Jesus, son of Maria and Jose

We met a lovely new family with the last name, "Tolentino". We met them by accident while we were searching for another family with the last name of "Tolentino." A tricycle driver brought us their home, and they weren't the Tolentino we were looking for, but we ended up talking to them for a while and got their number. Yesterday, we visited them and they were extremely receptive. Wow. God is mysterious. The father of this family-his first name is 'Jesus'. His parents names are 'Maria'and 'Jose'(or Joseph in English.) Really strange. In regards to this, Sister Mafi said, "It is so weird in here! Anything impossible back home is possible here." haha. We also had a companionship exchange for a day. I went to Olongapo, and got to work there. We worked in an area that was in a more mountainous area. We were climbing stairs, wondering through small alleyways and crossing bamboo bridges. I felt like we were rats in a small maze. But, It was also extremely refreshing to get some insight from another companion/area, even for one day. I've been thinking about the concept of sacrifice. There was a talk give last general conference called, "Sacrifice" (I forgot just now who gave it...) that has been in my mind lately. Really interesting and I feel like I am better understanding the necessity of sacrifice to grow and obtain wisdom. Thank you for your pretty prayers for me.

fast.past.

I'm reaching my halfway point in a couple of weeks. what? I am home in
less than 10 months.

Last week we had a terrifying experience in a jeepney. A man named
Frank, spoke english to us and proceeded to give us a lot of weird,
unasked for advice ( i.e. The 6 principles of successful living and
being wise.) He also graced us with a demonstration of the 'gift of
tongues' for us as he shouted some jibberish and then said, "I have no
idea what I just said!"
haha. Sister Mafi was speechless and I didn't really process the
entire event until afterwards... haha.

This week, we found several members who haven't been visited by
missionaries in years. We opened an area in Sto. Tomas, and I am
excited to work there. Because there hasn't been any missionaries
there for a while, people tended to gather around us whenever we asked
someone if they knew any of the people on our list. Filipinos are
super obvious about being curious. There is completely no shame in
staring at someone. haha. At one point when we stopped to ask someone
a question, I looked around me and found a group of 20-25 people/kids
gathered around us, just staring. I just looked at them and said,
"Maraming kayo!" (There's a lot of you!) haha

I am learning about love. Loving my companion.
It's hard for me to try to remember how I was when I was still new, as
it was a painful, painful process for me to adjust to life here. My
companion is still very new and I'm realizing that I need to apply
better the principle of unconditional love.

The weeks are like small moments. I am stuck in the most unexplainable
time warp of my life.

bye.

"...Nasa ulap ako."

That was the exact phrase that a member said last week, in regards to
the day of her baptism over 15 years ago. " As if I was in a cloud..."

As she said that, during the lesson, I was a little more than
surprised, especially after my email last week. It was a moment in
which I felt I was where I needed to be. wow.

I slurped up a fly that was in a bottle of soda, earlier this week.
only in the philippines. Last week, I ate goat intenstine, which I was
told, is 'great for my health.'

It started to rain. My insides were giggling at the thought of rain- a
break from the hot. It's also quieter-less busy- when there is rain.
One day, as we were walking from our apartment, I could literally see
the rain heading towards us from down the road. I felt like seeing if
I could try and outrun it, but then just decided on a moderately loud,
"Woooooooh!"
The smell of rain is so delightful as well.

During one lesson with a member ( an old man named 'Meleccio Danan')
he described his experience of being baptized. "It changed my life."
He told us stories about his life and how his sacrifices blessed him
later on in his life. I love the different kinds of effects that a
simple conversation can have on people. During the lesson, he told us
how he felt physically full of energy as we were all talking. He then
shook his arms in the air, like he wanted to exercise. And my reaction
was a little different, as I felt like crying from the overwhelming
feeling of joy.


Smiling at the thought of rain,

-Sister Vickers


John 16:33

Nasa dagat ako. Nasa ulap ako.

This week has been incredibly eventful and we've had so many
experiences where after we met certain people, I think, " How did that
even happen? How did we even meet this person?"

On Friday, we went to St. Barbara and I had a few names of old
investigators from 3 years ago. We went to go buy a drink from a woman
who was selling food one the road and there I met an older woman,
named Rosita, who happened to know where each of those people lived.
She happily walked with us to show us where they lived and in turn,
she herself was excited to be able to meet with us on next friday.
Alma 36: 6-7 basically sums up our entire week.

I felt inspired to use the branch directory and this week, we were
able to meet with a part-member family who have potential to become
investigators. exciting.

I have been serving here in the Philippines for over 6 months and have
given my blood, my tears, and my sweat (mostly my sweat...)  for this
work. I feel like it would be appropriate to extend an invitation to
anyone who is reading this (especially, to my extended family) to
better understand the 'why' of me being here. It would be not enough
to only tell stories and beautiful experiences. I've met many people
who have formed their own ideas and constructs about what my religion
is, and I always feel like they fall short of the truth.
Any person who has respect for the Bible, will find the the Book of
Mormon to be a fascinating and beautiful read. In short, the Book of
Mormon is a way for you to better understand the why of me being here.
I'm personally inviting you ( as personal as an email can be...) to
read this book and in turn, better understand the why.


3 Ne 11:3
1 Cor. 10-1-4

With infinite love and respect and desire for understanding,

-Sister Vickers

contilang.

I had the opportunity to skype my parents last week, and didn't send
out an email.

Our working week was shortened a few days. On Tuesday, Sister Lumanog
and I received the sudden news that we would be training, and left
immediately for the mission home. I am training Sister Mafi, who is
from Sopu, Kolomutu'a, Nuku'alofa, Tonga. My trainer was Tongan, and
so I'm sure that there are many things for me to learn from their
culture.

I went from being extremely unconfident in my language and teaching
ability, to being given nothing other than divine help and guidance as
we've worked this week. In my letter to my mission president, I told
him that although I felt a great responsibility, that this short week
with Sister Mafi has been an opportunity for me to increase in
confidence in my God- to not limit myself to my abilities alone as one
person, but to be a witness of divine help, and to teach beyond my own
abilities.

I've been able to continue to improve in the language this week and am
grateful for the opportunity to once again stretch myself. I found it
to be slightly ironic, that in my last letter, I talked about finally
being adjusted to mission life. I do believe this new change in my
mission is one of inspiration, and am feeling ready and excited to
help Sister Mafi become a successful missionary.

Tapat ko.
Linis ko.
Tapat mo.
Linis mo.

from a sign^^

bye.

kilalang kilala

Kumustakumustakumustakumsdkfl,

As I started this email, I accidentally started to write it in
Tagalog, but I'm sure that you are all happy that I didn't continue.
We had a baptism on Saturday, and it was a beautiful day. Diana Santos
was baptized and she has been a longer investigator, but she was so
excited for her baptism.

I shared my testimony yesterday at church and everyone kept asking me
if I'm going to be transferred out of Lubao. The transfers are coming
up and we don't really know what will happen. There is a high chance
that we might get 2 more sisters back in Lubao, which means that I'll
most likely stay if that happens. If that doesn't happen, I'll most
likely be transferred. I've been in my first area for a long time. I
love love the people here and am feeling okay with whatever will
happen.

Even though having an american trainer was really the best thing for
me at the beginning of my mission to help with the adjustment, I am
feeling grateful for my companionship with Sister Lumanog as I've
continued to better understand the people here, from her odd
eccentricities and her amusing superstitious beliefs, to what is
considered humorous here.  I woke up Wednesday, or maybe Thursday
morning and realized that I finally felt adjusted to my mission.
Finally. Finally. I am approaching my halfway point , next month,
which feels very weird. I cannot explain how fast time feels here. I
wake up and then I'm asleep again in my bed. How does that happen?

Yesterday during a lesson, I was distracted by how gloriously
beautiful the clouds were in the sky. I couldn't stop looking up at
them! The thought occurred to me that however glorious and beautiful
the clouds are, the experience that we were having right then, with
these people, was infinitely more glorious and important.  Moses 1:39.
<< Work and glory.

Mahal na mahal ko kayo.

D &C 130:2—mmm

P.S. An adorable little snake got into our apartment and we didn't
realize it until Sister Lumanog was looking for the cell phone charger
and it was entwined in the charger. Cute.

"Be Biblical on all matters"

I saw that quote in large letters at the front of a bus we were in. I don't think this is actually sound advice but decided to write it down as an interesting thought.

I included a picture, taken while I was helping to defeather a chicken that we ate later on in the evening. This week I learned how to kill/defeather/cut a chicken for cooking. 

Things I was impressed by: Sister Jack cooked all of the parts of the body, including feet, head, neck, and internal organs, excluding the intenstines and the feathers. It seems so much more worth it to use literally the entire body, and not only the legs or breast for eating. wowowow
  
Earlier this week, we taught a woman named Vilma. Vilma has 5 children. Her oldest is 14 years old and doesn't know how to read and is not able to go to school, because she doesn't have a birth certificate (this means that she was probably born at home, beneath the knowledge of the government.)  Their home is incredibly small, with no flooring, just dirt. They brought in chairs for us from their neighbor's house. She was mildly interested in listening to us, but seemed incredibly apprehensive about us. I noticed slowly, throughout the lesson, she became more interested in what we were saying. I told her that even though I am from America, and she is from the Philippines, that we are both children of God, both loved by that being. I really felt that. I still feel the truthfulness of that. 

BYE.

2nd Nephi 31:3

PS I met a 67 year old women that has 18 children, and 60+ grandchildren. Can you believe that?

The GREAT I AM

I briefly revisited some favorite passages of mine from the old/new testament that I would like to share. ( I got so excited about them all over again.)

Exodus 16: 9-21 (There really is so much to learn from here. So. much. Please send me your thoughts on this if any of you feel so inclined.)
Exodus 13:21-22 (Ether 2:4-5)
Exodus 3:11-15 (existence! = I am!)
Matthew 9:10-13 

This week I got very sick. I had the lovely opportunity of vomiting on the side of the road immediately after an appointment. It was all too exciting and the ride home in a barangay patrol vehicle was a trip. It was a trip. 

I've realized that I am basically a different person when I am speaking Tagalog. The language/culture doesn't really allow me to say what I would like to say. It's not only that I don't know how to express certain things yet, but that the things that I would want to express aren't relevant to most people here or they aren't normal things to say here. I'm not describing the situation very well, but the culture is very very different-including conversation topics. For people who have served foreign missions: Do you relate to this?

I am learning a lot from Sister Lumanog. I am learning a lot about the culture first-hand from her. (Sometimes good, sometimes not.ha) We've started to speak English every other day in the house, as she wants to learn English. I'm finding it harder than I anticipated to speak English with her. When speaking, my English is getting a little rough...

I'm not really sure who all is reading my blog, but if you feel like we are close enough friends, I am curious about what each of your thoughts are on 'spiritual knowledge.' Please send me a letter if you would like. 

Walang hanggan ang pagmamahal ng Diyos.

Walang katulad

(Sorry this is a week late again :( )
I am feeling your love from across a very long stretch of water. I am overjoyed to hear from dear dear friends and family.

I have been feeling very strongly lately that I need to stay an extra transfer than I was planning. ( Mid-april, instead of beginning of March, 2013) I prayed about it and think that I might do that, with faith that everything will be fine for me planning/getting classes I need to be in. I am learning so much and I feel like I'm really only getting started on my mission.
   
I am learning so much from Sister Lumanog. We have very different teaching styles. My style is a bit more slow with more questions and her style is more fast and is actually really entertaining, even as her companion to see her interact with people. She is really great with analogies and I'm starting to use more analogies as well in my teaching, which is great as I wanted to improve in that area. I am seeing the combination of our styles start to mold. Some investigators really connect with her and some really connect with me. Some really enjoy listening to a foreigner speak Tagalog (ha) and some really want to speak with a Filipino missionary. With both of us, it seems like we are able to reach more people than with just her or just me. My tagalog is improving especially being with a filipino companion. She understands English and every once in a while, I'll have to explain something in English, as I don't have certain words yet in Tagalog. Sometimes she will say things in English like, "I'm really tired!" or " This is hot!" haha.

I extended a baptismal invitation to a long time investigator yesterday and I re-remembered one reason why I wanted to serve a mission/why I am still here in the Philippines and not at home: I have not experienced this kind of joy before, a kind that almost swallows me completely. Tears aren't even adequate. The reality of so many things has hit me while being on my mission.

I loved people before my mission and had a great desire to love people but I'm slowly learning 'how' to love more fully. How. I also realized that I spent not enough time on other people before my mission. There is a balance between spending time on 'oneself' and not on 'oneself' that I want to readjust for my life after my mission.

this first picture is of Brother Razon and his wife, who I won't ever forget and helped to make me a better/stronger missionary. the second picture is of my plan for my hair after my mission. the third picture is of Sister Lumanog with a lot of colored bags.

P.S. If you know my mother, please feel free to bombard her with a birthday chat/email/call/text/love. Her birthday was last Monday!
Hey Mom! ---> It's your  __--=***=--__birthday!_--=***=--_

john 15:1-5 - beautiful.bb. (( & Jacob 5-check it))

+--PAGASA--+

I love this gospel. After general conference I feel so so indescribably full. I am in awe at the beauty of life and more recently the application of the atonement for myself, has become real. I am understanding how grace can be applied to my life. 

I have a new companion, Sister Lumanog. She is from Bacolod, in Visayas and she is teaching me so so much, including how to wash my clothes faster. I was a little humbled this morning when Sister Lumanog, a small filipino woman, started to help me wash my own dirty clothes. I am shocked by her sincerity to help other people. 

My dad sent me a talk by Boyd K. Packer, called 'The Mediator.' I read this talk in high school when I started to want to understand the atonement better. I have found that though it's been a while since I've read it, different things have seemed to sink more into my heart. It's interesting how old things, once revisited seem to connect, in an ever fuller way. (I especially appreciated his description of spiritual knowledge and what that actually is.)

Conference was beautiful and I never cease to cry whenever I hear 'Come Thou Font,' as I believe it communicates some of my deepest feelings of inadequacy combined with the hope that only comes from God. I particular loved and hope to reread the talks by Dieter F. Uchdorf, Donald A Hallstrom, Dallin H. Oaks (He cries more and more at every conference. Maybe it's because he's feeling more and more the things he's saying), and D. Todd Christofferson. Small answers seem to come to questions I've had in small, small ways, and General Conference seems to be more and more helpful the older I get. 

Yesterday, we had a beautiful experience of being guided to where we needed to be. I had just heard an incredibly sad, discouraging story of a member's older sister, not being able to take care of her children and thus decided to sell her twin babies at the market, not to the knowledge of her family. (This is not normal here and was definitely an illegal deal.) I felt like crying at the prospect that someone's life could ever be diminished to a mere 5-10 thousand pesos.

The appointments that we had planned to go to did not fall through and we had an extra hour and a half before we needed to go home. I was feeling a little at a loss, since I'm leading the area and I know who lives where, who is who, etc. I didn't know what to do but felt the strong desire to pray and seek for guidance. The member that was working with us, Jerome, said a prayer to give us guidance. Sister Lumanog started asking him if there were some members who lived nearby, or some former investigators nearby. He actually remembered one family that was being taught by the other set of missionaries that used to be in our area, but were transferred out. (There used to be 4 Sister missionaries in our area.) He knew where they lived, and so we went to their home and they happily welcomed us in. They fed us a yummy rice desert and while Sister Yumol and I were talking, she told me that it felt like we had known each other for a while, by the way we were talking. I, as well, felt extremely familiar with her. We decided to share the story in 1st Nephi Ch. 8 about the Tree of Life. As we started the lesson, she opened her Book of Mormon and remembered that this was actually the exact same chapter that the missionaries shared to them, before the transfer, during their last visit to them. 

God is mysterious. I am humbled to be a part of something so much larger than my own world, my own sphere of family and friends. I am so so grateful for the darkest of moments, especially on my mission, as the moments of pure hope seem to echo even more.  I wrote in my journal a few days ago, " I have hope. I cannot fully explain my feeling, but it is a small light that I didn't have before. an effect of the atonement? YES."

P.S. My dear dear friend, Katja got just engaged! !!! !!!! Yes for being in love. Yes for brave people.

<>

One time when I was talking to a woman who has a small shop, I gave her a pamphlet, but had a mix up with my Tagalog.

 

I meant to say, "Gusto po namin iwan eto para sa inyo po."(We'd like to leave this for you.)

But I actually told her, "Gusto po namin iwasan eto para sa inyo po."  ( We'd like to avoid this, to you.)

 

I was pretty far off, but I'm hoping she didn't hear me completely...

 

Anyways, this week Sister T and I did some exploring and we found out that there is a small island called, 'Lambiki' that is only accessible by boat. There's around 300 houses there. We unfortunately can't travel by boat as missionaries, but it definitely made me curious about the people there.

 

We attended a funeral service on Friday at which Sister T and I were invited to speak. I was very intimidated, but it was also another new experiences for me. Filipino funerals are pretty interesting. It's the second funeral I've attended and it's much more intimate than any other American funeral I've been to. The body/casket is just inside the home, with a glass plate covering the body. A ton of people are packed in there with a lot of loud crying. I could almost feel the love they had for their deceased sister.

 

The idea of 'family' has kind of sunk into my thoughts this week, especially at that funeral that we were able to attend.

I was thinking about my legacy that will be left here on Earth in 200 years. The idea that my artwork will still be looked at in 200 years is a lofty and probably unreachablewish. What about my eperiences, my ideas, my knowledge, my physical traits? Through generations after me, these things can continue to exist. I hope this makes sense...

 

My respect for the idea of 'family' has deepened incredibly. I've had several friends talk about they don't want to bring children into a world like ours, with the problems that we have. But, I realized that without the opportunity to procreate and to start new, there's not much hope for any sort of positive future.

 

SHOUTOUT to my Mom and Dad: Thank you for life!

 

 

(.) (.)

   >

 -__-

000

Hello my fairly full friends and frank-ish family,

I experienced the some of the lowest lows this week, combined with some very joyful, triumphant moments. I have never experience this amount of stress for such a prolonged amount of time. I want to apply the atonement more in my life. I am a little stuck at the 'how,' but I believe it will become more real to me.


Alma 46: 40--  Random verse? Maybe not. Maybe the source of our relief is closer to us than we imagine.

Pictures: There was a bug, the size of a small dinosaur that fell on it's back and was stuck. I decided to empathize with him for a moment. 
There is also a picture in the palay -ricefield. I think you can see them harvesting in the background...The monkey also had an uncomfortable human-like stare to it, and I wanted to show you all. 

Lovin.

-----0----

Sister DV

"I thank the Lord for my Soul"

(This is last week's email, but I forgot to post it last week...sorry :( )
This is what I was listening to someone sing this morning from the Catholic church by our apartment. English and all. I thought it was actually pretty beautiful, especially from the drawn out voice of the person singing it. I actually did thank the Lord for my soul after hearing it.

I have less than a year left on my mission.  It is weird how fast time has gone by. It feels like days just fly and fly. One of my friends who recently returned home from a mission told me - "don't ever come home sister. please cherish every minute moment, especially the hard ones. it is hard coming home..." I think that will probably be the case for me, despite the large amount of stress from serving here. Sister T often talks about how the mission is the one time in her life where she didn't have to worry about work, school, dating, relationships, etc. and that it's difficult to start caring about those things again. 

I keep thinking about how nice it would be to rest for a while, and then I realized that the rest of my life will consist of work (a different kind, of course.) Work is part of overcoming the 'natural man.' --Moroni 9:6

I've still been thinking about the trials, problems that people so openly tell us. Last week I was feeling overwhelmed by how much people tell us. During a conversation that Sister T and I were having, we both talked about how we felt the need to stop talking about people's problems, to try to focus on something else, something more positive. For her, she felt this way towards the beginning of her mission. For me, I'm feeling it now. The interesting thing that we realized is that difficulties/problems seem to be so essential for us to feel, recognize, thank, and grow our faith in our Creator. We hear all of these really sad, terrible stories and experiences, but for these people, often they'll tell us these stories accompanied with how God helped them out of a terrible situation. For so many people, the dark times help them to recognize, feel and see light in a hopeless, dark situation. (gaining of spiritual knowledge---please read Alma 36: 3-5)

The other thing I realized about hearing all of these things, is that for many of these people, they don't have other people to talk to about these things.  I also realized that if I don't listen to them, who will listen to them? Who will hear these things, if we don't? (Mosiah 18:8-10) 

We visited a long time member, Bro. Danan, who was baptized in a swimming pool- a very long time ago.  We asked him how he came to know and understand that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I loved loved his description of that spiritual knowledge. He talked about how he felt it in his 'head,' his 'heart' and his 'body.' I empathize with that description he gave in regards to spiritual knowledge. 

I love the scriptures. If I served my mission for 18 months and the only thing I took out of it was a love for the scriptures, that alone would be worth it. Inexpressible deliciousness. 

lovin you all from the other side of this small world,
Sister Vickers



E.B.- I put a small PS in a past email 3 or 4 weeks ago-I got your package and 3? of your letters.all great and fantastic. thank you.

8

This week was a blurrrrr. We ate Balut. (Surprisingly delicious.) Feel free to google-image that. :) The member who's house we were ate told me to not look at what I was eating and I followed her advice.

We had companion exchanges on Tuesday and I went to Florida Blanca again. We went to a less-active woman who studied Iridology, year ago. She looked in our eyes and told us what sicknesses we have. She told me that my eyes were 'malinis' (clean) and I was kind of relieved, even though it's probably not very legitimate.... haha

I lack time to fully process everything that is going on and sometimes I feel like I'm not very important or influential. I realize like that verse in Alma 34:32-34, that anything great or beautiful or miraculous that has ever happened, started out as something small. 

We had a very interesting lesson last night. We taught a first lesson to a man who wasn't very fluent in Tagalog. He speaks Kapangpangan and the church members who were with us, basically had to translate what he was saying into Tagalog for us. It was a very weird feeling to be watching someone talk and then hearing the translation from someone else. We sat on broken and borrowed chairs There are over 80 dialects spoken in the Philippines and they are basically separated by geographical areas. People learn Tagalog in school, as that is a national language. But, in their homes or families, they'll speak their dialect from their area, so sometimes it's hard to people to express themselves in Tagalog as they don't speak it everyday.

As far as the language is concerned, my understanding is much better than my speaking. Speaking is a bit slower for me. I am conversational, but not yet able to discuss deeper things...

I was feeling overburdened with everyone's problems towards the end of this week. We taught a lesson to a recent convert who was baptized 6 months ago. He wasn't able to come to church the past two weeks because his family wouldn't have had food. He sells ice cream on his bike and is supporting his sister's family as well as himself. It's easy to run in circles with questions like, "Why wasn't I born into a situation like this?" "Why was I born in America?"  I feel burdened with hearing everyone's else problems, that people so often load on us. Mosiah 18:8-10 talks about the baptismal covenant. Maybe I am able to better understand that covenant here on my mission. 

I feel like I'm living two cultures-retaining my identity and trying to be Filipino. I realized a long time ago, that there are things in my personality that would hinder me from being a successful missionary, here in the Philippines, as the culture is so, so different from America- ideas about family, ideas about food, the culture of food, ideas of what is rude-what is polite, the indirectness of the language itself, etc. It's been interesting for me to learn to respect their ideas about things. It's also been a struggle. I've learned submissiveness, which is not really a character trait that I understood very well before my mission.

On the other hand, I have never valued my citizenship so much in my entire life. I found myself becoming cynical at times before my mission about problems in America. I was telling Sister T the other day, that the fact that most Americans have food, safety, and a clean environment is more than what most have here. America is a blessed country, despite the problems that we have.

Ever learning and ever yours,

Sister Vickers

masayamasaya

Thank you for the birthday greetings and hellos everyone! It was a fairly ordinary day, full of Tagalog and bugs and lots of stares.

We had another lesson with Brother Razon this week. He has some sort of an allergy that has been affecting his skin. He talked about how he knows that he doesn't have very many years left before he dies and he wants to see his brothers and sisters again at church. I was thinking about his sickness and feeling that it's humbled him-making his more aware of his vulnerability and his age as well. He was offended by some things that were said to him, over 10 years ago by his friends at church. We talked a lot about forgiveness with him. Despite him saying that he's forgiven people, it's obvious that he still has some negative feelings towards people. He wants a sincere apology, but we talked about the importance of  forgiving unconditionally, even without any apologies given. I've been praying a lot for Brother Razon, to have his heart softened and to apply forgiveness in his life. 

On Sunday morning, we walked into the chapel and saw Brother Razon sitting down, happily talking with one of the men that he was offended by over 10 years ago. I could not hold back my tears:) Sister T and I wanted to run up to him and give him a hug, but a tear-filled handshake was mutually exchanged between us. He was happily welcomed by people he hasn't seen in years, and I was so happy for him.

 This old, hardened, angry man was here finally, forgiving and loving his old friends again. His friends thanked us for bringing him back, but I felt so strongly that our lessons with him, our work with him was so small in his process. He shared his testimony yesterday during Sacrament Meeting and talked about his sickness and his old age. It took him getting older, getting sick and realizing the shortness of his life to humble himself to finally accept what we would tell him. It took him being humbled to finally start forgiving people. It was his first Sunday back in years and I can't express the joy I felt for him. We were talking to him after church, in the hallway, and he's already talking about getting more people involved in Home Teaching. : )

On Saturday, during a jeepney ride to Plaza, I had a beautiful few moments of just being-breathing. I was trying to take it all in- the sun, the smells, missionary life. I'm very grateful to be here. I'm loving my mission more and more. There is no other time in my life when I can go into people's homes and love them and encourage them to improve their live-to live a life more in harmony with God. I am grateful that I've had this opportunity to struggle and learn. I am worried sometimes about the lack of time that I have to process everything. I would love months and months to process everything, and I'm sure I'll spend years afterwards processing everything that has happened. 

My testimony of the Book of Mormon grows more and more every week. I have so many questions still about a lot of things, many still un-answered, but I am finding unexpected answers to my questions, bit by bit. 

E.B.- So happy for you. So happy. :)