Happy Easter!

Sunday April 24, 2011

Dear World,
Hope you had a great Easter. The holiday itself slipped in and out quietly, but that's how all holidays go as a missionary. But the purpose of the holiday was so much clearer in my mind this year than previously. Easter signifies the completion of the greatest sacrifice ever made. Because of the atonement of Christ, every person on the world will be resurrected and we all have the opportunity to live with our Father in Heaven again. "He is risen," the words of an angel on that morning, was a declaration of freedom.

Often people ask why there aren't great miracles in the world today, the red sea isn't parted, mountains don't move, people don't rise from the grave. Yet I think back to that morning, the morning the Son of God was resurrected. Two women went to the tomb and found an angel. The guards were paid to lie about what happened. And no one else knew. It wasn't a big deal, no one published it on the news, people didn't run down the streets shouting it. His resurrection, much like his birth, was simple and quiet and only a few people really understood what was happening on that fateful day. That doesn't mean it's not a miracle- the greatest on earth- the one that's changed all of our lives.

Now- for a poem I wrote a few weeks ago, it's easter-y and I felt like sharing.

Her King

For the light became day
Then the dark was called night
The Land emerged from the sea.
Mountains formed, flowered bloomed,
To show Mother Earth's joy
In her creation by her King.

A storm raged in the dark,
The land shook and it broke.
The Mountains fell into the sea
The wind tore through the world
As our Mother Earth Cried
Because of the death of her King.

Nature fights with itself,
The sea tears at the shore
The destruction that all can see.
Do you cry, do you fear?
For now Mother Earth calls
For the soon return of her King.

This week has been really unusual, but of course- really fun. One interesting thing about this week was the fact that it is Holy Week. As a predominately Catholic country, each day in the week is important and celebrated in a different way. The day that was most notable was Friday.

On this day, everyone stays home to rest, meditate, and think about the Savior, Jesus Christ. This leaves the streets totally empty. At first I thought it was really strange, there were fewer people out and about than there are in the middle of the night back home. But then I started to notice how peaceful it was. No one is stressed or worried about what needs to get done. There aren't noisy cars or shouting people. Even the animals seemed to have fallen quite. The whole city was in a state of reverence. It was really neat.

Other than that, the week was filled with adventures. Yesterday we got caught in the rain and I was literally dripping wet by the time we walked in the door. We found a new investigator who is incredibly receptive. He found an old Libro Ni Mormon from the previous time his family investigated the church. He committed to reading it, praying to know the truth, and being baptized when he receives and answer. We met him yesterday and he's already on our progressing investigators list. (kinda, we aren't actually allowed to call him progressing till we visit him a second time)

Wednesday was a crazy adventure too. We went to visit a less active member in the ward. She invited us in and asked us to sit and wait for a while as she finished tidying up. While we waited, her grandmother came down stairs, walked over to me to shake my hand, then grabbed my head and kissed me on the forehead. Unexpected...very unexpected. She sat down beside me and continued to play with my hands and try to talk to me and it only took a few moments to realize she was very drunk. This sweet women is maybe 4'10" and I'm always afraid I'll break her hand when I shake it because she is so skinny. She's 84 years old! And yet she has a surprisingly strong grip when she's drunk. Ah- the adventures of the Philippines.

Love you all!