Feb 25, 2019

Week 57

NOTE:


Due to technical difficulties, Sister Ventura was not able to send any e-mails this week. However, she was able to send some photos. Enjoy!

[Thank you Sister Obina!]
[Kinamot na sia!]
[Frog legs!]

Sister Ventura

Philippines Iloilo Mission (Jan 2018 - July 2019)



--

Send an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@missionary.org

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.

Feb 18, 2019

Week 56: Expect the unexpected

*URL Links to scriptures and related material are enabled.

Maayong hapon friends kag fam 😊

[Love them so much 😊]

Just some quick updates, sorry don't have too much time


(And not too many pictures. So sorry!)

[Haha my face when trying to get coconut juice!]

SISTER CORONEL TRANSFERRED - 

We were frantically waiting for transfer calls this past week from the Zone Leaders but we didn't expect that any of us would transfer. (Actually Sister Coronel had a small feeling but wasn't sure). So anyways they called and told us that she would transfer and there would be another companionship added into sa balay namon ni (our home with) Sister Gonzales. Yay may ka-balay na kami! (We have housemates now). So transfers happened all too fast, Sister Coronel left and the new sisters came. They also added another companionship of sisters into another area that Sister Gonzales and I take care of. So back then we would only take care of 2 companionship of sisters (not including ourselves), but now we have 4 total = 8 sisters total! Sister Gonzales and I feel so blessed and excited to have so many sisters in the zone.
['Til we meet again]

OUR AREA GOT SMALLER - 

So it was kind of a repeat of my previous area...because now that they added another companionship to our ward, the area got split 3 ways and Sister Gonzales and I no longer have the beach (tear-tear, joke lang it's okay lang gid) but we have the center, the very city. We are so excited it's medyo (sort of) like "white-washing". It's a fresh new start and we are determined to reach goals that the Lord wants for us this cycle. We just want to help as many souls as we can come closer to the knowledge of the Savior and His eternal love and plan for us all.

[So we found this big spider and we thought it was a big piece of thread but it actually wasn't ahhh!]

YSA Stake Missionary Fireside -

This past weekend we were asked by the YSA (Young Single Adults) of the Stake to attend their Fireside so we can share with them how to give a Book of Mormon through OYMing (OYM=Open Your Mouth). Which is basically going up to people on the street and handing them a Book of Mormon along with some information about what the Book of Mormon is. It was so awesome because when we gave a "role-play" the Sisters and Brothers really soaked it all in. When Sister Gonzales and I headed out with our Sisters who are preparing to go on a mission, we were so amazed how they went straight to work and held nothing back. They were such an amazing example to us of how loud and proud they were to share the message of the Gospel and a life-changing Book. 

[What is this?!]

I know the Book of Mormon is true and it feeds our spiritual souls. If we as humans need to eat everyday, then our souls need some nourishment too! Just like it says in the introduction of the Book, 

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”  

I invite you all to get nearer to God and feed your souls. He wants to help us and guide us and that's why Sister Gonzales and I are so determined to flood the area with Books of Mormon this transfer!

Take care always, Palangga ko kamo!


Halong kamo pirme, 

Sister Ventura

Philippines Iloilo Mission (Jan 2018 - July 2019)



--

Send an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@missionary.org

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.

Feb 11, 2019

Week 55: Be nice to all, you never know what it means to them :)

*URL Links to scriptures and related material are enabled.

Mayad nga hapon sa inyo tanan!

[RE-UNITED! Ahhh so proud of her!]

Manami gid ang akon nag-ligad nga semana! (This past week was really cool!)


Once again here are some updates:


Last Tuesday

This is just a random story that is pretty funny. So usually in the morning we eat breakfast and then have our personal study and for breakfast we ate tortang talong (it's like an egg omlette - kinda). So while we were studying, my lips felt soooo itchy! Katol katol gid ya! It was different from other allergic reactions. Usually when I have allergic reactions I just wait out the reaction but this time it felt as in grabe gid ya! So I took these benadryl allergy medicine that I haven't taken my entire mission because I haven't felt my allergies act up too much. So anyways I took the medicine and gulpi ada (out of no where), while we were having comp. study, I was explaining what I learned and I was literally so drowsy while I was sharing. My companions didn't know what to do so they told me to go rest and I agreed and said I would nap for just 30 minutes but I ended up sleeping for like 3 hours! My companions frequently went up to check on me but I was too out of it! But so yeah I honestly didn't know that the medicine I took was drowsy medicine... but good news, my allergy was gone! And also after we were able to go straight to work!

Last Wednesday

A random cool highlight for this day was we decided that we'll just pack our lunch because our area is so big and we wanted to have more time to work. We packed eggs kag ham and ate by the beach! While we were eating, there were 2 men who were swimming and they came up to us and asked us if we had sudan (ulam sa Tagalog, i think it's side dish in English?) So anyways we said yes Brother that we did. And so we continued eating and after a couple minutes, he comes out and gives us uga (dried fish)! It was so sweet of him to do that. It just amazed me how this act of kindness literally made our while day 😊 Serve those around you, even if you don't know them! It could mean a lot to them.
[Lunch sa bay-bay!]

Last Thursday

Not too much happened because it was mostly travel. We traveled to [the city] again for MLC! But one super awesome thing is that when we were on the bus, there was someone I felt like I should talk to but he was really into the conversation he was having with his friend/seat mate. When we were about to get off the bus, Sister Gonzales says "we should talk to him." She didn't know but I felt the same exact way. We spoke with him and found out he was heading the same way as us and so we traveled with him on the jeepney after the bus and it was just such a cool experience because he was so kind and so open. Even though he doesn't live in our area, we planted a seed in his heart and gave him a Book of Mormon to help him feel that it wasn't by coincidence that we met!
[We met this cute lady that was walking around and playing guitar!]

Last Friday

MLC! Yay it was an awesome council. I saw my batch and we discussed how crazy it was that we hit our one year! I also saw Sister Quinton because she just recently became an STL! It was so much fun seeing her and I'm so happy how much she's grown as a missionary. I love her so much! 
We felt really inspired as leaders to set a stronger example of faith, diligence, and obedience.
[MLC 😊]
[I helped after taking pictures, don't worry!]

Last Saturday -

Not too much happened but we were able to teach some new investigators who were really open to us. I'm grateful for that honestly, how open people are here in the Philippines!
[Namit kag!]

Last Sunday

We had a special Sacrament meeting because Elder Teh and Sister Teh came to visit the ward! It was like mission tour again and I just loved hearing their inspired messages. Sister Teh spoke about how important it is to remember our spiritural experiences as many times as it says remember in the Book of Mormon. Remember how we became a member, the missionary lessons, the small moments that strengthened our testimony, etc. And Elder Teh shared with us how he hasn't been able to take the Sacrament for 6 weeks because he has only been attending Stake Conferences and it has made him be so much more grateful for the Sacrament. It's easy to take it for granted, but it truly is the MOST IMPORTANT MEETING we can attend because we have an individual one on one time with the Savior. I'm grateful for this better understanding and I hope you all apply it too!
[Thank you Sister Reyes!]

Thank you for all your support, have a good week, palangga ko kamo!


Halong kamo pirme, 

Sister Ventura

Philippines Iloilo Mission (Jan 2018 - July 2019)



--

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.

Feb 4, 2019

Week 54: Sari sari sang kasadya! (Variety of fun!)

*URL Links to scriptures and related material are enabled.

Kamusta sa inyo tanan!

[We had an awesome week!] 

Just some really quick highlights -


Last Monday

We had dinner with a family in our ward and they are so awesome and so sweet to us as missionaries. It makes me happy to have members in our ward who are so supportive to us as missionaries and helping us to carry on the work of the Lord!
[Monday night dinner 😊]

Tuesday -

We had a lot of teachings today which is always so awesome! It was fun because Sister Gonzales, Sister Coronel and I didn't even go home for lunch. We just packed food and worked the whole day. FUN! because we were all over the place and started out in our furthest area and then made our way to our closest area. It's such a blessing once again that we had a member who worked with us because they drove us around in their tricycle so we don't have to pay so much. When I get back home from my mission I really want to be able to help the missionaries as much as I can like members have and are helping me right now! 

Wednesday -

Zone interviews! Fun day because we got interviewed by President Cruz and I just love President and Sister Cruz. They're the best! They brought us pineapples and even though I'm allergic I ate it! Haha, it's so good. We had some investigators that came too because they had to get interviewed by President and though they were nervous, at the end they were just so calm and so thankful that he was so nice and I told them "yes he's so nice because he's a representative of Jesus Christ!" After interviews we (STL's and ZL's) went out and had dinner with President and Sister Cruz. Here's a pic:
[Wednesday night dinner!]

Thursday -

Zone Conference! yes we were so inspired as a companionship after that even though we only worked for like 2 hours after the conference, we passed out 7 Books of Mormon! Flooding the area with Books of Mormon is something us 3 as a companionship felt that we could do even better at!
[Where we ate for Zone Conference!]
[Fresh buko (coconut)]

Friday -

Zone conference continued to inspire us because this day we had a lot of new investigators! We are really striving to work not just for the numbers but to show our expression our love for the Savior. I know that our work and what we do day to day is an expression of how much we love our Creator and Redeemer! As I've been out here in my mission I'm so blessed to take part in helping Him and finding those that need Him.


[Love the Sisters in my zone]


[Zone picture!]

Saturday -

Bishop gave us such an awesome opportunity this day because Elder Saavedra (an Area 70) came to visit and he wanted to visit a less-active family in our area and Bishop chose a family in our area! We traveled with Elder Saavedra and had such a spiritual experience as we visited this family and introduced the Come Follow Me manual sa ila (to them). I'm so grateful and privileged for the opportunity to experience teaching with an Area 70!
[Elder Saavedra!]

Sunday -

Fast and Testimony meeting. Fasting always brings miracles! We met so many more people today - members, investigators, visitors. We loved hearing all their testimonies. I'm so grateful for everyone's strong conversion story. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly bring the Holy Ghost, Their Spirit, to help us receive confirmation of the truth!

Monday (today) -

Zone activity and we had a surprise birthday party for Sister Coronel. We thought we were suspicious but she actually got surprised! Yay success!
Thank you everyone that emails/reads sorry I can't reply but know that I do read everything! 

Thank you and keep an smiling! 😊


Halong kamo pirme, 

Sister Ventura

Philippines Iloilo Mission (Jan 2018 - July 2019)



--

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.