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Maayong ago everyone, friends, kag fam.
[😁]
[Me telling her that I'm the view! Haha]
So amo 'na, just some highlights of this past week:
[Her first Siomai!]
[Cuties]
[Random trike pic]
We have one teenage girl who's on date to be baptized on September 29 and this past week we started teaching her entire family! So actually we're not the first set of missionaries to teach them, they actually started listening to missionaries THREE YEARS AGO! It was just so cool kay the father of the family asked "Why are there so many churches on the earth today?" I know that there are a lot of people who have those type of soul-searching questions kag it's my job as a missionary to let them know the truth! But so yeah her family is awesome kag kabuot sa ila (they're so sweet)! I know that it will be easier for our investigator that's scheduled to be baptized if her whole family supports her by actually joining her when listening to missionaries. So just grateful gid ako that we have the opportunity to teach them bilang isang family (as one fam). Maybe there's a reason why 3 years ago it just didn't progress for them as a family, pero I'm praying that this is the Lord's time on His time table for them all to know the truth about Jesus Christ!
[She misses the aircon]
[District lunch!]
[Elders in our Ward]
We have a lot of new investigators that we've been teaching, which is great because that's sometimes one of the hardest parts of missionary work. Now the only problem is finding their availability. That's one of the main struggles we've had this past week because we have met so many people who are willing to listen and are really wanting answers to questions pero it's been difficult having a set time for us to visit them. A lot of them are on-call to work and so when we ask them when we can come over to share they don't want to say a specific time and then it ends up being that they're not there. So yeah busy gid and mga tawo diri (The people here are really busy!) It's like this is the Los Angeles of the island, haha!
[Just casually taking flood pictures. Haha!]
[Sunset! and another new fruit I tried]
[👍]
Another highlight of this past week are the members of the ward! The members here are so sweet and are so supportive of us as missionaries. We have a lot of members here who are RM's (return missionaries) so we have been able to talk to them about their past experiences with sharing the gospel while they were out on their missions. And doing that kind of helps them get excited of how they can help us as missionaries and also how they can participate in Ministering. Because honestly, this work is impossible to do when it's just us, the full-time missionaries, we need the members and everyone to help out in this work! As President Thomas S. Monson said,
"Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work."
Full-time missionaries are temporary in an area, so it's so important that the members of the church really help out! I truly believe that it is faith that will help us to accomplish missionary work and spread the gospel to all the world.
[😁]
[Sunday!😊]
Pero yeah this past week has just been really busy and there's so much work to do but not enough time! Here on the mission I knew that I would learn alot about the Savior and the Gospel but it's crazy how much I've learned about other things like budgeting, cleaning, cooking, and especially TIME MANAGEMENT. The mission is truly a blessing on so many aspects and not just inviting others to come unto Christ. Being out here and serving I've grown so much and just reflecting on these past few months being out here sa Philippines I've changed so much. I really feel that everyday I'm becoming more and more of the person that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want me to become! And I hope as all of you are living your lives and all, I hope that you guys also reflect on your growth and think about who They want you to become! God and Jesus Christ can definitely make more of ourselves that we can ever make of ourselves, if we give everything to them and trust them!
Sorry email is so short once again, I have a lot of emails to reply to! I'll try to do better next time 😆
Halong kamo pirme,
Sister Ventura
Philippines Iloilo Mission (Jan 2018 - July 2019)
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Send 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.