think you all must have been have extra special prayers for me because
this week was BOMB. So so so so awesome. Nami GID haha ;)
We had one of the best lessons introducing the Book of Mormon that
I’ve had my whole mission. It was to our new investigator, Jessica.
She is super humble and willing to learn, she accepts all kinds of
missionaries to her home but is actually using this to her benefit to
see the difference between what we are teaching her. We start the
lesson and begin explaining about the Book of Mormon and she is just
getting progressively more and more excited. We ask her to read the
part explaining about Jesus Christ coming to the America’s after His
resurrection and she could barely read it her voice was shaking and
she was breathing like she was running she was so excited! She read it
out loud and then again quickly to herself and her immediate reaction
was “Sisters, can I please borrow this book??” and when we told her
that it was hers she just about died. She was like “Oh sisters, I’m
going to read this whole thing! Its really about Christ? He really
visited them? There’s more prophets?” OH it was the BEST.
We also have two investigators, Serigo and Arjie, two teenage boys.
Serigo is a referral from our branch president and Arjie is his
friend. We’ve been teaching them for a little over a week. THEIR
LESSONS ARE SO FUN. And their progression has “hastening the work of
salvation” stamped on it. Last week they couldn’t pray and last night
Arjie gave one of the sincerest and most heartfelt prayers I’ve ever
heard. We introduced the book of mormon and they’ve been reading like
crazy. They came to church yesterday and LOVED it. Their reaction to
the mini church tour before classes was “Wow, its just like a house!”
and the other replied “Well yeah, it’s the house of God!”. They
brought their books of mormon, so excited to learn. We went to them
after church to follow up and teach and they were like “Dang, I wish
that I had brought a notebook to write down what we learned, we
learned so much, I want to keep reading and studying it!” and we had
planned to teach about the fall of Adam and Eve and ended up talking
about everything from aaronic and melchizidek priesthood, to why we
pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Christ, to sacrament, to
baptism… soooo much fun. It was literally like a dream, it was a
miracle right before our eyes. Oh, I just kept thinking that I want to
just be a missionary FOREVER.
The whole time I’ve been in Sipalay our church attendance has
struggled between 1 and 2 investigators at church, a huge difference
from the 13 or so that would attend in Bata, which can be frustrating
because no matter how many great lessons we have or how many new
investigators we find if they don’t come to church they can’t be
baptized. That all changed yesterday, we had SIX at church. That
hasn’t happened in Sipalay in a long time!! Not since Christmas!! We
have been trying SO HARD all week to really really focus on getting
people to church. But what was so obvious in the attendance yesterday
is that it wasn’t us at all. The Lord is calling out His elect and its
HIM doing this work. Just like a sculptor, right? Michaelangelo is the
one who made the statue, using a chisel and a brush. No one would
credit it to his tools. Its all the work of The Master. ITS SO MUCH
FUN BEING A BRUSH OR A CHISEL. I just sat in our gospel essentials
class smiling sooooo big.
Oh yeah, there was an earthquake this week! We were in a nipa (palm)
hut during it and at first I thought some drunk guy was shaking the
hut and then it got huge and I looked outside and everything was
shaking not just the hut and everyone was just calm and acting like
nothing was going on and I was like “Um, should we get outside or
something??” and then a minute or so later it stops. Its kind of scary
because we’re on the beach so…. Tidal wave, right? And Sipalay is an
extension of the island with dirt just put here so deep underneath its
just sea gihapon so if there was a big earthquake… we would just sink
into the sea. But it was just a tiny earthquake and apparently a few
years back they were having earthquakes consistently for THREE WEEKS
STAIGHT and everyone had to evacuate to the mountains. The earthquake
was actually pretty fun and we didn’t sink into the sea or have a
tidal wave so all is well.
It was SO SO SO VERY HOT this week. We were standing on the side of
the road around noon which is the very hottest part of the day and I
was just Regan-Lichfeild-Silent-
GOING TO DIE. Sister Cinco thought that was pretty funny haha.
Since its summer and Sipalay has a lot of resorts and nice beaches
there is a lot of foreigners here. They come in off the bus and I get
so shy and nervous of them! I can’t face white people anymore! It’s a
total Filipino thing, people tell us stories all the time of how they
avoided missionaries for years just because they were white so they
were scared and would just hide instead of talk to them. Well dang it,
its rubbed off on me. I’m so shy of them haha. Yucky.
If you’re putting together a package could you do a deseret book run
and send some more stickers and maybe some cheap CTR rings and any
pictures, like the small ones of the prophets or things like that, and
if they have any of those cool things like the hold to the rod
keychains or whatever that are cheap, just some stuff I can leave with
recent converts. And you don’t have to send or spend a ton, just if
theres anything that’s cool and cheap, that would be awesome.
Its so weird seeing changes in yourself haha, for instance I can’t
even bring myself anymore to ask for my burdens to be removed, I began
to the other day in prayer and then just started laughing because I
couldn’t bring myself to do it! I have too much of a testimony that
trials and burdens are so important and I couldn’t let my own limited
understanding request anything other than what Heavenly Father had in
mind for me. How awesome it is to know Heavenly Father, to have a
relationship with Him, and to be able to trust Him so much! We are so
blessed!!
About school, so I’m totally okay if that’s the requirements for a
transfer student… but is it possible to just apply fresh? Without
getting all those other credits and then transferring? I don’t mind at
all if I it means I can’t keep the credits I got at BYUI. I’ll just
start fresh again. If we can just check that option first, me applying
as if I had no college yet, and if we can’t then I guess I’ll pray
about BYUI and see if that’s where God needs me to be for a while
longer. Its so weird because I really see myself being in Provo but
I’m not averse to going back to Idaho… and I’m not super excited about
going to another school in provo in the meantime, I’m really a byu
girl, but I also kind of feel like provo is where I should be? Haha im
confusing, I know, but if we can just check that first then I’ll go
ahead and try and make some finals plans and decisions.
Lana!!!!! CONGRATS!!!! You are going to do AWESOME and LOVE IT. Ah,
I’m so so so sad I don’t get to see you!!! Three years is so long!!!
Its okay, I’ll just come visit you in your mission? ;) haha just
kidding, I’ll just have to live anyways. SO HAPPY FOR YOU.
Well, its been a fantastic week and I love all the things in the whole
entire world and I'm so grateful for your prayers and love and for the
gospel and the atonement and being a child of God and for the
scriptures and church and blessings and trials and ALL THE THINGS.
LOVE- Sister Manwaring
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