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Maayong aga everyone!
[Look, I'm walking on water]
[Video of the rain!]
Can you guys believe it? Today I have only 10 months left of my my 18-month mission where I've wholeheartedly been serving Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father!
So weekly update once again:
Monday -
I forgot to mention last week that last Monday morning before it was time to wake up, Sister Quinton slept talked in Ilonggo. It was so funny and they say that when you dream in a foreign language, that means you're fluent, haha.
[So cute!]
So after emailing we went to buy some school supplies. Funny story, so I bought a stapler and what I thought were staples, but when I got home, I opened both the boxes and it turns out I bought a stapler and a MINI STAPLER 😑 Noted: always check what you buy, haha!
Sa gabi (at night), we taught our new investigator that we had just met last week. She's been reading ang Aklat ni Mormon (The Book of Mormon, Tagalog version) and she seems to enjoy it a lot! She told us she repeats a sentence a couple of times just so she can fully understand what she's reading because it's in Tagalog. I love her diligence to try to understand! Sis. Quinton and I decided that next time we would give her ang Libro ni Mormon (Hiligaynon version) so hopefully she understands it more. 😊
[They wanted to take a picture! So cute]
Tuesday -
A member fed us for lunch and we were able to teach her other family members as well (her daughter who hasn't been going to church and her daughter in law who isn't a member). It was a good opportunity and they had really cool insights sa verse we shared sa ila (to them) which was Mosiah 3:19.
[I LOVE RAMBUTAN. Luckily I'm not allergic haha!]
[I love these kids!]
Sa hapon (In the afternoon), a member met us up and worked with us. I love when members work with us, especially when we teach investigators because it adds one more witness to the truthfulness of the message we share as missionaries. So we have one investigator that we've been teaching for a while and she's really sweet- pirme willing siya nga magpamati sa amon (she's always willing to listen to us), but she hasn't been keeping commitments of reading the Book of Mormon. So I was thinking of what we can do differently to really help her see the importance of our message. And I remembered in my Personal Study earlier that day I read Alma 4:19, which basically discusses about how we can really change people if we bear PURE TESTIMONY. So that lesson, Sister Quinton, the member and I truly testified from the bottom of our hearts. Us three felt the Spirit so much but she still didn't seem to feel what we were feeling. It was tough at first because I felt so warm inside when I was bearing my testimony, pero still nothing. But now I realize that it's okay. She felt the Holy Ghost, and I know she did because of this section that I read in the Ricciardi letter:
"In D&C 50 verses 13-14, 17-22 it says:
When you are teaching by the spirit of truth, and you feel the spirit, know this…that the hearer of the message is feeling it too. Whether it is to the same magnitude as you or the same emotions is not relevant. Whatever “extra” good feeling they have, no matter how subtle, is the Lord’s promised mechanism from the above referenced verses that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.
Now that experience seems like we certainly did not “rejoice” together, but that was the investigators choice, his freedom, if you will. Is this so? How are we to know? The truth is, the spirit was there, he felt it, we felt it, we identified it, and he chose to assign those feelings to something else. That is ok. He has that agency."
I love this because it's so true.. we all have agency to choose for ourselves and what we want to believe. And that's okay! Looking forward to the next lessons with her.
Wednesday-
Visited the stake Patriarch again and Sister Quinton and I love visiting him because having served the church for so many years, we learned so much from him!
[Jeepney pics!]
Thursday -
Learned a couple cool things sa district meeting. Out district leader showed us a video about agency (now that I think about it, I see a recurring theme in my week because on Wednesday talked about how my investigator has that agency). Anyways sometimes we think about why bad things happen especially when we're trying and are good people. The video talks about how God has given us agency or the power to choose purely for ourselves. In order for us to be able to do that we need 4 things: opposition, law, knowledge of good/evil, and the power to choose. One of my favorite quotes actually is "Everyone wants happiness. No one wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain." If there weren't the bad parts of life, we wouldn't enjoy or know the good things in life.
[Our district at Zone Conference!]
Friday-
Zone conference, YAY! Some highlights I'd like to share is that President Cruz said "Pleasing everyone is the formula for unsuccess." That's so true, we can't please everyone, but we can try our best to please the Lord. Then Sister Cruz also shared "Whatever thou art, act WELL thy part." So as a missionary, I am a representative of our Savior. I know that we need to do our best in our day to day to fulfill our "parts" in life.
[All Christmas-y in September!
Is it too early for a Christmas Card? 😆]
Saturday-
Today was that day that I haven't been looking forward to. It was a really tough day, everything bad was just piling up. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I was thinking, "why is it like this? Sister Quinton and I have been as obedient and as diligent as we can be." We literally come home tired every night because of how hard we work everyday and I was really thinking, "why us?" Pero I remembered what my dad told me just before I went on my mission. He told me that whenever it gets hard (because it will) to read Doctrine and Covenants 121 & 122. I cried so hard when I read D&C 122:7 and just one part I'd like to share is "know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." It was so applicable that ultimately all that we experience is for our good, whether we know it or not.
[The wind was not in my favor haha]
Sunday-
Stake conference! It was a good Sunday, 2 of our new investigators that we met last week came to church for conference! It was good day, I just love Sunday!
[Saw them once again! Yay!]
[No one was looking at the camera (first pic) haha]
That's it for my week! Tani maayo gid kamo tanan!
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.