September 23, 2013

Kumusta!

This week went really well and there was a lot to learn from all the experiences.We had interviews with President Guanzon this last week. That was a really big help to me. We had some really great lessons with our investigators this week and have felt the Spirit lead and direct us to know how to bless the lives of the people that we are called to serve. We had a wonderful lesson with a less active about the Book of Mormon, but turned into the law of tithing, because she had questions about it. It was a really great lesson, because she understood more of how the Book of Mormon could help her to understand the laws of God. We continue to find those that the Lord is preparing for us and strive to overcome the struggles and situations we are faced with. There is currently a low pressure going through Tabaco and it has been very unpleasant with all the rain and wind....but it should be disappearing this week.  Other than that we haven't had much go on this week, because of all our meetings at the church...hopefully more time this next week.

 

---Sister Pace---

Philippines Legazpi Mission

September 16, 2013

Hello,

This week was a really busy week. We had a lot of meetings--Mission Tour, Exchanges and sisters visiting. It was a eventful week with learning about the gospel, our role as missionaries and how to teach the gospel to others. I had exchanges with Sister Ianuzi on Tuesday, which was a really great learning experience. I was really grateful to have the chance to work with her. And I learned a lot from her efforts as a new missionary. We had the Sisters from Catanduanes come and visit us, because of events that were taking place in the mission. It was a great break (and stress also) to have four sisters in one apartment. We learned a lot from one another and learned about the importance of the gospel. One of the Sisters, Sister Fausto, is from Zamboanga. Her family is in the an area that is under war...all people are under red alert. I hope that you will keep that people of Zamboanga in your prayers. She shared with me about the situations that are presently there and it was a very different perspective of life, but that is the reality that she has lived with. I was greatly touched by here example and the love she has for the mission. We both served in the same area in Sorsogon....so we shared a lot of stories about the members there :) We had a wonderful opportunity to go to Legazpi and learn from our Area President, Elder Nielson. We learned a lot about our responsibilities of the missionary and the role of the gospel in our work. We talked about the power of the Atonement in our work...it all came from a talk by David a Bednar-- In the Strength of the Lord. It is a really great talk and I encourage you to read it :) We learned about companionship...which was a great review and has provided some fruit in our companionship. We were also told that President Guanzon and Elder Nielson would select four missionaries to interview. Guess who got interviewed....yup...Sister Pace. It was a really great experience and I felt that I learned a lot from it. Our whole week was ended with some really great lessons and experiences. I felt that the Lord was really using us as instruments in His work. We had one investigator that had prayed that we would visit her...and when we went to teach her, it was exactly what she was waiting for. I am so very grateful for the opportunity to see the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of others.  I know that the Lord loves each of us and desires for each of us to receive of the blessings of the gospel...we must be willing to turn to Him and listen. And as we humbly go before Him, we shall see His face.

 

---Sister Pace---

Philippines Legazpi Mission

 

 

missionaries from the zone traveling in a jeepne

Sis. Pace & Elder Brent H. Nielson

 

HERE IS THE EMAIL THAT WAS SENT TO MY PARENTS FROM ELDER NIELSON: 

 In the subject line: I met your daughter!

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

Last week my wife Marcia and I were touring the Legazpi Mission.  We had the great fortune of meeting your daughter, Alexa.  She is outstanding in every way.

I had the opportunity to meet with her personally.  While she misses her home in New Mexico, she is dedicated to the work.  We are very fortunate to have her serving with us in the Philippines.  Thank you for sending and supporting her.

If there is anything I can do to help you or your family while she is serving with us, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely yours

Elder Brent H. Nielson
Philippines Area President

 

 

 

 

September 8, 2013

This week was a week of balancing our investigators and less actives. We have had some really good progress with those that we are teaching and we are hoping to continue to help them progress to baptism. I love watching our less actives rediscover the Book of Mormon and feel the Spirit in their lives. I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life so much as I have tried to give all that I could to Him. I know that the gospel is foundational to all that we do in this life. It gives us direction to what the Lord desires for us.  I know that this work is so important in this life and all that we do.  I gave a talk  (in tagalog) on Sunday about Missionary work...it was a really great learning experience. Especially since it was given to me the night before and the mission president was present :) But I am learning more and more about our responsibilities as members and full time missionaries and the blessings the Lord desires to give to us.

 

---Sister Pace---

Philippines Legazpi Mission

 

 

 

September 2, 2013

This week was a really fast week. There was a lot of learning on parts of companions and hopefully we are on our way to improving our relationship. I took the challenge this week to really sit down and write how I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of others...it has been a really fun process and a great time to ponder on the love and miracles that the Lord blesses us with. We had interviews with the President on Thursday and after our interviews we went to centro. There was a gentleman that we saw and said "hi" to, but we didn't think much about it until we were walking to one of our areas and saw him again. We had a small conversation with him, and then he was off. As we were walking to one of our appointments, we saw him standing outside a house...because it was the third time we had seen him, we stopped and talked with him. This was the most powerful testimonies to me about the work of the Lord. Because as we were talking with him, he shared with us, His experiences and his dreams that he had. He said that he had had a dream of the Savior, pure white and glorious....and when he went to look at his face, he woke up. He said he wanted to see that again. I don't blame him....I would love to see that. But he was talking about his life and how he had all the material things any man could ever want....but he wasn't happy. We shared with him a short message and told him that we had a way for him to see the Savior again and to be happy in this life. I hope that this next week we will be able to see him again. We also had an experience with one of our investigators....she has been investigating for a long time. Her mother and father are less active and her and her two sisters are investigators. They have had many baptismal dates, but they have always fallen through. But when we went to her this week, she said that she wanted to be baptized and she set her own date, for September 28th. The Lord works in mysterious ways. But I know that He is mindful of each of us. I have seen His help in my life so much this week as I have been striving to overcome and become more like Him, I know that He hears and answers prayers as I seek for His guidance and understanding in my daily actions. I have come t see the role of the Atonement more fully in my life and the power it has to transform people into saints. I hope to be able to continue to see the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of others.

---Sister Pace---

Philippines Legazpi Mission

August 26, 2013

Kumusta!

This week has been a really great week filled with the miracles from the hand of the Lord. I am so very grateful for the knowledge that the Lord has given me and blessed me with. There were many opportunities to see the love of the Lord in our lives and help us to fulfill our purpose here as His children.

We had some really great lessons this week with new investigators. It is the fruit of some of our work with referrals from members. We are hoping that we can continue to help these individuals progress and receive the blessings of the gospel. We have some really great potential families too :) It is going to take a lot of work but we are really excited to find the guidance of the Lord to fulfill His expectations.

We had district conference on Sunday and it was a really great turn out. We had several investigators attend and less active members....they were really touched by the words of the leaders and hopefully will be attending church more fully. 

The weather has been nice and wet here, because of all the storms moving through. Good thing I am not in Manila because there are lots of floods there. But we have had our share of rain also :)

We are on another transfer...the time is going by so fast. Before I know it, I will be transferred. I will be sad to be transferred from Tabaco, but it is all according to the will of the Lord.

 

 

 

top of mount Mayon

 

August 12, 2013

This week was a really great week of learning. We had some really great lessons with our investigators. The progress is slow with them, but there is progress still. We had a larger focus on our less actives this week and we had some really good reactions from the members, so we are hoping to have some action take place in the lives of these less actives. We had some really great OYM (open your mouth) and I was really excited to return back to these people. I am understanding so much more about the importance of God's children and the role that I play as a missionary. And I am so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel...without it, I would not feel that I knew where I was going and what my purpose is on earth. I am trying so much harder to give all that I can to these people...because my time is coming to a close quicker than I thought. I try harder and harder everyday to speak to as many people as I can...or think that I can. I have to think again sometimes, because I don't know the Bicol here...but I am slowly making progress. We have some great potential this next week and I know that there are people being prepared for us. I am sorry that this weeks update is a little short and not full of too much. But I want to leave this with a thought. The Lord gives us challenges for a reason. We may not always understand or know why the Lord has chosen us. But I have come to a great understanding of why. I was thinking that there is not going to be much of me left after some of these experiences, because I am trying to give myself as much as possible. But I realized that that is exactly what the Lord is expecting of us. He doesn't want  us...He wants to change us to be like Him (Alma 5:19). I thought of that before...but how do we do that? We have to turn ourselves over to Him (Mosiah 3:19; Ether 12:27). There are many days that will turn us into  weak and unable....but that is when the Lord is able to make us into the strongest (D&C 24:12). I know that there is a great deal to be done in this life and through the love of God, all is possible :)

---Sister Pace---

Philippines Legazpi Mission

August 5, 2013

Hello!

Well....there is so much that I could or should write about this week, but I will save that for a day when we go back through my journals someday.

This week was a really great week of observing the hand of the Lord in my life and striving to understand what I need to do, in order to be the Lord's missionary. I will tell you that I have learned a great deal. 

My first great lesson is about the love, mercy and forgiveness of the Lord. I came to a greater knowledge about the love of the Lord for each of us. And how we are not all perfect...we are human beings with frail bodies, frail characters and frail personalities. We are far from the glory of God. But we all have a similar goal in mind. We are all striving to reach for our potential--to be like our Heavenly Father and to receive all that He has. But because of the frailties of our life, we are all capable of sinning....this sinning can affect us and the ones around us. But the role of the gospel at this point is to forgive and forget. It sounds like a really hard task....it depends on how willing (or humble) we are to let the Lord shape us. We can forgive and forget the wrong that has been done to us...because that is what the Savior overcame death for. And that is the role of mercy in our life....we receive mercy because the Lord loves us and wants us to return back to the presence of our Heavenly Father...we should have the same desire for others (for are we not all brothers and sisters with the same need, from the same Being? Mosiah 4:19-21). In order to receive mercy we have to be willing to give mercy....if we will not give mercy....we shall not receive the mercy that will be sufficient enough to let us enter back into the presence of our Heavenly Father. From my experience....it is a hard task to ask...but it is so very crucial and necessary in order to be ready to receive the blessings and gifts the Lord seeks to bestow upon us (D&C 88:33). I hope to carry this gift or knowledge with me forever...a lesson to be learned and a blessing to receive and bestow upon another.

We had some really great lessons with less actives and investigators. I have really felt the love of the Lord for each of them and the power of the Spirit in the opportunity to share with them about their purpose here on earth. I love missionary work! I love helping people to understand, what the adversary had been so good at destroying....the truth. I know of nothing else in this life that can bring greater joy and satisfaction, than the truth of the gospel and a heart willing to listen.

I want to share with you a really cool insight... I was talking to one of the new American Sisters from New York. She is Sister Andrada's companion--Sister Ianuzi. She is trying so hard to get the language and Sister Andrada finally came to me to ask for help on how she could teach her companion the language. It is not an easy task for the Philippinos...but they try. And so I spent some time to understand the feelings that Sister Ianuzi was having....yup....the same as me. I totally understood what she was saying and I felt like I could try to give feedback. (and just as a side note....this doesn't just apply to having to learn a new language and talking to people....it applies to many aspects in our lives) I started to share with her that it all comes with time....just as any blessing that we seek from the Lord. We must wait. Like life here in earth....some of us are granted the knowledge, through the gospel to know where we will go after this life and what awaits us. But we must live here on earth in order to receive that gift of eternal life. With that we must never give up. We cannot give up on the fact that we cannot see ourselves progressing. Because most of the time we are progressing.....but it is little by little. I shared with Sister Ianuzi that the language did not come upon me in one night....it came over a period of time. Along with a promise to the Lord that I would read the entire Book of Mormon in Tagalog, if He would help me in Tagalog. Granted it took me 9 months to read the Book of Mormon....I have looked back and seen Him help me every step of the way--line upon line and precept upon precept. I shared with her that as long as she was continuing to do all she could the spirit would carry her words to the hearts of the people that she is talking to....but you have to talk...you have to try your hardest. And I told her that according to the will of the Lord, He will grant her that gift of tongues (or in the case of life....He will grant us those blessings that we so much desire in this life...). But after the language barrier, there are other trails and speed bumps to overcome....just as in life....you overcome one mountain and then you have another one before. It isn't because you are good enough, but it is because the Lord loves you and is in the process of refining you and making you into the person He knows you to be.

I was striving to find a way to be a better missionary...this is a continual process....so I don't have a good discourse to give on it yet....maybe after :)

I will tell you that I have come to the part in my mission that I don't ever want to leave...I love the people too much. I love talking with them (even though I don't understand all the people and what they are saying) and sharing with them the wonderful words of the gospel. *sigh* the good part is that it is not over until the coming of the Lord. So I have the rest of my life to give to this....maybe not in Tagalog.....but definitely in the language of the Spirit. I am so grateful for these experiences here and the blessings given to me!

I know that the Lord lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ and that through His Atonement, we are able to return back to the presence of the Lord. I know that the Lord has a plan for each of us, as His beloved Sons and Daughters. We must share this plan with all....even if they will not listen to us. We have to make it known. For if their spirits are ready, they will know the truth of the things we share.

Carry forth the words of the Lord and hell shall not prevail against us!

God speed the right!!!!

Sister Pace