Missionary Work Rocks!

So it has been another great week here. We have been eating lots,

  loving more, and working hard to help get our investigators progressing.

Last Monday, I got to call home for Mother’s Day and it was super nice! I guess I hadn’t realized how much I miss my family! I loved getting to hear from and to talk to them, even though I have to admit… I think my English is definitely getting worse because I had just a little bit of trouble speaking to them in English J Sorry mom! I love you!

Anyways, this week we ended up having splits with the STL’s! At first I was kind of dreading it to be honest (I don’t like to be away from my companion), but it ended up going really well! By the end of the day, I remembered why I love splits so much in the first place: There is SO much you can learn from working with other missionaries, especially when you’re with the STL’s! I learned a TON from Sister Fevaleaki  and we had a TON of FUN working together. We met TONS of NEW PEOPLE too! Who all seem to have LOTS of potential to progress: like Jorge for example. He is a massage therapist who recently changed religions. He has read the entire Bible and knows it front to back. He also has tons of questions: like why we have the Book of Mormon, and who helped God create the world? (Because it says “Let US create man” in Genesis, meaning there is more than one person involved in the creation J) It was lots of fun getting to answer his questions and now we are excited to go back and share again later this afternoon!

The best part about splits though (as usual) was getting a ton of good advice from Sister Fevelaki about things Sister Black and I can do to find more success in our area, and things I could work on which I have been trying to use throughout the rest of the week.

Everyday, Sister Black and I have been coming home from work SUPER TIRED, which I guess is a good thing because it means we have been working hard! It's also nice because it means I have been sleeping AWESOME! Which makes the days SO MUCH better. In addition, with summer in full swing, I have been eating lots of HOMEMADE street ice cream! Which is SO good! One of the members in our area sells ice cream for his hob and always gives us free ice cream when we come over to teach his family. His Ice cream is THE BEST! Only in the Philippines can you mix cookies & cream, mango, and cheese flavored ice cream and it will still taste good! I LOVE it here! The only thing I haven't quite gotten used to is the bugs...

I feel like with most bugs, the more you see them, the more you get used to them. Like with spiders for example. When I first got here, I HATED that we had spiders living all over our house. But now, it's just kind of like "Oh well!" They don't ever move or do anything to us, all they do is sit there... so it's fine! I have also come to feel the same way about ants, lizards, and other bugs; that is, the more I see them, the more normal they seem.

 The only bug that hasn't worked with is cockroaches (ad rats... but rats aren't bugs. They are more like monsters from the fiery depths). It just seems like the more cockroaches I see, the more they gross me out. Especially the huge flying ones! They are so fast! And always seem to land on ME right in the middle of some of our lessons, it's like they know that I'm freaked out by them!

For example, we were on our way home from a long day of missionary work on Thursday when I saw this giant swarm of cockroaches running in and out of the ditch we were passing by. I kept almost stepping on them which freaked me out so bad!

In addition, this week we also had interviews with the mission President, which are always nice because we have a chance to get some good advice from him. To be honest though, I feel like I have a tenancy to ramble whenever I am nervous, so I generally tend to ramble a lot when I am in interviews with President. So I guess I need to learn to work on that. I don't know why, but whenever I get nervous I just kind of blank out and am not quite sure what to say. Oh well, I guess nobody's perfect... I'll just need to work on that :). I know I'll get there eventually!

Besides that, we ended up getting to go to Diana's wedding this week, which was SO fun! She was super pretty and it was super fun to get to be a part of it all. Her and her husband Bernard are SO CUTE together! Everyone was so happy at the wedding and the spirit was really strong.

And now, Diana is looking forward to her baptism next week. She has done a lot to make it all happen and is really looking forward to to it, I CAN'T WAIT!

Finally, this Sunday church ended up being really nice. We had a couple of new investigators at church and some really good talks, it was nice to just be able to sit and listen in a nice relatively cool (compared to the outside) room for a few hours. In addition, I remember being surprised when just a few minutes before they passed the sacrament, I looked back to see one of our investigators standing in the back. He had just shown up and was looking for a place to sit. His name is Salvador and he is just about the cutest little old man ever! He has no teeth but always has this huge smile on his face! He is just so happy! And Sister Black and I were both so happy to see him at church.

For me, I think that is something I gained a testimony on this week: keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Before, I had never quite understood the significance of this holy day. But now I can testify that I know that if we just keep the Lord's Day holy, that all will be well with us. In six days, God created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh, he rested. If our God has need to rest on the seventh day, then how much greater is our need?

I know that if we utilize the Sabbath by attending our church meetings, serving those in need, and taking the time to draw nearer to our Savior and Redeemer: Jesus Christ, then He will draw closer to us. He will strengthen us in our trials, bring joy and peace in times of affliction, and lift/carry us through all the times in life--whether they be good or bad. In D&C 59:16-24 God has promised that to those who keep the Sabbath Day holy by setting aside all other work in order to do the work of the Lord, "the fullness of the earth is yours". As God has promised, I know that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come." How great a blessing given at such a low cost?!

I know that sometimes it is hard to keep the Sabbath Day holy: whether because of work, school or other activities. But I know that if we give this one day to the Lord, he will give so much more to us. As we tell all our investigators: it will be worth it. And I know that we will never regret following the commandments of the Lord. 

I hope you all have a great week! I love you a ton!

Sincerely, Sister Matheny