Week 2: Learning to slow

I am so lucky to be serving on Palawan. The feeling I had when I found this out can't be described, but I already talked about this. However, for the last week I have been doing real missionary work by doing real bahay-bahay, proselyting, teaching real people who are really looking for truth in life. It would be easy for me to give way to frustration since as a new missionary learning a language is like a toddlers that has to be watched and cleaned up after in lessons and conversations, but I have no need to be frustrated. This happens to every missionary and I just need to work harder, but for now my companion will just have to take up the slack.

My companion is seriously the greatest. I don’t think we have had a single conflict since I have met him. He is patient with me, communicates, compliments, and is obedient and hard working (masunorin at masipag). We have a really small district here, one of the smallest in the missions, four elders and we are all in the same house. Two other elders in our zone, but different district are living with us as they are looking for a place to live closer to their area. All the missionaries here are obedient and hard working. I have truly been blessed and my prayers have been answered. When I was in the MTC, I prayed for the best trainer they there is for me and my prayers were heard.

The missionary work is really moving here. I am just the sidekick of the hero so I have not really gotten to know as many people as I would like to. Walang Tagalog does not help either. We have a branch here of about 100. The Branch Presidency is really young. The President is only 24 and the rest are around there. It is pretty cool to though because just today we played Basketball with him. We had a number of people already in our teaching pool before I arrived, so I am just now getting excited for the people that I helped find. One was a family that is Baptist, but they let us in and we taught them, committed them to read the Book of Mormon, and the spirit was there and they were interested in the restoration and everything. However, when we when back last night, they were busy and the wife’s uncle is a pastor. I have hopes for them because they are a young family and the gospel would really bless there life.

I have not gotten sick yet, nor do I plan. We have filtered water and follow so guidelines with food and water. It would be easy for me to get sick here, but I have been prayer not to and have thus been bless so far. I hope to take the germs as I can handle them and slowly develop my immunity. It is a great time to be alive and doing missionary work. I only wish more people would share in this joy. I will try to give so more specific details next week.