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
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