Ah where do I even begin for this week? Oh yes, we shall begin at THE RELIEF SOCIETY BROADCAST I GOT TO SING IN!!! Did you all see me on TV? Such a glorious day and experience. So, you have to understand that this was a very big deal. Especially since we only had 8 days to practice. So every day last week we had a 2 hour practice in the morning. It was so cool to see all the support of the Relief Society members and even General Authorities coming to our practices! It was an experience I will for sure never forget. Especially since Thomas S Monson spoke at the broadcast!!! He totally waved to us in the choir. It was a magical moment. He is just so precious and his talk was amazing and so meaningful since I could actually see him speaking!!! Words can't describe what an awesome experience it was. Unforgettable!
So the next Sunday was fast Sunday, so we had Mission Conference first which was cool to hear from the MTC presidency. They are great and very knowledgeable! Sister Nally's talk was probably my favorite, it was about authority as a missionary. She said authority is given, and power is earned. Power is earned by the ability to discern the Spirit, which really made me think about how I as a missionary can always have missionary power, not just the authority I received when I was set apart. Anyways, after that we had Sacrament and it was Testimony meeting! It's probably my favorite kind of Sundays here in the MTC. It is so amazing to see all the progress we have made as a zone! It was cool, because our first week here in the MTC was a testimony meeting, and now one of my lasts was testimony meeting too! Usually Philippines missionaries only get one here in the MTC so it was a unique experience. I remember thinking my first week I would never be able to bear my testimony in Tagalog, but this week I did and it was an amazing experience. It was cool to see all the love everyone in our zone has for the Filipinos we will be on our way to teach in just 2 days because WE LEAVE ON MONDAY!!!!!!! Where does the time go? I really don't know. BUT IT"S AWESOME.
Okay, so the rest of the week was just great. On Monday, we taught Genella! You know how we wanted to ask her to be baptized last week but I didn't know how to sa Tagalog? Well I memorized the baptismal invitation and totally was all over that invitation. We taught her about the importance of following Jesus Christs example in all ways of her life and I have good news: she accepted! So that was definitely a highlight of the week! But probably one of my favorite lessons we taught was with Fernando this week. He has been our hardest investigator but recently he has really realized the importance of the messages we have to share with him. So my kasama and I went into the lesson with a lot of scriptures prepared, but not really knowing what was going to happen. We just genuinely wanted him to feel the importance of trusting God and putting faith in Him. So I started off the lesson with 1 Nephi 7:12, which says "Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to His will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in Him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to Him." He then said he knew it was true, but still didn't understand why bad things happen to him. So, naturally I turn to the scriptures because I figure it is better than the words I try to mutter out sa Tagalog. So we reviewed the scripture we went over with him last time about how burdens can be taken from him and that he should be of good comfort. Guys, I had never practiced ANY of these words sa Tagalog and somehow they were coming out of my mouth and I was understanding what was going on! Okay, the gift of tongues is so real. It was amazing to see that He knew how hard I was working at this language, and it finally paid off and I could literally see the results in Fernando. So, I felt like I should ask him questions, so I asked if he believed if God could strengthen him and he said he wanted to believe it but he wasn't sure. So, then I asked him if he would pray right now with us to know that this message is true and that he could be strengthened by God. GUYS HE PRAYED FOR US AND STARTED CRYING! Real life our manly teacher/investigator was crying. It was such an amazing moment. I felt the Spirit so strongly and I am so grateful for that experience, even if he is totally a fake investigator. He is so real to me! Then, when we finished the lesson, we went back to class, and our teacher asked us to meet with him really quick. He made me realize how powerful the gift of tongues is. Seriously we have the best teachers ever, Brother Pearce made me realize what being a missionary is all about. He said to us, "You become a great missionary when you worry about the people more about the language." And he said we did just that! Looking back I realized that we did. We love Fernando so much and more importantly than wanting to spit out the perfect Tagalog sentences, we wanted him to feel of our love and of God's love. Okay seriously best compliment ever and IT IS SO TRUE! Especially when we don't know the language at all and we are leaving so soon. I can't wait to get to the Philippines so soon so I can just love the people so much! I already feel so much love for them and so much for our fake investigators it's the weirdest thing. So something that I realized was that I am learning this language BECAUSE I love the people. And that helps me when I am frustrated about the language because that is a really good reason to learn it haha. So I will love the people first, and then learn Tagalog because I love them. He also told us to always be mindful to teach how Christ would, because He has entrusted us to teach His people in His way. I am so so incredibly grateful for all the experiences I have had here at the MTC and I really can't wait to get in the real field!
Okay Tuesday we had a devotional from David S. Baxter of the Seventy and it was probably one of my favorite by far here at the MTC. He talked about Romans 1:16 which has become one of my favorite scriptures, and it says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." He talked about really being the best missionary you can be. He explained as we serve with all we have and honor Him, He will honor us. He talked about living in a way that shows our beliefs. That people should see a light in our eyes because of the fire in our souls. There really is no where else we can find this comfort and hope the gospel can bring. How great is it to be a missionary right now? SO SO GREAT. Be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is so much to rejoice in! We should reflect Him in everything we do. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK. Have I told you all how excited I am to go to the Philippines in like 2 days? Yes? Okay good.
Guys, God is so mindful of us. He is mindful of everything we are going through. As long as we are willing, God will prepare a way. We just need to trust Him and trust that he knows us better than we think. He will guide the future as He has the past. Like it says in Alma 26:37, GOD IS MINDFUL OF EVERY PEOPLE! He has prepared people for me in the Philippines and I can't wait to meet them so very soon! I hope you are all doing wonderful. I love you all and I am so grateful for the wonderful examples you all are to me. Guess what? The next email you will get from me will be in the PHILIPPINES!!!! Stay tuned. MAHAL KITA!!!
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