It's week 6 in the PI and my nanay, Sister Pacquiao, ("mother"/trainer) is heading back to her home in Cebu in a couple days, meaning i'm getting a new companion! Sister Pacquiao has taught me so much - how to catcall for jeepneys and tricycles, how to wash my clothes in buckets lol, how to not die when crossing the road...and she's protected me from so many cockroaches and mean people, i can't express my gratitude for her. More than anything, she's taught me silent lessons of patience, understanding, love, and most of all HAPPINESS. she really allowed me to grow at my own pace, and encouraged me to do everything with confidence (even if it meant butchering the lesson in tagalog or making soupy rice bc our rice cooker was broken...she ate it too, just to show me that it was fine. THAT IS LOVE.) UGH I AM SO SAD (I really contemplated unpacking everything she owned and just crawling in her suitcase... emotional attachment is real, guys) but at the same time, i know she has a beautiful life waiting ahead of her.
We had a really great last week together, and got to end our companionship with a baptism! Haira aka "Yen Yen" is 18, and so bubbly. She was really open to the gospel and all it had to offer. I admire how much she wanted to learn - she'd literally come prepared with questions for us, because she had such a strong desire to grow closer to God! Her desire and willingness to better her life reminded me a lot about a story i'd read in In the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 18:8-11, where all the people listening to the prophet literally clapped their hands in joy because they were so excited to be baptized and to change their lives!
It was amazing to see how much she grew within the few weeks we'd known her. Watching her go under the water and coming up completely completely clean, washed of sin, brought the spirit more than you could ever imagine. I wish you all could've been there to witness it with me. She came out of the water beaming this super bright smile, and she was so happy! I was so happy for her! What is beautiful about baptisms is that it is a promise we make with God, to take upon us His name. and that it is a chance to be clean again. And obviously, we all make mistakes and it's not like we could get dunked in the water every week. but that is the point of the sacrament. The bread and water we partake every sunday is meant to represent his body and blood. The sacrifice He made so that we could have the opportunity to be forgiven from the sins we'd committed, promising to better ourselves and avoid making the same mistakes in the next week to come. It is up to us to decide to follow God. He won't force us to take His name and carve it into our hearts - that's our own decision. And how great is it that He lets us use our agency to decide for ourselves? It's the one thing we have that's REALLY ours - our choices. 😇
In other news, I just got a call about my new companion. From what i've heard, she's from Idaho and is very kind but her tagalog is kind of rusty (LOL WHICH MEANS IM DEAD bc y'know i'm basically an oreo, and if she can't speak tagalog either...well... we're gonna be working a lot harder during language study and trusting that God will help people understand our broken tagalog hahaha). But i'm not worried. I've been praying a lot about it, and if she's the person i'm meant to be paired up with, then i know everything will fall into place. I'm just happy i get to stay in the same area, because I'm finally becoming more familiar with everyone's faces and names, and they're all so loving and always greet me with the biggest smiles! haha and i can tell they're getting way comfortable with me too. One of the members (Sister Sumo...who is so much like my mom it makes me love her even more) felt close enough to me to tell me i'm gaining the chubbs (which is cool, because it's toats true ahahaa) and it made me laugh really hard because in a lot of aspects, i can see bits of my family in them.
Speaking of my family, it's my sister (ateh Mary Jane)'s birthday today! SO (since half of the people on this email list are family) be sure to greet her ahaha. I would love to be home to celebrate with them, but at the same time, i really feel so fulfilled out here. It really is an honor to serve these people, and i only hope to grow to understand their needs so I can serve them better. And if there's any way I can serve you guys, please let me know! I hope you are all doing your best, that your families are healthy, and that you're happy.
I love you all a ton! Hope to hear from you soon 😘
Sending my prayers your way,
Sister Calica
Here are some pictures of me with my nanay (Sister Pacquiao), With Yen Yen and her Family, My little neighbor (aka "spiderman") I always play with letting me take a ride on his sweet bike LOL, and some pictures of the area i'm serving in (we were walking on the side of a highway bc it's normal in the PI and also we're hardcore LOL)
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