Best friends
Especially since going into my young adult life, I have always been very cautious about making girlfriends. I mean, I have many girlfriends but I don't call all these girlfriends my "best friends." Not sure if this is just a Kimberly thing or it's a female thing, but in female friendships, there can be different levels of "girlfriend"-friendship. ANYHOW. (If Annabelle or Valerina or Jowelle or Helena is reading this, Y'ALL ARE UP THERE ON THE SCALE, SO DON'T WORRY) This last week I got letters from Sarah and Carol again. It always excites me to get to read their letters because they are always so sincere with what they say. I can't believe that it has been 17 weeks since I left that area. And still we are in each other's hearts. These two women, in particular... (I know, I've been off Palawan for a long time but I'm STILL talking about them...they really have a part of my heart. They became my friends, and I am so grateful they trust me. And I trust them, too. In both their letters this week they said that I am one of the best friends that they've ever had.
I'm not mentioning this to attract attention; I mention this in the humblest way possible. That I am SO grateful that God let me meet them. That I was able to help. That I will continue to be able to help them. That I am now a part of their lives. These people, the Filipinos. They trust and they love so easily. Maybe that's where I got that side of my from. Maybe it's in my genes.
I'm excited to see how my life will continue to intertwine with theirs.
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This girl (area) is on fire
No, not a reference to Alicia Keys (although I miss that song). Meeting with Elder Maynes this last Tuesday was SO rewarding. He is such a down-to-earth person with the chillest personality EVER. You'd be surprised to know how friendly and cool he is. Anyways, he talked alot about making sure that we go out and serve and set our areas on fire. And set ourSELVES on fire with the love that we have for this work. President Ostler must've listened VERY intently to his talk because that night we got a text from him (to all the missionaries) that for the next four days, we'd all have to leave the house at 10 a.m and not come home until 9 p.m. in order for us to be finding new people to teach and to be teaching more lessons! Talk about FIRE. President was on fire and he was spreading the fire alright! (I still can't believe that I work this many hours in a day. I would've laughed myself silly at the thought if you told me about this a couple of years ago!)
Side note: the entire fireside with Elder Maynes was more or less a Q&A-led type of meeting, and guess whose QUESTION from the Q&A he picked to talk on for the ENTIRE span of the meeting??!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!!!!! YEAAA. ME. OKAY. THANKS. :) He picked my question. About how to develop the faith to achieve a miracle, about the GOALS it takes to make miracles happen. Yay. Memorable.
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$ VS. NO $
What an eye-opener it has been, living in the Philippines. And what an even GREATER eye-opener it has been, serving in these two wards. On one hand we have people we work with that live in very, very humble circumstances. So in one hour we could be teaching someone in their small house, where their living room is basically their kitchen and also their bedroom and their bathroom. And then the next hour we could go to a member/investigator from the 4th ward, and the contrast there is STARK. We switch back and forth between money-no money-money-no money places & people, and I cannot believe how much I know now about what it is to live with so little, or to live with more than enough. Before my mission I was such so ignorant about the world! I'm glad that I know just this much more, now. + + + + + + + + + +
Sarah
Can I just say: Sister Furner is the BOMB. Oh man. I love her. I sent stuff back with her, so hopefully you get it from her when you guys meet up this Thursday for Thanksgiving. Send her my love! And she said that my Tagalog was the bomb? We didn't even talk much in Tagalog except for a few lines! HAHA. She's too nice. I have pictures for you of her and I together.+ + + + + + + + + +
A child's testimony
One of the kids that got baptized the same day as Sarah's nephew bore a VERY heartfelt testimony after his baptism. You have to remember, this kid is EIGHT. He is eight years old. And...this sweet thing, in the middle of his testimony, starts to cry. He is legitimately crying. How? How do little kids feel the spirit SO strong? The spirit filled the entire room as he spoke. It felt like we were on FIRE! There are CHOICE spirits here on Earth, I know that. + + + + + + + + + +
Shout-out to dad
You sent this in your email this week:
"Abnormal thought patterns: excessive worry can seriously impair a missionary’s ability to serve. Perfectionism, which is a consuming need to be perfect, can also become a crippling mental health issue."
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Talk about HITTING BULLS-EYE, Dad! I'm such a perfectionist. I need to be less rigid about all the details and trust the Lord in this.
I love you all! There's always SO much that happens in one week that it's hard to decide WHAT to talk about, exactly. Good thing I keep a very good journal (I'll pride myself on this a little, heehee ;). Save any and all questions for after the mission :) Or for our Christmas call! FIVE WEEKS TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With love,
Sister Teo
P.S. Thank you for ALL your prayers. I felt SO strengthened this week. Thank you. So much.
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