Wow has this week been interesting. So as I said last Monday I was transferred to Puerto Princesa. Little did I know it was going to be like this.. So on Wednesday I went from Coron, flew to Manila, and then flew to Puerto Princesa. As I was in Manila I was alone for probably like 5 hours.. So that was weird NO COMPANION. And I had to take a taxi by myself from one terminal to the other and anyway it's weird being alone, but anyway so I am sitting in the airport reading the scriptures, oyming, doing what missionaries do haha idk. Then I see all these Sisters and Elders walking in and I was like ahhhh yeah MORMONS! Hahaha so I start talking to all of them and I see the girl I did MTC exchanges with. (Idk if you remember but when I almost got out of my training and I did exchanges with people from the MTC) yeah so her. Anyway we get talking and she is like "Oh by the way we are companions"... (in her broken english cuz she's from Kirabis and doesn't quite know english that well.. or tagalog) So anyway I was like AHHH YAY REALLY!?! But in my heart I was freaking out.. Then I get a call from the Office Elders just making sure I'm okay and I made it safely and everything so I ask them who my companion is and what's going on and everything... And that is when I freaked out.
Needless to say. My companion is Sister Tekanene (formerly known as Sister Kamoa, don't ask me why cuz idk) She is from Kirabis idk where that is, but somewhere by guam. She just got out of training and she doesn't know English or Tagalog very well. So it's awesome. So I am the follow up trainer, Senior companion, and we are fresh starting in Palawan. Palawan doesn't have addresses. It has street names and that's about as good as it gets. So lets just say this last week has been the hardest week of my whole mission. This transfer will probably be the hardest transfer of my whole mission. I feel like I always say that, but my mission is just getting harder and harder... Ahhhh I think Heavenly Father is just waiting to see if I'm going to kill over and die.
So we arrived at our apartment late in the evening on wednesday night, so while my companion did Personal Study I studied the area book. I tried my very best to memorize people and do things that I have done before while fresh starting, but It's a lot different in Palawan and being the Senior companion. Anyway we finally grabbed some food and then went to bed. Thursday before we went out I texted all the branch missionaries but not one texted back.. so i was just like okay cool. Here we go. So we literally walked around all day trying to find all these less active families in our branch and just do the best that we could. We have SO many less active families in our area and we have NO progressing investigators. So it's awesome. Not to mention we are two foreigners and I can teach and do things like that, but I don't understand everything and I can't say everything I want to say in Tagalog, so it's a little bit rough...
Friday again... no member works with us. We literally couldn't find any of the people we were trying to find. We walked SO MUCH. Wow, I have never walked so much in my entire life (even on trek) we walked all day and tried to find people or just anyone to listen to us and wala. nothing. It was so hard. Saturday was the same. No members worked with us again.
Then on Sunday (new missionaries/fast and testimony meeting) we go up to bear our testimonies and we have SO MANY PEOPLE in our branch, yet no one wants to work. They all just wanna eat and laugh. Like don't get me wrong I love eating and laughing, but come on this is the Lord's work we are talking about. Ahhh so I bore my testimony and told them how wonderful they all are and how excited I am to work with all of them because I know they are all very diligent and hard working. Then on Sunday in Coordination meeting I really just told them how much we really need members to work with us. (in a really nice and loving manner) and BOOM Sunday night we had a member work with us! She toured us around our whole area and helped us find the people we weren't able to and it was awesome. Like wow what a miracle from the Lord.
As hard as it is follow up training, fresh starting, and all with a foreigner companion, I am actually really grateful for this opportunity. It is really hard, but I have already seen what the Lord can do through me to this area. It's so cool to see things happen and people understand and just being able to really feel the Holy Ghost work through you. This is one of the hardest things i've ever done in my entire life (i've cried like 7 times in the last three days in the bathroom of course so no one sees) haha but really It is cool to see the tender mercies and the little signs Heavenly Father shows us to say like keep going. You can do it.
Some of those signs this week were: We were able to find 2 families to teach through Oyming because we couldn't find the people we actually wanted to find, we are able to rely more fully on the spirit to help us understand what people are saying as well as to reply. Friday was also really cool, because I had the impression to go this random house and ask if they knew someone we were looking for and turns out they were actually investigators that we had been looking for the previous day. They were busy so we weren't able to teach them, but just to see that we were led by the spirit to go to that house was really cool. I think this transfer will really change me and will really help me not only grow closer to Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ, but it will also show me what I am capable of doing. I am grateful for this opportunity and to be able to be here. in the Philippines serving the Lord and doing his work. I love missionary work. It may be the hardest thing I will ever do in my life, but that's okay. It is a little price to pay compared to the price Jesus Christ paid for our Salvation.
I love you all. I thank you for the support and for the prayers. Please continue to pray haha cuz im going to need it. Maybe if ya want you can send me like motivational quotes or stories or something to keep me going. hahah LIFE AS A MISSIONARY IS ... indescribable. I love you all. Chose the Right and be happy!
Love,
Sister Barton
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