So let's see...this week was tough because of the holiday. We had curfews on a few of the days. And I have been sick the whole week. I got a sickness that is going around the villages here. My American body can't handle these Filipino sicknesses here because it has kind of taken over. Pero it was good because since it was a holiday, most people were home with their families all week. So even though lots of people were busy, we were able to visit lots of our members and investigators and do a lot of service. This week again we did service for Nanay Liza and washed her clothes. Again, it turned into service for the whole village as we washed their clothes and as I, again, pumped the water for the village. Hahaha but it was awesome as always.
So this week we got a few new investigators. One of them is named Ailene. She is 14 years old and is the daughter of an inactive in the ward. He was baptized like 10 years ago and stopped coming to church shortly after. Well, the sister that was one of the missionaries here when he was baptized came back to visit a few weeks ago. She invited us to a family home evening then so of course we went and met the family. There, he introduced us to his daughter who is 14 now. She was just 4 when he was baptized so she wasn't baptized then. So we were able to go back and visit them. We were kind of hesitant at first because they haven't let any missionaries or members in their home for years. But guess what? THEY LET US IN!!! It was a tender mercy of the Lord for sure. Somehow his heart was able to be softened and they let us in! So we started teaching his daughter, Ailene. We taught her 3 times this week and extended baptism to her and she accepted!!! She came to church for the first time this week and was just smiling the whole time :) It really strengthened my testimony that the Lord will prepare a way for people to receive the gospel no matter what. If we didn't first go to the family home evening with the sister that knew them, we would have never gotten into that home! The Lord is preparing His children for the gospel all around us :)
Well sorry this is a lame email for this week. Mostly this week we spent a lot of time tracting and OYM'd to find new investigators. Pero we did have a good turn out for church yesterday! We had lots of less actives come. Some people that I hadn't seen come in all my time here which is almost 3 months! The Lord works in mysterious ways. I have seen His miracles here in the mission more than ever. I love being a missionary because I get to see these people change. And not because we are telling them to, but because they really want to. They want the life they can have with the gospel in their life. Missionary work is hard. It is real work. Pero it is the Lord's work. So I know He is with me every step of the way. He promises to support us through our trials. That He won't take them away and deprive us of the growth, but He will be there, carrying us every step. Because He knows what is best for us. And His plan is far greater than anything I could ever imagine.
I love you all!!! I am so grateful for your love and support that you continue to show me!!! I hope you all had a safe New Years! I'm sorry I'm not able to send a better email or to respond to all your emails, the internet is really bad here and I don't have much time. But just know that I love you all!!!!!!
Mahal kita,
Sister Reategui
PS this picture is super awesome for many reasons. one: it is of us tracting in the POURING rain. like my life story here in the Pines. two: one of our less actives that is obsessed with me is poking his head in the middle of us hahaha made my day when I saw that. ENJOY :)
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