I'm not sure where to start except that my new companion is great. Sister Harston is focused on her purpose and so willing to try new things. (In mission terms I just want to announce that Sister Siufanua now has a granddaughter and Sister Ball has a great-granddaughter :) She's so sincere and is trying to memorize everyone's name at the same time worrying about Tagalog (which she's way more fluent than I was when I reached the field). We had a fun bonding experience yesterday with fish and shrimp. We're both not huge fans of seafood, but were offered dinner by some of our new investigators. I was explaining to Sister Hurston that here a lot of people will feed us and not eat with us; she brought it up that maybe that was a good thing in this case... And it ended up tasting pretty good. (By the way, when traveling from U.S. to the Philippines, you skip a day; she ended up skipping her birthday!!)
We have this one awesome investigator. He is retired military and he always has his own little parables to explain his beliefs to us. The Spirit was so strong at the beginning of our third lesson with him, but by the end he said if we invite him to become a member he will ask us to not return. So first we have to help him feel of the truth of the message and then his heart will change...
Church was a miracle with people coming that I didn't expect to see because I've been in Morong for three months now and this one family and another individual have never come since I've been here. But they did this Sunday! It just reiterates the power of always having hope and never giving up on certain less actives.
I've been stressed about the training thing because I was silly thinking it was all on me, but I've felt the Holy Ghost guiding the lessons so much more. We had this interesting experience yesterday where we I'm pretty sure Satan was trying to keep us from watching the Restoration DVD, but finally after trying three or four DVD players and two TVs, we shared with Nanay Nora and Nanay Juanita, and they are both now preparing for baptism in January.
The Church is true. I guess I've gotten used to be in the Philippines, but Sister Harston helped remind me how organized and perfect the Church is as she bore her testimony on her first Sunday here. The gospel is the same whether you're in California, Maryland, the Missionary Training Center, or the Philippines. This is Christ's Church on earth restored through the prophet Joseph Smith.
Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Cope
1. Thanksgiving last Wednseday with the Millers was delicious complete with homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, chicken (because you can't get turkey here), and maraschino cherry sauce (because there are no cranberries). They also made brownies, banana cream pie, and chocolate cake (request of Sister Suarez).
2. With Sister Harston this morning at the temple! Her first time, of course, at the Manila temple <3
3. With my MTC companion (we're still kabahay!) on the way back from our Thanksgiving lunch and admiring the sunset in the province... Happy times <3
4. Saying goodbye to my kambal (twin) at transfer meeting. She went back to her old area. She was so happy because she's not being transferred to a completely new area for her last transfer, but with people she already knows and loves :)
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