Hello Pamilya!
Don't have much time again...just so
grateful the internet decided it was ok to upload the email.
This week was good, we got to walk
through quite the rain storm last Monday. We were heading to an FHE at a
member's home, but decided to contact a referral we got first. Yup...it started
raining when we got into the trike and then was really going by the time we got
near the home...so we kind of stood outside their home, called "tao
po," and then got invited inside so we could get out of the rain (the plus
side of Filipino nature). We got to know them briefly, explain why we were
standing at their gate while it was raining, and then explained that we had
another appointment to go to and got a return appointment for later in the
week, and then went back out into the thunder and lightning to get to our
appointment...that was a little interesting since it was right in the middle of
the storm and the thunder was pretty loud.
We taught one of our part-member
investigators (17), whose family is trying to get reactivated right now, about
the Law of Chastity the other day. Part of the Law of Chastity is the earring
standard (one pair only for girls/women, none for boys/men)...he had an
earring. So, we started listing the things that the Law of Chastity covers and we got to
the earring part, but didn't make a big deal out of it, just kept going. But I
kind of watched him because when we got to that part, he started to kind of
feel uncomfortable and play with his earring, (like I said, we didn't make a
big deal out of it, we want people to make choices for themselves, we just
teach true doctrine and invite them to do something and then help them to keep
their commitments) and then he just took it out....can I just say that
obedience to even the simplest of things brings the greatest joy and blessings?
When we comply to even the simplest
of the commands of God willingly, it means that we are stripped of pride,
something that everyone needs to fight against everyday. One way is through
fasting and prayer.
Mahal ko kayo
Sister Jones
p.s. Area's good, love my companion and
the other missionaries in the apartment, I have a really big headache with how
often I have to switch from English to Tagalog for both of our language
study...doing laundry is a bit of an adventure, but I think I'm starting to get
the hang of it.
Sister Jones says, "balot is delicious."
"A balut or balot is a developing duck embryo that is boiled alive
and eaten in the shell. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the
Philippines." (I found this definition when I google searched "balot" ~mom)