Maraming Creepy Crawlies

This week has been full of walking, speaking, sometimes eating, and seeing many, many creepy crawlies. As I reflected back on this wee and looked at all my pictures, I realized that more than half of them were of animals or bugs. Yum! hah including lovely pictures of Sister Lua and I eating balut. Yep, I tried it. Cracked that egg right open, slurped up that juice?, and bit into that fertilized duck egg. Yikes. Let's be honest, I was so worried to eat that thing. 18 week old duck in that egg and I ate it! (okay not all of it, but part) Everyone should be required to try it at some point in their life. I actually want to try it again but when the duck is younger so I dont see its head next time. ANYWHO, haha enough about balut.

This week we were walking down one of our lonnnng walks to one of our areas when we both stopped in our tracks. There was a HUGE bug in the middle of the road. I mean, huge. Still don't know what kind of bug it was but all I know is when I poked it with a stick, it hissed and reared its head like it was gonna prounce! Ay chihuahua! Then on that same street, we were standing talking to some of our less actives when we hear screaming and people running towards the rice field. Of course we joined them, and there were 3 big ol eels! They found them in the rice fields and hit them with a machete to kill them but when they brought it up on the road they started moving again so one of the kids, maybe 12 or so years old, picks it up and whacks it against the concrete! Oh my goodness. Not something I would like to see again. Yuck. Lots of blood. Anyways, too many creepy crawlies for one week. (not to mention the huge spider in our apartment!)

On a happier note, our work is going well here in Libmanan. (I have to admit that I still dearly miss Baao though) BUT the work is moving along here for sure. 

We continue to find less-active members almost every day that have been 'lost' for years! It makes me so sad but happy to be a part of the 'search party' to find them again. It has really taught me though how important convert retention is from the beginning. It is much easier to help someone stay strong from the beginning than to let them fall away, go out and find them, and somehow try to bring them back. Just love, encourage, and support from the start and we wont have this problem of lost sheep!

We were asked to participate in so many activities/present workshops/teach lessons etc. all week. I am drained. It is cool to be a part of the activities though and to help encourage others to strengthen their testimonies and become stronger in the faith of Jesus Christ.

I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday, about faithfulness through obedience. I thought it went pretty well. My testimony has grown so much on my mission of the importance of remaining faithful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and being exactly obedient. It is really a simple thing to do when we think about it. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, if we love Him, if our eye is single to the glory of God and not to our own glory, we WILL follow God's commandments and be exactly obedient at all times, in all things, and in all places. We can do it. I know we can. But it all starts in our heart. What is the true desire of our hearts? Like my last companion always says, 'if there is a will, there is a way.' We must be obedient and we will be blessed. 

Take care all of you over there! It is great to hear from you and to hear how you are doing! Continue to focus your attention on those things that are of most significance in the long run and your eyes will be opened to the many blessings and wonderful plan of our loving Heavenly Father! Love you all!

Mahal ko po kayo!

-Sister Roderick

Bye Bye Baao, Hello Libmanan!

HELLO!

I am now in a place called, Libmanan. It is a lot like Baao, small, not much around, surrounded by farms and rice fields, and far far areas. There is however a 7-11 here. The most random thing in the world hha Nothing else here but there is a 7-11, hellllllooo slurpies :) haha slurpies in the middle of nowhere. Kind of funny.

My lovely new companion is Sister Aple Lua from Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines, really close to the soon-to-be Urdaneta Philippines Temple. She is amazing. Can I just tell you the weight that has been lifted from my shoulders this week..it is fantastic! From the very first minutes of my being companions with her, I felt loved, cared for, and welcome. What a relief! Truly an answer to my prayer. We are both so focused on the work and both desire for this area, as well as ourselves individually, to come closer to Christ. It is quite the change for me but boy is it wonderful! At one point she said to me, "Sister, I have learned more from you in our 3 days together than I have my entire mission so far!" Ha now I know that is an exaggeration and not quite true but we are both learning and growing so much everyday. I literally learn loads every single day. I am so happy. What a blessing Sister Lua is to me. Oh yeah and she laughs! We laugh and joke with each other all the time! It is so fun and exactly how I always pictured a missionary companionship being. So happy. Hopefully it only gets better from here. :)

Here in Libmanan Branch there are 6 full-time missionaries. We were told there are over 500 members here and yet only about 100 attend church. I have never been the best at math, but these numbers are easy enough to see that hose calculations dont add up like they should. So you guessed it, our  focus here is in fact less active members. When I got here, I opened up our lovely area book and got nothin. Unfortunately very few records have been kept in the past for this area so Miss Organizer is now here to clean things up and put some order back to this place. You can't just keep baptizing people if you have no foundation or else they will get baptized and go inactive. Simple. Set your foundation first then build up. So, we are working on that. Every spare moment we have/every night before bed we literally just sit at our desks trying to organize, fill in blanks, and figure out this area book. It is slight nonsense. BUT it will be worth it to get a nice, clean, solid foundation for future success.

Anywho, overall, it has been a good week. I can't believe I hit my 10 month mark this week. Craziness.

I finished reading The Book of Mormon again this week. I love The Book of Mormon. I know it is true. My day is not complete if I do not read. I am constantly opening it up and reading, whether it be during meals, studies, or other random times, it is now my book of choice. I gain so much insight and strength from  the scriptures. I was excited to complete my reading of The Book of Mormon again, but funny enough, I was more excited to start over and to learn even more! One of my new favorite scriptures (which happens to be the youth scripture of the year I believe) is Moroni 10:32. Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. His grace is sufficient for all. I know that is true.

I wish you all the best week and hope to hear from you soon! 

Mahal ko po kayo! Ingat kayo lagi!

-Sister Roderick

It's Been a Good Run, Baao!

Last week here in Baao. Bitter sweet for sure.

Let's see, the many happenings of this week.

-Got my pinky stuck in an electric fan so now I have a nice black line of blood under my pinky nail. yum.

-Have a nice 2 inch cut on the top of my head from standing up to fast in someone's house and hitting my head on their ceiling...haha that's embarrassing.

-Last District Meeting with Elder Davis. Man. I've learned so much from that guy, it's gonna be tough to replace that one.

-Did I tell you I rode a caribou? Maybe I did already but that is really cool so I am telling you again. haha 

-Two days ago we were walking in one of our areas, past the old house of one of our investigators, and there right out in front of the house was a funeral sign with her picture and information on it. We both walked past, looked at it, stopped, looked at eachother, and rushed back to the house. We were in complete shock. We thought that there was no way that it was her but sure enough after asking around a bit more and talking to some members close by, it was confirmed that our 27-year old, recently married, friend and investigator had passed away just 4 days earlier. Sis Araja and I have both been in a bit of shock the past couple days. It was just so unexpected. We talked on the phone with her just 2 days before she died and her extended family thinks that she probably knew she was sick and wouldn't live much longer so she called to say goodbye. How grateful I am for the knowledge of God's plan for all of us and the chance we have to see our loved ones again someday.

-Saturday and Sunday was our District Conference/Northern Philippines Area Broadcast. Saturday our district president and his counselors spoke to us all in Iriga and let me tell you, President's talk was amazing! He had us all laughing while chastising us at the same time! It was so good. He pretty much called us all out, especially the members for not helping the full-time missionaries/not realizing that the Lord is hastening His work NOW. It was awesome, loved every second of it. Then Sunday we went and had an opening part as a District again and then watched a broadcast from Salt Lake, exclusively for the Philippines from Elder Quentin L Cooke, Elder Teh, the presiding Bishop, and the second counselor I think in the Young Women's presidency(?). Anywho, it was cool. Really long but I learned lots and we all felt the Spirit. 

-Saturday night, had an FHE at Noah's house. (17 year old that I want Christina to marry, love that kid) He is great. Actually we have maybe 8 or so  young men in our branch that are all really close in age and all really close friends and I love them all! I am going to miss them so much but am praying that they will all stay strong and go serve missions! yeah! :) 

-Also Saturday night, we received our transfer announcements! Like expected, I am being transferred. Definitely hard to leave my home and family for the past 6 months but I am excited to see what the future holds and where else I can help build up the Lord's kingdom here in the Naga Mission. :) We will go to transfer point in Naga tomorrow and there I will find out where I am going and who my new comp is. I will be sure to let you know next week hah. :) 

Love you all! Stay strong! One thing I really liked that Elder Cooke told us yesterday was that we all have our agency to choose bad, good, better, or best. He talked about how sometimes we get distracted by things of less importance and then forget that which is of most importance- our Savior Jesus Christ and following His gospel. He went on to say (paraphrasing), 'if you have not made it/chosen the Kingdom of God, it will not matter what was chosen instead.' The things of the world do not matter. They simply do not matter. We must keep our eyes focused on our true goal: eternal life. With every single decision you make, think to yourself, "will this bring me closer to my Savior and receiving eternal life, or will it separate me and take me farther from my Father in Heaven?" We have the choice. We know what we should do. Now do we have the courage to stand up and do it? Don't let yourself get distracted by the insignificant things of the world. Stand for truth and righteousness, at ALL times, in ALL things, and in ALL places, (and I will add) with ALL people, NO MATTER WHAT.

Hope you have a grand week. Love you all! :)

Mahal ko po kayo!

-Sister Roderick

Oh Baao, How I Will Miss You

Good day all. Hope you are doing well! 

This week has been a better? one. ha My brain just tends to blur my weeks now so I honestly am not sure when what happens, where and with who. Sorry about that.

BUT this week has been a pretty good one. As a trainer/trainee companionship, we have a guidebook for her training that we work on everyday which includes things she has to do as a trainee. This week, week 11 of 12, is the week when all trainees lead every planning session and every lesson. whooo hoooo. haha She has been waiting for the time to shine and here it is! GO! ha It was good at times and really terrible at other times but we both learned LOTS this week so that is always good.

Friday we had exchanges with the STLs (Sister Training Leaders) aka my trainer/first companion, Sister Webster! YAY! I love exchanges with her ha we get along so well and seriously are just like best friends in the mission. I am going to be really sad when she goes home next transfer. :( 

So we spent the day in her area, Nabua. Funny thing, its about 15 minutes from my area, Baao, right now and with the upcoming transfers everyone keeps joking that I am going to be transferred to Nabua...hahah oh boy. I guess we will see next week.

SO YUP. 6 months here in this lovely town of Baao, quite a long time and transfers are next week. Not 100% sure but its looking like I will most likely be transferred. AH. Mixed emotions for sure. I love this place and would/could stay but at the same time I would love to move out of Iriga and see/experience different areas with different people and companions. We will see. All week as I have pondered what will happen next week I just keep telling myself "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord." He knows best. Even when we think we know best, we don't. He knows us better than we even know ourselves and who/what/when/where will best help us grow, learn, and become closer to Jesus Christ. 

This morning for our District Activity we went on another hike, but even longer and harder than the last one. haha It was a very long, early morning but it was fun! I forgot my camera connector thing so I cant upload the SWEET pictures but I will next week! Man so many cool pictures. :) 

Our companionship is doing alright. Yesterday was one of the best days I think so far for our companionship. I have no idea what changed or why all of a sudden we were unified but we were. At church, outside, during studies, in lessons, everything. We actually were almost giddy just laughing and being happy! What a blessing. I hope and pray that continues for the rest of the week.

Oh one more thing, yesterday I got asked to be a speaker in Sacrament meeting, 10 minutes before the meeting began. Before I would have freaked out, even in English, but I didn't freak out at all and it was in Tagalog! It was not the best planned or fluent talk but it sure was decent. :) One fear: just about accomplished. Thank you mission.

Thank you all! I love you and pray for you often! Remember that our Father in Heaven knows better. Always. Turn to Him. Give your life to Him and you will find heaven on earth. 

Mahal ko po kayo!

-Sister Roderick

Head for Steady

Holiness in the midst of opposition. Touch to accomplish, but well worth it when you do. Last week was one of the hardest of my mission and yet one of the most rewarding at the same time. The darkest nights really do bring the brightest, most brilliantly beautiful sunrises.

Starting last Sunday with the terrible lesson with our recent converts, they said they didn't want us to come back...that's not good. We had very little communication with them all week and didn't see/teach them once. 

All week I struggled with what to do/how to handle the situation. After lots and lots of prayer I came to the decision that no matter what I did, it would not be enough. So I decided to lay the problem at the Lord's feet and told Him that I will do whatever He wants me to do in order to make things okay again. As I placed the situation in the Lord's hands, I decided to do absolutely everything I could in my power to work hard, to be on time, to follow with exactness every single rule, to pray and study fervently, and to better follow the Spirit so as to be a better prepared instrument in the Lord's hands. As I stopped worrying and simple trusted, blessings of all shapes and sizes entered our work.

Thursday we had a mission tour in Naga where the Area President of the Seventy (not sure if that's exactly the title) but Elder Nielson came with his wife to speak to us all day and it was FANTASTIC! I wish ALL of you could have been in that meeting and heard the discussion we had. I wish I could write every word of what they said but time just simply will not suffice. Someday, lets go get a nice big Chipotle burrito and I will fill you in on it all, but not now. ha BUT one of the things that stuck with me that I have now adopted as one of my life mottos, is "Head For Steady." Sis Nielson talked about how important it is to not let things (no matter how big or small) affect us (like a big bumpy rollercoaster, right?) but rather like a boat on top of water, just move with the little ripples and soon they will pass. Head for Steady. Do the simple things everyday to become stronger-physically, emotionally, and spiritually, so that no matter what challenge comes your way, you are steady, you are anchored, and you will make it over those little bumps in the road, no problem AND with a smile still on your face. We can do it. I know we can. :)

Now back to that (seemingly impossible) challenge of the Genorga family...

Saturday night, Brother Genorga texted us that since our lesson on Sunday he has felt cold inside and would not be going to church on Sunday. It made me sad but I knew that it would work out. Sure enough, we went to church Sunday and he didn't show up, but his wife did! We were fasting for them so I was sure that was the blessing for our faith and sacrifice. What a sign of hope that she was still willing to go to church. After church she asked if we had received their new triples (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price-that all new recent converts get after baptism) that they had desperately been wanting. We told her yes and she asked if we could bring them over that night. I was a bit nervous to go but we went anyways after all our appointments. Brother was already getting ready for bed so we just stopped by and gave them to sister. About 15 minutes later we received a text from brother thanking us for bringing the new triples and apologizing for everything that happened. He said that he has been struggling all week and that when he opened the envelope with the new scriptures inside, pulled out that book, opened it and started reading, a great warmth swept over his entire body and he realized that he had made a big mistake last week, getting angry and likewise not going to church. He promised to go to church on Sunday and asked if we would return on Tuesday to teach them again. Truly a miracle. My heart is full for him and for his humility. Faith does in fact precede miracles. Every single time.

Stay true to your faith. Turn things over to the Lord and just trust in Him. He knows what He is doing and will make things right every single time if we only follow His commandments and press forward with faith. 

I love you all and know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. He sure does love us and is aware of each and every one of us. Take care over there! :)

Mahal Kita!

-Sister Roderick