THERE IS SUNSHINE IN MY SOUL TODAY!!!

Hello po! Sa inyong lahat! Kumusta kayo?!

Wow I am so incredibly HAPPY today! Walang sickness this week! So you know what that means! We worked EVERY SINGLE DAY! Lol oh man this week was just AWESOME! Seriously! The two weeks that I was sick were difficult for me to handle. Not because I was sick but because I couldn't work! I was burdened every day I couldn't go out with the reality that we wouldn't be able to help our investigators and less active members progress was HARD! That word is bawal dito sa mission, pero it's the only word that describes how I was feeling so pasensiya sa salita iyan. I was also worried since we had taught so few lessons compared to what we usually do, that my language and teaching skills had .... decreased. I was worried about it quite a bit tho. PERO! I am so happy to report that everything was fine! BETTER THAN FINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously this week has been the absolute greatest and I am SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY because of it! So much has happened this week! I wish I could tell you everything! And carefully explain all the things I've learned this week and all the miracles I've seen but because of time I will settle to share only 1. 

Okay SO when I first got here our teaching pool was pretty small so in about the second week of this transfer my comp and I went tracting. Well between me getting sick and us not having much work for two weeks we weren't able to revisit and find some of the people we contacted WHICH SUCKED! I felt so guilty! But anyways there was one particular man who we found that day that my companion and I couldn't forget about. As we were walking down an alley (eskinita) and tracting to the few houses that were there, well we were so surprised when an elderly man walked right up to us and asked us our names, asked us where we were from and what our purpose was. Like seriously if I could write out a successful contact, that is exactly how it would go! Lol He took one look at our name tags and asked us if we were going to teach him before we could get 2 words out! Lol that was about a month ago, before this week we kept going back to his house and going back and his wife would tell us, "sa labas siya. bukas na lang ha!" which means, "He's out. Just tomorrow ha!" Lol and we would try our best. Well we finally contacted him this week on Tuesday in the evening. As we were walking through the market to his house, we saw him sitting on the side of the road as drunk as ever. We said hello and paid respect to his wife and then we walked over to him. He looked up at us and asked us straight out what it was that we wanted from him. We explained enthusiastically that we wanted to teach him! And he agreed right there. Lol it was pretty funny because he kept shaking our hands and asking us "single ka ba?" which means "are you single?" LOL! Honestly we were a little creeped out and unfortunately the next day when we had planned to teach him we didn't have a sister with us and we couldn't SO on Thursday we went back to his house but no one was home SO my companion and I left him a note telling him that we would come back on Saturday and teach him in the afternoon. On Saturday the member that was working with us had to go home before we could teach him so we went back to his house and as we were approaching he was waiting for us outside of his house, we regretfully told him AGAIN that we couldn't teach him but we invited him to church the next day. He agreed wholeheartedly and then proceeded to tell us with conviction and emotion that he wanted to change his life and that he knew that becoming a Mormon was the only way that he could do that. 

 

We stood there talking to him for over 30 mins and he emotionally told us a little about his life and some of the mistakes that he has made in his life. We let him talk right there in the street and we listened to what he had to say. When it was time for us to go we shook his hand and encouraged him to come to church the next day. On Sunday we went and picked up some of our investigators (it was so awesome! We had the biggest number of investigators attend sacrament meeting in this area!) and less active members we quietly hoped that he would be there. And as we walked into the church 15 mins before it was supposed to start who came walking up beside us?! WILFREDO! (thats his name) My companion and I were freaking out haha we were so happy to see him! As we sat through sacrament meeting we were constantly steeling glances at him to see what he was feeling and taking in everything that was being shared. After sacrament meeting finished he told us that he had to go, that whole time I had felt that we needed to teach him before he left and when I heard that he was about to leave I knew right then that we had to take that opportunity to teach him. I didn't care that it was in the middle of church I couldn't deny the subtle prompting that I was given. So I grabbed a sister from the relief society and my companion and we found a little corner in the chapel and started teaching him. Because all of the classrooms were taken our little corner just happened to be right next to the door to the church hahaha we did with what we had tho. And once all the young women and youth came up to us to tell us whatever we were finally able to begin the lesson. I don't have time to go into detail but what I can tell you is that the spirit was SO STRONG and so powerful in that lesson! He literally poured out his heart to us, complete strangers! And confessed to us why he wanted to become a member! Now here in the Philippines, Talaga there are so many churches! SO MANY! As he was sharing his experiences he told us that he had been to many churches! And none of had ever made him feel the way he felt that day. He also said that because he wants to change he wants to know what he should do and shouldn't because at this time in his life all he wants is to be closer to God! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! That lessons was by far the most powerful lesson I have ever taught so far on my mission because honestly this man has literally been prepared by the Lord to receive us! 

 

In Preach My Gospel it says that we live worthy of the spirit, people will recognize us as servants of the Lord and they will recognize that we are different. Honestly I wasn't sure how much that particular quote applied to me hahaha because ... well I'm me! There is nothing special, but after that lesson with him it truly testified to me of that one simple truth. We hadn't planned a lesson for him because we weren't sure if he was going to come to church but because the Spirit was there and because we were worthy of it the whole lesson played out PERFECTLY. From the things that he told us I felt that Mosiah 5:5,8 were the right versus to share to him. I wasn't sure in the beginning but chapter 5 was the chapter that stuck out in my mind and wen I went to the chapter during the lessons as I skimmed through the chapter those verses just felt right. Mosiah 5:5,8 says, "And we were willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God." vs 8 says, "And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefor, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives." Now when we started the lesson all I knew was that we should ask him how his first experience at church was and just listen to what he had to say, as we finished reading those verses and explaining them it just felt right to commit him right then and there for baptism. Now with every new investigator we teach we commit on the first or second lesson, that wasn't a big deal but WOW just the way everything happened and the fact that NONE OF IT WAS PLANNED was a huge experience for me! What made it even more awesome was that he accepted! So willingly and happily I wanted to cry! I am teaching him again on Tuesday so we'll see how this week goes! 

Brothers and sisters I want to testify to you in the best and most simple way I know that this Gospel is TRUE. As members of this church we have made certain covenants with God to be obedient and faithful to the END. Those two words take on different meanings especially at different times in our lives but one thing never changes, if we learn how to put God FIRST EVERYTHING else will fall into place. If we some how manage to make him the center of everything that we do, the blessings that we will receive will be amazing and so much more than WE EVER asked for or expected to receive. I know that we experience trials and many tribulations because of our choices and just because of life, but I also know with all of my heart that Heavenly Father is always there to guide and direct us when we allow him and when we learn to lean on Him for everything! Our strength especially. God did not create us or intend for any of us to experience this life alone OR suffer through our trials alone. I know that we can't see the future ahead of us, and we can't know RIGHT NOW what will happen 2 or 3 months down the line, but I KNOW that Heavenly Father does. And we are given trials to strengthen and INCREASE our faith to endure and our faith to overcome. With ANY of the problems and mistakes that you have now I KNOW that if you have faith first and foremost everything WILL ALWAYS FALL INTO PLACE. Better and more effectively than you ever thought possible, and I know it will happen that way because Heavenly Father is the one guiding you, NOT YOU. 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO DEARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I AM SO HAPPY HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERVING AND LEARNING EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!!!! The only thing that I want out of my mission is to BECOME a good missionary! And every day that I choose to be more faithful and obedient I can feel myself getting closer and closer to that desire one tiny step at a time. 

This Gospel is REAL and this church is TRUE. 

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh p.s. my companion is getting transferred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been trying not to cry but I will update you all next week with who my new comp is and how amazing I know she'll be. 

 

 

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and always remember to #havefaithinthethingsyouknowtobetrue. Lol sorry I had to hash tag that.

Sister Fonua

GUESS WHAT!

[From the week of March 13th] 

 

My zone won the zone activity! Lol yeah the key indicator selected this transfer was new investigators! And our zone by far had the most ... so yeah we won. Lol and this is my 3rd zone activity so far on my mish. Lol its cool because I wasn't expecting one. So I have to keep this email short because our email time has been cut down so this is going to be short! SORRY! I want to share an experience that I had at the beginning of this week! Oh also we had a baptism this week! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Okay so remember how I told you that I was sick the last time I emailed? Okay well I got sick again! Hahaha it really sucked. On Tuesday I woke up and just felt like I was going to die. I had a little fever and ... I my body was just ... in pain. After breakfast I went back to sleep hoping I would feel better when I woke up again but I didn't wake up until almost11AM. We had lunch and companionship study and I showered and then we went out. We finally got to our far area and even tho we were out my well being hadn't improved much. If anything it had gotten worse. BUT there were people that WE HAD to see that we couldn't not see so we were out. Now we were in our farthest area and because we are so far we have to start walking home around 5 or 6 because it takes 2 or more hours to get there. AND there aren't any tricy's that go that far after 5PM so if we are there past that time we walk. Which it usually turns out being so its usually not really a big deal but on that particular day I knew that I wouldn't be able to walk the entire way home and it had me super worried. By the time we ended our last appointment it was almost 6PM, dark and I was feeling worse that evening than I had all day. As we were walking back to central I was hoping with all of my heart that we would be able to get a tricy to take us home. When we finally got there, there was nothing. And when we got to the place where you wait for the tricycles there were 2 men sitting there telling us as we walked up that no tricys were available after 5 and it was almost 6. With extremely hopeful hearts we sort of just stood there waiting. The two men invited us to sit down, once we sat down we just waited. My head was pounding at that point I just wanted to cry because the road was just empty. A few time tricys actually did come by but we couldn't flag them down OR they didn't go as far as where we wanted. It was dark and I was tired and sick and the whole situation just seemed hopeless. I was getting anxious also because it was 6:30 and if we didn't leave before 7 we were probably going to get back later than 9:30PM which is the time that we are supposed to be in our apartments. 

So I was just sitting there stressing out. I started to feel all the hope that I had drain away fast as I started calculating these things in my mind and since there was still nothing and the time was just clicking away I suggested that we say a prayer. My companion said it and when she said amen I had already decided in my mind that nothing was going to happen and that we were going to have to walk. after about 2 minutes I stood up and decided that if we were going to make it home in time we'd have to leave right then. Sister Sorenson kind of looked at me like "shouldn't we give it a little more time?" lol because I am stubborn and prideful and because we didn't get IMMEDIATE results to our question I decided to take things into my own hands and to just do it the hard way and walk home even tho I was sick and even tho it wasn't the wisest option. As we were debating on what the best option for all of us was the two men that had been sitting with us the whole time told us to wait 15 minutes. I looked at my companion and at the empty road and didn't see how that would solve anything. My companion kindly encouraged me to wait and we reluctantly went and sat down again. One of the men that was sitting with us got up and walked into the road, about 5 mins passed by and a tricycle came pounding down the street, the man flagged it down and asked him if he could take us home the man accepted and said he would come back because he needed to drop everyone off first. 

As we enthusiastically thanked the man for helping us and make plans to teach him later that we I had time to reflect on the whole situation. I realized how ungrateful and demanding I was of the Lord and I also realized the scripture in D&C 98:1-3 "Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks; Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament-the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted. Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord." The end of vs 3 "and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good ..." that part is SO true. And where it says at the beginning of vs 2 "waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth" is so true also! I was blessed with the opportunity to see the weight and depth of these verses that day. In a very small situation but one that has effected me in a very big and real way. 

This life that we are given and the things that we are given to learn through our trials and weaknesses are not in any way small or insignificant. On the spectrum of eternity it is huge because the things that we are here to learn are of an eternal importance and will effect us for the rest of our lives. Now with all of the trials and weaknesses that we experience in this life it's easy to forget, like I did and it's easy let your fears and doubts over power our faith and ability to choose, just like what happened to me. HOWEVER, this doesn't in any way mean that we are alone. If those two men and my companion weren't there I would have suffered for 2+ hours walking home tired, and sick and feeling totally and completely alone. I know without a doubt that those 2 men were there for a reason and I am so grateful for their kindness and willingness to continue to encourage to wait just a little bit longer. That is how the savior loves us. That is how he succors when we need him the most. I know that for a fact, and I am SO GRATEFUL for the Lord's tender mercies in my life. I want to testify to each of you that you don't have to go through life alone! And that you don't have to suffer with your problems and trials by yourself. There will ALWAYS be someone there to life your burdens and make them light, and that some one is Jesus Christ. 

I have to go now! But I know this Gospel true. With everything that is in me I know that it is true. 

I love you all! And I hope you are doing well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love always!

Sister Fonua

pictures from the baptism :)))) miss lynzy delatorre :)

More p-day pics

we went hiking up a mountain today! it was intense and I almost died but it was so pretty at the top!!! these are some pictures :)

Add caption

the view like halfway up the mountain hahaha :)

SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS

this is me and one of the members that always work with us! :)

 

there was a black out for almost the entire day so we had all of our studies by candlelight haha it was great

Ay nako! Lol I got sick this week AGAIN! Honestly never before in my life have I ever GOTTEN THIS SICK! Lol oh goodness it has frustrated me so much! Not because I'm sick but because we miss so much work! Lol now to be completely honest I would always fake sick days because I very rarely had a REAL ONE lol and now its like I'm paying for all those fake sick days hahaha GRABE talaga!

So because I was sick so much this week I don't really have that much to tell you about the work but I was however able to ponder and really think about the time that I've spent here so far and just .... everything. I know I say this a lot but being a missionary is so rewarding! This fact never changes and remains true NO MATTER WHAT. However this doesn't take away from the fact that fulfilling the responsibilities and duties that every missionary has is challenging. In my first transfer here in the Philippines I felt so lost and confused every day. I remember putting my papers in and being so excited and hopeful and happy at the mere thought of serving a mission! Lol I remember the prep and just the enthusiasm that I had right through to the MTC. You study the scriptures and you do anything you can to prepare yourself for one of the greatest callings you might ever receive as a young adult and you really feel the blessings and rewards even before you serve and that just adds to the excitement of serving! And then you go to the MTC and you get a taste of what the field will be like and that just makes you want it even more. AND THEN you get TO the field, and you just feel lost and inadequate and totally unequipped to be doing what you are doing. This is what happened to me haha. My first transfer here was just .... a constant struggle. I often felt like somehow the Prophet made a mistake when he called me and I often found myself wanting so badly to go home. The most interesting thing about this experience was how much it CHANGED. And how much it TAUGHT ME about so many things I don't even have near enough time to share it all with you! But I will start with the most basic and the most sincere and that is trust :). When I finally learned how to trust Him I realized how many aspects of my life that one simple principle effected my life. If I could add it all up for you right now I think I would be counting forever. The reason I say forever is because when we actually allow Heavenly Father to take the lead in our lives we blessings and rewards that we reap are eternal and I know that there is no end to those blessings. When I was truly in the depths of despair feeling alone and unimportant, and feeling so incredibly inadequate it was at that moment in my mission where I realized WHO I needed to turn to for strength, guidance and direction. When I realized that I actually had to LEAN on Heavenly Father in order for my fears and my trials to be taken away I experience such an exquisite change in my life and my belief in God. It was incredible! Because it was then and only then for the first time in my life did I gain an understanding of the Atonement and all of the blessings and benefits that I can and have received from it. The reality of this blessing in my life has changed .... every thing. It has changed how I serve and WHO I choose to serve every day of my life. I have realized through small and simple things how truly incredible this life can be. I have also realized that even through our most trying days we can STILL feel peace and love from Heavenly Father. 

With trust there must always follow faith. Faith and confidence that because we are doing what is right and because we are doing the best we can that Heavenly Father WILL BLESS US. I learned a little bit about this when I was training and it has been so exciting to actually SEE this principle in the lives of others. I can't tell you how amazing and wonderful it is. Seriously the love that you feel from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is so REAL! I go through life and I live every day making so many mistakes in how I treat others, how I choose to use my time, or how I choose to be obedient, when I mess up and I experience that guilt and shame and HUMILITY I am comforted. Sometimes when you feel that way you kind forget and you are so caught up in your shame or guilt that you actually become to feel like Heavenly Father would never love or forgive some one like you .... I know with all of my heart that those things aren't true. It goes back to the simple principle of humility and patience. Heavenly Father doesn't require ANY OF US to be perfect, He only requires us to be WORTHY. Imperfect and selfish people is all that Heavenly Father has ever had to work with, and the true miracle that we will see in ourselves and others is how powerful the change He will make in our lives if we simply LET HIM. 

I know that this Gospel is true and I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ truly is infinite. All of God's children are privilege to that sacrifice and the Atonement covers and touches every aspect of our life. I know that missionary work is so important because Heavenly Father truly does want every single child of His to return to Him and the only way that this can happen is if WE SHARE WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE.

I know that God's love is pure and I know that He wants to give us everything that we could every possibly need, all we need to do is trust him and humble ourselves to do what is right. 

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I hope you are well!

See you next week!

Sister Fonua

 

here are pics from an FHE we had this past weekend. it was AWESOME! THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE! 

Lol and if you are wondering why there is lipstick on every ones face its apart of the games we play here. if you lose or mess up the punishment is a mark on the face :) hahaha we have a lot of fun with it as you can see by elder moncurs lips

 

The work is working!

Lol okay sooooooo this week has been SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously I feel like it was a month ago that I emailed you all last week but its only been 7 days hahaha. So lets see well first of all we had a really good successful week! We were able to accomplish so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have truly seen Heavenly Father magnify our efforts!

I really don't know where to start but at the beginning of the week on Tuesday! So our plan for the week was to find people and to increase the number of lessons we could teach by increasing our teaching pool. Okay so on Tuesday when we left the house in the morning before we were going to tract we had to do a couple things that should have only taken 15-20 mins tops .... 2 hrs later! Lol we were feeling frustrated and annoyed that we wasted so much time! (Those things were necessary which is why we made sure we got them done) Anyways we went and had a quick lunch and then went to the tricy terminal so that we could go to our farthest area. Well on the way there, even tho the ride was bumpy and uncomfortable I was so tired I almost fell asleep lol and by the time we got there I just felt like ... hitting my head against the wall. Lol we went to our first appointment and nobody was home, as we were making the short walk back to the main road I was our morale was pretty low. We both looked tragic and tired and we both just felt like going home, SO when my companion looked at me and said "Where to next?" The word "HOME!" almost came out of my mouth, lol thankfully tho instead of saying this I suggested that we stop where we were and say a prayer. My companion suggested that I offer it so I just said a simple little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help us, and guide us to those people that would receive us and to those that have been prepared. When I said amen we walked on and I shamefully admit that I wasn't expecting anything. In my mind I was just hoping that we would be able to fill the time that we had to be out there and I just really wanted that feeling of being tired and lazy to go away. WELL because my companion is simply AMAZING! Lol with in about 2-3 minutes she stopped to talk to a few people on the side of the road, because I wasn't paying attention lol I kept walking until I realized my companion wasn't behind me so I stopped and practically ran back to her. Once we sussed everyone out we ended up teaching them a lessons where we gained 6 new investigators! After that we just went tracting and exploring through our area and by the end of the day we had gained 10 new investigators! We used any and every opportunity we had, whether it was talking to little lola's on the side of the road just chillin, OR helping anyone and everyone sweep their yard or wash their clothes. Every time we are out we use any and all of these tactics to find and on Tuesday everything just came together. We reached the mission standard of excellence for new investigators in one week in a single day! What just added to the brilliance of that day is that twice when were were teaching about 4-5 people by the end of our lessons there were nearly 20 people eagerly listening shyly to our lesson. In addition to this we had split's with the STL's this week and we were able to learn a lot from them! And they helped us gain even more investigators! I have really seen the blessings that come from being obedient and diligent especially when you are on the Lord's time. I have been so blessed to see how beautiful and incredible the Gospel can be in other people's lives when they truly believe it and then live exactly what they believe! 

I have really seen how incredibly important my own personal worthiness is in helping this work progress and how important it is that I keep the rules and work as hard as I can every day to be obedient. At the beginning of my mission I am not going to lie I struggled. I viewed the rules as a vague guideline, and one that I could choose when and how I kept them. In the last 6 months tho the Lord has literally shown me how wrong I am! Literally through small and simple things I have literally been brought to a better and much happier perspective. Because every day here I have been more and more willing to give up the things of the world for the Lord I have literally seen miracles. Within my self and within the work. In Mosiah 2:41 it says "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." I know how true and incredibly powerful these verses are! I know that if you work hard with all of your heart and stay faithful to the end, your reward is so much more than you will ever be able to imagine. I love this Gospel with all of my heart and I am so grateful that I am here in the Philippines, laboring every day to bring more souls unto Christ! I know much the Savior love's us and I know how much Heavenly Father loves us! 

I love you all! Sorry for the mejo short email! I love you!!!!!!!! 

Sister Fonua

I took that picture yesterday when we were walking home from one of our appointments.

and this picture was taken with my batch mates after the mission tour! (that we had this week)

this is just a cool pic I took in my area haha

we went to the mall after the mission tour and we had REAL PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
thats my district ... well most of them :))