February 10, 2014

Family!!!!

Thank you sooo much for your emails!!!! LOVE reading about how you're doing each week! Sounds like you're each doing great even with all the bummy things that happens to us in life-thanks for your continual positive outlook on life! 

Great news! I was able to withdraw and BOOM I bought a new camera! Thanks Dad for checking!!! Don't know what happened, but good news, its all been working out now. thanks!

So this week... fantastic. As in soooo great. I love love love sharing the happiness that this gospel brings to us! Seeing people make changes in their lives, seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ working fully-what an amazing opportunity I have every single day. Every single morning I wake up just to be a missionary for one more day-I love it. 

This week we had exchanges in beautiful Baler!! It is the place every single missionary wants to be assigned because that is one of the only areas where the ocean is! And I was given the great chance to go on exchanges there and experience beautiful Baler! It was awesome. And truly it is beautiful. It's also the farthest area in the mission, and the ride was about 4 hours on a bus ha ha and Dad just think "the road to Sennica" and you'll know how the bus ride was. it made me laugh.

So I had exchanges with Sister Brady from Lindon Utah, a new missionary 19 years old, and she's been here for only one transfer. She was awesome! I'm so impressed with all the new missionaries! They have great teaching skills, they have a great Spirit, and they learn Tagalog so quickly! The gift of tongues is real i'm telling you. I still think that over a year ago the only Tagalog I knew was from what Uncle Jon and YouTube taught me. Gift of tongues-the Lord blesses His children to learn and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ in their own native tongue. What a loving God we have! Also-where did Uncle Jon and Randal serve? I know it's not the same mission I'm in but I' have a bunch of companions that have been familiar with the Elder Davidson in their areas a long time ago. What years did they serve also? it's a small world-it's completely possible my companions met my uncles so long ago!

Then I had an exchange with Sister Azañe who is also still new in the mission and she is awesome! I learn so much from these awesome Sisters I go on exchanges with. Like really, I am so blessed to have this calling. I love being an instrument in the Lord's hands to help His precious daughters who are serving with everything they've got. 

As beautiful and as wonderful and amazing as the exchanges were in Baler, it felt sooo good to come back home to our apt her in Cabanatuan! We were away for 3 days and coming back to Cabanatuan, coming back to these people who we are serving here felt like coming back to family. Seeing our investigators, LA again, and even the members-getting to serve them again and check to see how they're doing, how we can help them-such a great feeling. We as missionaries are definantly in the areas the Lord wants us in, and I am so grateful I've always loved all of my areas! 

I love everything about missionary work! I love this gospel and the true joy and deep happiness that comes from living the Lord's way. The power of prayer, of scripture study, of giving yourself up in the work of the Lord is amazing and I am truly blessed to be part of it.

Love you all! Mahal ko kayo!

-Sister Davidson :)

Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. The Beautiful Sisters in Cab Zone!!! 

2. In the bus on the way to Baler!

3. Sister Reyes taking a nap on the long bus ride! Side note-Filipinos are amazing and I love them and they have this amazing talent to sleep anywhere and through anything. Like seriously. 

4. We met and started talking to these sweet old people and turns out they're in a band. So we convinced them to give us a free show-on the spot they preformed a sweet song to us! Ha ha it was great. 

 1. Okay remember the ride at Disneyland where you're sitting on a boat and see all the native people, with the crockidles and hipos and what not? They totally were inspired by this area.

2. It's like working in the jungle! It was awesome! This was the way to get to one of their investigators, and then recent converts houses!

3 I love Sister Brady! (From Lindon UT and she's awesome!)

4. Sister Brady leading the way!

 1. and then Sister Brady checking to see if anybody was home. 

2. The view after walking through the forest! Also this is a sweet boat that some people were using! From what I could see from the fast time they passed by it was made all out of bamboo but then they added a motor to it to make it go. I'm so impressed with the way these people use the resources around them! Also notice-Baler is in the mountains! It was soooo beautiful!!!

3. This family was baptized last December and are so kind! They live such a simple life and are happy although they don't look it from the picture. This Sister has a cute laugh ha ha so it was fun to get her to laugh.

4. The area with Sister Azaña in Baler! Still sooo beautiful! 

1. Sister Azaña leading her area! She is awesome and it is like she's been here for 9 months instead of 9 weeks! She is funny and loves this work! It was a great exchange!

2. Getting to our appointment! This area was so great to work in! And these people, were incredibly incredibly kind! Why is it that those who seem to have sooo little are the happiest in life? I love their examples to me.

3. Me in a picture to prove that I was here.

4. And then me and Sister Azaña to prove that we were on exchanges with each other for one day! 

1. Before we came home we stopped by the ocean to see it! It was beautiful!!!!!!!

2. Just going for a quick surf! Jokes. 1. It's not allowed in any way or form ha ha 2. I've never surfed in my life.

3. The ocean was soooo beautiful! What a blessing to be able to go see it!

4. Getting fancy with the picture taking! 

1. Serious surfers.

2. fancy with the camera! But the view here is soooo pretty!!

3. the world is sooo beautiful!

 

  1. I can't BELIEVE I forgot to mention this story! And that is why I love having pictures b/c my memory is terrible.

This Tatay-Tay Rolito! Is one of our investigators who has come to church 2 times and is awesome! We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he was very hesitant to follow it. He kept talking about Moses and then he kept talking about how only sometimes he uses coffee so it's okay "minsan minsan" ha ha anyway. We asked him if he believes Moses was a prophet of God. He said yes. We asked if Moses had given us the commandment of the WOW would he follow it. He had to think about that one. We then explained how Joseph Smith was a prophet like Moses so he needs to pray and ask God if Joseph Smith was a true prophet so he can know if the WOW is really a commandment or not. He comitted to do so. He also commited to get rid of his coffee. Ha ha we felt we should help him so we got all the coffee he had in the house and we all dumped it out on the ground. then in his coffee holder we put pictures of Jesus and a bunch of candy so that when he goes to go for coffee he sees Christ instead. This was on Tuesday right before we left to Baler so we weren't able to check up on him for 3 days. When we came back on Saturday-he hadn't drinken coffee! He said it was hard and he laughed everytime he went to go get coffee and instead saw Christ. Then he complained that Milo isn't as good as coffee but he would still continue to resist coffee. He is still praying about Joseph Smith. But Tay is awesome and it was such an answered prayer that he resisted coffee for all the time we were gone in Baler! Ha ha I love Tay!

2. Ha ha Tay definantly doesn't look happy to give up his coffee, but we were laughing right before and after the picture. 

3. FHE last week! With one of our less active families we visit! The support from the ward is AMAZING!!! Ward 3 is the best and I love them!! This family is coming back to church b/c of the great support from the ward!

4. I love the Jiminez family! They're coming back strong!

That's all folks! It's a lot! But I went picture crazy this week! I love pictures and the memories they bring. Please pray for Tay Relito that he'll receive an answer to his prayers about Joseph Smith.

I love you all!!! Hope you enjoy your weeks! Hope you're doing what you know the Lord would have you do to help those around you!

-Sister Davidson :)