On to the Next BIG Thing!

You know how almost every week I write about how there is always something crazy or new or interesting going on in the mission? Welp, this week and the week to come are definitely no different. This past Saturday we received the transfer announcement to let us know who would be moving/transferred to a new area, and who would be staying..well the consensus is...

Drum roll please....Sister Roderick will be TRANSFERRED. Yep. It has been a good, solid 3 months here serving in the Canaman D area (Santa Cruz, Igualdad, and Sabang). I am definitely sad to go but I am excited for what the future holds and all the other exciting adventures coming my way. I know that God has a plan for me and I am putting my full trust in Him as He knows what I need, what the people here need, and where I can best serve as His servant.

In other news for the week, this week was Christmas! Wow! Good times. :) Christmas Eve is actually bigger of a holiday than Christmas Day so we had a curfew on Christmas Eve but not Christmas Day (even though just about everyone was drunker than drunk this whole past week, I am a bit worried for the New Year) Anyways, it was a weird weird feeling, wearing short sleeves and crocs in 85 degree weather on Christmas, that is for sure. BUT, it was good! It wasn't much different than any other day in the field honestly. We focused our lessons more on Christmas and the Savior but still taught plenty of lessons, tracted, studied, etc. We spent pretty much the whole day in our poorest area, Sabang, just tracting, sharing short messages with anyone and everyone that would listen and passing out pictures of Jesus Christ with the articles of faith on the inside and information about our church on the back. It was really a neat experience. We didn't get any new investigators from it but it felt good to be spreading true Christmas cheer and uplifting others around us. What better way to spend Christmas right? Teaching, loving and serving like our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a very Merry Christmas here in the Philippines. :)

Then the next day I got to skype my lovely fam. It was good to see you guys! I loved hearing all your voices and seeing your pretty faces! :) I miss you guys! I was talking to my mission president the next day about Christmas and skyping the fam, because we had interviews with him, anyways I told him that it was really good to see my family but that it really made me realize how much I have changed. I was afraid skyping would make me homesick but honestly it didn't. I love my family, I love my friends, music, movies, parties, normal food, etc., but it really made me realize how much I LOVE being here. It is not easy living in a foreign country with foreign people, language, food, things, culture, everything, but I absolutely LOVE it. I am very very happy to be here and to be a missionary at this time, in this place, and for these people. I miss some things about home, of course, but this is where I am supposed to be right now and I am going to make the best of my time here. :)

On a less happy note, I was apparently not thinking very clearly when I left the computer shop after skyping my family and I accidentally left my camera on the desk...by the time I realized I had left it and returned to the computer shop to see if it was still there, someone had taken it. Gosh darn it. I was not the happiest camper. Not much I can do though so I will be going to get a new one today, before I leave the city tomorrow.

We gave 2 of our investigators baptismal dates this week! Woo hoo! What a great goal for the new year huh? Be baptized by proper authority and make covenants with God. I am so excited for them and am praying that all will go well and they will be able to be baptized soon!

Another thing that really hit me this week was just how important and truly amazing Preach My Gospel is! EVERYONE needs to be reading and studying Preach My Gospel, on your own, as well as together with your family. It is so great and I love it so much! It is a wonderful resource for people of all ages and is not just for full-time missionaries! USE IT. Read it with your family, study it, ponder it. It is remarkable and has so many amazing resources within it, basic gospel doctrine, scripture references, quotes, suggestions, stories, activities, etc. It really is so great and I encourage and challenge all to read it along with your scriptures for greater understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to come closer to our Father in Heaven.

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to the new year with excitement, motivation, and desire to change and become better people. What a great time to push ourselves, set new goals, and make plans to change parts of our lives to become closer to God and more like Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives. Much love to all!

Mahal kita!

-Sister Roderick