A really great week!

It has been a really great week! Things have been getting back to normal here.

 I'm FINALLY caught up on sleep and Sister Raneses and I have been having a lot of fun together. I really am learning a lot from her.

So to start, this week I experienced my first in-grown toenail. And let me tell you... THEY HURT! When my toe started swelling at first, I thought it would just get better on its own, so I left it... well, that turned out to be a mistake because by the end of this week the whole thing hurt, was swollen, and had turned red and blue. So after this I am going to get a pedicure to take care of the problem (that's what the Filipinos here told me to do).

Speaking of which, that is one cultural difference between the Philippines and America. Here, if someone has a cut, sickness, infection or anything like that, they don't just go to the hospital to get it fixed. Instead, they ask all of their friends and neighbors for advice on how to fix the injury and then just do that. Also, it is normal here to see older nanays sitting outside with kids helping pull out gray hairs or moms sitting and pulling out lice from their kids hair. Here, everyone just seems more open. I guess that's normal though when a lot of the people here are so poor that they don't even have showers, so the either use the community water pump and shower with t-shirt and shorts, or they wait for it to rain.

Additionally, many of the people here don't have electricity in their homes, so if we go share with them at night we either have to teach in the dark, or use our flashlight. In other homes, it is not uncommon for a family to have only one light-bulb for the entire house. So if they need light in another room, they will unscrew the light-bulb and take it with them. In a lot of poorer homes though, an entire family will live inside of a home about half the size of my bedroom back home, so at night they will all sleep across one bamboo mat stretched out on the floor.

One of my favorite things that sometimes happens here though is when we go over to teach at a home that has a TV. Now when I say TV, I don't mean the nice flat-screen ones we are used to in America. I mean the big old boxes that we used to use in the 80's and 90's. And usually, there is only one TV (if they have one at all) for the whole family. Since we are not allowed to watch TV, we always ask the family to turn the TV off before we come in. Sometimes though, there is someone in the house that doesn't want to listen, so they will literally unplug the TV and take it with them into another room so they can keep watching. 

Anyways, enough about all that! Let me talk a little bit about this awesome week! So to start, I think one of the best days this week was Tuesday. 

Sister Raneses and I were sitting at the house doing studies on Tuesday when suddenly, we got a call from the AP asking for a favor. When we asked what the favor was, he asked us if we were willing to be Sister Black's temporary companion for the day. I almost jumped for joy as we quickly rushed over to the mission office to get her.

When I saw Sister Black again, I gave her the hugest hug ever and was a little surprised when I was so happy that I couldn't hold back a tear... or two. Once we got home, we finished out studies and headed out to work. While we were out, we had an awesome day! We taught tons of people and talked with lots more, even managing to reach our goal of 10 lessons taught and 30 testifying contacts for the day. It was awesome!

  After that, Sister Black and I stayed up just a little bit too late talking, sharing stories and catching up. It sounds like things are going good in Goa and that Sister Black has really got the area moving. Now, she's training!!!! Which is really exciting, and it turns out that her new trainee is also an American! Crazy, right?

In addition to that, last Saturday we also had a baptism for Sister Francia! Which ended up turning out really well. She was so happy on Saturday as she entered the waters of baptism and cried afterwards as she stood and bore her testimony about how grateful she was to become a member of this church and for all the changes she has seen in her life because of it. 

What made that day even more special thought, was that her husband--Ferdinand, another recent convert of ours who was baptized last month--got to baptize her.

 The next day at sacrament meeting when she received the Holy Ghost, she was smiling so big all day and almost seemed to be glowing with the spirit. I was so happy for her!

Besides that, it really has been a good week. And as I have looked back over all my weeks here in Naga, I am so happy! I have gotten to watch so many people grow and change and have been a part of so many different conversion stories... it's awesome! I am just so grateful to get to serve here.

Yes, there are ups and downs. But getting to see the smiles on a person's face and a new light in their eyes as they accept the gospel makes it all worth it. And it definitely didn't hurt when I got to open several awesome packages from home...

 ...full of all types of cool stuff! 

Thanks Mom, Dad, Carter, Lauren, Grandpa and Grandma McDougall.  My awesome Grandpa made some super cool toy cars (out of wood) for me to give away! 

 I am saving them for someone extra special :)

For now, I am grateful for a great week and hoping for another one in the week to come. I hope you all have the best week ever!

Sincerely,

Sister Matheny

Just Flush It!

So to be honest, this week has probably been one of the craziest and unexpected that has happened to me so far.  Let me just say, it has definitely put Sister Raneses and my faith to the test as it seems like we have had to push through trial after trial this past week. 

But despite the road bumps and the twists and turns in the road, it was a good week none the less, and definitely had a happy ending.

But to start, this week... I GOT ROBBED. Yup... that is definitely something that hasn't happened until now. We were at a teaching appointment and one of our investigators that had tagged along managed to slip some money out of my wallet. Luckily, the other investigator that was there noticed and after the lesson, told us what had happened. 

We headed over to their home and asked the investigator to return the stolen money, but they took of running. We weren't quite sure what to do--and our phone had just died--so we followed them to the border of our area and then we had to let them go.

Long story short, it kind of turned into a whirlwind of a situation that left Sister Raneses and I feeling a little frustrated and depressed the next day (Sunday), especially when we found out that this is not the first time that investigator has stolen from us.

Anyways, the other big event that happened to us this week was last Tuesday.  So last Tuesday, I FINALLY finished my painting...

...for the proselyting by the arts gallery that happened last Saturday.  Basically, hundreds of investigators from all over Naga showed up on Saturday for a tour of the chapel, some videos, and some messages using the art, it was really fun and cool the way they set it up! They even got professional artists to come from Legaspi and Manilla to paint live and give painting tips.  Here's some of the artwork displayed at the gallery (can you find mine?)...

It took a lot of effort to make it happen, and I was SOOOO relieved to have it finally done!

 To be honest, with the time I had I was happy with that I was able to do...

 ...and even more happy to get back to a normal schedule. I think out of everything though, I was the most excited to get a good nights sleep.

I remember just laying in my bed Tuesday night, feeling all the stress drain out of my body, with a huge smile on my face as Sister Raneses turned out the lights, and was asleep almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, it felt like only a moment later when I was startled awake by the lights at 2:00am when Sister Raneses woke me up saying the faucet in our bathroom downstairs would not turn off.

I forced myself out of bed, headed down and sure enough, the water faucet in the bathroom wouldn't turn off. As I "gently" tried to twist the faucet closed, the whole nozzle broke off and started shooting water all the way up to the ceiling. My first thought was: "my mom's right... I guess I am a walking disaster. I do break everything I touch..." and then I sent Sister Raneses to wake up Sister Marino because neither one of us knew where the water line was. 

I held the faucet closed as best as I could, while Sister Marino and Sister Raneses looked for a way to turn off the water, until finally we resorted to tying the faucet shut with a couple of plastic bags before heading back to sleep.

The next day, I will admit, I was exhausted and annoyed at our faucet for interrupting my sleep. But everything ended up working out alright because on the bright side of it all, when the plumber FINALLY came on Thursday to fix the faucet, he attached a bright and shiny new faucet head and even fixed our toilet before leaving, so now... IT FLUSHES!!!  YAY!!!! No more dumping tons of buckets of water into it trying to get it to flush!

I remember having mixed feelings of joy and wonder as I flushed the toilet for the first time in 9 months. Part of me felt like I might have been dreaming, the other part wanted to sit in the bathroom and flush the toilet over and over again. I don't think I have ever been so happy to go to the bathroom as I have this week! It almost felt like Christmas at our house, and for me, the flushing toilet makes the broken faucet, exhaustion, and the two days we spent without running water all worth it.

Besides that, today marks the end of Sister Raneses's and my first transfer together, and the half-way mark of her training. It is insane how fast this transfer has slipped by! Heck, it feels like it just started yesterday! Which kind of freaks me out about how fast the upcoming transfer is going to go... especially since Sister Raneses is definitely one of the best companions I have had so far, and I will definitely cry when we have to say goodbye.

So I guess that means we need to work harder this upcoming transfer to make everything/our last transfer together (maybe) worth it.

Overall, it has been a bumpy week full of all kinds of experiences, good and bad.

 I felt surprise and joy as one of our long-time investigators finally determined to stop smoking and threw out all of his cigarettes while we were there. As well as when I watched a new light appear in one of our investigator's eyes as she resolved to work towards baptism. Also, I felt joy when after a couple weeks of striving and effort, Sister Francia was finally able to receive her baptismal interview and is now preparing to be baptized this upcoming Saturday.

 I know we all have challenges in life, and sometimes when those challenges seem hard, it can be easy to miss all the blessings we are receiving as well. For me, I think this week was kind of like that. But I know that we get to choose what we will focus on, so it is up to us if we will choose to focus on the clouds in our lives, or on the silver linings.

I promise that as we choose those silver linings and keep smiling through the storms, then all times of life will be happy, no matter what our circumstances. Just think, we are so lucky to have friends and family to lift us up in hard trials, bright futures to look forward to, and better days to come. And if all else fails, and everything in life seems hopeless, then this is my advice: go find a toilet, and flush it!  Because we are so blessed to have such luxuries in our lives. So, if nothing else, at least that can bring some joy and comfort in life's hardest times.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Sincerely, Sister Matheny

Families are Forever.

What a week! So this week has really flown by... as usual. I can hardly believe that July is almost over! It feels like the month just started.

So finally, the weather is cooling off as rainy season has started and our umbrellas are finally starting to see some real use. 

It has rained every day the past week and I have actually found myself getting cold a couple of times... I think I'm turning into a Filipina!

But as I start writing this email, the rain is actually not the thing that stands out the most to me about this week... I think all I really need to say to summarize the whole week is BUGS!!!! They are EVERYWHERE!

For one, I was NOT successful in avoiding Sister Raneses's lice, and so have been using lice shampoo to get rid of the nasty things for the past week. In addition, I walked into our bathroom last  Monday to find about to find about 30 little cockroaches running all over the place (because of the strong rain outside, they had all come out of their hiding places).

I think before the mission, I probably would have freaked out. But since I am in the Philippines, I did the natural thing and grabbed a bottle of bug spray that Sister Raneses and I had picked up from the office the other day. After killing off the bugs, I didn't think much of the event until about 2 days latter when I went into the bathroom to find 5 more dead/dying cockroaches! It turns out that the bug spray we used is "odorless", "long-lasting", and meant to be used to keep all types of bugs out of the house. So now, every morning this week, I have woken up to find 3 or 4 more dead cockroaches and a couple giant spiders laying in our bathroom.

When I went to clean them up, one of the giant spiders turned out not to be quite dead and climbed up the broom almost onto my hand before I managed to drop the broom screaming. Additionally, I also screamed earlier this week when I felt something in my hair while we were out proselyting, and when I reached up to brush it off (presumably a leaf), a massive cockroach fell off and onto my arm. YUCKS!

Anyways, besides that our neighborhood flooded about 2 feet from the rain last week so Sister Raneses and I had a good laugh on the tricey ride home when we had to raise our feet up to keep them from getting wet in the water that was slowly flooding the tricey. 

We also had a family home evening at one of our part member's home...

 ...where they fed us pizza rolls and we made grayhams for everyone (my absolute FAVORITE desert in the Philippines). 

We got a minute to catch our breath at zone conference as we spent the afternoon sitting and getting some awesome advice from President and Sister Zapanta! 

To be honest though, I really regretted my decision not to bring a jacket because it was COLD in the chapel! But all in all, I would say this week has been full of lots of laughs and lots of fun.

 I think one of the highlights this week ended up being last Wednesday... EXCHANGES! This whole transfer, I have not really been looking forward to exchanges. Not because I don't look forward to working with the STL's, but because I hate to leave my area and all our awesome investigators for the day, and I was a little nervous about sleeping over at the STL's apartment. But exchanges actually ended up being all worth it! For one, I got to see Sister Jimenez again (since she is my STL here in Naga) and work with her in the morning. I missed that girl a lot and was so happy to get to see her again. In addition, I also got to work with Sister Pombo, who is just about the sweetest girl in the world! She gave me some much needed advice and was really fun to work with. While we were out proselyting, I got to meet a 108 year old tatay, 

saw some cockroaches (but that's normal), almost exploded from all the delicious food I got to eat (Sister Jimene'z cooking & from the members),

  and had a lot of smiles as I met a bunch of awesome new people.

I think the thing that stood out the most to me though, was the teaching of the STL's. They are AWESOME! And they kept a clear focus on families and temples which really seemed to help their investigators. I remember one lesson, where Sister Pombo bore her testimony about forever families at our first lesson with a part member tatay and his family that left everyone in tears, and helped tatay commit to a baptismal date.

After exchanges, Sister Raneses and I decided to try the approach of the STL's by focusing more on temples and families and how baptism is the first step to help us get there. Our new strategy ended up being a success!

In particular, I remember one lesson on Saturday night with the Abion family. So the Abion family has SO MUCH POTENTIAL and are really searching for the truth. When we first started sharing with the, they seemed really interested and were quick to start studying the Book of Mormon.

But as the newness of it all started to wear off, their interest slowly started to fade, and I remember when we shared the Word of Wisdom with them, tatay Abion really didn't like it and stopped reading the Book of Mormon.

To be honest, we were at a loss for what to do to help them until our exchanges with the STL's. After that, we decided to take a fresh start with them by focusing on eternal families.

At first, the lesson was a little rough... but as we started to share and testify, the spirit washed over the room super strong and it was actually hard to hold back the tears. I remember being filled with the spirit nearly to bursting as I looked towards the picture of their 6 year old daughter who died just about a year ago of some type of fever. The death was really hard for her parents (especially since she was their only daughter) and since then, they have been searching the Bible to know WHY?

I remember turning to them after looking at the picture and speaking without really realizing what I was saying. The words seemed to just come, and after the moment was past, I could not quite recall everything that I said. But I know it went something like this:

"Just think how lucky you are. I know your daughter must have been one of God's most righteous children before she came to earth. Heck, she was so righteous that she didn't need to experience a life full of pain and trials like the rest of us! And yet, she chose you to be her parents. Before we came to this earth, she loved you and wanted you to be a part of her eternal family, despite all of your imperfections. She trusted you and knew that you would choose the right here so that you would  be able to be sealed together for all time and eternity. She had faith that you could make it, and I know you can!"

I know that we were all placed in our specific families for a reason and if we strive in this life to make it to the temple and honor our sacred covenants there, then in the next life, we can stay with our family forever! I know that this gospel has the power to change and bless lives, and that there is no problem that cannot be fixed, no family/person too broken to be healed through the Savior's atoning love.

I know that Christ loves us. He really, REALLY does, and he wants us to return to live with him in families forever :)

I hope you all have a great week! 

Sincerely, Sister Matheny

We have the cure!

So, this week has gone by so fast I really haven't even had time to think. Usually, by the time P-Day comes around I am SOOO ready for it!!! This week, I was still ready for P-Day, but it really hasn't felt like one, because things seem to be just as hectic--if not more so--than usual today.

I have still been working on my painting this past week and it is starting to look like an actual something, but despite that, the days only seem to be flying by faster and I am quickly running out of time to finish. 

I can't wait for it to be finished so I will finally have some quality time to clean the house, update the area book, and start cooking real food again. This week, I didn't even have time to do my laundry and ended up bringing it to a laundry shop.

Besides that, all I can say about his week is that it was really fast and really busy. Sister Raneses is getting over lice, which actually hasn't been that bad. I remember I got lice a couple of years back, and I never thought I would be thankful for that, but surprisingly, I am. Because now I knew what to do in order to help Sister Raneses. The only thing is I just had to try my best throughout the week not to catch her lice.

Also, I think I have been eating too many donuts from the donut man because the mosquitoes have been eating me alive this week. Yesterday, I counted about 20 mosquito bites on my feet, and let me tell you. They ITCHED BAD!!!!

Oh well... I guess that's part of missionary life :)

Speaking of missionary life, it has been a good week of work. It has been fun watching each of our investigators grow and progress and being able to watch their countenance change as we help them. I remember last Friday, feeling so happy when we showed up to our investigator Francis's house to find that he had tried fasting and had a really good experience. He said he knew this church was true and wanted to be baptized. We were SOOO happy, until just a few minutes later, he told us that he would be moving to Manila the next day.

I was surprised by how hard the news hit me. Of course I know he will continue taking the discussions there, but I will miss getting to watch the change that the gospel has brought to his life.

There have been other times this week that I have seen set-backs and leap-forwards as some of our investigators have struggled to gain a testimony, quite smoking, or come to church. In particular, I remember feeling my heart leap for joy when one of our investigators (Junner) show up to church part way through the second hour.

So we started teaching Junner's father about a month ago after meeting him in a tricy (he's a tricy driver) and he agreed to let us come to his home and teach him and his family. When we got there, I remember being surprised to see that he was disabled, and had some type of blood disease in his leg that had caused it to stop working properly, so he has to use a crutch to get around.

After a few minutes of talking to tatay, it became apparent that his family has had a very rough past couple of years. Just in the past year he got the blood disease in his leg that caused it to stop working properly, their house was destroyed in the bagio, and his wife died of a heart attack, leaving him alone to take care of their two kids.

I remember Tatay crying as he asked us why this was happening to him? He hadn't done anything wrong!? So why? We did our best to share with him about the atonement and God's plan for him and his family, but it didn't seem to help much, and after a couple weeks, he stopped wanting to listen.

At about this time however, his 15 year old Daughter, Gemma, started listening to us. When we started teaching Gemma, I remember we would always invite Junner to listen as well, but he didn't want to and refused to even talk to us. Until one week, I remember we were over teaching Gemma when her neighbor came over and started treating her really disrespectfully during the lesson. As we taught, Junner came over to watch out for his little sister and actually listened! 

Since then, he has really taken an interest in our message. It has been crazy to watch him change. It's crazy to think that just a few weeks ago, Junner seemed depressed and in a rut with his life. Since he stopped school when he was 14, he really hasn't had much direction and has gotten into things like drinking at a pretty young age. I think that he and his family have had a really rough life, and just seeing so many stories like his makes me so grateful for the life I have lived. You never realize how easy you have it until you see how hard it is for someone else.

Since I have been here, I have met kids whose siblings died of starvation, broken families, and people who have lost all hope for a better life. To be honest, Junner seemed kind of like that at first. And I never would have thought that he would be interested in our message, but since he has started listening, I have seen a huge change in his life.

He's happier now. Before, he didn't even know if there was a God, but now, we are so blessed to get to be a part of his conversion story as he has slowly started to develop a new light and hope in his eyes that wasn't there before.

And he isn't the first person I have watched the gospel change like that! Its crazy! You meet people everyday with all types of problems and I always just want to shout "WE HAVE THE CURE!!!! It's right here!!!! Just take it!" Yet ultimately, it is always up to them.

I know that if we choose to do our best and follow the Lord, all the impossible trials in our life will become bearable and easy. For as Christ himself said "My burden is light and my yoke is easy". I know that if we follow Him, it will be the same for us.

I hope you all have a great week :)

 Sincerely,

Sister Matheny