How are you? As always, things are crazy, yet wonderful all at the same time. This is now my 3rd time being at the computer shop (different shops each time) because we have had a nice, wonderfully convenient influx of brownouts today! Yay! So I don't have a ton of time for my nice long email (I say that every week and yet I always write way more than anyone wants to read, oh well, let's see how much I can write this week)
Ace's baptism is in less than 2 weeks! He is progressing still! Reading, studying, praying, searching, making new slideshows about the gospel everyday. Really though. He is awesome. You guys already know that though. Well this week, we were teaching Ace about the 10 commandments and in particular keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Long story short, he began to bear testimony to us of the truthfulness of the gospel and began crying as he explained some tough experiences he has had in his past and how the gospel really is the answer to all of his prayers, the only thing that has made him full, truly spiritually full, in his whole life of searching. The lesson ended with the 3 of us, Sister Webster, Ace, and I crying and expressing our love for God and Jesus Christ and bearing testimony of this true gospel. It was a wonderful experience for me, one that I will never forget. It was very humbling too. To have a 37 year old man crying and opening his heart to you, a 19 year old girl who hasn't experienced anything close to what this man has been through, that is something that touches your heart and really helped me recognize my call as a missionary. I am truly called of God to bring these truths, this gospel to these people. Wow. During our lesson he expressed to us his true desire to be baptized, to be made clean, and to rid himself of all those burdens, guilt, and pain that has been weighing him down for so many years. I have never seen a greater desire to change and to become clean than what I see in this man. What a great example he is to me. We must trust God, have faith, and act on that faith by repenting, being baptized, receiving the Holy Ghost, following the commandments, and enduring to the end. Any commitment we give him in preparation for baptism he does immediately, without second thought about it. He is doing every single thing he can to become clean and to become ready to make those sacred covenants with God. I am so very grateful to be one of the missionaries to find him and to guide him on his path to true conversion. What a remarkable man.
Also, remember Ariel and Oliver? Ariel and Oliver are the 2 cousins that are actually Ace's cousins too, crazy I know, anyways, Ace came with us the other day to teach Ariel. It was amazing how much he helped and how strong his testimony is. It was really cool to see a non-member bear testimony of the gospel truths and to explain how he has come to know it is true, why he is getting baptized, and why Ariel should do the same. Thanks Ace! Talaga, astig po siya at sobra handa po siya din.
So yep, we are a bit excited for his baptism. That will be a big, busy, insane day. We have Ace's baptism at 1 (meaning it won't start til at least 2 with Filipino time) then we have our ward party that night at 5! Woo! It's going to be a great day!
Another investigator of ours, Alex, is so close to baptism! He has so many amazing questions and we always have just wonderful lessons with him. He is so smart! I think I talked about him last week? I don't know, the weeks just seem to run together now. But we taught him this week and he again was asking lots of deep, hard, great questions when finally after reading a scripture he says excitedly "You know what I just realized?! I can't get answers to all my questions, I am not going to know everything, I just need to have faith. Faith, yeah." Can I just tell you as a missionary, that is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard? YES. Bingo my friend! You got it. Thank you! It is so true. We are not going to know everything. Faith is the first principle of the gospel for a reason. It is so important! Picture yourself surrounded my fog. It is pretty scary to be surrounded my that cloud and that darkness and we essentially have 2 choices in that situation: 1. let yourself be frightened, sit down, and refuse to move, or 2. pick yourself up, take a deep breath, and step forward with faith. As we step forward into that fog, it is still dark, it can even still be a little scary, but with every step we take we are able to see just a little bit further ahead of us until finally we make it through. The same is true with life. Sometimes we face challenges in life and it seems that there is no way out but as we humble ourselves, kneel down and pray to God, then get up, ready to act, and step forward continuing on the right path, then Heavenly Father will help us and guide us through our different hard times. Remember the wise words of our good friend Alex, "I just need to have faith." There you have it folks, simple as that. :)
Some other funny/weird/crazy things that happened/noticed/fun facts from this week:
-went to a fantastic, cute, classy, delicious, little, restaurant this week: White Bean-so good!
-went to find the house of a padyak driver we met...his wife took us behind there house to this back shack thing, opened the door, and invited us in...but luckily I saw in beforehand and noticed all the lovely people in there worshipping idol things and saying different chants...we kindly declined..yeah, it was scary.
-everyone and their mother smokes here. it is gross and I am pretty sure I am going to die from secondhand smoke
-we were standing in line at McDo's the other day to get an ice cream (in the middle of centro, a ton of people, bright daylight, lots of cars and what not passing by) when all of a sudden a little kid, maybe 2 years old, pops a squat 3 feet away from me, and pees on the sidewalk in front of everyone...no matter how many naked children I see running around each day, things like that still shock me everytime. It is so sad. :/
-one day this week, Ariel was at work when we went to teach him so we asked if anyone else was home and ended up teaching all 5 of his siblings plus a cousin! our investigator wasn't even there! it was awesome! haha hopefully some of them will become investigators in the near future
-we had zone training this week- we are now allowed to drink coke products, and we found out that we have been eating bawal (forbidden) food...whoops. turns out this type of pancit canton (like ramen noodles) has tea in it...we didn't know but I still felt bad, anyways, that one is cleared up now, don't worry :) (and we gave all our pancit packets away to a family that we have been teaching through what we call "tao po-ditch" haha instead of ringing doorbells you just go to people's gates and yell "tao po?" meaning "people?" and then they come, so we tao po-ditched and left them some din-din :)) put that bawal food to good use eh? haha
-we had a Stake Relief Society Christmas activity this Saturday and to say the least it was potentially the craziest, longest, most overwhelming activity I have ever been to! It was really fun but there were SO many people!
-today we went shopping for some new skirts at Ukay-Ukay (there version of thrift stores that are literally on every street corner) and I got 2 skirts then we met a lady there that is a member from another ward and she gave us each 2 skirts free! yeah buddy! my frugal, cheap self really likes and appreciates that. 4 skirts for 120 pesos (aka less than a dollar for each skirt) that my friends, is a dang good deal. :)
It has been a great week. Lots going on, as always but I love it. I never get enough sleep, my showers are still ice cold, and I get at least 5 mosquito bites a day, oh and we have cockroaches and lizards living in our apartment, and I LOVE IT. It is amazing to be here in the Philippines, talking, meeting, interacting, teaching, and loving these people. I would not rather be anywhere else right now. This is where I am supposed to be right now and let me tell you, I am very grateful to be here. I love you all and hope your Christmas month is going well so far!
Life is great! Be grateful for what you have and recognize God's hand in your life every single day. He is there for us and loves us dearly. Thank you for all the support and love!
Mahal Kita!
-Sister Roderick
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