Well family another week has come and gone... I feel as if each week goes
by faster and faster.
This week we have done a lot of traveling. Not a
fan, but it's alright you gotta do what you gotta do. We traveled to Laoag (4
hours) for zone conference and back the next day and then one day later to
Pasuquin (3 hours) for district conference and came back the same day. Now don't
get me wrong, I love road trips.But this is more like riding hours in a bus like
the one in Harry Potter. They move so fast and turn so fast and slam on th
ebreaks to stop. It's absolutely crazy. I steel feel a little sick. The hard
thing is you don't really know how long it will take because you don't know how
many times the bus will stop. There is no such thing as bus stops here. You just
stand on the side of the road and flag one down then when you want to get off
you just stand up. The picture is at the mission
conference with the sisters in my apartment. My outfit is from ukay ukay and
probably cost 4 dollars!
So a couple more things about Claveria. I
have fallen in love with Ukay Ukay... don't worry that's not a filipino haha its
a store. It's actually the filipino version of the D.I. There are so many cute
things for like 10 pesos (25 cents) yeah it's good. Also there are bugs
everywhere. Yesterday we made spaghetti, but didn't realize the noodles had
ants. when we poured it in the boiling water they all started popping up. The
sad thing is, we were too tired to cook something else. So we just tried to get
them all out but ended up eating it anyway... is that bad? I mean they were
boiled... extra protein?
This week we were finding all these
little white balls and we didn't know what they were. Turns out they are lizard
eggs. I thought it was awesome, but the other sisters thought it was gross.
Maybe they'll eat some of the bugs?
I have to tell you about
Zone Conference because it was amazing. Elder Ardern from the 70 came to speak
to us. I learned so much. His wisdom and his intelligence inspires me. He had no
notes, but his thoughts were so organized and so profound. Something I really
like that he talked about is that for missionary work to reach it's potential,
there can't be a single missionary that settles for average or "good". He quoted
someone when he said "Good or Average is the enemy of Excellence." We must not
settle for average. We should always strive to become better. Even if we thing
we are good enough, because "good enough" is never good enough. There will not
be one should in the celestial kingdom that settled for good enough. WE must
follow all of the commandments and put our focus on the weakest parts of
ourselves to make it strong like Moroni did with his army. "The most important
commandment is the one that gives you the most difficulty." President Lee. I
hope none of us will settle for average & we will all strive to be better.
Miracle moment: Yesterday while I was traveling back from
pasuquin, I sat nest to a man. Then, like you're supposed to, I struck up a
conversation with him. He then stopped me and said, "I appreciate what you do,
but I'm Catholic." Politely, I responded with, "That's okay we both believe in
Jesus Christ and that's most important." Then I proceeded to ask about his family
and work. He eventually opened up and told me his whole life story. When I saw
he trusted me I pulled out one of my pamphlets and said "I can see that family
is very important to you, I'd like to give you something that I know will bless
you and your family." He accepted and told me how he has a desire to move closer
to our Savior. I took out my Book of Mormon and shared with him 2 Nephi 22:2,
one of my favorite verses. "Behold God is my salvation; I will trust and not be
afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he has also become my
salvation." After he read he said "Thank you that was beautiful." I handed him
my Book of Mormon and said "As you read this book, you will move close to our
Savior Jesus Christ. These are His words." As he held the book he explained that
he was feeling something and he feels that what I am saying is true. I just
smiled and said "It is true." After a few moments he looked at me with tears in
his eyes and said, "thank you so much, this is the greatest gift anyone has ever
given me." When can you come visit me and my family?" Unfortunately he doesn't
live in my area so I explained that I would give his name to the missionaries
there. He was so excited.
Don't give up on people if at first they
reject the gospel. They will come around.
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