Nov 13, 2016 - DON'T WASTE A DAY :)

I teach in primary now every week :)

So basically, a mission is like a literal time warp and I don't even know how this happened but I looked at my calendar this past Thursday

Can't believe how time flies :( 

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and realized that 9 months before that I went to the MTC. Sister missionaries only get to serve 18 months...of course I freaked out "I AM ALREADY HALF WAY?!" It's super depressing honestly. There is still just so much I want to learn, must learn, need to improve, and time is just so precious to get to share the gospel to these amazing people in the Philippines. So any one who just barely came into their mission, DON'T WASTE A DAY :) 

Highlights!

We got to do some service this week and I had so much fun. Siste Cudiamat is a returning member and she was way too shy to let us help in any way so we literally just showed up friday morning and said we were doing chores for her. She was still shy but she couldn't say anything as we took of our shoes and help her "mag-gapas". This is the part of the rice process where you seperate the actuall rice from the plant. You just stomp on it and seperate it with your feet (it's super itchy but still fun), then you scoop it into a woven plate thing and throw it in the air/shake it like a pizza dough (that kind of motion), then you pile it into a bag. After that I told Sister Cudiamat that I saw some laundry inside and I was going to fold it. She said she wouldn't have any more work to do and I said "Tama. Para makapagsimba ka" (Exactly, so you can come to church :)) She opened up to us as we folded, and sure enough there she was at church on Sunday :) 

Missionaries can Laugh Too:

Sister Aurelio thought she saw a woman who looked depressed as we were walking so we went back to talk to her but as she looked up at as she just had this really funny wicked witch laugh and asked if we had any money. It ended up she was "baliw" (crazy) and the other's on the street really got a good laugh and so did we but hey she is also a child of God so maybe she needed our smiles at least :) 

Helpin out my kambal sister Brooklyn! 

You know You're in the Philippines When:

You carry a little towel with you everywhere to wipe the sweat off your face 

Tagalog / English

Antok / Sleepy (by 7 pm we look like drunk walkers we are SO tired from the heat and walking but hey masaya pa (happy still) ) 

When president visits and lets you drive the car 

Spiritual Thought:

I Nephi 15:24 talked about how the word of god can provide the protection from the "fiery darts of the devil." And I think that is the perfect way to describe them- as a sort of shield that we can put on every day if we dutifully read our scriptures in the morning. I know everyone is busy in their lives- sometimes missionaries forget that other people have lives besides 24/7 gospel, but the truth is the gospel SHOULD be the center of every single on of our lives because it is the only thing that truly matters. 

In the Liahona there was an awesome analogy about two men competing in a race to cut down the most trees in one day. One man cut the whole day without stopping to make sure he would win. The other took little 10 minute breaks throughout the day. The one who worked all day was sure he would win and, with this in mind, was so shocked to see that his opponent had actually cut more trees. He asked him what he did during his breaks and he replied that he was sharpening his axe. I know that reading our scriptures does not take away from our busy lives, it is not a burden on our schedule. It is the very thing that quickens our mind, gives us the shield we need to abstain from temptations and be more in tune with the spirit to know how to manage all things (temporal and spiritual) I challenge all of you to experiment this week to read every. single, day. Restart the Book of Mormon if you need to, and even if it is only 5 minutes in the morning the lord promises you, you will feel and see the difference. 

Love, Sister Walters!! 

This is our district!