I love you all so much and I feel so blessed to have the support I have from all of you guys. MOM, THANK YOU so much for the Christmas package! I opened it today and it is the cutest thing ive ever seen so thank you thank you thank you. Also I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to a lot of your emails.. We have an hour and 20 min to email the president and everyone and it's no time at all So i'm really sorry if i don't have the time to respond. Know I print off a lot of the emails and read them and I truly am grateful for each and every email each of you write to me so thank you.
Man this week has been such an emotional roller coaster. I have up and down emotions and when Jensen said the mission was going to be hard like yes it is HARD. I never would've dreamed a mission would be like this. This week especially was hard for me being that it is around Christmas time and we go to Christmas parties seeing all the people with their families having fun and I litterally can't even communicate with anyone because I don't know how to speak the language. It is so frusterating, but the Lord has shown me so many tender mercies this week.
Monday was the first tender mercy that really touched me. We were working all night after a great Pday and I was dying because It was SO HOT and there was no water anywhere. I also had huge cuts on my feet from my shoes just because I haven't worn them in yet so my feet were aching. We sat down to rest by a water refill station, but had no money so we couldn't buy any water and It was just a really rough day, but the cutest old man came out from the water station and gave us two water bottles and sat down to talk to us. We were able to use that opportunity to not only recieve great water, but teach him. He was so receptive and wanted to know more about what we were saying so we told him we would come back and teach him. Wow, such a blessing.
Thursday was the day I was really struggling with fitting in and I was feeling terrible about the Language. I was so sad and while proselyting was just trying to think positive and hold in my feelings. We had an appointment with a member and as we were teaching her again, I had no idea what was going on. Sister Tiongco told me to bear my testimony and I just started crying. I felt like such an idiot, but honestly I didn't care. I was so sick of not knowing what was going on all the time and I just honestly wanted to go home. The little old lady member was so cute and fed us and let us go on our way. I finally got myself together to go to the next appointment and in that appointment it was CRAZY. I spoke so much Tagalog and the investigators aknowledged me and told me how great I was especially for being out for only one week at the time. I felt so blessed and reasured the the Lord really is looking over me in everything I do.
Friday was the next great time. Me and Sister Tiongco decided to OYM a ton of people that day and she said I had to start with everyone. I was so nervous considering I don't speak Tagalog, but the Lord was soooooo good to me. He helped me so much and I really started communicating with the people! I was able to OYM 30 people that day and a lot of them were so open and willing to accept us and the Gospel so now we have a ton of lessons this week! IM SO EXCITED!! Also Friday I realized that I am in the same area I went to when I did MTC Transfers in the Manila area. So the I realized OMG SISTER ELANIA IS IN THIS AREA!! So on Friday I told Sister Tiongco that we have to find her and literally baptize her because the feeling I had the first time we taught her was unreal. So we set out to find her. It took a long time because the Philippines is a very confusing place. Everything looks the same. haha but we were finally, after about an hour and a half of looking, able to find her food stand that she worked at. A little old lady was there and it was HER MOM! So we talked to her about who we are and what we are all about and they were all so receptive. The whole family lives over there so we are going to teach them this week. I've never been so excited in my life. I remember praying in the MTC about wanted to go back to the same area sister Elania was in and now that i'm back I am really wanting to teach her. Now I can. I know I have a purpose here and I know God has put me in the Pina D area for a reason. I love this work and I feel so blessed to be apart of it. This was honestly such a testimony builder for me that revelation is real and that prayers can really be answered if you have that sincere heart and pure desire. I feel so blessed to be in this area and I know it was a huge tender mercy from the Lord.
God has given me so many tender mercies this week and I feel so blessed. A mission is by far the hardest thing i've ever done in my life, but I can already see how it is blessing me. I hope you all know how important you are to me and how much I love each and everyone of you and how much I truly love and know this Gospel to be the true Gospel of Jesus Christ on this earth today. Thank you everyone for all your love and support and HOLLA cuz I get to talk to my beautiful family in a week and a half and I AM SO EXCITED!! I love you guys and I will talk to you soon!
XOXO,
Gossip Girl
(Kels Bels that was for you...) Jokelang haha Im stupid okay... bye haha
Love you,
Sister Barton
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