Crazy, Busy Week!

This week was the first of a new transfer and things are really pumping up here in Naga. We have been working hard, doing our best and having fun in the Philippines! 

So at the beginning of this week, Sister Sosoter transferred to GOA! My last area... except she's going to Goa 1st ward (I was in Goa 2nd) and became an STL, I was super happy for her! I know she will LOVE it there! It's crazy though because if feels like she transferred FOREVER ago, yet it has only been one week. It's crazy how the time flies!

For Sister Sosoter's going away party on Monday, we had a big breakfast party for her! We ate egg, hot dog, watermelon, pancakes and rice (which I cooked... so it turned out just a little bit crispy) and it was delicious! By the time all the food was gone, I was STUFFED and not looking forward to a HUGE pile of laundry I had to do... I had twice as much as normal because I hadn't had time to do any the week before.

Anyways, everything eventually got done and we ended up having a great rest of the P-day, I even got to see Sister Jimenez that night when she came over to get Sister Sosoter (her new companion) and we got to have dinner with the San Pasqual family which was awesome because Sister San Pasqual is an AMAZING cook! So by the time P-day was over, I was all refreshed and ready to go for a new week.

As I said, this week flew by because Sister Black and I were really putting in our best effort trying to get our area pumping. It felt like we never stopped moving or slowed down this whole week! 

But it really ended up paying off at the end of the week when we had 10 investigators show up to sacrament meeting and another 3 come for the last hour, making a total of 13 investigators at church! That was definitely a record for Sister Black and I, even though it didn't quite reach our goal. 

I remember sitting downstairs eating dinner with Sister Black Saturday night, exhausted from a day of hard work when a thought popped into my head: "I bet we can get 20 investigators at church!" To be honest, I think we can really do it! So this week, I want to work twice as hard to make it happen!

Not that it will be hard with Sister Black as a companion: She is an extremely hard worker, so good at talking to people and an amazing companion/friend. She has helped me so much since I have gotten here and I appreciate her a ton! Like for example, when we went out to work the other day and her stomach wasn't feeling good but she still took the time to stop and talk to everyone! Even when we were both super tired and ready to go home. Or like last night when on the way home we were both STARVING! My natural instinct was just to rush home and get some food but Sister Black didn't do hat, and we still met and talked to tons of people on the way home. To be honest, I think it is that quality of Sister Black that has helped our area so much! So I am determined to learn from her this transfer!

So anyways, this week has been full of TONS of awesome experiences, like on Wednesday night when we surprised Jay with a cake for his b-day. 

 Jay is AMAZING! He has a baptismal date coming up this Saturday and has made so many sacrifices to reach that baptismal date. To be honest, I don't know if I could handle half of what he has been through just to get to baptism, yet when you ask him if he believes this church is true, he will always tell you confidently and with a big smile on his face that he KNOWS it is true, and is just so grateful to be a part of it... it's AMAZING!

Anyways, on wendsday night we brough the cake over to his neighbors (The Balmes family) who also have an upcoming baptismal and is an absolutels GOLDEN family! When Jay got off of work, we texted him to come over and he did, just expecting us to teach. 

He was not expecting the cake at all and was so surprised when his sister, Angelene, brought it out for him and we all started to sing happy birthday.

 I think the best part of that night was seeing the big smiles on everyone's face as they all ate cake for the first time in their lives--it was especially cute to watch Jason (the Balmes family's down-syndrome child) so excited to eat his first piece of cake! That definitely made my night.

Speaking of food... this week I got to try SNAIL!!! 

We went over to the Isip family for dinner on Friday night with the intent of cooking adobe for them (since they are always cooking for us) 

only to find a big pot of snails ready and waiting for us.

 I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous to try, especially because to eat snail you have to literally suck it out of the shell! 

So I was surprised to find that it was actually pretty good! I would definitely eat it again.

We also had an awesome service project this week...

And we caught this giant rat!  YUCK!

Besides that, Sister Black and I almost jumped for joy Thursday afternoon when we showed up to our part-member Dianna's home and she gave us an invitation for her upcoming wedding on the 20th. We are so excited for her and her soon-to-be husband, and I know she is really looking forward to it as well. They have been working really hard to make it all happen these past few weeks and it is nice that everything is finally coming together.

Also, this Tuesday we spent our lunch hour camped out at our investigator Mark's house, waiting for him to get home for his lunch break. He has SO MUCH POTENTIAL! The only problem is that HE IS ALWAYS WORKING!! It's CRAZY! but we managed to come at exactly the right time and set a return appointment for the following day, where he came with us to the Balilo family and we taught them all together.

At the end of the lesson, we extended a baptismal date to all of them for June 17 but s we went around asking each member of the family, they each said they would need more time to think about it until we got to Mark. When we asked Mark if he would be baptized on the 17th if he knew the message was true he said "OF COURSE I will if it is true! Who wouldn't be? But if it's not true, I won't" after that, he went on to explain the importance of baptism and his determination to find out if this message is true. His firm resolve helped the rest of the Balilo family and they all agreed to the baptismal date, meaning that because of Mark, we now have 5 new investigators with a baptismal date!

On the way home, Mark told us that he has been struggling with insomnia and has tried everything to be able to sleep! He said that the only thing that has been able to help him though, is the Book of Mormon. His testimony of the power of that book as he shared how it has blessed his life really helped to strengthen my own testimony.

I know the Book of Mormon is true, it has blessed my life so much and I am so grateful to have it. I wish I could describe jow much the Book of Mormon can bless, bring peace and comfort to a life. But there are no words, no way to describe it. The only way to know is just to read it for yourself and I promise, it will bless and change your life.

I love you all and hope you have the best week ever! Thank you for all your emails and support every week, they really keep me going! I really appreciate them all. I am sorry I don't have time to respond to everyone, but I promise I read them all.  Take care!

Sister Matheny