Greetings Family!! What a great week! Again! (Do I start all my emails this way??). Let me just tell you all how weird time is as a missionary. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. So much so that people email and say "it's been so long since I've written I'm so sorry!" and I'm just thinking "wait... I feel like you emailed me last week..." hehe I can't keep track of time! We memorize the dates of the Saturdays in the month to extend baptismal dates to investigators and it's really weird to be planning for around Christmas time.. I just know it will come so fast!!
So let me tell you about our baptism this week!! Sister Alexis and Brother RJ John.. I can't explain how much I love these kiddos!!!!!! A close comparison is the Hooper girls :) Seriously Sister Alexis is just the sweetest little thing with a huuuuge desire to learn about the gospel!! She is 11 years old. And I love her story! Her mom is a very very long time less active. I met her a long time ago and we visited her once but not regularly. Then one time we were visiting an elderly woman in the same neighborhood and she told us that Sister Zaragosa (Alexis' mom) told her that she wants the missionaries to teach her family. So we followed up and when we went to Sister Zaragosa's house she was really busy and we couldn't teach, but all she said was she would go to church the next Sunday, promise. So we left (not thinking much about it because of how many times missioanaries get told that by less active members) and loe and behold the next Sunday she was waiting at the entrance for Sister Arcinas and I with her daughter and 2 granddaughters who are all not members but were excited to go to church!! We were so happy! Sister Zaragosa is so strong. Her husband is not a member and they don't have the means for her (let alone with her daughter and granddaughters as well) to sakay sa tricycle (ride a tricycle) to church so they usually walk. Sister Zaragosa was so determined to return to church she has sacrificed a lot this last month that we have visited their family almost every day. We've also met other people through them and it's really such a tender mercy to see Sister Zaragosa back at church with her youngest daughter as a new member. :)
Then Brother RJ John!! He is a member of the Mukarram family. OHHHHHHH how I love them! They are the family with 8 kids and Erlinda is the oldest. Sister Erlinda was one of my first baptisms in this area and I've taught RJ John since the day I got here! He is so so sweet and I am determined to take a picture of his cheesy smile that he always gives me when we come to his house. AH! He's just the sweetest. He's 10 years old and his mom is also a Less Active member. She works every day allllll day long to feed all her children (and yessss I always bring too many crackers in my bag to give them at the end of the day).. but oh how I love this family! Okay okay, that's the last time I will say that :) I JUST WISH YOU COULD ALL MEET THESE PEOPLE!!! Why does coming to the Philippines have to be so expensiiiiiive????!
Okay well back to the baptism. We had it after Stake Conference so that's why it was getting dark outside in the pictures (not very good quality- sorry!). Their cute little testimonies just melted my heart! Of course the first thing they said was how cold the water was...and RJ John giggled through his entire testimony. haha But the spirit was strong and it was a good experience :) Baptisms are the best!!
So Sunday is like "judgement day" as a missionary for everyone that you've taught throughout the entire week. The people that come to church or the ones that we try to focus on the next week because they are really showing their faith and desire to find the truth through coming to church. Some of these people- at church is the first time we meet them! That's my favorite! It's like Christmas every Sunday that this happens :) Yesterday we had 3 Christmas present from our recent converts that brought their friends to church! The best thing is they are not overly shy to come with their "on fire" recent convert friend and it makes me SO excited the start of the week to teach these prepared, new, fresh investigators!! I am so excited to follow up with them, extend them baptismal date on the first visit, answer their questions, and find out why and where their desire came from to come to church. It's so great!! These people (from what I've seen) progress about 10x faster (or more) than an ordinary person that we would meet and invite to church. It just goes to show how important members are in this work!!!
I will put the bloopers and funnies for this week in the middle kay sayang and pagpamatuod ko sa katapusan.. haha
~ I broke my first chair this week!! Yeeeee... it happens to almost all Foreign missionaries that serve here. How many stories have I heard.. and YES it's embarrassing!! Thankfully in the same night the host of the house ALSO broke one of her chairs too.... so I didn't feel near as bad once that happened. I guess we both have a couple pounds to lose. haha
~ We had such a funny conversation with this old man that we passed by that we tried to start teaching... we started talking to him and when we introduced ourselves he asked if we could help him by giving him money or something and Sister Arcinas confidently replied how we help people through the message that we have to share instead of by giving temporal things... and he got so excited because what HE heard was BULONG (meaning "medicine") but what Sister Arcinas said was PULONG (meaning "words"... like pulong sang dios: "words of God"). Well it was really really rough to come back from that and he was listing off all the medicines that he needs and all his symptoms of old age and wouldn't let neither Sister Arcinas or I talk to clarify that he heard her wrong. hahahaha thankfully he didn't look like he was in critical condition for anything and don't worry he had a nice house of his own that he was sitting outside of... it just was his so funny because I guess one of his symptoms is also hard of hearing!!
~ When I asked someone about committing crimes I wasn't really sure what the word for "crime" was so I took my best guess (and that's where I should've asked my companion instead) because what I really said was CREAM (like what they put in their coffee..). Me: "Have you ever committed a serious cream?"... Nanay: "I haven't done anything with cream since I stopped drinking coffee.." hahahaha oops.
So transfers are coming up and I'm really hoping I stay in this area another transfer because it's really amazing!! This WORK (not matter where you are) is amazing!! Thinking about how many baptisms we had for October... my mind is still blown.. how in the WORLD did this happen?! It's a whole lot of tender mercies and miracles from the Lord. I know and can testify that miracles come through obedience. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and love the Bacolod Philippines Mission!! With Gwen continuing to prepare for her mission, I am more excited than ever for her to experience this unreal joy that comes from helping other come closer to Jesus Christ through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. The promise is the same for us ALL! To return to live with our Heavenly Father again. :) He loves us so much and I LOVE HIM TOO!!
I thank Him every day for giving me the best family in the world:)
I love you all!!!!!!!!
Sister Judd
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