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!
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