Dasig gid and Oras

July 3, 2011

Time is really fast, especially when you absolutely love your companion and the area. This week has flown by so quickly. In fact, it's been so fast that I didn't realize until yesterday that I hadn't written about any of it in my journal. So, I've dedicated a large part of my p-day to updating my journal so that all my posterity can realize how wonderful life is here in the Philippines. I feel kinda bad for my journal- it hears a lot about the rough weeks and the bad days because I have lots of time to write on those days. On the other hand, I'm so busy when I'm having great weeks that I never write about any of it. As amazing as everything is though, there are still moments that stand above the rest, tiny miracles that remind me Heavenly Father is guiding every step we take, often literally. This week, the miracles mostly displayed themselves through new people we met as my companion and I have been praying for the ability to recognize those who are prepared to hear the message of the Restored Gospel.

Contact #1- The neighborhood we live in has lots of loops, turns, and pathways for getting from place to place. There are a dozen different ways to get from the front of the neighborhood to our house and most of them even take the same amount of time. We rotate between pathways in an effort to "keep things interesting" and "mix things up a bit." As we walked home Tuesday afternoon, I felt like we needed to "mix things up" again and turned down one of the roads we don't usually walk down. Walked toward us along this road was a sweet old man who (like most people here) was very excited to see two Americans and became even more excited when we stopped to talk with him. The entire conversation consisted of us speaking to him in Hiligaynon and him responding in English because he wanted to practice. He told us that each time he saw us he wanted to talk to us, but we were always going somewhere. We set up an appointment to return to teach him later that night when his wife got home. The lesson with this couple was so much fun. For the first time (I think ever) I could easily think of questions to ask in order to get to know them better. They were so excited to listen to us and definitely want us to come back and to teach them again.

Contact #2- We met Brother R while wandering around our neighborhood after our morning appointment canceled on us. We turned down a street hoping to refind someone we had met the previous week and instead found someone new. As soon as we started walking down the street, we noticed someone wearing a bright white polo. My companion told me later she instantly knew that we just needed to talk to him. When we asked how many children he had, his responded with a smile and said, "oh- gamay lang, walo pa lang." (oh, just a few, only 8). He then dove into telling us about his 7 daughters, 4 of which are already in or done with college, and his youngest child and only son who is still 7. We shared with him briefly about how God has restored the fullness of his plan for families to be happy here on earth despite challenges that we all face and we asked if we could send the missionaries in his area (he unfortunately doesn't live in our area, but the elders in dumungas will hopefully do a great job of teaching him) to his house to teach him and his family more. The normal response to this question is "I'm too busy", or "my house is hard to find", and occasionally "sure, if they want to." Brother R's response was significantly different. He said he would love to have them visit and learn more, he pulled out his business card and wrote his new phone number on it, then flipped it over and drew a map on the back so that they would be able to find his house, labeling important landmarks like the nearby high school. It was probably the coolest referral we ever got.

Well- other than that the week has been filled with good lessons and bad lessons, great days and punted days, and lots of rain. In the few weeks I've been in Oton I've come to love the place and the people so much. I've had the opportunity to think about why I'm really here and what my purpose is as a missionary. I've been filled with this great desire to tell everyone that God loves them, and because he loves them he's given them a way to return to live with him again. Through his plan we can live with our families forever, we can find peace in this life, we can discover stability as the world literally shakes around us. These are the blessings of the Gospel. It isn't just a list of dos and don'ts to be "saved," but it's a plan designed by a loving father so that we can find joy regardless of our circumstances.