May 22, 2013
So last friday was our meeting with
the area presidency! It was kinda scary at first but ended up being really fun!
They were all so nice and had cookies and mints out for us to eat. They
basically asked us a ton of questions about the mission, the work ethic, and
why everyone is less active and our finding is down. We came to the conclusion
that since the mission changed to less
active focus that's all missionaries have been doing because it's a lot easier
to go to a less actives house than it is to try and meet someone new and
introduce the church to them when they don't know anything about it. And now
all the new missionaries have no idea how to go up and talk to people and it's scary
so they don't do it. And everyone is less active mostly because the members
aren't doing their part. Home teaching is the number one weakness of the
philippines and the hand off of the investigators from the missionaries to the
ward is just not working. So we gave some ideas and had a big discussion and
then they said they're going to present those things to the 12! crazy huh? I
didn't say my suggestion about the 6 week thing because I think the problem is
more in the ward and not so much how many times the investigator comes to
church. Sister Walker suggested that the stake presidents start being accountable for recent
converts and reporting their progress to the area presidency that way they will
care more. Genius! and they loved it. So we'll see what happens.
Anyway, DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. That's
all we ever talk about! Seriously. We have this one companionship that is
especially having a hard time and they keep texting us and calling us and
asking for our help. We already went on exchanges with
them, but i guess now the real problems are coming out. Of course its all a
lack of communication and love but we gave them some advice and she texted us
saying they are working on it. Their zone leaders called and were like,
"help! we don't know how to deal with all this girl stuff!" hahaha.
and then another sister called us last night cause she just
wanted to talk. Our roommate, sister erasmo up and decided she was done and
went home today. She's been in the mission 2 months. But no matter what we said
or how we encouraged her, she made up her mind! her companion totally suffered
for it cause they didn't work for 5 days and when they did work she refused to
teach. That sucks. But now she's gone and her companion sister millamina is our
companion-so we are a trisome! and i'm not sure how that's gonna be. But sister
millamina is super duper nice and going home next transfer so way experienced.
Hopefully it will just be tons of fun!
Anyway, we went on exchanges in my
old area in malanday and it was really fun to see all the people that i love
there! They were having a primary activity at the church and when we walked by
everyone came rushing out to give us hugs and asked us a million questions. They
were all like, "ARE YOU BACK??!!" hahaha so excited. So that was
super fun! i miss all of them and that whole area so much! In another exchange
I was paired up with sister porter from Utah and she's only 3 weeks in the
mission. We had an amazing day and a really cool miracle happen!! She's totally
struggling with tagalog of course but i found out that she's not teaching any
part of the lesson, only saying her testimony! So i really pushed her and we
practiced teaching and some things she could say and she loved it! She
stuttered and spoke really really slow, but at the end of the day, she was
like, missionary work is actually fun now that i get to be a part of it! It was
so cute.
So this was the miracle-we were
walking in this neighborhood pretty late, it was like eight o clock at night
and really dark and we were looking for this house that they had tracted the
other day. As we're walking this little girl walks by and gives us this big
smile like she knows us. I was like, "is she a member or do you know
her?" and sister porter was like "no i've never
seen her before" and then we just kept going and we found the house but
they weren't home. So since we still had some time left we stopped and oym'ed
this lady just standing in the street and that same little girl walks by and stops
and just watches us. Then she leaves to buy something and on her way back stops
and is like waiting for us. so i started talking to her and asked her where her
house was and if we could share, cause i was like there has to be a reason why
she keeps coming back and back. So she said we could share but they didn't have
any light or candles in their house. So i was like, "that's ok we have a
flashlight on our cell phone" i found out later that sister porter was
really scared and thinking, what is sister garcia doing? It's so late and
dark" but for some reason i wasn't scared at all! and so we go to her
house and her older sister answers the door out of the pitch black all mean
looking and smoking a cigarette and goes, "what do you want?" so i
just now start to be like, "oh crap what are we doing here" and then
suddenly her whole countenance changes. she drops the cigarette and smiles and goes,
"Mormons?? come in!"
Turns out she was taught 5 years
ago and the missionaries just up and left all of a sudden. She has a book of
mormon and has gone to church 2 times before! She was so excited to listen to
us and wouldn't take her eyes off us the whole lesson. It was like she was
hungry for the gospel. In the middle of the lesson I asked the little girl if
she had come up to us cause she remembered
being taught by the missionaries before and she said, "no i don't remember
that". crazy huh? Afterwards me and sister porter were like, that little
girl had to have been led by the spirit cause if she hadn't kept coming up to
us, even though she had nothing to say,
we never would have talked to her. and i'm glad i didn't feel scared
cause we were able to find her and her whole family who are so excited to be
taught again. That's definitely the greatest feeling ever when you can
look back and see how the Lord worked through you and others to find someone
special. And it was so great to feel like I really helped sister porter and
made a little bit of a difference for her mission. I think it was nice for her
to get some perspective on things since i can totally relate with how hard the
first couple months are.
Anyway, my overall point is there
is nothing i love more than feeling like I'm being effective. And nothing I hate
more than feeling ineffective. But anyway, the package thing sounds awesome!
i'm not in malolos anymore though, I'm in Montania, Montalban. and the work in
OUR area is also progressing and very exciting! We planned a huge open house chapel
tour for next month and our branch president couldn't be more excited about it.
I can't wait-i really think a lot of people will come. We are handing out
invitations left and right.
Anyway, i am super busy and tired,
but not stressed. I feel like I'm fulfilling everything that the Lord wants me
to do to the best of my ability and in the process, slowly growing and learning
a lot. The other day sister millamina walked in the room while I was praying out
loud in me and sister walker's companionship prayer and afterward she's like,
"sister garcia, i seriously thought a filipina was praying and i was
shocked when i saw it was you" I was so happy! I've been wanting to hear
that my whole mission cause usually people tell me my tagalog is good but i
still sound like a foreigner. I tried to be humble about it but the truth is
i'm really proud of myself. and grateful for the gift of tongues :).
I love this work and I love life. I
don't want the mission to end but I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in
store for me! I love you guys so much and can't wait for next pday to hear from
ya'll again!!
Love, Age
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