Red Ants and I2L

Area:  San Marcelino

Companion:  Sister Hynes

August 19, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Another great week in the P.I. today is officially my two month mark! Crazy how time flies. This week has been an exciting one. We had interviews with our Mission President and the senior couple which went great and then afterwards we had a big cooking demo and then dinner. I tried my first mango here and they are AMAZING. The ones in the states just don’t do mangoes justice. We also got some MAIL! They were from July 17-24 so that just shows how slow the mail is here! Haha. But it was the best day ever getting those letters!

So some funny things for the week:

We taught our investigator Jenny this week and she was our last appointment of the day, we were just coming from a dinner appointment at a members house. At the end of our lesson with her she turns around and gives us two huge plates of puncit (super good veggie pasta), but we were soo full we seriously could not eat it. She walked out of the house really quick so I sprint across the room and dump all of my pasta back into the pot and my companion dumps all of hers on the branch missionary’s plate that was contacting investigators with us. When she walked back in we were all trying so hard not to laugh, and she probably knew something was going on because I was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room. It was hilarious.

Later in the week we taught a lesson out in this Barangay of Huts (village of huts). They have the biggest red ants that bite and leave welts on your legs and they were everywhere. So I taught an entire lesson holding my feet up off the ground, best workout I have had on my mission! It was awful haha.

So the creepy guy I told you about last week that is like 65 and wants to be my boyfriend is EVERYWHERE in this town, I swear he follows us. It’s not that hard to see two white girls walking down the streets here. Anyways, he is always saying really creepy things to us, and always tries to kiss our hands, so I do my best to avoid him. We saw him sitting on a bench one day when we were walking so quickly we grabbed our umbrellas out of our bags and used them to hide our faces as we walked by, I felt so bad but it was so funny.

Last thing, it was pouring rain one night when we were walking home from a dinner appointment with the other two sisters in our branch. Earlier that day Sister Wagner had broken our entire sink faucet off and water sprayed everywhere. So a brother from our ward and his family were walking us home and he was going to fix it (nobody has cars here). Someone came up with the idea to have a speed walking contest, well I’m super competitive (as I’m sure you all know) so of course I was going to do all I could to win. So we all line up and get going and I am just taking off struttin my stuff and nobody was even near me I felt so good I was like oh yeah, I got this, I’m gonna win, then I hear faint laughs behind me so I turned around and see that they’re all stopped way behind me and were just dying laughing at me wiggling my way to the finish line, so embarrassing! Ha! \

Anyways, now for the spiritual side. Sister Hynes and I were I2L’ing people (inviting them to learn about our message). She turned to me and goes okay Sister Pilkington, it’s your turn to find someone to invite. I turn and see these five guys standing out front of a little tindahan (shop), so I say okay, them. They’re the ones, I felt inspired to go talk to them. Sister Hynes looks at me like I’m crazy, because they’re kind of hoodlums, but I just knew we needed to. So I get talking with them and invite them to learn, and one of them, Marvin, was extremely interested in what we had to say. So I got his contact information and set up a time that we could come back to talk more with him. We gave him a Restoration Pamphlet to read for when we came back to visit. We came to teach him, and not only had he read the entire pamphlet, but he even answered the questions in the back that they have (nobody EVER even looks at them), and then he excitedly asked me to check to see if they right, which they were! So we begin to teach lesson one, and we don’t even have to teach him, he’s finishing all of our sentences, because he knew everything from the pamphlet, it was amazing! This never happens. So then we felt prompted to invite him to be baptized, and without hesitation he said YES! We were soo excited. When we left that lesson Sister Hynes turns to me and goes, I would’ve never thought twice about I2L’ing them, this is all you sister, I’m so proud of you for being in tune with the Spirit. He seriously is a golden investigator, and is soo prepared. I was so excited! I’ll definitely keep you all updated with how things go with him.

The other sisters in our branch had a baptism on Saturday, we got to go since they’re in our branch and it was absolutely amazing. The Spirit was unreal, and I was just filled with joy. This is why I’m on a mission, to bring others unto the waters of baptism, and help them to fulfill these steps so that they can return to live with their Heavenly Father again. This gospel is true, and I invite all to hear. It is changing the lives of many, and I can just see the insurmountable amount of blessings that Heavenly Father is pouring unto his children for coming closer to Him.

I love it here! The work is hard no doubt, it takes a lot of getting used to, but it’s so extremely worth it! Thanks for all the love and support.

Happy Birthday Savvy and MAtt! Hope it was great! I love you both! 

Mahal Kita (I love you)!

Sister Pilkington J <3