There is beauty all around!

As usual it has been a good week here in Iriga as we have done our best to work hard and make the best of everyday.

 Now that I have been here in Iriga for a couple weeks, I am starting to get the hang of our areas here and am gradually learning my way around every day. Daily, I am always surprised and shocked by the beauty of this area.

  It has been a little different from my last areas in that it seems to be a mix of a little bit of everything: rice fields, mountains and country as well as markets, neighborhoods, and city. So that has been really fun. Also, there seems to be a mix of small nipa-huts and "American-sized" mansions here as well.

I remember one time in particular yesterday when we were picking up some investigators for church that we were passing through one of our prettier areas and I just felt so overwhelmed and amazed  by the beautiful scenery all around us. Looking at all the green trees and mountains surrounding us, I couldn't help but think: "I am so lucky to live in the most beautiful place in the world"

Besides that, life here for us just got a little more luxurious this week when on Wednesday, we moved to a new apartment. 

And although the moving itself was long and exhausting, it has all been worth it because now, we are living in a beautiful new apartment right next to the senior couple here in the mission, which has been really fun!

For one, I rejoiced to find that in our new apartment, we have a flushing toilet again!

Which is even nicer that the one we had in Naga, making the fact that I have to duck while using the shower here totally worth it.

And check out this beautiful kitchen . . .

 I feel so spoiled!  :)

In addition, Elder and Sister Hanson are SUPER nice! And have been really fun neighbors!  The other night, Sister Hanson even baked some cookies in her oven, which she shared with us. That was the first time I have eaten chocolate-chip cookies in over a year, and they were glorious.

To show our appreciation for all the nice things the Hanson's have been doing for us, I made them my favorite desert here in the Philippines: gray-hams (or mango float), which we brought over Friday night and all enjoyed while sitting in their nice, air-conditioned living room.

About the AC... I think that might be one of the things that has changed the most about me since I started the mission. I remember when I first got here, I always would get so excited to sit in an air-conditioned room and couldn't understand why some of the Filipinos didn't seem to enjoy it that much. I remember having trouble sleeping sometimes because it was so hot and being so confused that sometimes, my companions had trouble sleeping because they were "cold".

Now though, I sometimes dread going into an air-conditioned room if it has been a while, out of fear of freezing to death or feeling sick because of the cold. And sometimes, my electric fan is even too much for me to handle at night, ha ha! So I guess you really can adjust to any climate if you need to.

Finally, our work this week definitely hit a little bit of a dip as day after day we seemed to experience problem which kept us from putting in a full days effort. On Tuesday and Thursday, Sister Habla and I both weren't feeling well, which made it harder to work hard. After that, moving apartments on Wednesday definitely cut down the possibility of proselyting and on Friday, it started raining so hard that no tricey driver would take us out to where we needed to go until the rain stopped about 45 minutes later.

So by the time the end of the week came around, I was definitely feeling a little desperate for a full and solid day of work. So when I went to bed on Friday and woke up Saturday morning, I remember telling myself: "no matter what happens, we are going to have an awesome day of work today"

My enthusiasm ended up a little short-lived however when as lunch time came around, the "afternoon-sleepies" hit hard. It was so hard for me and Sister Habla to concentrate! But remembering the promise I had made to myself earlier that morning, I continued to push through.

 By the end of the day, we were able to come home having achieved our goals and with a big smile on our faces and I was so happy that despite the setback, we were still able to have such a great day.

I think that from this experience, I really learned that if we just trust in God and do our best, no matter what the circumstances, that everything will always work out in the end. He always makes up the difference. I know that He loves us and has an awesome plan for each and every one of us :)

 I hope you all have a great week! 

Sincerely, Sister Matheny