Those pictures are for my one year mark celebration we had popcorn and sister Bray made french toast for breakfast (= Yep, haha, I like the pants too, they are sooooo comfortable.
This week was adventurous but unfortunately not in terms of missionary work. It all began on Monday- ohhhhhh dear Monday. We went to visit a less active family. Sister Bray (my companion) had not met the wife yet. So we showed up and their little boy was in the front and the mom was in the back. He let us in and we tried talking to him but he ignored us and kept playing on his ipad thingy. I snatched it from him (he is 9 years old) and enjoyed playing keep away with him for a few minutes, bahahaha... He loves me. Haha. Then Sister Bray knocked on the door and talked through the door to the Sister to see if she would come out and talk to us. (side note- this is the same family that was suuuper not happy to see me and Sister Stohre before. Finally she came out and sister Bray put out her hand and asked her what her name was. Her response was "WHAT? You don't know my name? You come to my House and don't know my name?" and walks away, hahaha. Sister Bray persisted and tried to get to know her and was repeated blown off. Until finally Sister Bray just broke down in tears (she is not yet use to this family). It was at this point that the Sister stopped and asked why she was crying and asked her to sit down and explained that she only treated my companion like that because she loves, Sister Bray. The scene continued with shallow "I love yous" and "Please come back every day" and "You are always welcome here." I just kind of sat back and watched. They are not ready for us to teach lessons and so we are just working on building trust right now. But when we walked out the door she put her cheek out for me to kiss. .... Can I just tell you..... the only thing I wanted to do with her cheek was..... BASTA! I sucked up my pride and kissed her cheek. THANK HEAVENS for zone conferences on Patience otherwise I would be a dead man.
Just wait... the night continues... So we are on the tricycle driving home and he pulls up and we are having this exciting conversation, we jump off, say goodbye and he drives away. We are at the gate and 6 feet away we hear this OH TOO familiar "Hello". We know exactly who it is and we BOOK IT inside!! The other sisters were inside praying and we came in making this huge ruckus and then we saw they were praying so we whispered and creeped up the stairs to the balcony to see if he had left or not. We texted the Elders and told them that HE WAS BACK and to COME RIGHT NOW! This man then moved from the gate to 15 feet directly outside in front of our door in this little forest thing right in front of our house. He stands in this open area so he is in plain sight. As always... he has a flashlight shined down on him and his pants have been removed. He literally stood there and waited for us. We hid behind the wall and while texting the elders, tried to keep him in our sight. It was scary..., mostly because we still have not seen his face. He seems to know everything about our schedule, etc. but we still have no clue who this guy is. The Elders showed up 10 min later dropped their bags and BOOKED it after this guy in the woods. When he saw the tricycle with the Elders showing up though, he took off. The elders spent the next hour searching for this guy, we got the WHOLE BARANGAY involved and police came. Finally these little kids told the elders that they saw this guy running and so the Elders went to this guys house and met his mom who said that he has always been a really bad boy but he is not crazy. His name is Hino. It was really cool to see how literally the whole neighborhood just came together to help us and protect us- given I think the elders were more excited about decking this guy then protecting us, hahahah. It was still nice to know that so many people cared. Sooo... we still don't know what he looks like BUT he has not come back since. So we are happy! (=
Nothing huge but Tuesday before district meeting we were getting ready to leave and I remembered that I had one piece of Spanish bakery bread left. I was not hungry but I thought I should bring it. We got to the church and the gate was locked. We waited there for 5 minutes and this lady came up to me and begged for food. My normal response came out that we are not allowed to give money away and I have no..... WAIT!!! LIGHT BULB!! I opened my bag and handed her the bread. You should have seen the smile on her face and she immediately sat down and ate the bread. I love the spirit! What a simple but beautiful blessing (=
Nothing huge but Tuesday before district meeting we were getting ready to leave and I remembered that I had one piece of Spanish bakery bread left. I was not hungry but I thought I should bring it. We got to the church and the gate was locked. We waited there for 5 minutes and this lady came up to me and begged for food. My normal response came out that we are not allowed to give money away and I have no..... WAIT!!! LIGHT BULB!! I opened my bag and handed her the bread. You should have seen the smile on her face and she immediately sat down and ate the bread. I love the spirit! What a simple but beautiful blessing (=
Lots of tender mercies have come into my life this week. I woke up three times this week and my first thought was honestly.. WOW... I'm so happy! hahaha. Its been crazy! I love being a missionary. I really just am happy. And what a blessing that is to wake up Happy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!! APRIL 30th is right around the corner! And I want you to know that I celebrated your birthday for you as you can see in the picture. That is my first and most likely last can of pop I have had here in the Philippines.
Thank you Dad for being a constant support and light to all you meet. Thank you for loving the Lord and CONSTANTLY ALWAYS serving Him. Thank you for loving my mother and all of us kids. You are exactly what every Father should be. I miss you and Love you so much!
I had another learning experience this week. We have two investigators, they are kids, the whole family is investigating but the parents can't get married because sister was married before and so they have to wait to be baptized. After their interview my DL (who I love and respect) said he thinks we need to wait to have them be baptized. They had all the answers and they are good, but he felt that they needed more time to really pray and read every day. At first my natural reaction was WHAT THE HECK, they are kids... no such thing as a 100% prepared convert. BUT then I realized that this is Tacloban, this is not Bacolod. In Bacolod, we were running people to the font as fast as possible- that was what our president wanted. Here, we take things slower and we make sure our investigators are as ready as they can be. It was a good opportunity for me to reflect on my purpose and to realize truly the importance of reading the Book of Mormon daily and fervent prayer. I am so thankful for my district leader who is in tune with the spirit and gave me an opportunity to reflect and evaluate and increase my testimony. The mission really is just the best!
It's been a much needed blessing too because we have been rejected, ignored and punted like crazy this week! It's by far been the hardest week in terms of missionary work. We feel like this is the American Philippines because of how rude people have been to us this week. But still there is always sooo much to be grateful for and we are happy and moving forward. I don't know if I already shared this but it's been a huge help to me.
Friday we did not work because it was deep cleaning day. You get a tiny piece of it with our light switch picture. We tried to clean it but in so doing Sister Bray got shocked.... so we gave up, hahah. WELCOME TO THE PHILIPPINES (=
- Patience with yourself is Hope.
- Patience with others is Charity
- Patience with God is Faith.
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| First and last can just for your birthday, Dad! |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!! APRIL 30th is right around the corner! And I want you to know that I celebrated your birthday for you as you can see in the picture. That is my first and most likely last can of pop I have had here in the Philippines.
Thank you Dad for being a constant support and light to all you meet. Thank you for loving the Lord and CONSTANTLY ALWAYS serving Him. Thank you for loving my mother and all of us kids. You are exactly what every Father should be. I miss you and Love you so much!
I had another learning experience this week. We have two investigators, they are kids, the whole family is investigating but the parents can't get married because sister was married before and so they have to wait to be baptized. After their interview my DL (who I love and respect) said he thinks we need to wait to have them be baptized. They had all the answers and they are good, but he felt that they needed more time to really pray and read every day. At first my natural reaction was WHAT THE HECK, they are kids... no such thing as a 100% prepared convert. BUT then I realized that this is Tacloban, this is not Bacolod. In Bacolod, we were running people to the font as fast as possible- that was what our president wanted. Here, we take things slower and we make sure our investigators are as ready as they can be. It was a good opportunity for me to reflect on my purpose and to realize truly the importance of reading the Book of Mormon daily and fervent prayer. I am so thankful for my district leader who is in tune with the spirit and gave me an opportunity to reflect and evaluate and increase my testimony. The mission really is just the best!
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| This picture is Brother Ambida- not a member. His wife is. He is big in philosophy and science and no faith, BUT I love him to death and he is leaving until after the next transfer day so in case I get transferred...we took a picture (= |
Another funny experience happened. My companion and I and the Elders decided to get up early on Saturday to go to the beach and play volleyball. When we got there the court was full, but they let us switch in and play. It was not until 5 minutes into playing that we realized that this was not Co-ed. haha. They were all bayots or baklats AKA GAY, haha. I honest to goodness thought a lot of them were girls. Haha. But I was up at the front net and one of them asked me "lalaki ka?" Which means... are you a guy? hahahahahahahahhahahahahah I DIED OF laughter! Not sure to take it as a compliment for doing damage on the court or if I really do look that much like a man. Basta. I chose to laugh and we had a lot of fun(=
Well he is not the only one that tells me I am like a man. It's funny. I know I'm tall and all but ... basta,. It's ok. I'm happy with who I am. Plus, half the people I say it too are just jealous that I can take them out. Basta.
Also I am traveling to Tacloban after this, which is why I am on early today. My sweet ZL already bought me motion sickness medicine. (= Excited (= We have a mission tour. Elder Nielsen, the Asia Area President (the husband of the woman that called you after the storm a number of times), he is here and talking to the whole mission. (=
Thanks mom! I'm going to go now! But I love you! Give Dad a kiss for me. Mom, you mean the world to me. take care (=
Sister Ralph
PS Oh mom, you can tell Bishop that I want a calling right when I get home and I want to contact Bethany Hillary about working with her at the therapy center when I get back. Thanks.
Well he is not the only one that tells me I am like a man. It's funny. I know I'm tall and all but ... basta,. It's ok. I'm happy with who I am. Plus, half the people I say it too are just jealous that I can take them out. Basta.
Also I am traveling to Tacloban after this, which is why I am on early today. My sweet ZL already bought me motion sickness medicine. (= Excited (= We have a mission tour. Elder Nielsen, the Asia Area President (the husband of the woman that called you after the storm a number of times), he is here and talking to the whole mission. (=
Thanks mom! I'm going to go now! But I love you! Give Dad a kiss for me. Mom, you mean the world to me. take care (=
Sister Ralph
PS Oh mom, you can tell Bishop that I want a calling right when I get home and I want to contact Bethany Hillary about working with her at the therapy center when I get back. Thanks.
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