February 25, 2013

Pamilya ko,

This week was great. It has rained everyday and has definitely provided for fun. (as you can see the picture of my shoes ;P)The weather is really wet and should be until next month. We had a lot of appointments and preparing for a baptism. Marnil was baptized yesterday morning and it was awesome to see how dedicated he already was. He received the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic priesthood that morning also. The branch is also encouraging him to prepare for a mission...but his mother is terrified about it.(picture of Marnil with Sister Carrasca and I) We have two investigators that we met with this week...both have breast cancer, in different extents and stages...but it is amazing to see how the Lord prepares people and shares a spirit within them. We received exciting news...we have the name of our new mission president (I will send the email from our mission president)! But there is also more exciting news....there is a new mission...the Legaspi Mission. Here's the catch...Sorsogon is in the Legaspi mission. There is a possibility that I will be a different mission come June. The transfers in June will determine which mission I will be in. Lots of work to be done and plenty of things to be done :)

The June 6 transfer will establish the mission you will serve in after July 1. Those assigned in the Legaspi Stake, and Bulan, Sorsogon, Masbate, Catanduanes, Tabaco and Ligao districts will be in the Legaspi stake and serve under President Guanzon. All the rest will remain in the Naga Mission. The Ligao zone will be split in June, creating the Iriga zone.

 

Jasmine & Bernadette

Marnil

a day in the life of Sis. Pace's shoes

 

L. Barry & Sharon L. Reeder from Perry, Utah-new mission president

 

February 18, 2013

This week was great. There was a lot of work to be done and we did our best to fulfill our purposes. A lot of running from one place to another and diligence to find those that the Lord has prepared for us. We found one individual that has been laden with an illness for a good amount of their life and was told that they only have a certain amount of time to live. As we sat there and shared with them about our purpose as missionaries and as they told us about their beliefs and the role of God in their life, tears started to roll down their face...they told us that they were grateful to have us in their life....we are an answer to their prayers. It was such a tender mercy to see the Lord giving up this opportunity to meet someone who is so prepared to have the gospel preached to them. I am really excited to go visit them tomorrow!!! We also have one of our other investigators getting baptized this week. He is a 21year old college student. Astige siya! I am so excited for him. When we were preparing him for his interview with the Zone Leader, he continued to expand and share with us his testimony of the gospel. We are so excited for him, because you can see God watching over him and helping his life.
We had Zone conference this week about our Area Books and how we can better organize and keep them clean for the next missionaries that follow us. It was a really great insight into the importance of our work. The mission president also announced the arrival of 24 sister missionaries coming in April...he said that most of the sister are going to have to train. So here is the fun part..I don't know if I have to train or not, but the mission president told me that if I do, I will be training a native. I was a little scared about the thought, but I have found that no matter what, the Lord knows me, He knows my strengths and my weaknesses and more importantly He knows my capability. And for the things that I am struggling with, He will qualify me. So I get to prepare for a possibility to train another missionary. So come in three weeks, I will find out if I stay in Sorsogon or transfer to another area.
I have a funny story to go with this weeks update. As you will see I sent a picture of a shoe...my shoe...only one shoe. So we went out to an investigators house, out on the pier. When we enter into houses here, we leave out shoes outside the door. So as we went into the house of our investigator, I left my shoes outside the door. But after our conversation with our investigator, we went to put our shoes on and there was only one of my shoes at the door. The entire household went around the house and around the pier to try to find my shoe...no luck. Whether it was a dog, a kid or one of the residence, I shall never know. It was really kind of funny, because my shoes are muddy and not clean...and the one they took has a hole in the heel...what are they going to do with one shoe?! But I ended having to walk back into the center of town with flip flops on...to buy new shoes. You have to have some excitement in the week...and that was mine :P so now I have to watch my shoes... :P This next week is another busy one...so I am excited :)
Hope you all have a great week and I will talk to you next Monday!!
Sister Pace
p.s. the other picture is a valentine from our recent convert Arjay :)

The lone shoe

 

February 11, 2013

This week was filled. We had a lot of lessons and many lessons fall through...but the days were filled with service of the Lord. We have many less actives here and we are trying so hard to balance our work out between the less actives, recent converts and finding new investigators. So many things to do and focus on...but sometimes you just have to keep moving and have faith that the Lord will place people in your path. We had a lesson with an LA...he came to church on Sunday and we had the opportunity to teach him on Tuesday. I know that the Spirit was with us as we asked him about his experience. Up to this point, we really had no idea why he had stopped attending church. But after I asked him this inspired question, the flood gates opened and we were able to find out about all his concerns and why he had stopped attending. I know that the Lord was with us as we sought to help him resolve his concerns.

The language is coming along...I wouldn't say that I am anymore fluent than I was before...but I have definitely seen the hand of the Lord in my life as I have turned it all to him. I was studying in Matthew 11:28-30...The Lord tells us to come learn of Him.I was thinking about how I could apply this in my work as a missionary and I thought about the role of Jesus Christ--to fulfill the will of God. He states "wherefore, seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness; and then all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) He says that as we do this, all things shall be added unto us--Matthew 10: 7-10. I have seen this as I have sought for the welfare of others and not on whether I say things right. I know that the Lord is mindful of all my needs and concerns. But as I forget these and work to help others in their needs and concerns, I will be empowered from on high. I work every week to speak the language as much as possible and that is only where I can begin.

I tried isaw (chicken intestine) this week...not one of my favorite. In fact...probably one of my least favorite...but maybe it was just this one time...I will try it again later. I also found a favorite fruit...guava. It is sobra masarap! One of our members gives me one about every time we visit...looks like a green orange, and you just eat the entire thing. There is a lot of adjusting still to the culture here...but I am slowly making it.

February 4, 2013

This week was filled with many appointments...we visited Sister and Brother Cagunot again. It was great to teach them and we actually were able to have Brother Cagunot attend church again. Still more work to do, in order to help them reach the temple...but with the strong faith of Sister Cagunot, maybe we will get there :) Many of our lessons are focused with the LA. Our mission president said that we have one of the weakest branches in the area...we are trying so hard to help the members stay active....but there is only so much that we are able to do as missionaries. But I have realized that there are the same faces every week and there are only a few strong leaders in this area...so it is really hard, because they have to work a lot harder to build up themselves, but also build up those that are no longer active. We taught a family out in Pang-Pang...they live in the middle of the jungle...and it rained right before we went out. I am starting to think that I needed to bring mud boots. But we went out to teach the Janaban family about Mosiah 24:10-16. I may not be able to understand Bicol, but I definitely understood the language of the Spirit as Brother Janaban testified of how this scripture story applied to him. He wants so badly to have his family sealed in the temple, but it is difficult, because there family does not have the funds to pay for transportation to and from church every sunday (transportation is 9PHP and there are 7members in their family = 63PHP one way). I know that the Lord will watch over them and help them as they make the righteous choices that will help them to reach the temple. We have two more baptismal dates set for our investigators...we are really excited for one of them--Marnil. He is 21 years old...his mother is a leader of another religion and his father is an LA. Him and his mother are investigating, and he was so excited when we invited him to be baptized...his mother is still uncertain because of the concerns of what others will think in the community. We hope to help her relieve her concerns...she believes everything that we teach and is happy to learn more, but fears man more than she does God.

This week in the language has been better...I may not understand anyone still...but I feel that I am more capable to express myself in Tagalog and share my thoughts more freely. However...still working on the conversational stuff...that will take me some time. But the other sister missionaries in our apartment keep telling me that I have really good Tagalog and that there are a lot of members that admire me in my Tagalog....but they all understand that I am not able to speak in Bicol. So one step at a time and I will be able to make a bigger step. The other sister tease me that when I return, I will become a MTC teacher for Tagalog...haha...I think that is so funny ;P but who knows!?

Well...that's my report for the week :)

mahal kita at ingat palagi!

Sister Pace

 Pang-Pang

 new district

 



 Aldrin & Ivan

 



Bro. & Sis. Cagunot with the sister missionaries

January 27, 2013

Nanay ko,

This week was great! This week was filled with a lot of lessons. We also had a church tour, to encourage investigators and members to come to church. We had a good turn out and there was definitely a lot of work put into it, by the members. We also had the baptism of Jasmine and Bernadette. They were both so excited to finally be baptized and we are happy to have them as members of the branch. We have a lot of investigators, but we are struggling to have any of them keep their commitments and act upon their beliefs. The area that we are over has many members...but the problem is that they are all consider LA (less active) because they do not attend church or they have not gone to the temple yet. It is definitely a struggle and we are working with a lot of the RC (recent converts) to keep them at church. Many of the LA are also members that have gone on missions or have served in high callings...and for one reason or another, have left the church and want nothing more to do with it. It is definitely sad to see, but it is even harder to understand and I am trying to figure out what I can do as a missionary to help these people.

I am feeling better about the language. I wouldn't say that I understand any of it better than I did the week before, but my understanding has been enlightened on what I can do. I was thinking a lot about understanding and as I was praying and studying and fasting, I gained more understanding about understanding. I was enlightened on what I can be and become. I know that the Lord will give me understanding through His Spirit and through Him, will I gain greater understanding. I may not understand the language any better than I did before, but through the Lord I will gain greater understanding of what I need to know--the needs/concerns of those that my companion and I are teaching, the language, etc. I am relying on the Spirit as much as I possibly can. And part of my responsibility is to review my work and see what I am doing and what I can do better. I like to refer it to that experience of which our Savior had experienced. His time on earth was not that which was the easiest. There was much struggling and trials that came to Him. But how great was the blessing that He gave to the children of men. Our loving Heavenly Father did not make it easy for His son...then how could I expect that my time would be easy? I am trying to be the missionary that he needs me to be and I am trying. I spoke to the mission president about it and he said that I am doing well. Some food for thought (brought to my attention by my companion): we have only had two weeks, out of 8 weeks, that we have not met the mission standard of excellence. This Standard of Excellence contains 8 am lessons/wk, 30 lessons/wk, etc. Even on Christmas week we made the standard...this is very difficult. President Blienser has complemented us on our work and efforts.There is something that I am doing right :) It has surprised many that we have done this every week, especially with me being so new to the mission

January 21, 2013

The experiences here are just like living up at college...especially when you have three other girls living with you. I have had very similar experiences here that are the same as college, so none of it really seems new to me. This will make you laugh...we went to FHE with a family and we were playing games and one of them was called John the Baptist...it was the thimble game! nakakatawa! I was excited to know that there were similar games :)

This week was a rough one. We had a lot of appointments fall through and we could only leave them with a prayer. But we are trying to manage with what we have. We taught a lot of the same families as we do every week...we are trying to catch up on all the referrals still. The church is such a different aspect here...you have members which are small in number and then you have a large number of less active. And it is because they have not been to the temple. So this week has been with a large amount of less actives...some who are really sweet (one of them, Sister Cagunot, reminds me of Grandma Wong...look just like her too!) and some that really don't care to hear from us. Missionary work has its ups and downs and it has its blissful times and some very difficult times. But I had this experience...

This week He really gave me a tender mercy--there is a less-active sister, named Elsa. She has three children, two girls and one baby boy. When we had first had visited her when I first arrived in the area, her baby boy was sick with a respiratory condition. He was having the hardest time breathing and was just struggling altogether. When we had visited her, my companion had asked me to give their family a blessing and to pray for the baby that he would get better soon. In my heart I so badly wanted to give this blessing to them...but my mouth knew not how to express these words to my Heavenly Father. I started to pray aloud, but in sorrow of not being able to express the feelings of my heart, I started to tear up. The other children were making comments--"iyak siya!" (she's crying!)--but I continued with what little words I knew. I left hoping and praying to the Lord that he would see the desires of my heart and forgive me for the lack of words that I had, in expressing my desired blessing upon this family. I had thought little about it, until this week, when we went back to visit them. The little boy is now better...he was running around and was just the happiest little thing I had ever seen. When we went to leave, I went to shake his hand, he came right up to me and put his hands in my lap and stared into my eyes. He did this for a while and then he put his head in my lap and then looked back up at me. This was such a tender mercy to me, because I felt that it was his way to thank me for what I had tried to bless him with, and Heavenly Father was using this child to help me to see His love. The Lord continues to bless me..I must more actively look for them, though...I hope daily that I am doing the things that the Lord would have me to do.

How I wish that you could be here to meet these people. It is experiences like this that give me hope and bring the fire back in my heart. But this week was a hard one with the language. I was trying so hard to express myself...and I was being understood and I couldn't understand either. This was mainly with my companion...and in no way is it her fault. She is from Laguna, Philippines ( I really have no idea where that is) I know that it is on my part completely...but it has been so hard, not having anyone that can understand what I am saying or how I am feeling.  I will talk to her and she tells me that she understands, but whether I say it in Tagalog or English, she doesn't understand what I mean. And with that one of the sisters in the apartment was making comments about something and I later found out, through my companion, that it was because I had not filled the water buckets and that she was having to do everything. It just made it really difficult and frustrating because I had no idea...she could have just asked me as a reminder...but I just went through a swing of wondering if I would ever be able to speak the language. My companion was trying to help me to look at things positively and I am trying my best. We taught a lesson with Jasmine (15) and Bernadette (11), who are just like Julia and Ryann...and I was trying to talk to them and they were talking over me and were laughing about my pronunciation and so much more...and at that point I had had it. I was trying so hard to teach them and it was not going anywhere...I feel like this so much...But I felt so embarrassed when we went to a FHE on Saturday with a bunch of branch members and one of the sisters was explaining a game to them in Bicol, but forgot to explain it to me...and I guess I lost but they were all playing and then it came to me and I had no idea what they said or what they were doing and I just walked out of the house, because I just felt so lost and alone. They were really kind to help me to understand the rest of the night, but I just fear of going through that over and over...but that is how it will be for a while as I work to establish my Tagalog and then my South Bicol. All is well and I will continue forward and hope for the best and pray my heart out to the Lord for His help and guidance in my language skills. My companion is helping me some...it is different to have a native speaker teaching you, when they are learning English. This is where the understanding fails on both our parts, because I don't understand her sometimes and she doesn't understand me. But I hope to continue working at it and seeking for the gift of tongues.

If anyone would like to contact Sister Pace, you are able to email her:   alexa.pace@myldsmail.net

January 14, 2013

This week was busy. We had appointments planned for about every hour of everyday...and if not a teaching appointment it was a meeting that we needed to attend. Our teaching appointments have been really great...other than this last week felt like our week of dropped appointments. We would arrive at an appointment and either they would not be home or they would hide or lie to us. So we had lots of improvising. We have been really lucky as a companionship and have received many referrals, with no work on our part...but we get the hard part of trying to contact them and teach them. We have had several of our referrals not want us to teach them and several that want us to teach them and we end up not knowing how to find them.
This week went out to visit a referral that we had received from one of the recent converts...their house is located in Capuy, which takes about 45 minutes for us to travel to, by jeepne. So it takes some time for us to go out there and to cover the expenses...and to our dismay, they were not home. We have no other investigators or members out in the area and so we were walking around when my companion said that we should go visit this one family--the Lasala's. We only had a general idea of where they lived, but with our luck and the continual guidance of the Holy Ghost, we were able to find Brother Lasala. This family astonishes me...Brother and Sister Lasala had attended the Christmas party we had weeks ago and they had spoken to my companion and had set up time to be visited the Saturday following the party...however my companion had forgotten. This family was not offended...in fact they were more excited that we had actually come to see them. We sat down and were talking with them and my companion told me that they had made many dishes for us that Saturday we were suppose to visit, but they knew that no matter what they wanted to learn more about the Church. We introduced some materials to them and it was just amazing how much they wanted to know. My companion was saying that they are so ready to receive the gospel...there will be trials along the way, as we found out that Brother and Sister Lasala are not married and Sister Lasala has a previous husband who took their son and deserted her. We taught them again on Saturday and it was wonderful...they were excited about going to church and one of the other individuals, April, was anticipating to have her son receive a priesthood blessing because he is always sick. Unfortunately they never arrived at church on Sunday...so we are going to follow up this week and see what is going on. I had shared a couple of weeks ago about two young boys (brothers) who desire to be baptized, but are not able to because their parents don't want them to join...I admire these two so very much. We went to visit them again this week...they get so excited when we come to visit. We were talking to them and they were sharing with us how sad they were the last time that we had visited, because the last time we visited, their aunt had told us that they were not home (which was false). One of them said that he cried, because he wanted us to visit him and teach him about the gospel. We taught them about their purpose in life and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. They loved it so much! One said that he wants to be married in the temple someday and the other said that he wants to become a police officer/security guard for the church. They also said that they were upset with their parents because they were making them attend a catholic church, which they do not believe in or enjoy. My companion and I can only have patience in this circumstances, for we may only be the planters of the seed, and another may reap of the blessings of these two young boys. I pray many times that the Lord will watch over them. The two investigators we had that were preparing for baptism on the 19th were delayed because the District Leader did not feel that they were ready....which my companion and I were prepared for. But it was hard to tell these two girls that there would need to be more preparation for them, in order to be baptized. It is interesting how we are given that discernment to know if they are ready or not to receive the covenant of baptism. We are hoping this week to work more with them this week and help them really feel the change that is necessary in order to be received unto baptism.We have several other investigators that we are teaching that are uncertain about our message and we are striving to work with them to help them understand the need of the gospel in their lives. Pray that we may be able to bring light to them :) I know that God is watching over His children, but he does give them the agency to choose and make decisions in their lives that may change it's course forever, whether good or bad.
My companion and I are doing well. She told me that when she went into the interview with our mission president, that he asked her if she was happy. She said that she was and that this has been one of her favorite transfers. I am struggling some days to adjust to the culture and the ways in the Philippines and I must have my heart always open to my companion for this reason. I do love her...she is so very patient with me (especially when I break down over not being able to help her teach the lesson as much as I would like to, because I don't know how to say it, or the pain I feel when I can't share the joy I have through the gospel in words, to the people we are teaching). We each have our strengths and our weaknesses and we are working on them together.
It doesn't feel like I have been out for a month....i still feel so brand new. It has definitely been fun experiencing the Philippines. For New Year's we had an eating appointment, but we had a curfew for 6pm...so it was pretty uneventful. Other than all the fireworks and loud noises at 12am-1am. Our bed time was still 10:30pm...so it was nothing exciting :)
Arjay's baptism was wonderful! He is such an amazing 11year old. He has just been growing so much spiritually since he has been a member. We are so very excited to teach him more about the gospel and the blessings it will bring to his life.
 Mahal Kita!
Sister Pace

Dec. 13 with batch & trainers

Sorsogon district (sisters) with Sis. Bleisner

district activity

district activity