Area:
Floridablanca
Companion: Sister Echon
Sister Training Leader
Monday,
March 17, 2014
Hello again!
Okay...weird..I have officially hit my 9
months..today actually I officially have 9 months left.. It all still feels
like a dream, sometimes I wake up and realize whoa, I'm actually on my mission.
It is all going by way too fast for my liking but I am enjoying every second of
it!
Another great week here in Floridablanca
full of funny stories, drama, new investigators, dropped investigators, biking
miles on end, ugly tanlines and everything else in between.
We have been teaching a member referral,
Cherry Mitra (she so happens to be the niece of tatay mitra [ninja prayer man]
and Sister Manlulu, she feeds us at her home every week and always sends us
home with food-love that sweety lady). Anyways, Cherry is a sweet soul, but man
can that lady talk. Our first lesson with her took over an hour and we only
taught ONE principle! But hey, nonetheless, she will be an expert on this
gospel by the time we are done. She knows so much about other religions and
little to nothing about ours, so she has a TON of questions and is so curious,
we love it! This week she asked us why we don't have memorized prayers like the
Catholics do. We told her that we would address her question at the end of the
lesson being that prayer happened to be the last principle we would be teaching
her-we introduced her first to the Restoration of the Gospel and then to the
Book of Mormon. As we handed her a Book of Mormon she flipped it open and read
the first verse she saw. Her eyes got big and her mouth dropped open, to be
honest S. Echon and I had no idea what to expect. All of a sudden she goes,
"Oh! Listen!" and would read a verse to us, then would continue,
"Oh! and this one! Listen to this!" And would continue reading as if
she was trying to convince us this book was true, in which we already know.
Just so happens the verses she flipped right open to was when Jesus Christ was
teaching the people how to pray, and was telling them it should not be a rote
prayer, but rather coming from their heart. She literally answered her own
question. I have experienced this myself opening to the Book of Mormon to a
verse that was exactly what I needed, but never before have I experienced it
happen to someone else. Such a cool moment.
Speaking of Tatay Mitra, we showed up to
teach him this week and when he smiled his two front teeth were missing! I
bursted up laughing and asked what happened. Turns out his two teeth that used
to be there were fake, and one day he was eating a banana, and didn't finish
it, he just threw it on the side of the road while walking home. He said later
that night before bed he looked in the mirror and his teeth were gone! Tatay's
teeth fell out in the banana that he threw away! Hahah poor old man.
Sister Echon and I did lots of finding
this week and saw this cute look book club of old ladies sitting out front of a
tindahan chatting. We rolled up on our bikes and made ourselves at home, we sat
down and immediately started introducing ourselves and then teaching them.
Little by little their neighbors were interested in what we were doing so they
started to join, I kid you not we taught a little village that day, so
sick.
Sister Uy-less active (their family came
to church for the first time in over a year) has now left her cute little
family and moved to South Africa for two years where she will work abroad to try
to make money for their family. We had a family home evening over there on her
last night to try to help them have one last happy night together as a family,
it was very bitter sweet. Sister Echon and I told her it's like she is going on
a mission, two years with no family! She's a warrior.
We contacted a less active family, the
Beltran Family, who might have the nicest house I have seen since being here in
the Philippines. Their father was a member of the Branch Presidency, second
counselor, and they have been less active since 1997. Turns out the sweet
family was offended, and so we are really excited to work with them in hopes to
bring them back to the fold. They have four kids all of which came to church
with their parents for the 15 years they were active, and when we go back this
Wednesday we plan on teaching their kids and hopefully re-activating and
baptizing them to complete this family, we are very excited! I am also doing a
little match-making and trying to set their oldest son up with a return
missionary in our branch. hehe
So I have been reading this awesome book
Called, "Member Missionary Work-Finding the Elect of God." If you are
a missionary, try to get your hands on this, even members, it is awesome!
Anyways, I read the other day this passage, "Brothers and Sisters, there
are FIVE people in your area who are ready to be baptized now, this hour,
today! Wherever your area is in your mission, there are five people in your
area whom you and your companion can baptize now. I promise you. Next week
there will still be five, but they may not be the same five as this week. Do
you understand? People move in, and people move out. People have different
changes in their lives. Still there is a constant rotation of people that
become ready to be harvested. We are sowing seeds on our missions, and some day
those seeds will germinate. However, Your calling is to harvest those in your
area that are ready and need to be taught and baptized by you.l This is how you
are going to find them!" I read this passage Tuesday night before bed, and
after reading that, I shared it with Sister Echon. We then got on our knees and
prayed that we would find those five in our area that are ready for us
NOW.
The next morning, we found one of them.
Her name is Danica Joy Carlos. We are teaching her aunt, and we went back to
teach her again but she was gone. Sister Danica was standing out front of her
house just staring at us, so we invited her to learn about our message, she
said yes. She then sat on the floor while we talked to her and shared lesson
one, about the Restoration, I'm not even sure if she blinked the whole lesson,
she was so fixed on every word that came out of our mouths. At the end of the
lesson I asked if she would come to church Sunday, she without hesitation said
YES! Sure enough, Sunday morning, Danica Joy came to church, all dressed up,
and so excited to be there. We introduced her to pretty much everyone in the
branch, and after her experience she texted us last night thanking us over and
over. She said she has never learned so much from her church her whole life as
she did the three hours she was at church yesterday. We are going to give her a
baptismal goal date later today, Danica will be baptized, She is one of the
five, I know it.
The church is true. Thomas S. Monson is
a prophet. & Families can be together forever.
Have a great week all! Love you!
Sister Pilkington
P.S. My district last week (4 companionships) got 89 new investigators last week...rock on!
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