April 15, 2013

Pamilya ko,

This week has gone by so fast....and transfer announcements are coming this next weekend. But there have been some really great experiences this last week. We had the opportunity to start an English class in the Iriga Branch. And the teacher is...well...the only fluent English speaker. I am hoping that I am teaching them well and helping them to become confident in their English. I have learned so much from this class so far and I am excited every Tuesday and Thursday to help the members and others to progress in their skills. I have especially felt the blessings through some of the members and I am hoping to continue to be a support and a blessing for them.

We are continuing to strive to find new investigators...the work is difficult. But I feel that the Lord doesn't give it to us easily, because He loves us and wants us to help others....but as we do so, He wants us to learn too. I only wish I could express to you in words what I have learned about this since I have been in Iriga. I am only hoping that I can continue to bless this area and prepare the people to receive the gospel more fully.

I had the opportunity to listen to General Conference at the Branch building on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't get to listen to the whole conference, but from what I have listened to, I have felt the love of my Savior and His guidance in my life. I hope to use and apply and live what I have received through His servants.

I know that the Lord lives and that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the true church on this earth. I know that the Lord guides and leads His people now as He did through His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that the Lord is hastening His work and has a great work ahead of all members. I hope that you all had a wonderful time learning of the gospel and the blessings that it can bring into our lives.

 

bedroom in Iriga

 

study area

 

stairs to a church in Iriga

 

the view at the top of the stairs

 

 

 

April 8, 2013

Pamilya ko,

Masaya ako na gusto po ninyo ang pictures ko. Sorry that I haven't taken any other pictures...the weeks are so busy...but I will try to get some more this next week and share them with you. We live in a house. The house we live in here is really nice. There are three bedrooms in the house...I will take pictures this week and send them next week. It is in a really nice area too...away from all the noise, looking out to the rice fields.

This week was a rough one...of all the work, we had an average of two lessons per day. kawawang araw (sad day)...We are trying so hard to find new investigators and meet with all our less actives. There is a lot to do, but we are struggling to do the missionary work (bringing in new members)...so we had a One Day Mission, with the branch. This is where the branch works together to go out to visit the less actives. We had a really great turn out of members and there was a lot of blessings that came from their efforts. I hope that we can really get the members to work together to reactivate some of their members, so the missionaries can focus on finding new members...but with time. We also had a baptismal invitation accepted this week. But it will take time to help them reach the baptismal waters...but we are excited to have a progressing investigator.

Easter...it was really great...I will tell you about the only thing was watching all the excitement with the Catholic church. And of course we went out to share the message about the Savior. But the holiday "Easter" in itself is not celebrated here...but the birth of Christ is.

 

I think that is everything...thank you so much for everything you do. I am extremely grateful for you all and for the love and support that I receive from you spiritually, mentally and physically. God bless you! Mahal na mahal kita!

Ingat palagi po,

Sister Pace

April 1, 2013

Kumusta Pamilya ko!

I hope that you are all doing well. This week was a tough one....plenty of appointments....just none of them went through. It has been a great experience sa Iriga, to learn how to tract and use the language more openly. We are at week 4 of this transfer and I will be staying here, because my companion will have been in the area for six months. It should be lots of fun. We are working to help the members in their responsibility in missionary work and the purpose they have in reactivating and retaining. It should be good to see how it goes in a 1 day mission with the branch. I am sad that I will not have Conference this week, but we will have the chance to see it on the 13th and 14th.

I want to share with you my thoughts about Easter. It is a glorious time to reflect in the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior. An opportunity to truly partake of the wonderful gift that He has given to us. I love to ponder on the life of out Savior, because He exemplified all that we need to be. I have come to see many struggles and trials while being out on this mission....but the glorious part has been the opportunity to reflect on the life of my Savior and see the way to overcome. Jesus Christ overcame death for us--He took upon Himself, our sins, infirmities and troubles. He laid down His life and then took it again as a perfected and resurrected being. It is wonderful to know that He gave so much for us. But this I know...He lives! For through Him, we find the strength and the courage to overcome and endure through the circumstances of life. I know that through the act of the Resurrection, we will have to opportunity to raised up to our God, to be in His glory. WE can find the way through the life of our Savior to become like Him and receive the glory that He has. I hope that this Easter you will ponder upon the blessings of the Resurrection in your life and the peace that it brings to you.

Mahal na mahal kita! At I hope na magkakaroon kayo ng mabuting linggo! I will talk to you soon!!!

Ingat palagi!

Sister Pace

March 25, 2013

Pamilya ko,

I have attached a picture of my companion and I. I am sorry that I don't have many pictures...it is hard to take pictures all the time....but I take them when I can :) Our companionship is going well. This week was a challenge. We are still working to find more investigators and build up the branch. We are having a difficulty with the LAs, but hope to be of help to them, by increasing their faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I am seeing so much more that there really is no reliance on "our" timetable...only the Lord's can determine the placing of blessings and experiences, etc.

 
This week was a lot of traveling back and forth between places...I wish I could draw a map for you, so you could see what the area looks like...it is beautiful...we can see the great Mayon (the famous volcano here) from our house. There were lots of appointments with LAs...so many of them have stopped wearing their garments...it is sad to hear and some are preventable. But I have really seen how the adversary starts to plant sour seeds in the hearts of the children of men. And if we are not careful enough, we can nurture it. I am saddened by the stories of some of the LAs and the reasons they give, for not being faithful. The harder part is trying to show them their part in the plan of salvation and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But we had a few appointments with potential investigators...we are hoping to help them feel the power of the gospel. and hopefully we can find more this week.

I will try to take more pictures...it is a city, just like Sorsogon. I traveled by bus and jeepney and tricycle in order to get to my apartment. It was a long travel :P but we travel by tricycle everywhere. The area is not to far in some areas, but more far in other. The area here is more developed...there are not so many houses out here that are just bamboo siding. Come April there will be more American sisters...there are lots of American elders, but coming in April is a large batch of Americans. I will not be too outnumbered...but you should see the people here when they see an American...especially an American female. It is so weird to them...and so funny to me. Even funnier when I start to talk to them in Tagalog :P

I hope you all have a great week...marami salamat sa inyong pagmamahal and patnubay!

Mahal na mahal kita!

Sister Pace

 

Sis. Pace & Sis. Pal

 

March 18, 2013

So...the moment you have been waiting for... Sister Pace has been transferred to....

IRIGA 1B

The area is four hours north of where I was in Sorsogon. So it was a fun trip from one place to another. But Iriga is definitely beautiful in all senses. Iriga use to be one set of sister missionaries, but now there are four of us...so my companion and I have the new part (as you can probably take from the 'B'). My companion is Sister Pal from Tarlac, Philippines. She is 21 years old and has been out for a transfer longer than me...but she is in my batch to leave in May 2014. She is really great...sweet in every aspect and really quirky too ;) It has been a lot of fun working with her :) She has been in the area since she arrived in the mission...in November. She is a pro-tracter and a loving missionary to all the people. I am so grateful to have her as a companion and so blessed to have her as my senior companion :)

This last week was really tough...one because of transfers, but two...because it is a new area, it is to square one--less actives and tracting. Everyday we spend a good amount of time tracting to find new investigators. There are so many less actives in this area...well...most of the less actives in our branch are in our area (1B). But I am starting to figure that there is a reason to why the Lord has Sister Pal and I in this area...we may not know why right now, but we will come to know sooner or later. I never thought that I would go from an area where we could easily find investigators and work to bring more members to our Savior...but it is really tough here. Most people are deep Catholic and it becomes hard to share what we believe with them, because they don't want to hear it. But I am trying my hardest to remeber that I have a purpose here and I know that as I try my hardest to be a righteous disciple, the Lord will bless me and help me to bless and help the people here. Since being here, there is a lot to be learned. I am learning to rely on my Lord and to turn to Him and submit myself to His will...I am not perfect at it yet...I know that through the power of His Atonement, all is possible.

The members in this branch are really great and so full of love. Iriga is so beautiful...I think it is more beautiful than Sorsogon...I attached a picture of the scenery outside our front door. And I will take more pictures sa inyo.I really enjoy it because it is so quiet where we live. The scenery is so different from Sorsogon...the houses are all so beautiful and large...it seems to be more established...I have not seen any "shacks" as houses in this area. The people are a lot easier to understand too...not so far south, so the Bicol is not as deep...but they still have their own dialect. But they all speak some Tagalog and I can understand them for the most part...the hard part now is that they all speak so fast! But it will all work out.

Thank you so much for your emails and I am happy to have had the chance to email you this week!!!

Love you all so much!!!! Mahal na mahal po kita!!!!

Ingat po palagi,

Sister Pace

 

converts from Sorsogon

Iriga

 

March 11, 2013

There was a lot going on this week....it felt long, but it went by so fast. We had a family home evening with a less active family, Labasbas. They are really great and there is a spirit within their family that just makes your feel so happy and joyful in their presence. Many of our appointments throughout the week fell through, but we tried our best to continue forward in faith. We had a community service project (CSP) for one of our recent converts, Antonio. We went out to a house that has be "rented" to him, in order to be able to live. He had been rejected out of his family's house in another part of Sorsogon. So we went out to help harvest rice and clean up the area for him. It was great to see the branch member come together and help. We even had an investigator (who was baptized this saturday) come out and help us harvest and clean up the area. We had our typical visits to our less actives in one town...and things have just turned for the worst. It is so disheartening to hear the stories...because I am to the point that I don't know how to help them or know what to say. I hope that they start to remember their Lord, so that He can help them. We have a new investigator this week, who is 80 years old. She is a very sweet little old woman. I really enjoyed teaching her and sharing with her the joy of the gospel. I hope that we will be able to continue to share with her the blessings. One of the families we teach is largely less active, but we teach the wife of one of the brothers, who is a recent convert. I have not always felt comfortable teaching them, and so it was really surprising when I went in with a plan to share about faith. I felt so comfortable sharing with them...and I felt that I really learned a lot about faith and the principle of building our faith in God. I really felt the Spirit and I felt that both parties were benefactors of the lesson on faith. We had Zone training on Friday...there was a lot to be learned about teaching pure doctrine. I really learned a lot about what I want to do in order to become a better teacher of the gospel. It has been a struggle because in many cases, there are struggles in beliefs of how to teach, between companions. But maybe both parties learned something... We had another lesson for an investigator, but ended teaching his less active grandmother...she was complaining about the time for church. And that was her reason for attending another church. I didn't understand all that she said, and I don't know if I got my point across to her, or if I know what I said exactly. But I bore my testimony to her about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, being the only true church...the time may not be perfect, but the doctrine is perfect. I felt that it was one of those of moments were you confound the unbelievers...or I offended her. I haven't gotten down the language, so I don't know what she thinks about what I said. We closed the week with a lesson with our most recent convert, Marnil. I can't tell you how much joy I have in this convert. He reminds me so much of myself when we joined the church. You can see the light of the gospel in his eyes and the strength that the Lord has given to him. I have so much pride and joy in this convert...I am going to miss seeing him progress. As for transfers...I will not find out where I am going until tomorrow, during transfers. However...here is the story...My companion and all the other sisters in our apartment were really certain that Sister Carrasca was going to be transferred...enough to the point that she started packing and taking pictures with members, etc. And I was okay with the fact that I was staying...I didn't do anything to prepare for transfers. And then when the announcement came Saturday morning...I saw the excitement and joy of transfers drain out of her. I wouldn't say that she is bitter or upset...just really disappointed. I am going to miss Sorsogon...it has a special place in my heart :) But I know that the Lord has a plan for me. The biggest thing with me being transferred is to prepare me, for April....because I will probably train in April...a native though, because I don't have the language down (unless I get it this next transfer). We will see what the Lord has in store for me. I will tell you next week where I have been placed.
Until then....Mahal na mahal po kita!!!
Ingat po palagi,
Sister Pace

community service project-harvesting rice

 

members of the branch

March 3, 2013

This week has been good. There was a lot of sun this week...I have a nice sunburn on my shoulders and neck from walking around. I feel like a farmer. (Like from Matthew 13) Planting seeds in the ground...The work has been hard, but we are hoping that some seeds begin to sprout. Many of the appointments we planned this week fell through, or people were always busy. But there is always a bright side to things, right?! We had many opportunities to talk with neighbors (mga kapitid na bahay) and share with them the gospel. Some have resulted in return appointments. We are continually trying to figure out how to help our investigators to come closer to their Savior...and sometimes it becomes really difficult when you are speaking Tagalog and they are speaking a different dialect. We have several investigators right now that are having difficulties in getting married, in order to qualify for baptism. Some of the stories are really sad and others are just impossible. In the end, some investigators are going to have to remain investigators for a long time, in order to qualify for baptism. There are baptisms about every week here...good...but the hard part is keeping those new members active in the wards or branches. We are seeing a lot of that as we re-evaluate the members, recent converts, less actives and investigators in our branch. We are hoping that we can continue to strength the branch, so that the missionaries can have help from the ward/branch. If there is one thing that I have learned thus far, it is this: Members are so highly important to the work of a missionary. For without the member the missionary work is of no point. We need the members in order to bring people into the fold of God. I hope that I will never forget my calling...because my calling will never really leave me.

Hope you all have a great week and I will tell you all about the week soon!

Ingat po at mahal na mahal kita!

Sister Pace