So, I've been transferred to Morong! It's the farthest area in the mission besides Mindoro (which is a separate island). I'm in a provincial area with lots of green mountains, and we drive right through Antipolo!!! I want to jump off and say hello, but that's not allowed. However, I've run into several people from Antipolo in the past couple days and it just makes me really happy. (Naiwan ko ang puso ko doon...) But the new people I'm meeting make me really happy, too, and my companion is masipag and keeps lessons simple, which really helps invite the Spirit. Sister Curtis is from Utah and 8 months into the mission (and 6 months in the field). I'm her first 'foreign' companion because she's had all Filipinas up until this point. One amazing experience we had this week was that this one evening as we were waiting for a tricycle, this one guy came up to us and commented on the fact that we're Mormons. I asked him how he knew, and he said it was how we're dressed, and we asked if he'd been taught. He responded that he was taught for about a year, but his mom didn't want him to continue and be baptized. He added that he didn't think she'd mind now, and Sister Curtis asked, "Why do you want to be baptized?" And he said, "because your church is good." So we got his information and will hopefully be teaching him within the week. It was kind of a like a stork dropping a baby in our lap, but instead it was an investigator. Haha... Also, we have this one sister whose schedule baptismal date is September 15th, and every time we teach her the Spirit is just really strong because her heart is just open, and it feels like we're all being edified.
So oh my goodness, back to my subject line. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to speak to us. We had read two talks prior to his coming, and based on his whole act not be acted upon emphasis, it was a very unusual form. He didn't share a talk and we didn't do the conventional note-taking. We had a discussion. And it all started here: D&C 88:122, " Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege." We read scriptures, he asked us questions, and then he'd expound on what we said. And he said "Don't take notes on what I say." He emphasized listening to the Spirit (the real teacher), and writing what the Holy Ghost directed. He never called on anyone; we had to volunteer. He did it as a reverence to our agency. It was amazing. He made us feel like we mattered and what we said mattered. I ended up asking him a question, and he asked me a question in return, and then we talked about it, and it was just wow. I got to talk to an apostle. He had to catch a flight to Davao so we didn't get to shake his hand, but it was okay because we learned so much. One thing he mentioned is that the mission should not get easier at goes on, it should become more overwhelming. I'm definitely feeling that, and more especially because of all the things from what we talked about that I want to apply. But I think the thing that he talked about most that will stick with me for the rest of my life is about having patience with ourselves in the process of trying to change ourselves to become better people. He compared it to a plastic bottle that has a hole at each end. The holes are big enough to fit one grain of sand. The bottle is filled with black sand, but as we do our part, we push one grain of white sand in and one grain of black sand comes out. Even if we do this 100 times (or have made a ton of changes to ourselves/our lives/etc.), the bottle is going to still look mostly black. It doesn't mean that we haven't made progress. He kept repeating "line upon line, precept upon precept." Heavenly Father knows us. He is so aware of us and He's listening and answering our prayers in His timetable. He sent an apostle, two members of the seventy, and their wives to answer my questions. I know the Church is true. I know Christ lives, and through Him Heavenly Father has called prophets and apostles to lead and direct His Church. I know that revelation is real--for prophets in behalf of the world, and for individuals in behalf of their stewardship (self, calling, family).
Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Cope
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