TAG-ULAN!! (Rainy Season)

Can I look any more like a tourist?

Well ladies and gentleman I have personally experienced now why people say you're always wet in the Philippines- it's either sweat because it's so hot or water pouring down from the heavens in a rain storm, and sometimes both because it's hot and rainy at the same time while your climbing up hills hahaha it's the best. And what is a crazy rainstorm to me is not even the start of what it can get to here. The lightning and thunder is crazy loud and cool, I just love it :) 

The rain puts a little bit of a damper on our work pero kaya pa rin namin! (We can still do it!) Haha this was another great week of teaching and testifying. We are continuing to prepare more investigators for baptism, and the ward is being really awesome at nurturing our recent converts. We did have one scare this week, two days after the confirmation of one of our teenage girls that got baptized she became super ill with internal bleeding and was rushed to the emergency room. She needs an endoscopy to find the cause and four blood donors to raise her blood pressure. This hospital stay and procedure is pretty expensive and the family is not financially stable so out of a panic the mom texted us asking for help. I am SO glad they knew they could turn to the missionaries to help in a crisis and immedietly we called our Bishop to see what we could do. Our bishop went to the hospital, was able to give her a blessing, and out of fast offerings could offer some support from the church. He sent a message to all the members who then became interested in donating, the young women are visiting her in the hospital today, and some priests brought a special sacrament to the mom and daughter at the hospital yesterday. Can you believe her faith? The daughter asked if she could leave the hospital with her IV tube things still stuck in her hands in order to come to church and then return to the hospital. THe mom was worried too that her baptism would be pushed later because she couldn't come to church. This family is truly amazing and I am so grateful for their growing testimonies and willingness to follow Christ no matter the cause. I also hope you see the importance of members in their conversion experience. PLEASE always fellowship any investigators the missionaries bring to church or ASK the missionaries if there is anything you can do to help. Members make the world of difference in building a support system. Right now we are all just praying for her! 

You Know You're in the Phillippines When...

Everyone. Loves. To. Selfie. Hahaha it is the highest selfie country in the world and it's so true. Pictures are everything. It's not that uncommon to have your cell phone screen be a favorite selfie of yours hahaha so therefore..we have a lot of selfies with members :) 

this little boy is one of the kids of Lanie Pascua!

Missionaries can Laugh Too...

You usually leave your shoes outside the house before you come in to not get the floor dirty and one time when we left the house of an appointment I realized my shoes were a little different than how I had left them outside the door...one of the dogs roaming around had decided it was hungry and apparently my shoes looked delicious hahaha. They look pretty sad now but I just laughed and asked the dog masarap ba sa iyo?? (Is that delicious to you??) 

Tagalog Word of the Day:

Niya/Siya- This means He, She, or It. So you can see why it gets a little confusing when a Filipino is talking fast or telling stories (they love to kuwento-kuwento (tell stories) ) because you don't know if he, she, or it is talking or doing the actions hahaha. But it comes in handy when you are asking how old a baby is or what their name is and you don't know the gender. 

Spiritual Thought:

This will be a short one but an important one today. This week I realized again the importance of testimonies and sharing them. Not only because yesterday was fast sunday, but because we were able to have a couple testimony meetings with our less active lessons and member lessons this week. I read in Alma 5:45-46, 48 the power of his testimony to the Lamanites and felt inspired to share this in our lessons. When we asked the less actives and members to share their testimonies the spirit was undeniable. Even the less actives you could tell they realized they really do still have a testimony. A testimony doesn't have to be a grand, long gesture full of elequent words and perfectly phrased sentences, but a simple declaration of what we know and feel. I know that our testimony is the most important thing we can develop in this life because it is the only thing we will take with us into the life that matters most, after this. We will not show to our savior all the money, cars, or status we have collected, but he will see straight to our hearts where our testimony is and if we kept it burning bright or if it is only a spark. Brothers and Sisters we need to make sure we each have our own individual testimony. We cannot come to our savior and say "I know my Mom knew that the church was true and my dad said the Book of Mormon was true too." Can we say we have been truly converted for ourselves? And when we do feel that we have a testimony, do we seek to add firewood and fuel to it's flame every day? Do we share it? I challenge you to pray to our Heavenly Father for an opporunity to bear testmiony this week. It could be to a friend or a co-worker or a sibling, and it could be a simple phrase or two but I promise he will offer one to you if you ask and seek. 

I am so grateful for the many opportunities I have every day to testify of Christ and increase my understanding, gratitude, knowledge, and love for Him every time I bear testimony.I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen. 

Mahal kitaaaaa!!

Sister Walters 

 

This member with me and my companion is sister Jing Dulay, she is like an older sister SO funny I LOVE her