As usual, this week has been a whirlwind of emotions and super busy; all of which was awesome! I am getting better at the language every day, unti-unti (little by little) and I am learning more about the Filipino culture every day.
I got to try a ton of new/tasty foods this week,
saw my first rooster fight and experienced a couple of blackouts but overall, life here has been pretty good! :)
Last week, I had a little less time to email than normal because we had to go to Naga for a Christmas conference Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning. It was really fun!
At the conference, we all played games, had a cook-off between the different zones, and had a talent show. The talent show was really funny/fun and I definitely felt the spirit really strong through a couple of the musical numbers. But my favorite part was definitely the food.
Everything we cooked was so tasty! Even the coconut drink for desert. Before coming on my mission, I hated coconut (which they eat a lot of here). Fortunately, coconut here is way better than what we have back home so I'm slowly starting to like it. My favorite desert though, was the gram cake. . .
which is hands down my favorite desert in the Philippines. After living here, I don't know if I will be able to go back to American food!
Wednesday we had our final lesson with Brother Emmanuel, which was probably the hardest part of my week. Throughout the lesson the spirit was so strong! We testified our hearts out, but it still ended up being the last lesson. He still wants to be friends though and says we can come say hi every once in a while so I still have hope for the future, but that was the last lesson for now.
It was really hard for me because I see so much good in Emmanuel. He is patient, humble, keeps commitments and is so kind to the people around him. I know this is not the end though because I know how much God loves him and I think He still has a lot of awesome plans in store for Emmanuel.
After the lesson, I was in so much shock that I didn't realize until I got home that I understood everything that was said during the lesson! There was even one part where Sister Trisha said she would share her testimony in Bikol. When she started speaking, I remember thinking "that's not Bikol, that's Tagalog!" I understood it all perfectly and didn't know until after that it had in fact been straight Bikol.
I am coming to see that as we put out trust in the Lord and all our effort into the work, we really do see miracles. For me, that lesson ended up being exactly what I needed. I learned so much about teaching, was able to reaffirm my testimony, and was able to see at least one miracle come from all my efforts to learn Tagalog.
On Thursday, Sister Villa and I went on exchanges for the first time! So I was companions with Sister Stackhouse for the day and Sister Villa was with Sister Hausaia. It was so amazing to get to learn from Sister Stackhouse! For one, she is also American so she has a really strong American accent when she speaks Tagalog, which is a lot easier to understand than the Filipino accent I have been hearing (so I followed the lesson a lot better). Second, since we are both American, all the people here wanted to talk to us! So it was super easy to get OYMs. Third, Sister Villa is an amazing trainer and an amazing missionary, but Sister Stackhouse has been here for over a year so she has a lot more experience than either of us.
She had a couple of really cool ideas for OYMs and it was so fun to learn some different methods of doing things. I loved getting to work with her and hope that I can be half the missionary she is one day. She really helped get me motivated and ready to work hard the rest of the week.
Since then, Sister Villa and I have been working hard to try to bring the gospel to the world! As I am learning Tagalog, I am starting to get better at recognizing what people are saying and it is becoming more and more apparent how awesome Sister Villa is. She is very good at teaching and always explains things so well in a way the investigators will understand. It is hard to believe she has only been on a mission for three months!
Anyways, I got to try chickens feet this week!
They were super tasty! To eat them you basically eat the tender, fatty meat off the bone. It is a little tedious, but definitely worth it. Also, I saw my first rooster fight yesterday!
Apparently, it wasn't a "real" rooster fight because it wasn't very climactic at all. I was actually a little disappointed. I think the best part of yesterday though was our final lesson of the night. We taught this 80 year old couple and their (great??) grand children. The grandpa was practically deaf so we ended up having to shout the plan of salvation at him and half way through the lesson, there was a brown out.
Since it was night, the house went pitch black. It didn't end up being a problem though because within a minute or two the family had a couple of candles lit so that we could keep teaching.
It was really nice! I felt so much love for that family and was so happy as we continued the lesson. These people really are tough. They take what comes without complaint, with a smile on their face and everything always seems to work out alright in the end.
Within a couple minutes, the power was back on, we finished our lesson and headed home. That was a fun trip! We walked down a half-mud, half-dirt, bumpy road in the pitch black. Lets just say my feet weren't nearly as white as normal by the time we got home. It was fun, I just tried not to think too hard about the fact that their might have been cow poop mixed in with the mud.
As I was walking the other day I started thinking, I don't think my mom would like living here. I tried to imagine her hand washing her laundry, picking rice and living in a shack with dirt floors and bugs and I almost started laughing. To be honest, I'm not sure I could live here! I guess I do but we have a nice house with real beds, walls, and a washing machine. I am so thankful for that and the longer I'm here, the more I realize I have taken for granted!
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
At our Christmas conference Sister Zapanta told us the story of David and Goliath and compared it to our doubts. She said that our trials are like Goliath. They are giant, strong and seem very prepared to attack us. They have on shields, armor, breastplate and helmet while it seems like all we have is a sling and a couple of stones. But she said that the power of faith is greater than any of our doubts. Like the small David took out Goliath with a stone, we can overcome our doubts by faith. Through faith, there is absolutely nothing we can't do.
So even though some days I might feel homesick, or we might go through rejection after rejection I know that if we just have faith, all of the Goliaths in our life will eventually be conquered. I know I have a lot of Goliaths here in the mission. But as I am learning to trust/believe in the Lord more and more, I am finding that my Goliath aren't really as intimidating as they first appeared.
I hope for another great/productive week full of fun and a ton of new experiences. Have a great week to you all! And Merry {early} Christmas! :)
-Sincerely Sister Matheny
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