"Hey Joe", "Barbie", "Ako,sabon na lang" (I just use soap!) Week 21

Well. This week has been the pits!

 In first Nephi it says that they traveled through the wilderness for 8 years and experienced all sorts of hardships and trials. I think about that all the time and am SO grateful that my mission (in the wilderness) is only 18 months. The trials I am facing now really aren't that fun. 

But then I always have to remember in 1 Nephi 17:1-3 about how the Lord provided a way for all his commandments to be fulfilled. I know that somehow these humongous trials we have now with ALL of our investigators will some how work out.

President Peterson has asked us to memorize the Standard of Truth from Joseph Smith.

 It says..."The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every nation, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say The work is done."

I know that I am doing the Lords work. There is nothing that can stop this work, even if it looks quite impossible right now. I never thought that I would experience so much hate radiating off of a person when they yelled at us for saying that there was an apostasy and that "everyone is a prophet", or being afraid to tell someone that it costs 500 pesos ($14) to get papers and a birth certificate copy for them to get married and them responding that they only make 300 pesos every day (maybe 4-5 times a week) for their family of 6, or trying to help someone prepare for baptism who grew up Muslim, and then realizing that penalty for her if she ever went back to her family would be a total nightmare.

 I didn't ever think I would be faced with any of these problems in my entire life. But in just one week I've had it all. None of them are my problems, but because I am a representative of Jesus Christ, these now feel like my own personal challenges. I am learning more about the Atonement and patience and trust than I ever have in my entire life. I am grateful for these challenges though. I have absolutely no idea what I can do in any of these situations, but I know that the standard of truth is real.

This gospel will be heard in every ear and there are people here I have been called to help. President Peterson also had us read "Mountains to Climb" by Pres. Eyring. We read it as a companionship last night and it has helped me so much. I think Heavenly Father really wants me to learn about the atonement, patience, and trust right now, because I know that I am really being tested by all of them right now.

On a brighter note though I have some fun facts;

If you are a white person in the Philippines, you will hear "hey Joe" at least once a day. (in reference to when the GI's were here)

We were walking down the street one day and this little girl just stops dead and stares at me then says, "BARBIE". We are now teaching her mom :)

We started teaching our Ward mission leaders sister and their little neighbor girl came over. Her name is Nicole and she is 4. And after the lesson was over, we were eating crackers and drinking coke and the little girl like grabs my hair and was kind of playing with it. Then she asks "Anong shampoo na gamit mo?" (what kind of shampoo do you use?). Then she smelt it and then rubbed her little hands through her hair and says "Ako, sabon na lang" (I just use soap). Oh my gosh. It was the CUTEST thing EVER!!

Any way. This past week has not been my favorite, and I really have no idea what we are going to do with all these different investigators. It is hard. But I know that Heavenly Father will take care of these people and that everything will work out how it needs to.

Love, 

Sister Mecham

This is actually the same river I washed clothes in at the beginning of my mission, just a different spot.

Crossing the river to get to Z's house!! (one of our investigators)

Another Fun Fact. Our STL (also a Sister Harris) straightened my hair for me with our iron. #reasonswhyilovethephilippines!

Investigators, potential baptisms, and exchanges to Tayabas Week 20

This week has been full of ups and downs again (as usual), but the more I hear about this mess in the Tacloban mission, the more grateful I am that I am here and our biggest problems are trying to get investigators to read the Book of Mormon and find people to teach. 

I have absolutely loved this week though!!! It has been great! We did have some more miracles this week! Every day is a miracle though.One of my favorites this week is that we have a new investigator," Z." She just married a member of the church and they are both like 21-22ish. We started to teach her this past week and she is progressing SO much!!! Her goal date is December 7th. Yesterday our bishop talked to her and her husband. He said that her husband can prepare to baptize her!! It will be our first completed family and my first baptism!!!! 

They live in his parents house. The parents are active members as well as all of his sisters. "Z" will have plenty of support.  She doesn't really know much about Christ, so we decided that we will take these next few weeks and really teach her about Christ and help her to gain a strong testimony of Him!

 I am so excited and I can't wait to see her progress. She has been coming to church for a few weeks now.We will still wait a few more to make sure she is really ready to be baptized.

BUT!  To get to their house, you literally have to cross a large-ish river ON ROCKS! Then walk through the jungle for like 5 minutes to get to their house. Hahah but in all honesty, I would go there every day. IT IS SO PRETTY!!!!!!! (I'll send pictures next time)

Our second miracle happened yesterday. We were able to meet with more members and give them a family mission plan.We also meet with our bishop again, and it FINALLY feels like we are really gaining their trust and it feels SO good!

 We got a surprise text on Saturday night from bishop saying he needed two speakers for the next day, so Sister Lorente and I had to speak. I was super nervous, but the topic was Trust and Be Strong. I think it turned out OK because a lot of the members told me I did a good job and they all complemented me on my Tagalog. 

On Thursday and Friday I was in Tayabas for exchanges with Sister Harris. A lot of the people there were really impressed with my Tagalog! I seriously can't believe it! It feels SO good to be able to talk to people fairly easily.  I still have a hard time understanding a lot, but I know that will get better too.

We may be dropping some investigators this week.We want to find new ones who will progress. 

Our investigator who came to church last week," N", told us Saturday that he wasn't going to come again because he only wanted to go once to see if he felt an answer. Well I guess he didn't really feel an answer, so he didn't come to church again. He just can't get an answer and we have not been able to help him get one. I really don't know what else we can do. I think we have shared every scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about getting an answer from God, but nothing has helped him. I know he has changed a lot from reading the Book of Mormon, but I don't know if he can really see it in himself. We will go back again on Tuesday and try to get him some more help, if not, we may drop him for a while. 

Any way. Life is just rolling a long here. I can't believe it has almost been 6 months!!!!! WHERE DOES THE TIME GO!?!?!? I am so grateful though for the progress I have made and I absolultely love that I am getting better at Tagalog. I know that the gift of tongues is a real thing and I know that I have been blessed with it to be able to help the members and investigators here in Candelaria and for sure for the rest of my mission!!

Mahal na mahal ko kayo, at ingat po palagi!!!

Love,

Sister Mecham

#ilovetayabas Don't mind the super bright sister Mecham. This place is gorgeous #exchanges

Exchanges with Sister Harris in Tayabas

Seeing these gorgeous places totally makes me want you guys come to pick me up! You would love it!!

Last Zone meeting with Sister McKinney and our zone leaders and the senior couple; the Farrales'

The Tayabas Sisters (Sister Umiten was in Candelaria with Sister Lorente)

Sister Manu's first Sunday last week!

Tayabas!! Sometimes this place doesn't seem real...

I LOVE Filipino BABIES !!

Bagyo, Wala Tubig, Transfers, at Mga Investigators nam in. Week 19

1. We are all alive and healthy here in the thriving metropolis of Candelaria. The bagyo (typhoon) only hit us with heavy rain and wind, so Thursday and Friday we couldn't work and just sat home all day and read scriptures, wrote in our journals, and washed clothes. Our power went out a couple times so that was exciting. Saturday morning there were still dark skies and it poured in the morning. Our water tank was broken and they didn't know how long we would be without water. We have 2 huge buckets that have water in them, but I still freaked out and Sister Lorente and I went and bought some big water jugs that morning. By the time we finished our studies,  it was fixed. Ha I felt kinda silly, but I figured next time the water tank is broken we will have clean water to drink. I feel really bad for these other areas though. We are so blessed to be here. The storm was pretty bad and the wind and rain was crazy, so I can only imagine what condition these other areas were in. It's pretty scary.

2. We had to say goodbye to Sister Mckinney on Thursday morning, and now we have a new housemate! Her name is Sister Manu, so we now have 2 Tongans here in Candelaria and they speak Tongan ALL THE TIME. It is interesting! Some of the words sound like they swearing in English ha so it definitely catches my attention sometimes. It is super weird not having Sister Mckinney there any more, and now I am pretty sure I am the ONLY caucasion in at least a 100 mile radius of Candelaria. (well maybe not 100 miles, but it kinda feels like it).

3. The weirdest food I had this week was just some tofu. It was actually quite delicious!

4. WE HAD AN INVESTIGATOR AT CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His  is 67. He is a former military guy and so it has been a really rocky time trying to gain his trust. But I know he is living proof that the Book of Mormon changes people because he was at church yesterday and every time we go to teach him, he is waiting for us. It was such a miracle. But the even bigger miracle was that our sacrament meeting was SO REVERENT! I have never seen the whole ward so quite. It was such a blessing and Sister Lorente and I were really hoping it was a good environment for him to feel the spirit. After sacrament and even before, a lot of the ward members came up and shook his hand and welcomed him. Then in the Sunday school class, one of the men that just got baptized 3 years ago sat with him and talked to him after about his conversion. It was such a perfect Sunday and such a tender mercy to see that Heavenly Father is answering our prayers for this ward. We will go back to visit him on Tuesday and we are really hoping that he was able to feel the spirit!

5. My Tagalog is improving leaps and bounds. I have noticed I use taglish a lot more and I am understanding a lot more. I am definitely not fluent, but it is a lot easier for me to read in Tagalog, and teach. So that is a huge blessing. I still miss a lot of what people say but when I try to concentrate on the Spirit, every time, I just feel SO strongly that they all just need to know that Heavenly Father loves them.

I love my mission. I love the things I have changed. I love that I am doing the Lord's work. And I love this work!!

Love, Sister Mecham

Transfer Week! week 18

I can't believe that it has been six weeks since Sister Lorente got here!! I am amazed at how fast time goes here! This Thursday is Transfer day and Sister Mckinney is getting transferred to Lipa :( I am really so sad. It is going to be super weird to not live with her any more because she got here just one transfer before me. Ha and I just love her. She is a great missionary though and I hope in this next area of her's she can see some baptisms!! Sister Finau will be getting a new kasama this week and Sister Lorente and I should both be staying her!

Anyway. This past week has been good. We had a curfew last Monday because it was their election day, on Halloween, and All Saints day (Nov. 1) at 6 pm. We didn't have as much time to work this week because President didn't want us out considering the people start drinking in the morning and all throughout the day. It was super hard to get lessons too because they all were either at the cemetery or on their way there on Thursday and Friday. Our lesson numbers were not so great. We did our best with the time we did have to work.

Since we did have a curfew though, we all wanted to do something fun, but for 2 of the days, we ended up just washing our clothes. On All Saints Day we watched Finding Faith in Christ and the Restoration and ate a lot of chips. Ha it was pretty fun. After...yep you guessed it...we washed the rest of our clothes. Haha it was great.

There wasn't too much that happened this week because a lot of our investigators were out of town this week for the holidays plus there was no school for the kids this week. Hopefully next week it will be back to normal. Plus we met with the bishop yesterday and he gave us a list of some less active members, so we will be busy visiting them this week as well.

Some fun facts for this week:

-Filipino funerals are quite extensive. As in they put the casket in a glass hearse and then all the family walks behind it down to the cemetery and they totally back traffic up.

-I walked through my second pair of rubber shoes

-I can speak Tagalog  SO much better, but understanding when people talk to me is still kinda rough. I am definitely improving though

I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and love each week!

Mahal ko kayo!

Love,

Sister Mecham