This past week was interesting :) our work was super slow. So I don't know if you remember mom, I'm not even sure I told you, but a few years ago when i was playing soccer up at BYU-I, I got slide tackled by my coach. Ever since then my knee will just hurt randomly. So this transfer it's been really bad. Some days I'll just wake up and it'll be so bad, other's it's totally fine. I finally told my District and Zone Leaders last week about it and they called Sister Andaya (Mission President's wife) and she had me go down to Tacloban to get it x-rayed. Looks like I need to do physical therapy! I'm just letting you know all this before I forget :) I'm totally fine. It hurts when I bend it, so sometimes I have to hop down the stairs, and sometimes I just look a little...retarded (I don't think that word's appropriate for a missionary, sorry.) But yeah. So asiya la.
Basta, our work has been slow, but I'm LOVING it here. I can't even tell you. I LOVE training. I was super stressed the first week, but since then...it's been a BLAST! I have been so blessed on my mission, and so blessed in this area. The people here love the missionaries, and they love missionary work. I'm super impressed with the progress of this branch. There's a still a lot to do, a lot that they don't do, and a lot to improve, just like everywhere. But i've felt nothing but love and support from everyone here. We personally haven't had a lot of progression with investigators. We had one inactive family come to church this week. Sister P saw them walk in during sacrament meeting and hit me and shook me so hard and pointed at them! I looked back and couldn't believe it. Miracles are happening :) We have FHE with their family tonight, so that'll be fun :)
We had an encounter with a crazy Nanay (what kids call their mom's, but what we call older women - grandma-like women) this week, hahaha it was so funny! We were teaching J., our Recent Convert, at a member's house. We started teaching him and this nappy looking nanay with a sack over her shoulders comes to the door and just squats there and and stares at us, and then looks at our shoes, and starts opening her bad as if to put our shoes in there! J. yelled, and I jumped up and ran over to the door. Nanay almost stole our shoes!! What the random?? Haha and then she pulls this tattered up Aklat ni Mormon (Tagalog book of mormon) and asks us if she's allowed to rip it up...J. is so cute, he was like, "Diri pwede Nay!" and then she just continued to squat there with this crazy look in her eye. Haha we were laughing almost the whole lesson, it was super funny. When they closed the door on her, she'd poke her head through the bars in the window and push the curtains aside and just talk to herself. No body seemed to understand her. It was awesome haha. Oh my, I love the Philippines. We were going to leave, and Jonas lives down the street a little ways, so we all left together. Well we get out and we look over and see Nay hunched over in front of this house, doing who knows what. when she saw us, she got up and walked/ran over to us. It scared Jonas so bad! He sprinted back inside the house, and said something like, "See you later sisters!"...so he left us to die basically. We didn't pause though. We yelled down a tricycle and ran across the street to get away from her. Only in the Philippines!
Wow this is super long. So lastly, i want to share the training we had this past week at our Zone Training meeting. Our Zone leaders focused on Obedience. Now i'm not a bad missionary, but I know that I can be 10x more exactly obedient. they asked us why we were here on a mission, we all gave different responses, all good responses. But the only reason why anyone should be on a mission, is out of Love for our Father in Heave. In Alma 57:21, it talks about how the 2000 stripling warriors obeyed with exactness because they loved their mothers, they loved Helaman, their leader. We do things out of love for them. And the only way to fully serve my mission, to fully serve the people, is if i do it out of love for my heavenly father. How do we do that though? How do we change our purpose of doing something from selfishness, to love? Well, it's easier said than done, but we obey. That's it. When we overcome something through obedience, we feel happiness and joy and love. When we try to be more obedient, one thing at a time, we are blessed. Don't let the small things take over. Be obedient, and pray for your desires to change. Do it because you love your Heavenly Father.
I love you all, as I say every week. I am so sorry I don't have a lot of time to do hardly anything. To email everyone, to send a lot of pictures, but know that I love you all, but most of all, I love this work. I love my Heavenly Father. I am SO lucky to be here, not to rub it in anyone's face, but seriously...this is the life. Serving the Lord is so great, and it's so humbling and so rewarding. It's just the best. I miss you all, but I DO NOT want to come home. This is where I'm suppose to be.
With love from the Philippines,
Sister Hogge
No comments:
Post a Comment