The Area: So my new area is.... drumroll... BATA! Its literally the next area over from 6th ward, I'm just in the back yard of my last area! And my new companion is Sister Oquias from Manila, she is a doll!! So you remember my short term companion, Sister Lisaca? Bata is the are she was in with Sister Smoot (from my batch) so I'd already heard a ton about this area! Its such a great area. The chapel is super new and super nice and super close to all our investigators! Its just super! ;) I'm also in SISTER JUDDS DISTRICT. AHHHH. So I see her every week at district meeting and also at Robinsons on monday, I'm still in the Robinsons area! YES. Also, Sister Becerra is in my zone!! So I see her p days too and at zone meetings!!! WIN. I already love this are and all the people!! We have a few baptisms lined up for the coming weeks and we're working hard to find and prepare more! Our apartment is this cute and way tiny little doll house apartment. But its great because its new so not very dirty and its not hard to keep it clean!
My companion: Sister Oquias is batch with Sister Char, meaning they got in the field the same time. Shes about 4 months in the mission. She is really good in english and still working on her hiligaynon because she comes from a Tagalog speaking place so its a hard transition. When I first got in the field I thought all the native missionaries were so lucky because they could speak the language so quickly, hahah turns out they were mostly just speaking Tagalog and I was so new I couldn't tell the difference. I can tell now haha and I always have to remind her to speak hiligaynon :) Most people understand Tagalog really well so its easy for her to just speak that! Its also so funny when I don't understand a hiligaynon word and I ask them what it means and they don't know in english so Sister Oquias asks what it is in Tagalog and then she translates from Tagalog to English for me haha. So Hiligaynon to Tagalog to English so that I can learn it in Hiligaynon haha. We get along really well, she is really funny and really quick to learn! No problem teaching in unity, I show her how I teach something one time and she can apply it perfectly in the next lesson! Such a great quality! Shes really obedient too, I'm so grateful that I haven't had a disobedient companion! Although by now I'm really good at calling people to repentance ;)
The people: The people here are awwwwwesome. I love them. The members are super kind to the missionaries and so involved in the work. We have someone working with us basically every day! Our Bishop and WML are really involved too, such a blessing. I hope you all weren't lying when you said you would still love me fat or not, because the mission caterer lives in our ward. He actually lives 3 houses away from us. We have a recent convert and investigator in his house so we go there twice or so a week. Meaning dinner appointment. And I guess he will even bring by lunch sometimes and send us home with food after church. AND OH MY THE FOOD IS SO GOOD. And because hes a chef you have to try everything and lots of it and then praise him out the wazoo. Which is not hard to do because the food is ridiculously good. He interrogated me about all my favorite foods, I tried to mention things like salad and vegetables but I don't know how much good it'll do. As long as I can still waddle around to preach the gospel, right? ;)
We have this adorable little recent convert boy, Richmont. His dad is a less active and his mom isn't a member (we're working on that) and he is the most respectful and mature little kid ever. Whenever we ask him stuff he always replies "oo sis" (oo= yes) and whenever he sees us he comes and so formally shakes our hands and says "halong sis" (halong=take care). Oh man. Die. We did a practice for him to help his dad to keep the word of wisdom, we pretended that we were his dad smoking and he practiced how he would remind him that cigarettes are bad for you. That kid is going to be the best missionary ever, I tell you.
We have an investigator, Remberto, his father-in-law is this 90 year old active member. Remberto has 1 1/2 arms so thats fun. We followed up on his word of wisdom and he said he is having a hard time switching from coffee and then described in detail his experience with switching to milk. Lets just say he is definitely lactose intolerant. He called it "the tiger in his tummy" complete with sound effects. We asked why he wasn't at church on Sunday and he said "Sisters, I could not come (sidenote he insists on speaking English only, even though I could understand him much better if he just spoke hiligaynon) to church. My friend is die! They come. They tell me. I don't go church. You know why he is die? He is walking walking walking, far distance. He go home. He eat and he lay to rest for he is tired. When they call him, he already having cardiac arrest. He die from this cardiac arrest. Because he is fatty. He is fat person so walking cause him cardiac arrest. So this, I not at church." Hahahahahaha. We gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and encouraged him to share it with his friends family.
We went to an investigator couple yesterday, they're these two oldies just living in a hut in the middle of a sugarcane field. They were talking about their buko (coconut) and they found out that I hadn't yet tried fresh buko. So brother gets right up, gets a ladder, shimmies up the tree and knocks down about 5 coconuts, takes a machete and chops them open, rustles around in the hut and comes out with some spoons and cups and we feasted on buko juice and fresh buko. SO GOOD. *I'll send pictues*. We shared Mosiah 2:17 and thanked them for serving God. They loved it.
There is a less active family we went to teach, super instructive lesson for me. They were offended by the last Bishop or something so they stopped coming to church and haven't been back in our 2 years. They have a bunch of youth in their family. We taught them tithing and emphasized how they have to come to the church in order to pay their tithing. They shared great testimony about tithing and how great of a commandment it is... then wouldn't commit to come to church. It was so hard to watch. They might just think that they're just not going to church on Sunday, buts is soooooo much more than that. If they don't go to church, their sons and daughters aren't going to go on missions. They aren't going to marry in the temple and be sealed to their families. Their chances of falling into pornography, drugs and other addictions skyrocket. Even if they try to cover it up, they know that they should be going and it makes them guilty. If they're guilty they won't want to read their scriptures because reading will just remind them of the things they aren't doing. They won't want to pray because they won't be able to talk to Heavenly Father knowing they are making wrong choices. The longer they stay away the harder and harder it is to come back. And they even said they want to come back, just that the time isn't right. So when is the time right? Once they've already cultivated addictions? Once they've missed the mission window? Once they're already living in with someone and have children? Once they've already made serious sins and mistakes that will cause even more guilt and distance them further and further from the church? There won't be some magic time. They can't wait until the Bishop changes or until next year, or just "later". And the thing is, Heavenly Father doesn't care. He doesn't care that they haven't been to church in two years! He doesn't care about anything they've done while they've been away! He just wants them back. Yes, they still have to repent. It doesn't mean that they didn't make mistakes. But thats the thing, through repentance, through the Atonement, these last two years can be erased. It isn't Heavenly Father that distances Himself from us when we sin, we distance ourselves from Him, and He is constantly calling us back. Its up to us to make that choice. And there is no better time than NOW. Don't procrastinate the day of your repentance. Don't wait a second longer to be distanced from Heavenly Father and everything He is offering you. There is so much joy waiting. Ah! It just kills me. Pray for them, and pray for everyone else who needs to take the difficult but vital step and come home.
I love being the Lord's missionary! I love my new companion, I love my new area, I love everyone in the whole entire Philippines and in the whole entire world :) FULL OF LOVE.
I hope you all have the bestest week of all your weeks ever and I love you so much and I hope you're all as happy as I am and if you aren't don't worry just keep on keeping on and that happiness will always come!!! You're all the best! Keeping you in my prayers :)
Love, Sister Manwaring OoXoXXoooXO (Big hug little hug big kiss little hug big kiss)
Can you spot sis. judd?
Me and sis. o!
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