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| Because the power was out all the town was out. The kids and adults were all out in the streets playing games. These are my neighbors who are playing "steal the bacon". |
July 25, 2016
Hello! Me again! Well obviously its me, but regardless....
This has been a pretty amazing week, but at the same time the LONGEST week of my mission so far. We didn't get as many lessons taught as I would have liked due to having to go back to the hospital to have my foot looked at (for the athletes foot) and after sitting in the waiting room and then randomly asking for a blood and other samples I was told that I was as healthy as a horse but would still feel tired until this Saturday as my body was still recovering. That's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but then again I'm always hoping to hear the words "do you want free chocolate?" or "Here is a free AC unit!" So I'm not surprised at not hearing what I want to hear! haha. But while I was sitting in the waiting room I was staring at the welcome mat that had some water stains. I eventually realized that it had the exact same shape as the profile of Christ in a drawing I did a while ago! So I was impressed to pray and just be grateful for what I have instead of wishing for what I don't have: free chocolate, air con, or total strength back. I know that the more we trust in God the more we will be able to have the strength we need to face the requirements for the day. That also applies for stress, stress is a form of fear, and fear cannot reside in a place where faith is. That is not to say that people who struggle with stress are faithless, just that we all need reminders to trust in the Lord. yes this life is incredibly stressful but if it wasn't hard we wouldn't grow much and that would defeat the point of life!
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| Patience Frame 1: It's so nice to be well and out of the hospital. Frame 2: OUCH! Frame 3: You have athlete's foot! Frame 4: I'm NOT praying for patience anymore... |
That leads me to this week. It's not about what I want and it's not about me. It's about the people. Of course I know that before, but like a sunset every now and then the clouds align in just the right way to make way for something bigger. I hope that makes sense... What I mean is we know that the sun sets every day, it's kind of obvious, but sometimes we take the time to watch it go and glory in its parting. That almost sound poetic, i'm rather proud of myself. The more I get to know the people in the Sarrat area the more I love missionary work. I'm not here to just teach lessons and learn a language. reciting memorized lines of perfect and grammatically correct sentences. It's not about me. It's about if we have the spirit with us as we teach, find, and greet the people around us. I'm not just here to invite others to come unto Christ, i'm here to invite them to want to and to help them feel His love in all times in all things and in all places.
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| A Sarrat Sunset |
So the week began slow, having to rest for a few more hours than I would have liked but in those moments I was able to meditate (as I couldn't get myself to sleep) and read the few Liahona's that I hadn't gotten to yet. I was also able to write a few letters that had been nagging me in the back of my mind. I think the Lord was trying to get me to do that.
I think my favorite thing that we did this week was helping Nanay Modesta. She is 80+ and Iv'e been meeting with her since I first arrived in the mission field as she is the guardian of one of the recent converts in the area. She was shoveling a pile of dirt in her driveway to try and clear it out of the path, as the recent rains and children playing on it had slowly pushed it into the road. The shovel she was using, the wooden handle part ha broken, so it was like using a garden spade to move a mountain. We approached and offered to help, and after a bit of reassuring and taking the spade from her we began working, we borrowed a real shovel from her neighbor and took turns with the shovel and spade and quickly moved the pile into a more manageable shape. I was sweating so hard sweat was dripping off me at a rather impressive rate. (If I have not mentioned it before the people here enjoy pointing out my nose. My nose flips up while theirs is more flat on their face.) So it was funny as the sweat dripped off the tip of my nose the children that had gathered to watch all laughed, saying that my Pinocchio nose was crying. Did I mention that we also had no power in the whole town due to some electrical lines being checked and ensured that they were safe? It was the best day ever.
Next week will be so fun and I can't wait! We are going to have a Zone baptism (where all the baptisms in the Zone are arranged for the same day place and time and all the missionaries and members come to support all the new converts) this Saturday and this Friday we are having a branch movie night! We are going to make a bunch of flyers and pass them around the town and invite people for movies and popcorn. The movies we will show will be The restoration and Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration, both of which have Tagalog subtitles.
Sorry for how short this letter is but that basically sums up my week...
From the sister who is fully healed and working on getting screens on her windows to keep the stray cats, mice, bugs, and mosquitoes out,
Sister Eldredge
P.S. I FORGOT TO SAY: My branch just got back from a three day temple trip (12 hours drive down and up so two days just for travel) and I gave some money to my branch president and he got me baby scriptures! They are soo tiny and sooo cute and they will be perfect for proselyting as now I won't have to try and hide my name from the investigators and they will be lighter to carry. All my study and notes will go in the bigger ones but these will be my carry around ones
P.P.S. I also forgot to say: Roman is doing great! He has even asked us to move his baptism up from August 20th to the 9th. A young girl in the ward is turning 8 that day and will be baptized with him on her birthday! Franklee and Rica are amazing as always but they are struggling to come to church, every time Franklee gets time off work there is something that calls him away: a death in the family, a storm that knocked down a tree that he wanted to clear away as he had the day off work and such. We will continue to emphasize the importance of keeping the Sabbath holy but so far if this continues he will have to be baptized on a different day, though his wedding is still a go!
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| A HUGE spider, the size of my face. It's non-venomous and etas bugs and mice so I named it squishy and it is my squishy and he shall be mine. |
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