OH MY GULAY!
Well I sure have had quite the biggest adventure in the history of my mission,
according to my mission president. Lots has happened, and I’m sure that it is
just the beginning to a new crazy adventure here in Tayabas!! (Also oh my gulay
is a phrase I picked up in Candelaria that I can't seem to get rid of, gulay is
vegetable)
First off I would like
to define trust:
Putting two white American
sisters who are not fluent in Tagalog one with 3 months down in the Philippines
and the other with only 6 weeks experience and only four weeks in a new area
that is being opened. All in the Model stake for the mission. Without a cell
phone. Living with sister's who are gone a 1/3 of the time. (model stake
means that only our stats are reported to the area presidency each month)
That my dear friends
is trust. And the Lord and my Mission president sure are trusting me and Sister
Baird right now. He sure is helping us a lot too. As you know sis Basa is sick
and still at mrc. I have been given a new trainer! With only 6 weeks more
experience than me. It sure is an adventure opening a new area with a language
barrier but we have sure hit the ground running out of our own efforts. Also,
we have possibly the best ward council in the history of the world.... Kuna...
take an example of this! They came together and all the auxiliary leaders gave
us two or three sometimes more of names that they want to contact with us to
share the restored gospel with their friends. This is such an act of faith and
we are so excited to get the ward working with us better than in the past and
the 21 referrals are going good for us....
some stats for the world are: one out of every 250 people contacted by
missionary efforts alone results in a new member of the church but one out of
every eight referral given by and contacted with members results in a
baptism..... the stats say it all folks... and with the humble faith of the members
here in tayabas. Prepare yourselves to see miracles ladies and gents!
Before this little
transfer happened I was so scared and nervous. I had a feeling that my new trainer
would be new too and American as well.... But as I said in my journal we never
grow I guess if we don't do things that scare us. Me and sister Baird can do
what is necessary, we can invite other's to come unto Christ and teach them the
restored gospel. We may not be able to
do everything other missionaries can and we may not be the best at everything.
But the lord is trusting us and he truly is qualifying us to do his work here
in the lucena zone. My tagalog has increased so much! I think my prayers have
also doubled and my sincerity increased as well.... I would not be able to do
this without the gift of tongues and the power of discernment and the lord
truly is blessing me when I need it. Also, as in 2 Nephi 33:1 “…for when a man
speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it
unto the hearts of the children of men.”
The holy ghost will teach what I cannot say as I am teaching with and
also BY the spirit. I got sick this last week because of lack of sleep and because
of all the travel and nerves but I’m fine now. It was hard, but I refused to
take a rest and me and sister Baird saw a lot of success because of our actions
of faith. I am under a lot of pressure right now to succeed but I’ll be fine. I
live with the Sister Training Leaders; my new District Leader just got transferred
from being the AP so if we need anything, experienced help is close but I know
that most importantly the lord is on my side and really really really helping
it!
Here is a quote:
"Faith is for the
future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts
that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the
high priest of good things to come." Jeffrey R Holland
Well, I hope you will
be ready next week to hear the adventures me and Sister Baird are getting
ourselves into!
Mahal, Sister Hellewell
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