Things continue to go well here in the Philippines. My mission is like a rollercoaster haha lots of ups and downs each week. We ended up having to drop tons of people this week which was frustrating. We had an investigator who had read to Omni and suddenly never wants to see us anymore. Everyone is always so "busy." God has a plan for all of these people though. We don't always see the larger picture so I always keep that in mind. He could help us convert the whole area if He wanted, but that's not His plan. He has a perfect eternal perspective and plan, so our job is to just keep working hard and we'll find those that He wants us to find! One thing I've learned is to not stress things I can't control. I've also learned to be patient with myself, something I wasn't good at before my mission haha. Still not perf, but it's a work in progress :)
Although we lost lots of investigators, we found lots of new ones and we have some progressing pretty well. It's cool to see how people are put in our path. We had a few appointments fall through one day so we went to visit the Yambao family since we were in the Riverside area. They're a part member family and we've been teaching the fourteen year old daughter Erica. There was a mom of 4 named Lilia talking with them when we got there and when she saw us she totally knew who we were! She had gone to church a few times in her province and wanted to be taught by us. We went over to her house and taught their family and it went really well. Not sure how we haven't met them yet honestly, they live super close to the Yambao family and must've not been home when we knocked. It was cool though and hopefully their family will progress. I think teaching families is my favorite. It would be super rewarding to see a whole family become active in the church and change their lives.
I think the coolest experience this week was my experience with the Book of Mormon. In conference a few talks talked about the power of the Book of Mormon. They gave a few stories of how people are attracted to the book and they don't really know why. I've also heard of stories of people touching the Book of Mormon and knowing it's true right away. So I decided to start carrying around my Book of Mormon in my hand while OYMing (Open Your Mouth) just to spice things up. The very first person we talked to as I held the book asked what it was. We were introducing ourselves and I noticed he kept looking down at the book. He actually suddenly cut us off and asked what it was! I almost started laughing honestly because it was so sweet. We just introduced the Book of Mormon and got a follow up appointment with him. It was a big testimony builder for me and something I won't forget. I challenge you guys to really read the BOM every day. You will be filled with light and it will make your days a lot better talaga.
Another cool experience was on Wednesday night. I had some stomach issues and was up all night. When the alarm went off at 6:25 it wasn't the prettiest thing ever. But I just got up and prayed that I'd have energy to get through the day. Crazy thing is I probably had more energy and masigla that day than any other day. Prayer is real, God wants to hear from us. He really listens from the second you start. He knows all of our needs and will help us out. I'm thankful for that, prayer has helped me a ton throughout my life.
Yesterday was interesting because our church got cancelled! Both of the Tondo wards were cancelled because there was supposed to be a typhoon. It was pain because we had to walk around our whole area all morning telling investigators it was cancelled. There wasn't even a storm which was the funny part. Barely rained. False alarm people. We went to the Sta. Cruz ward which went pretty well. They had a primary program which was really funny. It was super similar to one back at home to be honest haha! Also, the gospel principles class was on the Law of Chastity and we got to sit back and watch members have a crazy debate over it. Haha those little things are what keep the mission fun ;)
Also I have a new nickname on Yangco Street. Every kid calls me Harry Potter haha! These glasses still throw me off sometimes not gonna lie. I'll take it though, Harry Potter is a pretty sweet dude.
Have a good week. Update on the language, I'm a little better but still don't understand quite a bit. Haha it has really tested my patience but I'm doin my best. I'm thankful for the little miracles I see every day. I normally miss them in the moment and don't realize them until later on. I know that there are miracles in our lives every day, we just need to look for them. I'm thankful for this church and the affect it has had on my life. Take care everyone :)
Love Elder Reber
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| Sure love this goofy boy! |
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