Another week! Friday will mark 1/4 of my
mission! I can't believe it! So I have a new companion- Sister Dumas.
She is from Manila. She is a really awesome teacher and I know I will
learn a lot from her! It is me and all Philippinas in the apartment now,
so that means Tagalog 24/7 and lots of rice. It is a lot different than
before, but it is good and I know I will start learning more
conversational Tagalog now, which is for sure my weakness with the
language.
Transfers are hard because you finally get used to everything and
everyone and then it changes. I am leading the area now, so it is a lot
of pressure to keep track of everyone in out area and plan the time
wisely so we can visit them all, but it is a great opportunity!
So the lesson that stands out the most this week was with Angelica
and Martin. They live at the top of the neverending hill and are an
amazing couple with a darling baby. They are both super into running and
are in really good shape- i'm sure part of it is due to the hill they
have to climb to their house multiple times a day. Anyway, we were
teaching them about the First Vision and the spirit was SO strong and
then all the sudden a GIANT snake comes into the house. It was
terrifying. But seriously, how ironic- a snake comes in in the middle of
such a powerful spiritual moment. It is something I will never forget.
After Martin attempted to kill the snake with his machete- the snake
went back into the jungle and we continued on. I could tell that Martin
was really feeling the spirit and he expressed such a sincere thank you
when we gave him a Book of Mormon, and at the end of the lesson he gave
an amazing closing prayer. Angelica on the other hand is a little more
difficult. Her dad is a pastor for the Seventh Day Adventise church, so
she had a lot of questions. We were able to answer each one though with
proof from the Bible, eventually she was confounded and had no more
questions to ask. She said she has a lot to think about. They both
committed to pray about our message though, I can't wait to go back and
see how their prayers went. They are so special, no wonder the "snake"
had to interrupt such a powerful moment.
So by far the best thing about this week was General Conference.
All of the talks were so amazing! My companion was sick this week and so
I had a lot of time yesterday after conference to ponder the talks and I
am just so uplifted and strengthened because of them. There were so
many distinct themes through all the talks and so many things that the
General Authorities are trying to tell us. Some of my favorite talks
were Christofferson's about the role of women, Ballard's about
missionary work and how we cannot fail if we do our best, Oaks about
priorities, Eyring's and of course Monson's. They were all so good and I
can't wait to get the Ensign and study them! If you didn't watch all of
conference, go back and watch it! It was so inspiring!
Sorry I don't have much to say this week, transfer week is mostly
just readjusting. It was a good week though and I am so thankful to have
this time to completely give myself to service and love the people in
my area!
I love you all so much! You mean the world to me! Have an amazing week! MAHAL KITA!
-Sister Gardner
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