then weeks where I'm really happy and successful. But it's in those weeks that I'm down where I know that I'm learning and I'm growing. We should always be striving to do better, and in Ether 12:27 it talks about our weaknesses becoming strengths. The Lord gives us weaknesses to remind us that we need him. If we felt strong all the time, and perfect at everything, we wouldn't need Him would we? We'd forget about him. So weaknesses are a blessing, something to be grateful for. Because in those weak times, he allows us to turn to him, to rely on him to make us strong. And he always will, because he loves us. And for that, I am so grateful. Because I feel weak all the time, and even alone. But I'm really not. He is always there for us. And I'm sure that's something we all forget. He's there, on the other side, just waiting for us to turn to him. So we've got to stop ignoring him. He'll never ignore us.
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| Us eating dinner with the President and Sister Andaya. It was so fun, they randomly came into town on Saturday and treated us to dinner. They are the best, and so funny! |
Have an amazing week, I love you all!
Love from the Philippines,
Sister Hogge
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