Called to Serve: Naga Philippines!: We Gon' Find you

Hello World!

What a grand week it has been here in the Philippines! Lots happens every day. In fact, all of my days tend to be more of blurs and I cannot keep my days straight for the life of me. But, I am so happy. Always. Seriously, I absolutely love where I am, what I am doing, and who I am with. This is an amazing place with so many beautiful people.

My trainer and I are both new to the area. We are actually opening this area. Neither of us have been here before and it is a newly split area. It is really sad but before Naga City was split into different areas, the missionaries tended to focus their efforts in just one of the many smaller areas in Naga which left where we are now completely abandoned essentially. I am not sure this is making sense, it is hard to explain but pretty much we have the "forgotten" areas in Naga. It is so sad! So may of these people haven't seen or heard from missionaries or members of the church in many, many years. My companion and I have had to spend many hours going through the area book, making sense of it, and figuring out what to do. It is quite frustrating at times but what a great place to start my mission. I know there is a reason, probably lots of reasons, why I am here and why this is my first area to serve in. We will be here together for 3 whole months and we are so determined to change this area much, much better than we found it. We have been working so hard and I know our hard work will pay off, it already is showing lots of progress just in the week and a half that I have been here!

In my area we know of 1 active couple, who are not even on the ward list because they were baptized less than 2 years ago and we found them on accident. There are so so so many less active and inactive members in our area here. It makes me so sad to see the gospel leave their life but I know that we can be those helpers and the bridge to help them return to activity and stay firm in the church. Because of the great deal of inactives in our area, we have been focusing most of our efforts on finding, visiting, and teaching less actives. What an experience this has been! We have so many names of people who have not been to church in years and years! The addresses here are nonexistant so we just talk to others, ask around, and only because of God's help have we been able to find these people. We are teaching/re-teaching so many people here. It is amazing! My testimony has grown so much about how important the basics of praying, reading our scriptures, and attending church are. If we do the basics, pray, read, go to church, have faith, serve others, etc., we will not fall. We cannot fall. Through God anything is possible. So many of these inactives forgot to pray, chose not to go to church one Sunday, etc. and now have forgotten almost everything about the church and lost the light in their life.

One less active brother here, Orlando, got overwhelmed with life when he got married, had a child, began working more, etc., and stopped doing the basics. We found him this past week and began teaching him again. He speaks a lot of Bicol so I can't understand a lot of what he is saying but during our first lesson with him, I simply stated "Alam ko po na totoo and simbahan ni JesuCristo." I know the church is true. There was a light in his eyes. There was a complete change in his countenance. He blurted out, "Joseph Smith!" The simple testimony I bore reminded him of so many truths he had once known, including that of the prophet, Joseph Smith. There was not a dry eye in that room. He has not come to church yet, he isn't perfect, he still makes mistakes, but something changed in him. This gospel is the truth on the earth. It has the power to change lives. I have seen it in my own life and now see it every day in the lives of so many others. In the Liahona this month, (along with the Ensign and every General Conference talk), it talks about finding "the one." We must bring our brothers and sisters back to the fold. It is our job to find, help, and love all. Don't forget those who may have strayed from the path, show kindness and bring them back to the path to eternal life.

As we continue to search for these many less active/inactive people, Heavenly Father has blessed us in so many ways! One blessing that we have seen from finding these people is that other people have been placed in our path, in particular other family members of these inactives who have been interested! God is good and so loving. :) One sister we found and have been visiting, Nelly, has not been to church in over 20 years. At our last visit, her daughter happened to be there and came to listen to what we had to say. Her grandfather was an active member of our church before he passed away over 10 years ago. We have been trying to help Nelly return to church, but she does not feel ready. Well, in the middle of our last lesson, her daughter randomly said, "I think I'm going to go to church on Sunday." My companion and I were stunned. I didn't think I could smile any bigger...welp, a guess it was possible because come Sunday, the BIGGEST smile was on my face when not only Avril walked in but her little sister as well as 2 of her cousins were with her! It was so great! We could hardly contain ourselves with how excited we were to see them. But wait, there's more, we have been teaching the husband, Noreal, of an inactive sister, Sheila, and they came to church too with their 2 little kids! It was Noreal's first time ever, and Sheila's first time in a looong time. What a great first Sunday in this ward! :)

Let it be known folks, this is the true gospel. God is our Heavenly Father. He is aware of all of us. He loves us more than we can comprehend. I love being a missionary. SO MUCH. Want to know why? Okay good, I will tell you. Because I get to share that sweet, simple message with everyone! I wish I could express the joy I feel when I teach, when I see investigators and less actives come to church, when I read the scriptures, when I bear my testimony, when I pray, when others bear their testimony, when I feel the Spirit, when I choose the right. Always. I am happy because of this gospel.

Wow, where does the time go? I only have 2 minutes left and I feel like I haven't written anything! Thursday we have our area seventy guy coming for a mission tour and apparently something big is happening so we are all really excited here. I will let you know next week how that goes. I love you guys so much!

Btw, my title this week is "We Gon' Find You." It is kind of a joke, maybe Jor and Nin will get it, they can explain it. But that is kind of my companion and my motto because there are so so so so so many inactive members in our area and we are determined to do anything and everything we need to do to find them and remind them of how much God loves them and how the gospel can bless their lives. Last little thought for this week, "Where is God on your list of priorities?" A lot of times I think we let other things, work, friends, entertainment, trials, school, etc. take greater precedent than God. Well if you really think about it, it sounds kind of silly huh? Who are we to put anything before God? God, our literal Father in Heaven. Remember where your true priorities are. If we strive to keep God at the top of our list, we will be blessed beyond comprehension, find true joy in this life, be strengthened in hard times, and come closer to God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, everyday.

Remember who you are, a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven who knows you personally and loves you dearly. Remember and follow the example of Jesus Christ. He is our Savior, Redeemer, older brother, and friend.

I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support you have shown me and the many prayers in behalf of the missionaries. :)

Lots and lots of love!

-Sister Emily Roderick