Hello everyone!!
So we had Holy Week here in the Philippines last week... wow...
what an experience. Actually, as missionaries, all that really happened
was we got punted a lot... everyone was either sleeping, drunk, or away
on vacation in their provinces. So, the work was a little rough, but
we did have a really great experience last Sunday. So we went out to
work at 8:00 and got punted bad. No appointments, and tons of walking,
however, we dropped by to invite one of our investigators to church.
This is our investigator who faithfully reads the Book of Mormon
between every visit and is really coming to love the gospel. We know
that it's been hard for her... she's wanted to come to church in the
past but she has five small children under the age of seven and getting
them ready and out the door for three hours of church was a huge step
for her to take. We were pleasantly surprised then when she showed up
at the sacrament hall with two of her children in hand. Yes!!! We then
motioned for a family in our ward to come over who got acquainted with
her and helped take care of her and her kids for the rest of the
meetings. This investigator has very little regarding material
things. One of the members of the family who had come and talked to her
pulled our investigator out of Relief Society. I figured that her
daughter must have been struggling in Primary... so I followed them down
to the Primary room where they were all eating Easter treats and
spaghetti (church is a little diff. here sometimes ;)). I watched
briefly as this investigator, who was obviously hungry, ate spaghetti
with her kids. Ouch... my heart just hurt for her and I was also so
touched by the sacrifice she was making in order to accept the gospel
into her life. I know that this is the way for her family to find true
happiness and I think she knows it too. By the end, as she and her two
kids were leaving the chapel full and happy, I just prayed that she
continues to come and that God will bless her for her desire to live
righteously.
Well.... hopefully T will be baptized next week! Hurray!!
It's been a roller coaster ride with him... especially with the whole
tithing thing, but we really think he's ready. Prayer has been an issue
for him, just because he's been saying the Catholic prayer for his
whole long life... We really just broke it down simply
yesterday and spoke boldly. He
finally said a prayer from the heart and we were both so proud of him!
He felt a difference too :)
Life is good... a little stressful still but good. My feet are
looking like I've been walking every day for the last eight months or
something. When I first got here they were kinda swollen from all of
the walking... now they're thinning out... and I've got this rocking tan
line from my flats. :)
I've been trying to read from the Old Testament when I have time...
gotta make up from the lack of reading I did in seminary. Good thing
too, because the bible is all most of these people have got. Hopefully,
reading it will help me to better understand why they think the things
they do and know how to help them to see the Book of Mormon is also the
Word of God.
I was reflecting this last week on my first few months in the field
and about obedience... I learned during that time that obedience really
is a gift and not a burden. I hung onto obedience like it was a
life-preserver that God had thrown to me in the midst of those crazy
waves, or hectic times as a newbie missionary. I'm so grateful for that
experience, especially since I've always kind of had a sour attitude
about obedience in the past. I've also found that as with normal life,
as a missionary I have found myself at times when I've been doing well
at being obedient... and times where I haven't done so well. It's
always easy to justify it with, well, what I'm doing really isn't that
bad... it's something that if I was at home, would be totally fine...
but the thing is, how can I expect my investigators to be obedient and
keep their commitments if I'm not keeping my commitments to the Lord?
Obedience really is an act of faith... it's an act of faith that if we
do something, God will bless us. Everyone, and in this case I'm
thinking of us missionaries, often get so caught up in what other people
think. I thought that as a missionary it would be easy to be obedient
but it's not. It's not just the worldly things that tempt you, but I
have found it's often the other missionaries and even the members who
can make the obedience thing difficult. Please... encourage the
missionaries who are serving in your areas to be obedient!! Help them
out! The general authorities have often talked about how we, as
Latter-Day Saints, can't always "fit in" and their will be times when we
will be a "peculiar people". Guess what... that time is already at
hand. Stand out and stand up for what you believe in!! God is always
there to back you up and while it won't always be easy, it will always
be worth it.
Alright... I'm off my soapbox now.
:)
Love you all!! Hope you have a wonderful week!!
Love, Sister Dickison
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