So transfers happened last Wednesday and there is officially a lot of change now. Which I like but dont at the same time. I have to adjust a lot and I dont like it haha but there is a lot of exciting things coming. So I am here in Batasan Hills for my 4th transfer which means I will hit 6 months here which I am okay with. But our area got split into 2 areas because we had sister missionaries added to our ward. Which is great for the ward but for our area it has some pros and cons. My area is now very very small, which is great for walking and teaching but I feel trapped and I feel like I have been certain places like a million times now and passed by the same people all the time. But Elder Abay and I are seeing some miracles in our work with finding people. Not a lot but a few so far these past weeks. 1 day I got pretty down and discouraged, we had a lot of problems with missionaries in our zone which was kinda buzz kill and then our area was new and it was just kind of over whelming. Elder Abay doesnt know the area too much yet so he didint know where to go and we found ourselves in a situation where we literally had no where to go. I was pretty overwhelmed, I probably could of had a better attitude about it but in that moment I was just out of it. So we sat on the curb for a second, me in my mind I was angry, I was upset, I was frustrated that I felt that I was doing everything. But I was sitting a thought came to my mind "Hey, nothing is going to happen if you just sit on this curb" So I stood up right away walked pretty fast, (Elder Abay just chased after me haha) I took the first turn down the first alley I saw, and talked to the first person I saw and said "HEY! Brother! We are missionaries! We share to people about the word of God to strengthen their lives and their families! He just had got back from the market, he was holding groceries and said "Okay, well want to come in?" And we said yes! So we went in and we taught him and his wife. It was cool hahaha.
One amazing thing about people here in the Philippines is they are so nice and so caring! Its a blessing to work and be with such people. But one thing that is difficult is they are always late haha. We dont have a ward mission leader right now, and not many people in the ward really understand how much help we need to get things ready for a baptism. Last week we had our baptism of our 2 families and we had scheduled it for 4pm. So Elder Abay and I show up at 3 to get everything going. But no one is there and everything is locked, so we get the key from bishop and open everything up but the baptismal clothes are locked in a different closet. So we called bishop and he has no clue who has the key for it. So it was a pretty stressful time getting things ready. But after a lot of keys, stressful phone calls, we finally got things ready and got the water in the font. Then 4pm came around and there was no one there. Then at 4:15 and 4:30 our investigators came. But we had no one to preside over the meeting.. We were still waiting for bishop. Finally bishop came at about 5:15 and we started haha. I hope this doesnt seem like complaining, Even though these opportunities are stressful I am grateful to have them because it really teaches me how things need to happen for when I go back home. I am grateful that back in Minnesota things are on time and organized, and I am grateful that I am here to try and make it the same way.
But our baptismal service was great, lots of people came, the spirit was there and we helped out 6 souls be able to enter the Celestial Kingdom of God:) It really was a great feeling. As our investigators were testifying after the baptism I was really touched by one of our investigators Carmelas testimony. She is the one that we found her mother on the jeep and she was a less active and then we went to her house to teach them, not sure if you remember that letter a few weeks back but yeah we baptized the family. such a miracle from god:) But yeah any ways. Carmela said that before we came she was at a point in her life where she was close to really not believing in God because her mom had died and she was angry about it. She was close to just giving up on religion. But then we came into her life and changed her perspective. That whole story on how that worked out is just honestly all of Gods work and his timing and his way. Such an amazing missionary experience. I will have to go into detail about it more in a separate letter. But it was just a great day.
As of now, Elder Abay and I have no more progressing investigators:/ But we have not stopped finding. We have a few potential but the only hard thing is just there work schedule is very hard. The people work so hard here and make so little, but they are so happy. It is a humble experience. The work is great here. I love it. Even the hard parts are a blessing.
Thank you all I love you!
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