A week of miracles, awesome experiences, and overflowing joy!

This week I have really been looking forward to writing because so much has happened and I am really excited to share. To be honest, I think it has been one of the best weeks that I have had here and the time just seems to have flown by!

To start, one of the big highlights of my week was last Tuesday, when I got to meet David A. Bednar! We had been looking forward to the conference with him for the past couple of weeks and both Sister Satini and I were surprised at how the time flew. To listen to him, we all got to ride to Naga, eating snacks, enjoying the beautiful view, and talking. 

 It was super fun!

~Lunch before the conference with Elder David A. Bednar~

(Me, Sister Stackhouse, Sister Jimenez, & Sister Satini)

We got to Naga on time and waited in anticipation for Elder Bednar to come. Right before he got there, they announced that we would be taking a group picture with him and I was more than a little excited when I realized that Sister Satini and I were sitting in the seats right behind him and his wife. Literally nobody could have been closer. It was so surreal!   I was joking with Sister Sattini that she should lean forward and start giving him a back massage!!! LOL

After that, we had the conference with Elder David A. Bednar, his wife and Elder and Sister Haynie of the 70. Elder Bednar opened up the floor for discussion and took the time to listen and respond to the missionaries thoughts and ideas. Close to the beginning, I had the opportunity to share what I learned from one of his talks about Conversion, it was awesome! Even though I was so nervous to be speaking to him. :)   But David A. Bednar was really nice and super easy to talk to.

At the conference, I was overwhelmed by how powerful the spirit was. In particular, as Elder Haynie was sharing what a privilege it was to have a general authority with us in the beginning, the spirit seemed almost palpable.

Additionally, after the meeting, I also got to say hi to Sister Villa. I was a little bit surprised when such a strong sense of love washed over me when I saw her. I almost cried because I was so happy, and it was so cool hearing about how she is doing in her new area. I want only the best for her.

Our experience with Elder David A. Bednar really got me pumped up and ready to work for the rest of the week and since then, Sister Satini and I have been trying really hard to fulfill our purpose as missionaries. On Thursday, we had the opportunity to go over with the Elders to the Baidel family's home (some of our investigators) and the Elders offered a priesthood blessing to Tatay, who is feeling sick. The blessing really seemed to help him and his understanding of priesthood authority. His family is so amazing! Some of our favorites to teach, but we haven't quite figured out a way to better help tatay understand priesthood authority, which I feel is essential if we really want to see them start progressing again.

(The Baidel family's new kitten!!!)

Additionally, this week we had the opportunity to teach one of the coolest kids I have ever met: Roberto and his family. I know I wrote a little bit about Roberto last week (the kid we met playing with the Rubik's cube) and this week I want to share a little more.

Every time we teach their family, I am more and more impressed by Roberto's strong spirit and understanding of gospel principles. He is not shy to answer questions and always really thinks about his answers. For example, after teaching him about the Restoration on Thursday, we asked what it would mean if Joseph Smith were a true prophet. After a couple of moments, Roberto gave a beautiful answer. He said, "If Joseph Smith were really a prophet, it would mean that the things he taught were true and that this is really God's true church on the earth." We were both blown away by his answer and definitely left on a bit of a spiritual high.

This leads me to my next highlight of the week: Saturday, which ended up being one of the BEST days I have had on the mission so far. For one, we had two baptisms last Saturday for our investigators Tatay Asor and Brother Joseph. 

And the other Sisters had a baptism for their investigator Sister Joy as well. 

It was so amazing! 

We've had so much fun watching them both grow and progress over the past couple of weeks, especially Tatay Asor. Apparently, missionaries have been trying to teach him for a long time now, but he would always hide from them and say no to a baptismal date. We are not sure what changed (he is always willing to listen to us and accepted a baptismal date so readily) but we were both grateful and excited to be a part of this spiritual journey for tatay Asor and brother Joseph. It's crazy how much the gospel can change people!

After the service, we had lunch and headed over to get a cake for Brother Roberto, since we knew his family was celebrating his 17th birthday today. We chose one out and dropped it off with his mom.  We put "happy 4th birthday" on Roberto's cake because his birthday is actually February 29th!  LOL.

 As we were leaving, I looked down and realized that I had been wearing two different shoes (one black and one blue) all day. I was SOOOO embarrassed!

Anyways, we returned to Roberto's later in the evening where his mom gave us some spaghetti before we headed out with Roberto and his friend to watch a live broadcast with Elder David A. Bednar at the church. Additionally, we picked up Jobert (another one of our investigators) on the way as well.

It was such a privilege to get to hear from the apostle again, but more than that, I was so happy that some of our investigators--who we have really come to love--were able to attend as well. They both ended up getting so much out of the broadcast and had so many good things to say. It was amazing to see how much Elder Bednar's words seemed to touch them, and answer many of their concerns and questions, especially for Jobert.

Anyways, Roberto attended church again yesterday and everyone loved him. They were all asking questions and wanted to get to know him better.

Also, I almost cried when at the beginning of sacrament meeting, I looked back and saw Jobert sitting at the back of the room. It has been a few weeks since he has come to Sacrament meeting and I was overflowing with joy to see him there again. I know how much of a sacrifice it is for him to come, and I was so grateful.

Anyways, those were just a couple of highlights from a week full of miracles, awesome experiences, and overflowing joy. I feel like my heart has been opened up so much this week, I'm surprised I haven't burst :)

I don't know how I was so lucky to be blessed with such an amazing companion, who I constantly learn so much from,

  awesome kabahays (Sister Jimenez told me to say that), 

amazing investigators and the easiest, most joyful mission in the whole world. I really love it here in Goa and am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to meet so many incredible people. Sometimes I wonder "why me?" There are so many missionaries who would be so much better at teaching and understanding these amazing people, yet God gave the opportunity to me. And I am so thankful.

 I just want to finish by saying that as I was teaching this week, I realized how grateful I am for my parents and the example that they have been for me. My dad and mom have always worked so hard to provide for me and my siblings and to raise us in the gospel--despite the fact that I acted like a spoiled brat more than I would like to admit ;). But looking back, I am so grateful for the sacrifices they have made to raise us in the gospel, I truly think that is the greatest gift they have given us.

Anyways, I hope you all have an amazing week, and don't ever forget how much your Father in Heaven loves you! His plan is simple. Just follow Him, and I know everything will work out in the end :)

I love you all!

-Sincerely, Sister Matheny

P.S.  Check out this awesome bathroom...don't you just love the tiles!  :)

Week 14 in the Philippines!

This week, as usual, has been really good! In particular it was full of a lot of laughs 

 and some good learning and teaching opportunities. Additionally, it has been full of growing anticipation and excitement as we have counted down the days for tomorrow, when we will get to go to Naga for a seminar with Elder Bednar. We are so stoked! To be honest though, I'm pretty sure my companion is WAY more excited than me. Elder Bednar is her FAVORITE apostle and she absolutely loves him.

Last Monday while we were cleaning our house for P-day, my kabahay Sister Jimenez went a little crazy and basically cleaned the entire house. We were helping of course, but after a couple hours of straight cleaning, Sister Stackhouse, Sister Satini and I had our fill of cleaning while Sister Jimenez was still going strong. I won't complain of course, because now I think we might have just about the cleanest house in the mission. It's almost like being back home! ;)

Anyways, while Sister Jimenez was cleaning, she found a weight scale in our cabinet which we immediately had fun using. Seeing my weight really helped inspire me to start trying to work out and eat healthier this week. I will just say, the working out part ended up being a success. I managed to motivate myself to workout almost every day this week. But the eating healthier thing could use some work. ;)

For one, there are little tindfahans (stores) full of food everywhere in the Philippines and I always like to stop for a snack (since they are so cheap, and delicious). My new kabahay is another reason I am gaining weight as she is an awesome cook! It's really annoying!  Ha Ha And what's worse, is Filipinos are not sensitive about weight, so if I start to put some on, she immediately starts asking how many months along I am. She thinks its really funny :) I think my favorite think she has cooked is sopas, which we ate last night. It was absolutely delicious!  Additionally, I received some packages from my mom this week that were full of awesome stuff from America, including Mac & Cheese. Which I absolutely love!

This week, I have learned so much from Sister Satini's example, and I think my Tagalog is getting better too. When she first got here, I think I was a little shy to speak Tagalog around her because I was afraid that what I said would be wrong. But as the week went on, I slowly got over my irrational fear and felt more comfortable speaking Tagalog around her.

About the language, I feel like there are some ups and downs to having another foreigner as a companion. For one, it is nice that we both speak English, so it is so much easier to express my thoughts and ideas to her in English. On the flip side though, since we are both fluent in English, it can be a huge temptation to just always speak English outside of lessons. Additionally, Sister Satini has been speaking a lot of English to me because she is trying to practice for when David A. Bednar comes (she wants to sound smart). That is alright though because I have found that when I am doing my part to speak the language, Sister Satini is always quick to help me correct my grammar, which is really helping me to get better. Especially while we are teaching :)

So about the teaching... it has been great! For one, we have really been focusing our teaching on progressing investigators and in some ways, I feel that making them our focus has almost caused us to be busier and to help our investigators progress. Now we actually have 15 baptismal dates with two baptisms coming up this Saturday, it is so exciting! In a couple instances, I feel like it has even been the investigator who found us instead of us who found the investigator.  

For example, when we were walking along last week we crossed paths with this teenager playing with a rubix cube. As we were walking by he called out us and we all started talking. At first I thought I had already met him, because he was acting like we had met before. I didn't want him to think I had forgotten about meeting him, so I pretended we had already met too. Only to find out a minute or two later that we never had. That was slightly embarrassing.

Anyways, we invited him to church last Sunday and were surprised when at the beginning of Sacrament meeting, he actually showed up! Sister Satini and I were so excited! Since then, we have gone over to teach him a couple times and let me tell you, there is definitely something special about him. For one, he has such a strong spirit and is so open and receptive to the Holy Ghost.

At our second lesson with him, we shared a Mormon message with him and his family and by the end of the video, he had tears in his eyes and lots of good things to say about the message. After, we extended a baptismal date to him and his mother and they both accepted. Before we left, he said that he could feel a difference at our church compared to the many others he had visited and he really liked it.

After that lesson, I left with a big smile on my face, feeling so blessed and fortunate to have gotten to meet him and to be a part of the Lord's work.

Besides that, this week has been very busy. For one, I think I have become an expert of the area book with all the practice I have had this past week.

 Additionally, I have also become an expert at catching ducks.

 I've even caught a pigeon or two!

I don't want to say anything bad or disrespectful about the good name of the giraffe, but I honestly think that in the past few weeks, ducks have definitely become my favorite animal. For one, they look so cute and funny when they waddle around everywhere with their little heads bobbing back and forth. For another, they make the funniest noises! Especially when you chase them!

I will admit, when we headed out to one of our further areas this weekend (bahay) and I saw a group of hundreds of ducks along the path, I couldn't help but to catch one. It was so cute! 

On another occasion, I straight up slipped and basically fell on my face in the mud as I unsuccessfully tried to grab a duck. Sister Satini laughed so hard, she says she wished she had videotaped it.

So overall, despite the slips (literally and with the language) I feel like this week has been really good. 

I have been trying to work on learning to be more humble this week, starting by trying to figure out what humility really means. As I was reading in Alma 5, a part of verse 5 really stuck out to me, which says "...and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God."

This really made me realize that an important part of humility is for us to really learn to trust in the Lord and his timing. I know that the Lord has a plan for each of us, we just need to be willing, patient, and humble enough to accept it, I know that if we can just do that, there is no end to the joy we can have in this life and the life to come.

I hope you all have a great week.

-Sincerely, Sister Matheny

10 THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR:

1. My awesome companion Sister Satini

2. Delicious Mac & Cheese

3. The emails I get from friends and family each week (especially from my "favorite person" ;)

4. A clean house

5. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us

6. Ducks

7. That I haven't got bitten by a cockroach in my sleep yet

8. That I get to meet David. A Bednar tomorrow

9. My awesome family

10. Sarcasm (Filipinos don't seem to get American sarcasm, they always seem to take every thing I say very literally)

A Week of Change and Growth!

This week has really been full of new experiences and a lot of change. It was my first week with a new companion and it definitely had its ups and downs. In addition, I also got a new kabahay named Sister Jimenez who wanted to make a ton of changes around our house. At first, all the change seemed a little overwhelming but now I actually feel like it will be a lot better now.

~Me & Sister Jimenez with Brother Corre and all his little nieces and nephews!~

For one, when Sister Jimenez first got here, she wanted to move into the spare room across the hall. I don't know why the idea bothered me so much, I guess I just liked having the extra room for all of us to get ready for the day and store all of our stuff. But soon after the move, I found out that Sister Jimenez was right, it was an awesome idea! For one, it makes it easier to keep our room clean and we actually end up having more space.

Speaking of clean, my new kabahay and companion are both a little bit of neat freaks, so I am going to have to learn how to be a little bit more organized so that they don't hate living with me :)

Anyways, last week when I first heard that I would be getting a new companion I was super nervous because Sister Villa was such an amazing companion and I didn't know if I could do it without her. All through last Monday, I was so freaked out about the transfer until we got our new companion announcements. I was super shocked when I heard that Sister Satini would be my new companion, and also a little bit excited.

~Sister Satini~

So Sister Satini and I were in the same zone so we've met at zone meetings and conferences before and it always seems like we end up together and talking.  Specifically, I remember going to her to get advice or opinions for some of my investigators, because she always has a ton of good ideas and advice. After an hour bus ride home with her from our Christmas Conference, I remember praying that one day I might have the opportunity to be her companion because I felt like there was so much I could learn from her. I quickly gave up the idea however because she is getting really close to finishing her mission, so the odds seemed really low.

You can imagine my surprise then when I heard that we would be paired together. Of course, that didn't make me any less sad when I had to give that final hug to Sister Villa, 

 hardly able to hold back the tears. 

~Sister Villa & I~

But it did leave me with a small sense of anticipation and excitement to get to know Sister Satini, which I hadn't completely expected. Sister Satini has been out on her mission for 13 months now and is from New Zealand.  It's nice that we can actually talk in English to each other!  :)  

~Sister Satini~

Anyways, after she got all settled in I soon found out that Sister Satini is a lot different than I expected. For one, she has a huge personality and loves to have a ton of fun all the time. Some of her teaching styles are different, but she is a very good teacher and teaches super clearly and powerfully. People usually respond really well to her teaching. Additionally, she is a lot more laid back and care free than me, so I think the first thing I have to start learning is to try not being so hard on myself and worried about everything. Finally, Sister Satini is really good at setting goals and within her first few days here, we have really started to get down to business in our area and focus more on finding and teaching those who are ready to hear our message, it has really worked! We went from 3 investigators with baptismal dates on Tuesday to 10 now! I am so pumped!

~A picture with the Baidal Family, some of my FAVORITE investigators!~

As companions, we've already had a ton of good and funny experiences.  (We get made fun of because our names rhyme!)  For one, we smashed a special treat...

...we brought for this cute fella...

But it still tasted good!  :)

Another time Sister Satini really needed the CR (bathroom) while we were working so she asked this old Nanai in our area and she led us into her back room where there was literally a bucket sitting in the corner, and that was it. No toilet paper or anything! Just that bucket and a big open window on the wall. We couldn't help but to laugh after that experience, even though we left and Sister Satini was still in need of a CR :)

Additionally, when she first got here, Sister Satini thought I was a nerd for trying to solve a rubix cube, but after I started showing her the steps, she quickly became addicted and went out to buy her own. Now Sister Stackhouse won't stop joking with me about how I broke my companion! But that's fine by me, I finally figured out the rubix cube and have gotten my solving time down to 4 minutes :)

This morning we caught a HUGE rat! It was NOT cute and little like the other ones we have seen... it was almost the same size as a Chihuahua. In fact, I think it could have eaten a Chihuahua. We think it might have been pregnant. 

Despite all our good times and new experiences--like when Sister Satini tried balut for the first time or when I was in a tricy accident (another tricy hit our tricy)--there have also been some hard experiences in adjusting to a new companion. As I said, Sister Satini is completely different from Sister Villa so I have definitely had to learn to adjust a little bit. For example, I felt like she underestimated my ability with understanding and speaking the language a little bit at first, which is understandable because I still really am new and don't quite have a grasp on everything that is going on yet. But anyways, the little things like that have taken us a little to get used to and learn from each other.

~A super cute goat we saw on the road that let me pet it!~

Anyways, I am super excited for the upcoming weeks which I really want to use as an opportunity to learn from Sister Satini. For now though, I think I just need to do my best to keep learning to be more upbeat, positive, and willing to serve those around me. I know that if I can just give it my best effort, the Lord will do the rest and everything will work out in the end.

As Elder Holland says, "Salvation is not a cheap experience" but it is possible. This life was never meant to be easy or without challenges. It was meant to be hard. To force us to grow and stretch. We are meant to have trials and difficulties in life. But if we can just do our best and hold on through those struggles, we will never have to walk through hard experiences in life alone. The Savior will always be right there, paving our path and making sure nothing too difficult stands in the way. I know we each have trials in life, whether they be great or small. But it is up to us whether we will use those trials as opportunities to grow. Just remember, whenever the going gets rough, just keep on going :)

 I hope you all have a great week and a Happy Valentines :) Eat lots of chocolates for me!!! <3 <3 <3

-Sincerely, Sister Matheny

"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." -Mosiah 24:14