Looking back on this week and what we have been able to accomplish, I can say that we feel happy with what we have done and motivated for another great week of work.
To start, we were in Naga Monday and Tuesday for MLC and as usual, lots was learned and Sister Segovia and I got a bunch of new ideas for our area, including the genius idea to try what we call a "riccardi" here in Daet, which basically consists of waking up at 4:00am so that you can have all your studies done by 6:30am and have more time for proselyting.
Needless to say, ideas like that sound really great in your head after you've had a good nights rest... but are a lot harder to do when your alarm is going off at 4:00am the next morning. Fortunately, Sister Segovia is a lot stronger than I am because when I heard our alarm ringing on Wednesday Morning, I honestly was planning to just roll over and go back to sleep until 6:30am. But nope, Sister Segovia got right up, turned on the lights and woke me up too.
After that, let me just say it ended up being a REALLY long day, even though we got a lot done which was the benefit! Before 8:00am, we managed to work-out, weekly plan, daily plan, personal study and Language study! And were all ready to go by the time our Kabahay's woke up.
The downside however, was that I don't think I'm actually physically capable of waking up every morning at 4:00am because it seemed to have a domino effect on my head which left me with a migraine and back-pains for the next 3 days... and a stomach-ache to go with it, which made it so I really couldn't eat!
At first to be honest, I was feeling kind of sorry for myself, but as I started to lose weight from not being able to eat, I realized that feeling sick is actually a blessing in disguise if you're looking for a way to lose a few pounds. So even though this week wasn't the easiest, I feel all the more happy with what we were able to do with the time we had.
As we took the sacrament last Sunday after witnessing our recent convert Najalyn receive the Holy Ghost, I thought back and reflected on our week.
I thought of the home-made chocolate-chip cookies we made with the chocolate-chips my mom sent,
the wonderful people we met
and the effort given
and couldn't help but smile as I was filled with that still small voice telling me we had done alright and felt refreshed and ready to go for another week.
I think the thing that stands out the most to me from this weeks many experiences was that even though I wasn't able to give my all this week, Heavenly Father was still willing to accept all I could give. We don't have to be perfect or feel 100% all of the time for our efforts to be worth it. God expects us to give what we can, but He will never ask us to run faster than we have the strength. He knows us and our limits. So if we let Him, He will carry us through every single day, so that we can all look back at the end of each week and say with a smile: "Lord, I've given it my all."
So lets move forward with a smile on our face and take this week as another opportunity to live,
laugh,
love,
and press-forward steadfastly in faith.
I love you all and hope you have another great week!
Love,
Sister Matheny
"Footprints in the Sand"
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand.
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, you would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
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