Maayong aga po sa inyo liwat! (Yes it's morning here!)
[OOTD (Outfit of the day)😁]
Yes this week I was on the verge of getting really sick pero since I still had enough energy to walk and teach, I didn't let my sickness stop me from going out!
Highlights of this week once again:
Monday (after emailing) -
We had dinner at a members house sa gabi (at night). They literally feed us so much here, it's awesome haha!
Tuesday -
[One of our investigators😊]
I didn't think that I would be able to go out because as in I felt soooo sick. Pero the thing is, we had an appointment with an investigator and I really didn't want to miss it because she is expecting us and is really looking forward to it! So I gathered up enough energy and we went out in the afternoon. As we taught her, the Spirit was so strong and I knew at that moment that I had been blessed to go out and push myself so that we can teach her. And after the lesson I didn't feel so sick anymore so we continued to work until night time!
Wednesday -
[When it rains, everyone hangs out at 7/11 😆]
Today was a bit of a struggle because everyone we scheduled to go to wasn't there! Even the people who are always there sa balay nila (at their home) weren't there. It's really hard when we don't have people to teach but we didn't give up and go home. What we did was that we OYM (Open Your Mouth) and we talked to as much people as we could. Like I've said previously, I used to be soooo scared but I've been doing better the more I've been speaking to people. I'm not as scared as I used to be.
Thursday -
[Jeepneys are always full sa (during) rush hour!]
We have one recent convert sa area namon (at our area) that has been so sick that he wasn't able to go to school for like 3 days! I'm grateful that we were able to ask the Elders to give our member a blessing. I know that we have the true authority on the earth today where we can get a blessing to heal us when were sick, however it really depends on our faith if we believe that we can be healed 😊 (Fast forward to Sunday - He looked so much better and he got enough energy to go to church.)
Friday -
[Shrimp Sinigang 🦐]
We had district lunch and we ate Sinigang nga Hipon (Shrimp Sinigang). Sister Fuentes cooked it and it was so good! At district meeting we talked about faith and I love thinking about what it means to be faithful, especially out here in the mission. As a missionary every little thing we do is an act of faith. When we wake up in the morning and pray to Heavenly Father, I am showing the faith that He can answer my prayers. As I go out and share the gospel, I have the faith that they will feel connected to what we are sharing through the Holy Ghost. Without faith I really can't imagine how missionary work would continue!
Saturday -
Saturdays are supposed to be busy because everyone usually doesn't have work or school but we forgot to account for how people go out and aren't home! So it was another Wednesday type of day. We tried going to the homes of investigators and wala sila (they weren't there) again, so we just OYM'd liwat. I know that no effort is wasted!
Sunday -
[Instead of flowers, she put gulay sa ear niya
(vegetables at her ear) haha]
One of the speakers this Sunday service talked about something that really stuck out to me. She talked about how a lot of people go to church and are just on their phones and stuff. Sometimes we go to church because we have to and forget the real reason why we go. She said if we think about the time of our conversion and the real reason why is because of Jesus Christ. If we go to church and just focus on Jesus Christ we won't feel the need to be on our phones and steer our thoughts away from the real reason why we go. Kabalo ako nga kis-a (I know that) we get lost in the daily things we do but sometimes we need to take a step back and remind ourselves of what's important.
That's it for my week, tani maayo kamo tanan!
Halong kamo pirme,
Sister Ventura
Philippines Iloilo Mission (Jan 2018 - July 2019)
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*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.
Send me an e-mail:
elza.ventura@myldsmail.net
Written letters and packages:
Sister Elza Ventura
Philippines Iloilo Mission
Osmeña Street,
Arevalo, Iloilo City,
5000 Iloilo
Philippines
*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.