More fun in the Philippines!

I just want to start this week by saying that things are definitely more fun in the Philippines! 

We've had a great week of service, lessons, good times and new experiences here and I can't believe the week is already over! It flew by so fast!!!  It's hard to believe I've been on my mission for four months now!  I think it helps that I am finally starting to fit in here. 

 I am starting to get the hang of the language, can understand more and more of what people are saying, and am getting more comfortable with the life-style here. 

For example, I was taking a shower the other day when I thought "huh, cold showers really aren't that bad." Additionally, I've started to actually enjoy eating rice! It's not that I disliked it before, I just always thought that rice was a little bit bland. But recently, it doesn't feel like a meal is complete without a little rice. So weird!

(My companion, Sister Villa eating rice with lasagna)

Side note, they have lasagna here!  Yay!  It's my favorite food ever! 

 Before I left on my mission, I was trying to figure out ways to bring the ingredients with me to make it! So, you can only imagine how pumped I was to find lasagna in the Philippines!!!  Success, I tell you...success!  ;)

Also, I think this week flew by so much faster than normal because I was able to relax a little bit and just take things as they came, instead of worrying about everything at once. Let me explain that a little bit.

I was talking to my kabahay Sister Stackhouse the other night about how sometimes, I feel really discouraged because of how amazing my companion is and I feel so inadequate compared to her. I have so many weaknesses and things I could be doing better and I don't even know where to start! Sister Stackhouse said she understands and shared an analogy she heard from President Zapanta with me.

She asked me what would happen if I tried to hold 10 cups full of water in my hands. Naturally, they would all fall and make a big mess (which my mom would hate). But if I held only one or two full glasses, I could handle it. She said that our weaknesses in life are the same. She said that there was no possible way I could handle trying to fix all of my weaknesses at once so I just need to work on a couple at a time and come back to the others when I have finished the cups I am already holding.

I really took that advice to heart and have been trying to only focus on a couple of weaknesses at one time. It is amazing how much of a difference that has made in my whole attitude and outlook here! And it also feels like I am having a lot more success improving my weaknesses since then. I know there are still many challenging and new experiences to come on the mission, but I think that if I can just learn to take things one step at a time, I will find so much more success and happiness here :)

Speaking of success, I would definitely call this week one. For one, I got a package from home this week full of rat traps & rubber gloves (which are super helpful - thanks mom!), 

 

treats, and our family Christmas card! I loved getting to see pictures of my family all together and looking so happy. They truly are the greatest family in the world and the greatest gift God has blessed me with. I am so lucky to have them ;) Additionally, we are having a baptism for one of our investigators this Saturday!!! I am so excited!

So our baptism will be for Brother Corre, who is just about one of the coolest people I have ever met. When we first started teaching him, he was always full of wacky ideas and lots to say (it could sometimes be hard to get a word in to be honest) but as we have taught him, it has been amazing to see the change that has happened these past few weeks. For one, he started becoming more eager to listen (instead of just talk) and now whatever he does say is always of real importance. Additionally, it has been fun watching him gain a testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has started dressing nicer for church, made an effort to get to know the members in our ward and has started praying and reading the scriptures on his own! It is crazy how in just a matter of weeks, his faith has grown so much. I have learned a ton from him and his example and am excited to be a part of watching the gospel change his heart in the weeks to come.

On another note, this week Sister Villa and I had to say goodbye to our investigator Brother Argili because he moved back to Cebu. We went to visit him one last time before he left where we shared a scripture verse and encouraged him to continue coming unto Christ in Cebu, which he plans to do.

(Brother Argili and his family.  He is in the top left corner.)

He truly is amazing! His testimony is so strong and we have definitely had some of our most spiritual lessons with him. At the end of the lesson, after that final prayer, we all had tears in our eyes. I will admit, I couldn't completely hold them back after we left. 

Later that evening, he texted us thanking us for the help we were able to give on his journey of coming unto Christ and gaining his own testimony of the atonement. It was definitely a hard goodbye but I hope only the best for him in Cebu. I know the Lord has a lot of amazing things planned for him, and Sister Villa and I will definitely miss him a lot. 

There have been so many other cool experiences that have happened this week and I wish I had time to write about all of it!

(A cute goat we saw on the way to teach Brother Corre)

(Birthday party at Sister Mayen's house)

(Brother Emmanuel & his family.  He is in the green & Brother Israel is in the white) 

(A ton of people on tricys.  I will try to get a picture with more!)

I will just say that life has never felt so real. I have taught so many different people and heard so many cool stories and hardships: like the time one of our investigators broke down crying because she is a mother of 5, doesn't have a good relationship with her husband but has nowhere else to go. Or the time when one of our tricy drivers told us about his sons miraculous recovery from leukemia. 

Apparently, when his son was 3, he got leukemia. He was so sick, but there wasn’t much the family could do because they didn’t have any money. Tatay said he went to every clinic he could trying to find some help and chemotherapy for his son, but the chemotherapy at each clinic was too expensive, so he just had to watch his little son get sicker and sicker. Finally, when his son was 4 he was so sick that he was confined to the hospital. The doctors said there wasn’t much hope for him and finally, he got so sick that he died. After unsuccessfully attempting to resuscitate him, the doctors left Tatay alone in the room with his dead 4 year old boy. He said he felt so crushed and sad, that it was awful. He said he was in shock, sitting and not knowing what to do when he had the strongest impression to beat on his son’s chest. Crying, he started pounding on his son’s chest yelling “wake up! Wake up!” and then his son coughed up a bunch of blood and woke up.

His son is now 15, has no problems with leukemia and their whole family is happy and healthy. After talking to the tricy driver, we told him that the impression that he received to pound on his son’s chest was the Holy Ghost and he shared about how he knows God is watching out for his family. It was so cool!

Every week, I hear tons of stories like that, which always blow my mind! I really love it here. The people are amazing and they all have such cool stories. As a missionary, I feel so lucky getting to be a part of it all. For once in my life, I can actually be there to help many different people through their hardest problems and trials in life.

Sometimes that is really hard. Sometimes, I wish I could give everything I own and have to help fix these people’s problems. Like one of our investigators who’s 10 year old son got an infection and is now blind in one eye. The hardest part is that they could fix his eye…. If they just had the money. It can be so frustrating! But I know that God really is here with these people. Loving them and looking out for them.

Additionally, I had some cool new experiences like on Saturday when we helped tear down a family's home that got destroyed in the typhoon.

 In the process, I had a couple cockroaches run up my leg,

 we found a ton of lizards and had so much fun playing with them...

and hanging them from our ears!

On the way home, Sister Stackhouse, Sister Baylosis and I got to ride on the back of a tricy for the first time! (Usually we ride inside because we are wearing skirts). It was so fun!

Anyways, I just want to finish with a spiritual thought on repentance that I learned at zone conference form President Zapanta last Thursday.

Before, I had always been under the impression that after we repented of a sin, we were supposed to let it go but not forget. In case we might make the same mistake again. As we studied repentance though, I learned that repentance is about so much more than just letting go of or leaving behind our sins. It is about changing our very natures from the inside out. So after we have truly repented of a sin, we won't need to remember it anymore because our very nature will have been changed and we won't have the desire or capacity to commit the same sin again. In essence, through Christ and his atonement, we can use repentance as a tool to truly let go of and leave behind our former selves in order to become so much better. Like a Caterpillar shedding and leaving behind its cocoon we are able to spread our wings and fly, leaving behind our old selves as we grow into the beautiful butterfly that the Lord meant us to become. That is what the atonement is for. That is why Christ died for us and that is what will happen to every person who truly seeks to be converted to the Lord through the atonement.

I love Christ. I love everything he does for me. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission, share his glorious gospel and to draw closer to him. I know that there is no happier way to live than by following the example of the Savior.

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget how much your Savior loves you. He is always there and ready to listen, we just need to call out to him :)

-Sincerely, Sister Matheny

Week 10 in the Philippines!

Hello everyone! How are you?! Here, it has been an awesome week in the Philippines!

   The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so I've actually found myself becoming cold a couple times, which is kind of nice and we've had a lot more sunny days than usual. Let me just say, I forgot how nice it feels to come home with clean, dry feet...

 ...instead of soaking wet,

 muddy raisins. 

 This week, I've had a couple struggles with the language, had some awesome lessons, 

disposed of a mouse or two (with help),

ate some good food, 

 and killed A LOT of mosquitoes so overall, I think I would call this week a success. 

The language is getting a lot better now. I pretty much teach the entire lesson in Tagalog and understand most of what people are saying. The only problem is that here, the main dialect is Bicol and when people talk, they kind of just mix the Bicol and Tagalog so it can be hard piecing everything they said together. I've learned that if I don't understand, to just smile and nod and hope they didn't say something crazy! When I talk, most people understand what I am saying now, even though my grammar is still like a 5 year old, lol.

One of our lessons that really stuck out to me was with one of our investigators: Brother Argili. He is one of the coolest and sweetest people I have ever met and I care for him soooo much! He is from Cebu but has been living here in Goa with his cousins for the past few years because he needed to make more money. His cousins are less active members of the church.

Argili knows that the church is true and has an awesome testimony; we always have the most amazing lessons with him! When we first met him, we knew he was planning on heading home to his family in Cebu soon (because he has been away from them for so long) and he told us when we went over the other night that he is planning on going back this upcoming week. Sister Villa and I were both so sad!

It's crazy how in such a short time, you can start to care for someone so much! Even if you don't really understand what they are saying most of the time, lol!!!!

Anyways, during our lesson, Sister Villa asked me to share a spiritual thought. I felt prompted to share Ether 12:12 about faith. After, we put everything we had into testifying and the spirit was super strong! By the end of the lesson, his cousins, sister Villa and I, and even Argili were all crying: because the spirit was so strong. It was amazing!

On the way home, I was definitely on a little bit of a spiritual high when this massive dog came out of nowhere barking and growling like it was going to attack us. For the first time, I really learned what I would do in a fight or flight situation. Apparently, I would not be as level-headed as I had thought. I am the type of person who would grab Sister Villa and use her as a human shield against the dog. Granted, I did try to grab my umbrella to hide behind first, but I was in such a panic that I couldn't find the thing hanging on my wrist. I know. Pathetic.

Along with the awesome lessons, we also had a couple hard ones this week. On Tuesday for example, we went over to one of our less actives house only to find that they weren't doing so well. It turns out that last week, their tatay was at work when he accidentally dropped a board and got a nail stabbed straight into his eye. They took him to the hospital but here, they won't help you until you can afford to pay and his family can't afford the surgery that he needs to recover. As their family explained the situation to us, they were all in tears. To be honest, I felt pretty close to crying too.

Because tatay has a nail stabbed in his eyeball, he is unable to work. He told us that if they had been able to get the surgery he needed after the accident, he might have recovered his sight. But since it has been a week since the accident, he will be blind in that eye even after the surgery. His family can't afford the surgery so now, tatay is too sick and in too much pain to work. Apparently, their oldest daughter cried hard the night before because she might need to drop out of college and work full time to support the family. 

Listening to their problems, I was once again so humbled. If I were in their situation, I don't know if I could handle it. But by the end of the lesson, we felt prompted to tell them that God hadn't forgotten them and everything would work out.

Towards the end of the week, we returned with the Elders to give their tatay a priesthood blessing. He looked even more in pain than before but after talking with their family, we learned that the church is going to help them afford the surgery. I'm not quite sure how all that will work out yet but I know that God is really looking out for this family, just as he does for anyone who is in need.

On a happier note, we had a couple of service projects this week which was awesome! Even though they left Sister Villa pretty sore for the past few days, lol. 

For the first project, we cleared a ton of Bagio debris off of a piece of land one of our investigators is planning to build a house on. We spent a couple of hours moving heavy logs to make room for the house.

Our other service project was a ward service project, which ended up being really fun!

We got to prepare one of the members fields for planting!

They served us an awesome lunch which we ate on banana leaves...

 During that project, I got to spend 4 hours helping pull grass and weeds out of the ground, use a hoe to get the ground ready for planting (that was hard),

 and finding earthworms! It was great, even though my back has been really feeling it since then.

Other than that, on Sunday we had a couple investigators at church again, including tatay Baidal, one of our new investigators. He is amazing! He has been reading the Book of Mormon every night for an hour, says he knows it is the word of God andf has the most AMAZING family. He has 5 kids who all like listening to the lessons whenever we come over and every time tatay Baidal prays or talks about God, he ends with tears in his eyes. I don 't know if I have ever met someone so sensitive to the spirit! He truly is remarkable.

Anyways, after church Brother Baidal told us that he could feel the difference in the Church of Jesus Christ. He said he loved it and couldn't wait to tell his family about his experience here. It was awesome! 

I think my Dad would love church here. For one, the ward is pretty small, but there are tons of kids running around the chapel, the mic doesn't work half the time, and half the ward comes in late! So that's fun. Also, the speakers are always switching back and forth between languages and everyone here is tone deaf, so my dad would fit right in singing! I don't think anyone would even notice if he was off pitch (Carter as well for that matter!!!)

So overall, I would definitely call this week a success. 

As usual, there were ups and downs but I know everyone has those and as long as we just remember to stay close to Christ, everything will always work out in the end. As it says in D&C 122:7; 9 "...if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thee, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good...for God shall be with you forever and ever."

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to always rely on the Savior!

-Sincerely, Sister Matheny