Kumusta lahat!
I have a new companion! Sister Cyrene Ilago. She is a cute little Filipino from Davao, Philippines. Her native language is actually Visias and Tagalog is her second language. You come to find that when you serve in the southern parts of the Philippines that there are tons of dialects down here! So yes, there’s barely any English in the house. Sister Ilago has been on her mission for a year and 2 months… Grabe! I really love Gubat and am so blessed to have her and an awesome area.
We’ve had some pretty funny experiences this week. Things really started to get interesting when teaching a 22 year old, smart college student named Je. Je is super sweet and totally loves the missionary discussions. We are only able to see her once a week and so we teach a bunch to her at a time. We left with her the lesson 1 pamphlet of the Restoration of the gospel. She read it in preparation for the next visit. So when we came back to teach her, she had tons of questions. Particularly about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Her questions were of course valid and required immediate answers. But after explaining all we could to answer her questions, it really came down to if she would read the Book of Mormon, she would find an answer to all her questions about Joseph Smith being a true Prophet of God and if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was the restored by Jesus Christ himself. She was really hesitant to commit to read the Book of Mormon but committed to read it. Haha. She said she really hoped that she wasn’t yielding to the enticings of the devil because “sometimes the devil appears attractive and harmless” aka hinting that she was suggesting that we were the devil’s disciples and teaching her false doctrine. Yeah just take that in for a sec. Pretty funny, huh? Filipinos are super spiritual and really want to do what’s right.
Yes, I was able to bear testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. But frankly, I was a bit shaken by all her questions. And when it comes down to it, its all about faith and how much spiritual strength you feed yourself. So because of this experience I realized that you can never be fed enough sprirtual strength. Everyday, especially as members of the church, we need to spiritually uplift ourselves so that we can be unmoved and unshaken. In my personal study, I was reading in Mosiah 13-16. Great chapters might I add. The highlight of that study was when it said that God cannot deny himself, nor can he deny justice. Meaning that God is justice. Meaning that every promise that God ever makes, any law He created, He is bound to keep and live. (D&C 82:10) God must let justice prevail in our lives and let us grow from our hardships and learn from our mistakes. If God were to intervene at every given hardship, how could we grow. Because of His love for us, He sent his beloved son Jesus Christ as mercy to claim the penitent. Because of Him, we are able to repent and have a chance to be cleansed from our sins.
I'm so blessed to be here in the Philippines. Despite any physical discomfort people face, it’s beautiful. Every day when I wake up, I feel such purpose in my life and so grateful to be sharing truth to such God fearing, humble people. Filipinos are so hilarious. Even when they don’t try to be. These people are so willing to listen. Even the drunks. Especially when they see you’re teaching a family, the drunks love to randomly join. It’s a pretty interesting experience let me tell ya. But me and Sister Ilago end each day with a laugh and smile.
i love you all so much and so appreciate all your emails of love and support. It means the world to me!
mahal na mahal ko kayo!!!
Sister Delgado <3
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| Sister Ilago! Such a cutie. |
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