Getting to work--for real this time!

 

Hello friends!

This could be my very favorite week so far! It was a week of getting to work. I am completely exhausted, but so happy. If any of you know me, you know that my goal for my mission was to work until I was completely exhausted. This week, I got my wish!

This week, my companion and I looked at our area and looked at what needed to be improved (there was a lot). So, we made plans and got to work!!

We looked at our area map and realized that there were a lot of areas that had never been explored! So, one day, we packed a lunch, and headed to one of the far areas! It was soooooo expensive to travel there so we had to make the most of our time there. In one day, we found 18 people! It was amazing. Most people had not heard of the missionaries, so it was really easy to teach a message. Our conversations went like this:

“Can we ask a question? What Purok (block) is this?”

“Ohhhh! Thank you!”

“Why?”

“Ohhh! We are missionaries…”

 It was a good time. I am getting pretty good at finding now! Sister Nacar is amazing at it, and she is teaching me all her tricks!

There were definitely hard things that happened this week. We had to drop one of the people that we visited on my first day here. She was the first person I put on baptismal date, but lately, she has been avoiding us. We haven’t been able to teach her in over a month and we had to keep moving her baptism date back.

This week we finally got to talk to her. It was a really good conversation. It was full of love. It was very bittersweet though. We love her so much and we want her to continue, but it just isn’t the right time now. Hopefully one day, she will be ready, and we can visit her again.

That was a really hard and sad day. We went back to some people we had found and a lot of them were not interested in keeping commitments and didn’t want to continue with us. But it is okay because we will work to find more people who are ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was reminded of my purpose this week. I really want to help people find the truth of the gospel. I want to help people find more joy and peace in their lives too! It is hard to say goodbye to friends, but it is okay too. I still love all of them, even if we don’t get to visit them as often. It gives us another opportunity to find more people who are interested in our message.

Being a missionary is amazing and hard. But working hard is amazing. I loved that every night, I practically collapsed into bed and slept so well. It was perfect. We taught over 35 lessons this week and just got to work. It was the perfect week for me, and I cannot wait to do it again.

Our area is struggling a little bit right now, so if you could send prayers our way so that we can find people who are ready to hear the gospel, we would really appreciate it! But I am ready for another week to seek and expect miracles.

 For my spiritual thought this week, I wanted to share a verse that someone else shared with me this week. It is Alma 26:27-28

 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

I think almost all missionaries are aware of these verses, but they are so beautiful. Sometimes we have really hard situations. But we can do nothing but press forward. When we press forward and don’t turn back, then the day of deliverance does come. I testify that when we hold on through the difficult times, when we hold on when we cannot see the light or the hope when we keep pushing forward trusting—it will one day get better. We see that God does keep His promises. We see that there is hope and joy to be found eventually. I testify that there is light at the end of the pain. I am sure many of you are facing things that are hard right now, but it will get better. God promises that when we trust in Him, we will be delivered. I testify that this is true. I know that God walks with us in our trials and sees us out the other side. When we rely on Him, we will make it through our affiliations and find joy.

I had a super cool opportunity to speak with Elder Bangerter, the area president here in the Philippines. He called me because of some of the hard things that happened during my training. But it was truly a miracle to be able to speak with him and feel his love. He also gave me and my companion a blessing that our area would improve, and we would see our efforts work out which was amazing. I testify that God is aware of us and sees us in our trials. The day of deliverance does come.

This was an amazing week, and I cannot wait to see where my next week takes me with Sister Nacar!

I love you all and I miss you!

Have a great week!

The Church is true, God loves you,
Be happy, Be brave, Be smart,
Love,
Sister Miller