Great letter from Abbi this week! Sorry I was a little bit late on getting this letter up. I wondered when we would start to hear about some of the craziness about the Philippines... apparently it didn't take long! Abbi went on exchanges with Sister Pavino to Iba and the apartment she went to didn't have running water. When she got back to her apartment that night with Sister Alvero, she said that there had been no power since the morning. It's so amazing to hear about all of these crazy trials with things that we take for granted on a daily basis like power and running water. And despite all of her trials, she is so optimistic about everything!
Highlights of the week:
"I love talking to the little kids because our Tagalog is around the same level and we have great conversations!"
"I told the Tricycle where to go and almost got lost, but I tried my hardest and I spoke what I knew. And where I lacked, Sister Alvero made clear and elaborated on my ideas."
Good morning!!
I am so happy to email all of you today and I hope you
know you are all in my prayers and I hope and know that the Lord is
taking good care of you, spiritually and physically.. so this week..
what a week!!
I'll start from last Monday, after p-day we visited two less active
members and had a good lesson with them and talked with everyone; then we
went to a members house and had FHE and a little bit of a birthday
celebration for one of the members.. spaghetti!! (they
have spaghetti and flan for birthdays.. different, but I love it! Spaghetti means you will have a long life). I love talking to the little
kids because our Tagalog is around the same level and we have great
conversations!
On Tuesday I had my first companion exchange with the sister
training leaders in Santa Cruz, about 2 hr bus ride north (I think). Wow, I
could understand her Tagalog! It was a miracle.. all the people in that
area speak the language I learned in the MTC and I was able to
contribute and talk with Sister Pavino as we tracked together. She is
really great and gave me a lot of good criticism that I have been able
to use throughout the week. So that night, we had an "evaluation" and teaching demo which went really.. okay she gave me some things to
improve on and we went to bed but I couldn't even sleep. They don't
have running water in their apartment but it's on the second floor and
they have a beautiful view. I woke up the next morning with a bit of a
head cold and really tired but we continued the evaluation and she gave
me some tips, we studied and then back on the bus to Iba! It was only a
24 hr exchange because I am still in the 12 week training program! I am
grateful that we do have water and clean water in my apartment..
But anywho, we traveled back to Iba and I was not feeling well, we
waited for Sister Alvero at the bus stop, switched back companions and
headed back to the apartment. When we got back, I just wanted to sleep..
"Oh there is no power" sister Alvero said.. it had been out since that
morning, so no running water and no food. I guess I really should have
been thankful for what I had here. ha! One of the members brought over
a 5 gallon jug of water for us.. They are so great! I love the families here,
they help us so so much! So I had a cup of noodles and we left to go out
and teach. I really tried to apply what I learned from the exchanges
and pay attention and learn and speak what I know in lessons. We had to
end early because no one would let us in because there was no power so
we ate dinner at the Jimenez family and when we got back, still no power
and no water.. so we didn't even sleep until like 2 when the power
returned! On Thursday there was still no water for the morning so we had to pump it from the well.. But it was all good, at least we had power! :)
Thursday
was a super great day.. first full day of teaching back from the
transfer. One big thing I learned from the exchanges was that I have
been just a cheerleader or really excited fan, on the side of missionary
work and let Sister Alvero do most of the work, using the excuse that I
don't know the language.. so I changed that today! I told the Tricycle
where to go and almost got lost but I tried my hardest and I spoke
what I knew. And where I lacked, Sister Alvero made clear and
elaborated on my ideas.
I am so grateful for her, we both have the same
goal to be as obedient as possible and as we work together to achieve
our goals to be exactly obedient, no matter how hard, I know we will
succeed! I am so grateful to have such an amazing and spiritually strong
companion as my trainer here in the field! I don't know what I would do
with out her.. she reminds me to "Be thou humble" This is not our work,
it is the Lord's and when we realize that, that is when we will
truly be able to feel the love of Christ in our lives. See others as he
seems them, and keep the big picture in mind. The only thing that truly
matters to God is that we give it our best shot and try and be more
like him and teach, and love and do as he would. This life is truly the
time for us to meet God.
I am so grateful for my calling to be here at
this time, there are so many people and families ready and prepared to
here the word of the gospel. We meet members each day who haven't been
to church in years and we hope to help remind them of why they joined
the church in the first place. A lady we met the other day joined the
church in 1985 and remembers exactly the Elder who baptized her but her
family is not active and none of her relatives even know of the church.
We taught her mother in law and after the lesson, asked them to pray to
know and the Lady said, "I don't need to pray, I already know.." We
encouraged her to pray again and liven her testimony again in Christ!
She has been great, hasn't been back to church yet but we have been
teaching all her family and we will return tomorrow. The work here is so
great and I pray I can stay humble so the Lord can touch others through
me.
Thank you all for everything you do and all that you are. I love and appricaite your emails and I pray for you.
Please let Grandpa Rossberg know that I think and pray for him. I love you!
Sister Rossberg
