Forget Yourself

Dear family,

     Sorry, this email hasn't come in sooner! We started emailing earlier this morning but after about 20 minutes into our emailing the internet got c u t off at that store we were at. It was the same internet cafe we went to last week with the ancient computers. We JUST got done with our District Activity (we watched Big Hero 6 again!!!) and I am now laughing myself silly because this cafe we are at is...RAD. It's a gamers' cafe and there are literally a hundred gamers here and this computer I am using is super high-tech I can't even believe that I'm still in the Philippines. #blessing

+ + + + + + + + + +

Seeing Sarah

     Last Monday I got to see Sarah. Sarah, as in Sarah Padua from my second area, meaning Sarah Padua from Boni 4th. I left my heart in that area. Our roommates, Sisters Albances and Dolor, are currently assigned to that area. How cool is it that God sent me to an apartment right NEXT to my second area? I left my heart in that area. 

     Anyways, I found out from Sister Albances that Sarah was sick and that her children were, too, and all of this came out of nowhere as Sister Albances and I were just chatting at home. It was about 4 pm in the afternoon and so it was still P-Day and we were just lazing around the apartment...when all of a sudden Sister Albances told me that. The amazing thing about all of this is that the night before (Sunday night), I had been thinking about Sarah a lot. I didn't know why. She was just coming up in my thoughts over and over again and I even had an impression to visit her. SOOOOO...basically, Sister Albances telling me about Sarah from out of NOWHERE was definitely the workings of the Spirit. 

     The story ends happily and I got to go see Sarah and I bought them food etc., and I cried seeing them again because sometimes I still don't know why bad things happen to good people. BUT. God is good. I know that He will make up for all that is unfair, at the right time and at the right place. 

+ + + + + + + + + +

First Thoughts

     If you could scan my brain from the time I entered the mission to right about now, where I am reaching my 16th-month mark, you'll see how INSANELY DIFFERENT my first-morning-thought is when I open my eyes at 6:20 a.m. in the morning. Now that I am training Sister Kumari, I am really catching a glimpse of what it is like to be a mother to a child. 

     The first thing I think about these mornings is, "The alarm! AHH! I just want to sleep...My body hurts...But no! You've got to get up. Get up! You've got to get up for Sister Kumari. You've got to lead by example. Just get up!" And then I say "1-2-3" in my head...and just get up. I know that parents probably think the same way too. I mean, all of our bodies hurt every morning and NO ONE REAAAALLLYYY wants to wake up. Sleep is addictive. BUT. Parents get up. Because if they don't get up, ain't nobody's going to feed the kids and if the kids don't get fed, kids are going to die. So parents get up. That's why I get up. For Sister Kumari. Because even though I am an imperfect "parent" (trainer), I love her. And I want to teach her to choose the right.

+ + + + + + + + + +

I Understand Now

     Here's another story that has to do with my second area, with the Boni 4th area. So we are at home, and I overhear Sisters Albances and Dolor in their room talking about a certain family. The Babao family. The Babaos were less-active status when I was serving there, and missionaries from before I got there had gone and visited them...bu then somewhere along the way the visits became infrequent. When Sister Veras and I were companions, however, THAT was when we started picking them up again for regular visits. 

     At that time, Sister Veras and I didn't think much about it. We just thought that they deserved a lot more love and care from the missionaries and the ward, and so we became the "first ones" to take on a nurturing kind of role. Well. Fast-forward about nine months now, and I can safely say that I know why the Spirit led Sister Veras and I to them all those many months ago. The Babaos are doing so much better now and are getting the care that they need, and now I understand. Now I know that even if you don't harvest, you plant. 

+ + + + + + + + + +

Not Yet The Harvest

     On that note: remember how I have been making remarks that this area (Makati 1) reminds me a lot of Santa Monica? We are doing so much planting here. SOOOOOOO much planting. The time for the harvest is not yet nigh, but I know that if Sister Kumari and I can just work together to plant effectively that even after I leave Sister Kumari will have SOMETHING to reap a harvest on. I remember being her. Sunday sacrament meetings, zero investigators at church. That's been us for these past three weeks. I know that she feels a little dejected (she has admitted it herself!) but I also know that this...is a good starting area for her. She will appreciate the harvest so much more when the time comes. 

+ + + + + + + + + +

Seeing Carol

     My week would not have been complete...if I had not seen CAROL yesterday! Sweet mercies, right? Carol, as in Carol from Boni 4th, as in Marco-and-Carol Carol. I saw her and baby Charmaine yesterday, and Carol was GLOWING. She looked SO happy. There was a LIGHT about her. I can't even tell you how much warmth that brought to my heart. I was SO happy. She is so much more outspoken now and I feel like she is LIGHTER. After all these months, one of my best friends on this mission...is finally as beautiful as I always believed she could be. She has LET herself take on the beauty of change. And it shows. It shows and shines through her countenance. 

+ + + + + + + + + +

THIS MONTH

...is going to fly by. 

#notkidding

Shout-out to Gladys who managed to send in her BYU application this week! You've got this. Heavenly Father's got your back. Now we leave everything in His hands.

I love you all so much. Are you running with as much stamina as I am, towards the finish line?


With love,
Sister Teo