Tender Mercies

hello family and friends! hope all is well back home! im still livin the good ole missionary life here in the philippines! :) 

 i came down with something really bad earlier this week. we think it might have been something i ate. but today im healthy and happy to report about this week! i only got  a few minutes so i will talk about yesterday which was the best day of the week! everything just went in our favor! you come to really appreciate  everything on the mission, and start to notice the tender mercies of the Lord. 

1.) Rowena....so we met this sister rowena yesterday. we were going to teach this man but then we invited her and she said she will just listen. but we ended up teaching her! she was like an angel that came out of no where! another one of those "golden investigators" that missionaries hope for! she was ready to hear the gospel! she told us she has started a new life recently. she wants to change. shes trying all she can do to make up for her past.we told her that nothing will change her more than the gospel of Jesus Christ. at the beginning of the lesson she asked when we could meet with her again. and teach her family. she gladly accepted the invitation to be baptized at the end of may! we receive a lot of people who accept to be baptized but only a few make it to the finish line. all depending on their agency and the time of the Lord, and how well we teach. but sister rowena will be baptized may 30 theres no question.

2.) the other man we were teaching kind of humbled me! we asked what the most important things in his life are and he answered "being able to eat 3 meals a day". sometimes we forget how much we have. while we are worried about what to eat, others are worried about eating at all. we are truly blessed.

3.) so my tender mercies are usually fruit..sounds funny...but Heavenly Father knows what i like on a hot day! early yesterday i told my companion "i really want coconut juice" but being sunday we didnt go and buy it. so we stopped at a members house on the way to a lesson to ask for water. well she just happened to be making coconut juice! with bananas and sweet milk! it was just a great surprise! then we were walking down the road when all of the sudden there was a beautiful ripe mango apple in front of us. ive always wanted to try one but they havnt gotten to the ripe season yet. but then i tried it and it was delecious! its like a mango but kind of sweeter! anyways i have to may fruit stories....the other sisters laugh at me cuz fruit really makes my day....haha

we also had transfers this week. but me and my companion stayed here! which im happy about i love it here! this is my 3rd transfer here in moncada! 

well until next week! love ya all!

The Right Place at the Right time

Hello my dear friends and family! hope all is well in the good ole AZ! if its hot there...just know its hotter here!!!!!!! but it finally rained yesterday after months! but today it is back to hot and humid! haha but i cant wait to tll you about my week! cuz it was aweomse! probably one of my favorite weeks here in this area. so i will tell you why....!

1.) In the right place at the right time! so me and my companion were buying some food the other day and i saw this man ride by on a bicycle. i said hello and then he just kept going. but he looked so familiar! i couldnt get over how familar he looked! anywasy the next day we were walking towards our house to go home for lunch. so we stop to unlock the gate, i turn around,and boom! the same man is right behind us! sp i asked him his name and introduced who we were. we offered him the pamphlet fpr the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He refused to take it and said he had some at his home already. so we gave an overview of our message. he started asking questions like how we know joseph smith is really a prophet and where the truth went during the apostasy. he was obviously pretty familiar with religious topics. he brought up some weird things , things we didnt understand but anyways we just keep teaching him about the restoration. he didnt have the bet attitude.but anyways he said he didnt want us to come to our home and i asked him why. ( i dont know why i said why haha i just was wondering why doesnt he want us to come?) anyways he said he's heard things about the church. so we bore our testimonies. at the end, he pointed to the pamphlet and said "sa akin ya" which means that  he wanted it. so he left with pamphlet. he said he was going to discuss it with his pastor,he said some one who is higher up. but then we talked about authority again. it was a good conversation. at the end i felt so great that i was able to explain difficult things in tagalog! but i know it wasnt me! it was the spirit. yesterday i gave a talk in church last minute. i preayed fervently for the gift of tongues. when i was speaking words woud literally come out of my mouth without me even thinking of what i was going to say. and it made sense! im tellin ya people it aint me! if i were to do it alone, my tagalog would sound like that missionaries dutch on the best two years! haha! this language isnt easy to learn. but the Lord untwists my tongue for this great work which i love!!

2.) last week conference was shown at the stake center. our recent convert came who was baptized the day before. i prayed that she and the other members would feel the spirit and understand even tho it was in english. when we went to her home the next week we asked about her experience. she really enjoyed it. in the lesson she later told us she had an answer to one of her questions answered at conference. the spirit was strong as she told us , and i started to cry. it may seem like something simple. but you really get to love these people when your on the mission. and when you see them change and receive answers it just maes you so happy! anyways thats my sweet jerielle! shes only 12. she was confirmed yesterday in sacrament meeting. 

3.) so we are teaching a few different people in this one little compound in therir neghborhood. they are all related. probably half of them are members. but a few are less active. but the other half arnt members. we go there every nigh to teach. they are the Arceo and Vallejos family. i love how here in the philippines the extended family lives so close! its such a fun and spcial environment! anyways we are teaching one sister vina whose husband is less ctive. we are also teching michael and mark who are twins. we are teaching marks girlfriend. and we are teaching a young man name ariel. his sister is a member. anyways we went to teach them this week and they brought out spaghetti and cake! it was awesome! haha spaghetti might sound like an unusal filipino dish but filipinos love spaghetti! but it aint like the italian spaghetti! the sauce is really sweet then they cut up hot dogs to put in it. its pretty good...but i prefer the italian kind....

4.)there was one day where a member came by our house and was like hey! i have some referalls! so of course we were excited! we were taken to three of her friends. they are all 17. well they all accepeted the message and received the baptismal goal date! the sister who reffered us to them is named nessy. she is a recent convert. she is the only member in her family. super strong and converted! the youth here are super strong! anyways so that day we received 3 new investigators! so im excited to see their progress!

5.)jade! jade is our investigator who is 14.but she will be baptized next weekend! so thats exciting! shes really smart like jerielle! its fun teaching young women aged girls! 

 

anyways this is just a little of my week! love you all!

love sister peavler :)

 

The Invitation to be baptized!

hello my dear friends and family! i am excited to share with you about my week! because it was awesome! 

Monday...we went to SM which is the huge mall in tarlac city. its about 40 minutes away from my area! but we got pizza hut!! so yeah that was a great change from good ole rice! that was the highlight of my pday haha oh and of course emailing! 

Tuesday... me and my companion worked with some members(WORK WITH YOUR WARD MISSIONARIES) anyways...it was a great expereince. we went on splits and i worked with one sister return missionary and one brother return missionary. we have one investigator jade who should be getting baptized end of april. well we have been really been wanting to teach her brother(hes 19) but he always goes in the other room or is gone. but this day he was home and we taught him! at the beginning of the lesson we asked what his expectations were or what he wanted to learn. One of the things he said was he wants to learn how to praise God. and also the process of becoming a member of the church. this is what we missionaries call a "golden investigator" he was obviously prepared. he was one of those who wants to know truth but just doesnt know where to find it. so we taught him, and he accepted an invitation to be baptized! :) 

"THE INVITATION" so in my mission my mission president has counseled us to extend the baptism invitation on the first visit! so we teach the first lesson which is about the restoration, and other beliefs. then we ask if they will follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. some people are a little shocked we ask this on the first visit. i used to feel nervous to extend on the first visit. but being out longer n the mission has changed that! i have learned how much they need baptism and how much it will bless their lives! so im just excited now! i can barely wait to extend before the end of the first lesson! not gonna lie, its pretty awesome having the opportunity to invite people to come unto Christ by being baptized! no, its not so there can be more mormons on the planet. its for our salvation. and seeing that first step in people lives is just awesome! i dont know what other word to use besides that! 

Baptism! so we got to experience one of our investigators baptism this week! (investigator is someone who is learning about the church and taking the lessons from the missionaries) anyways shes a cutie! shes 12 years old, but has the brain of about an 18 year old! her mom is a less active but jarielle walks to church every sunday usually by herself. when we were siting down before her baptism i asked how she felt. she said nervous.i gave her a hug and i told her not to be nervous but to enjoy cuz this will only happen one in her life. as i reflect on this experience, i remember my baptism. i was lucky to have my dad baptize me. i was lucky to have my dad sit beside me before my baptism and put his arm around me. im so lucky. and because i was baptized i got to put my arm around sweet jarielle and help her prepare. this is pure evidence God loves all His children. even tho her father wasnt there to do the things mine did, she still received the blessing. and because my father did what he did, i am here and my companion and i got to help her prepare.Heavenly Father has a different plan for all of us. but you will never miss out on the blessing. there might be another way for you to get to the blessing. but youll always get it if your doing whats right. so she was baptized! months and months of preparation and then into the water! she bore a sweet and simple testimony after. i cant explain my feeling but there is nothing like seeing someone you have come to love so much be baptized. its truly a blessing. 

friday we had interviews with our mission president. he asked me and my companion how our house is. i just started laughing, i couldnt hold it in! cuz we had quite the funny experience just minutes before at our home! we were leaving to go to the interviews and we locked the front door but left the keys inside. well we were surrouded by two more gates with locks (yes we are very protected:) so we couldnt get in or out! we were in panic mode! we couldnt be late to the interviews! so my companion and i did what must be done in times of desperation.....we knocked down the door.....my companion literally kicked the door open. it was quite the scene. but none the less we got the keys and were not late! the door is not broken just the lock and hinge. someone is coming to prepare it today :). missions are full of crazy exciting experiences! a couple weeks ago me and a couple other sisters took down a banana tree! no joke! we have pictures to prove it! there was a whole bushel of bananas and the only way to get it down was to bring the tree down. so it was me the american, my companion the filipina, and another sister who is samoan. needless to say the bananas are now in our house:) banana trees are actualy weak and small so dont worry its not like i climbed a building or something! ;)

dont mess with missionaries and general conference! .....so the highlight of my week was general conference! yes we had to wait a week later than ya'll!! all of us missionaries were like kids on Christmas morning! sometimes there would be bad signal and there would be no image or voice and all the missionaries would let out a big sigh. but luckily we got to here all the messages i think but one! i cant choose just one to talk about because they were all amazing. but something that sticks out to me is elder kevin w pearson! he was so energetic and you could just tell he really knew what he was testifying of! he said twice "read the book of mormon EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY!" i want to leave with my testimony. the book of mormon is the word of God. to those who are not members and even to those who are that are reading this...trust the church leaders when they say it will bring strength into your life. i promise thats true. sometimes it akes some humbling to realize how much we need the Lord. well on the mission i have learned to lean on the Lord through the book of mormon. there is so much i knew and beleived before my mission. like i always believed truths of the gospel but here on the mission they just make sense! like heavenly Father never changes! he gives testimonies of His Son being the Savior of the world in the bible and book of mormon! two witnesses! the book of mormon is a blessing. I love it.I Love the Lord.I love the gospel.And i love being a missionary!!!

love sister peavler :)

oh wait i have one funny story....so in tagalog heart is pusO but cat is pusA. i once invited someone to listen to josephs smiths experience in the sacred grove with an open pusa...or cat....yeah then the laughing came...but its just part of the missionary experience! ;)

thnx for all your love and support!

Happy Easter!

to my dear family and friends,

HAPPY EASTER!!

i'll tell you a little about easter in the philippines! first they have Holy Week. Friday EVERYTHING was closed. we went to go buy food and the whole town was like shut down! they make friday a huge deal but then dont really pay attention to easter ! it was sad! its like easter doesnt even exist here. it was quite a different easter! but how lucky am i to share the wonderful truths of the Savior and how He lives now! we havnt been able to watch general conference yet unfortunately. i watched one talk while at the computer shop. it was by elder holland! it was AWESOME! and of course, a tear dripper! but i add my testimony to his. the savior lives,and he is always there for us. this life isnt to fail.but to succeed. because we have a loving Heavenly father! oh! so there was supposed to be this huge super typhoon! the missionaries in my mission by the ocean got evacuated. they had us preparing for what seemed like world war 3!(okay im a little dramatic!) but anyways the typhoon nevercame! its a good thing...but i was kinda excited for a little adventure....but nobody in this country needs a typhoon right now! its a crazy world out here! itreminds me a lot of NYC.everyone is going so fast. not really knowing why they are even here.then there is me....a 20 year old who knows the message thats most worth knowing! i feel like the definition of when the Lord said that he calls the weak and the simple! thats me! oh! we will be having baptism this next week! im excited to send pictures! her name is jerielle. she is 12 years old but has the brain of an 18 year old! here mom is less active but we are working on her to return! i know jerielles baptism will be the key! one spiritual experience i would like to share is of my testimony of the many scriptures that say seek and ye shall find,knock and it shall be opened unto you.  i know this scripture to be true. because its happening in my life. through the workds of the scriptures and modern prophets my questions are constantly being answered. I know if the Lord sees us doing our part, he will bless us with knowledge. we just have to put Him first. this world doesnt put Him first. but we have to learn how too. and only blessings come from it!

well love yall and thanks youfor your love and support! ingat! (take care)

love sister peavler