(to the tune of Ye Elders of Israel) O Camiling, O Camiling, I bid thee farewell. I'm going now to Guimba to spread God's word (and avoid head lice..)

May 26, 2014

 

Hello Pamilya

So, as you can see with the heading. I got transfered...to the other side of the mission...I'm now in Guimba! Sister Foukimoana is now training, no, I do not know the name of her anak (trainee, we call them anak), in Camiling...we were both a little bummed that we wouldn't be able to have another transfer together, but I'm excited for her, she'll do well with her new calling.

My new companion is Sister Batican, Filipino, from the Cebu mission. So, I have a little bit of a headache again as I'm trying to get used to hearing more Tagalog than English again...that and her dialect is Bisayas, double headache, but it's good. She just finished her training and is very confident with what she does and has a good sense of humor.

The area I'm in right now is a little more bukid (rural) than Camiling and we ride a lot more trikes to get around and now have to adjust to reserving 400 pesos/week for transportation instead of 400/month and the fact that I might gain weight again. Transfer day was a little interesting since Sister Foukimoana and I had to be at the mission office with all of my stuff a whole hour before everyone else headed over since she's training and had a meeting to attend for that before even meeting her new companion. So, lots of waiting, but while I was there, I got to see Sister Laiti, one of the missionaries from my MTC district (she's training too)! She was the one who told me that I lost weight and thought that I hadn't been eating...I guess walking for 6 or more hours a day does a lot...anyway. After waiting for a while, I got on a bus with everyone else transfering to the other side of the mission and went to the meeting point in Cabanatuan where I got to see Sister Dalley! I think transfer day was a big reunion day for me, I got to see almost everyone that I haven't seen since the MTC. Anyway, met my new companion, got to our apartment with the other two Sisters that we share it with (kabahay, yay!), went out to work, and I'm now trying to learn all the names and figure out where all the homes are in time for our exchanges next week...Fun! Then a couple days later, Sister Connell asked her companion what this weird bug was that she found in her hair...so now we have to be careful of head lice...those things are HUGE! Everything's more fun in the Philippines, haha.

Mahal ko kayo

Sister Jones 

Courage and Kindness

May 19, 2014

 Hello Pamilya!

Transfer announcement is coming up this Wednesday, so we'll see if Sister Foukimoana will still be companions for another transfer. For me, it's more of a flip of a coin to see if I'm going or staying in this area this coming transfer...I don't want to leave, but we'll see what the Lord wants me to do.

This last week was pretty cool. On Tuesday, we were able to go on splits! (We don't really have anyone in our branch who's old enough or has time to do that ever) They were some sisters from the Elder's branch and we got 18 lessons in for the day, including some new investigators that we probably wouldn't have been able to find if we didn't split that day! Now we just need to figure out where to fit them into our already busy schedual, but it is so cool and I believe that we're going on splits again tomorrow with them again.

The next day, Sister Foukimoana got sick again so I worked with a different member in the other part of our area that we only visit twice a week since it's so far away. That evening, we had been teaching at the home that usually likes to feed us before we head home when one of the girls, Anahi (I hope that's how her name's spelled), asked if I could help her learn to direct a couple of hymns that she was going to be directing for the youth activity that Friday. So, I did that for about 15 minutes after we taught the lesson. It was great, I got to teach and get to enjoy a conversation with a 12 year old, to a point, but it wasn't a three year old this time :) (advancement to almost pre-teen vocab).

There is something that I have to say about inviting friends. When we had our splits, I was working with a member and while we were out, we ran into one of her friends and, after talking to her for a couple of seconds, she asked her friend if she would listen to a message...Would I have done that if I were going on splits with the missionaries back at home? No, but I admire the courage and love of this sister who will soon be going into the MTC next month to start her mission and it is something that I would encourage each of you to do because now, we have a new investigator with a baptism date who wants to know because a friend was kind enough to invite her to listen. 

Mahal ko kayo

Sister Jones  

Mother's Day Surprise

May 12, 2014

Hello Pamilya!

So, this last week we had exchanges. I went to Paniqui again and the STL I worked with this time was Sister Brock...she's from Idaho/Oregon...white, blonde, and really good in Tagalog.  She's actually really good with a lot of things, and I'm starting to apply them into my OYM-ing and teaching. People were a little surprised at the sight of two forigen missionaries in the area, but they were ok once we started talking Tagalog. There were some really good lessons that day. The very first one was with a contact from earlier in the week, she's 26, married and has two children. She was just so involved and so interested, looking for the truth, so cool. The second one was with an investigator that had a baptism date for this past Saturday, but he can be kind of off and on, ("I'm ready to be baptized! - "I'm not sure if I'm ready because of my family and yeah"). We were praying the whole lesson and had a member with a really strong testimony there and it went great! His baptism and interview was moved another week, but Sister Brock is very confident that he'll be confident enough with his choice by then. That was a great experience.

Yesterday was a little hard since it was Mothers Day and happy reminders of the fact were all over the church, but on the bright side my jaw dropped to the floor when all these people from the farther part of the branch showed up to church, including those who had been baptized the last couple of months ago that have been trying to find a ride to church for a while. It was great. I love these people so much and it brings such great joy to me when they are doing the things that our Heavenly Father asks us to do.

There is a power when people within a ward/branch magnify their callings in the church. I'm not saying making it such a huge thing that it takes over every part of your life, but when a person learns of the importance of their calling as well as what they are expected to do with that calling and then act on it, miracles happen. People feel loved, supported, helped, and confident. There is a one-ness that comes from it, and people are more willing to stay true to their baptism covenants and they learn for themselves what the love of God feels like through those who do their callings with everything they have. I have been grateful of parents and leaders who have magnified their callings, there are times I wonder if I have done the same with the ones that I've had in the past and the one I have now, but I know now of that importance more than I ever had before.

I liked the general conference talk that asked for people to share their spiritual and missionary experiences with their missionaries in the field and would like to ask all those who read this if they could share one thing, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, that they have done to invite someone to Christ. Because that is the purpose of missionary work after all: "To invite others to come unto Christ."

Mahal ko kayo

Sister Jones