Pag-aayuno

That means fasting in Tagalog. This transfer I have such an increased testimony of it. Our bishop challenged the ward to fast every Sunday, and Sister Daclan and I did it for our six weeks together. (I will be transferring again.) Every time we just saw different doors open and unexpected blessings. One miracle from this past week was a Sister who hasn't been to church since 2004. We've only taught her twice. And the members treated her so well. She said she was really happy. And our next lesson with her was very different. Her heart is just ready to come back and understand the gospel. I also learned some very important lessons this last fast that we did. I know Heavenly Father is answering my prayers.

Sister Daclan will be training!! I'm so excited for her. She's going to be amazing. She just has the biggest heart, and will help the new missionary adjust and feel very loved. But I'm going to miss her so much. We found out on Monday so I've been saying some goodbyes and one of our returning members offered a very tender prayer in our behalf with our new companions and for me and my new area. I'm starting to get used to leaving the people I love behind. I'll be heading to my fourth area, but it's still hard, and I've already promised one of my favorite families in a previous area that I will be returning to the Philippines. I can't say goodbye forever. That would break my heart. So I will see them again, and it's okay. I have to come back to see some of them sealed in the temple.

One of our investigators with a baptismal date had been struggling to understand the priesthood authority of the Church. But he wants to be baptized and he has a testimony of going to church. He reads the scriptures, he's excited to learn more every lesson, and he offers very heartfelt prayers. We asked him what he learned in Elders Quorum this past Sunday. It was a leson about priesthood. He gets it now. It was amazing to hear him share, and he was excited to tell us that he gave the opening prayer before the lesson. His baptismal date is September 30 so sadly I will not get to be here for it, but I know Sister Daclan will take good care of him.

I had the privilege of teaching endure to the end with our other investigator who will be baptized on the 16th. He has grown so much in his testimony since I first got here. Before he wouldn't always keep appointments, and now we're teaching him four times a week.

We're late for our lunch appointment and I still have to e-mail our mission president. But basically it's been an amazing last week in Pateros.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Cope

PICTURES of the week! (courtesy of Sister Daclan's camera)

And actually they're from the past couple weeks up until today :D

1.Sister Daclan, Nicole Salamanca, and me. Her family started coming back to church again these past six weeks and she wants to go on a mission!

2. Today after transfer announcements. Mahal ko siya <3

3. After the last temple tour we had (which was actually Quezon City North..), we took pictures at the church because the ones of all four of us at the temple weren't very good. To the far left is Jason Miano. He's the one getting baptized on the 16th. His girlfriend, Nicole is a member.

4. Cute pictures at the temple. She is going to be an amazing missionary, if she doesn't get married first :)

5. The first temple tour of the transfer (these pictures are out of order) with the Garais Family. And apparently I wore the same thing both times... Ha.

6.Garais family. I love them to death. Maevelle, Sister Brenda, and Mel Brian. Mel Mel will be baptized by the end of the year, and by the end of next year, hopefully, their family will be going through the temple to be sealed for time and eternity. Brother Melvin had work.

7. Mamimiss sila ng sobra.

8. So I know this is not flattering, and a really scary thing for anyone who is not a sister, but tampons are really rare in the Philippines so I had to take a picture...

Oops!

So probably the most eventful thing that happened this week was Sister Daclan and I went to temple tour with one of our returning members and her investigator boyfriend. The thing is that it wasn't our turn for temple tour... We got there and thought, "Why do we not recognize any of these missionaries?" It was the Quezon City North Mission, and we had gone by the old calendar instead of the updated one... 

But as awkward as it was at first, it was such a blessing, and there was definitely a purpose to it. And Jason and Nicole were so excited. They were earlier than us, and just had the right attitude and enthusiasm. Jason will be baptized this coming September. He's gone to church four times in a row, and he has questions with depth. Nicole and her family have also gone to church consistently now, too, as compared to last transfer when I hadn't even met them until the fifth week, I think. Transfers are happening AGAIN next week, and Sister Daclan and I are really hoping to stay together to see him and one of our other investigators baptized within the next month. But it depends on Heavenly Father. Not only that, Sister Daclan is great and she's just the companion I needed at this time.

Grabe! Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with the people He has put in my life. And we had zone interviews this past week, and I learned so much, and my head will probably explode trying to apply it all, but wow.

Oh, and our temple day was this morning where we got to go inside (as opposed to temple tour which is  for investigators and just outside on the grounds). We woke up at 4:30 a.m. and as early as it was, I learned a lot, but still have so much more to learn. and the temple is really a special place because you always end up running into people you know--like Tatay Tarun from my first area in Antipolo! Sobrang masaya. I really did leave my heart there... But there are other places to go and more people to meet and serve.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Cope

The rains came down, and the floods came up...

So I don't know if this is on the news in the U.S., but we've had a pretty big deal flood here in the Philippines. I've had the privilege of walking in waist-deep-diaper-and-who-knows-what-else water. Yay! But we were really blessed in my area because our apartment wasn't flooded unlike a lot of other missionaries who had to evacuate. The water's going down in most areas, but one of our areas has an estimation of October before the water goes down because it has nowhere to go. The Pasig River is full... So there's about 15 families living at our chapel right now, and Sister Daclan and I are there almost every night serving food. We passed out relief goods for two days to others that decided to stay home. (that's where we've encountered the really deep dirty water :) In spite of the disaster we've still been able to teach and we've had some great lessons. One of our member families who is staying at the chapel came with their non-member siblings and their families, and they're really sincere about learning the gospel. We've taught them three times, and one of them asked the golden question "How do you become a member?"

Tapos... A lot of our less actives are staying at the church so we've been able to teach them, and they were able to attend sacrament meeting. But we also had some of our other less actives, who have to walk in knee-high water and pay a lot more for their tricycles, still come to church. They're acting on their faith! It's wonderful to see. We have other less actives that we haven't taught for a while because they're always busy with work, but because they're living at the church, we've had the opportunity to visit with them when they're not at work.

So we've still seen blessings in the midst of this trial, and the bishop of our ward mentioned how there is a reason for this flood. It's a reminder to repent. Actually, in our weekly e-mail, our mission president said how maybe we're starting to understand just a little bit the feeling of the people at the time of Noah. Ha... Not to mention we sang that Primary song mentioned in my subject line several times before the flood happened... For those of you who don't know that song here is a summary of the lyrics found in 3 Nephi verses 24-27:  "Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock— And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it." And then in Helaman chapter 5 verse 12 we find the meaning of that rock... "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." I always like to point out something here that I learned in a Sunday School class, it says when not if. The devil will send forth temptations, and Heavenly Father will give us trials, but if we are prepared and are following the gospel that Heavenly Father has given through His Son, Jesus Christ, we won't be dragged down. We can make it through our trials with a smile on our face and a strengthened testimony. And we can overcome temptation without giving in.

Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Cope

P.S. Tagalog word of the week: baha. That's flood. It's fun because the word for wet is very similar.. basa. But if you conjugate it or pronounce it wrong it means to read ;)

Tiyaga at Pananampalatya

Dearest Family and Friends, 

Something I remember learning from one of my MTC teachers is that when you learn new things (or put things together and strengthen your testimony) while you're teaching, that's the Spirit. So just yesterday I really felt that. We had this great lesson with one of our less active sisters. Her situation is legitimately rough financially. She's a new member so she doesn't quite see how important and how real the gospel is yet. I shared the talk from conference by Elder Perry, I think, about the two different groups of people in the Book of Mormon. The Lord was slow to hear the cries of the first because of their iniquities, but God delivered the next group on the morrow because of their patience, faith, and humility. Then Sister Daclan shared this great scripture from Mosiah 2:22. We both shared our family experiences, and we both realized that we really wouldn't have gotten this far in our lives with these many blessings if it wasn't for the gospel. It's amazing, but God really does keep his promises.

And yesterday's church attendance was a miracle. I saw real sacrifice. One of our less actives came riding on a bike with a side car in the pouring rain. His wife was in the side car holding their granddaughter and an umbrella. A couple minutes later all their kids showed up. Another less active who has polio and can't really walk came with her younger daughter on crutches with the help of her older son. And some other whole families and members of families came, and it's just a really different feeling to go to church as a missionary. Your happiness kind of depends on how others use their agency. The fast and testimony meeting was also amazing because it was mostly youth (young men and young women ages 12-18) who bore their testimonies. Many of them are more active than their parents, and it's amazing to see what the seminary program is doing for their lives, and other experiences that they're having.  The spirit was really strong, and Sister Daclan and I joked that we want to go back to seminary. (I was actually a horrible seminary student... :)

Anyway. Sulit ang ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo. It means the gospel is worth it. And there's this quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk last conference that just sums it up:  “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation. … It [is] through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life.”  I know this is true. 

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Cope

Slowing Down.....

I mentioned this, I think, last time, but our mission president is always telling us to slow down in our lessons. I've been watching Sister Daclan during the lessons (because she is very good at this), and as I've applied it, I've noticed so much more guidance from the Spirit. In a couple lessons I just thought, "Wow! That did not come from me." It's lessons I've taught hundreds of times, but the Holy Ghost has given new ideas on how to explain it.

And I feel like Heavenly Father is really trusting Sister Daclan and I because we finally met the husband of one of our less actives who is always working. We taught  them about temples and introduced the Restoration and have an appointment which we're praying will become regular. Also on our way from district meeting our tricycle driver asked us about judgment and had these other great questions and his interest and sincerity are just this different level. He told us some of his expectations so we're going to really prepare because these are one of those people it says in the scriptures that are searching for the truth and know not where to find it.

Temple tour was a great experience as well. We were able to get there earlier, and it was very reverent. We brought one of our less active families. Their son isn't baptized yet, and they're preparing to enter the temple next year. They've become very active, and Sister works with us and is always reading her scriptures. Sister Sarmiento gave them a picture of the temple before she left, and when their son saw the picture he said, "If I get to go there, I'll start listening seriously to the missionaries." So he played games on their cell phone for a bit of the tour, but as it progressed, he listened more and asked us about the inside. The Spirit is always very strong there on the temple grounds. I think it strengthened the mother's desire to help her family get sealed.

And this one less active family that hasn't gone to church the whole time I've been assigned here in Pasig finally came. And the daughter brought her boyfriend who is investigating the church. He has a baptismal date in September. It's exciting. Heavenly Father is answering our prayers in behalf of these people.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Cope

7 Minutes!!!!

So I spent my e-mail time looking at pictures of my new companion in Mindoro... But my new companion isn't actually new. It's Sister Daclan!!! We were kabahay for three transfers in Antipolo and companions for 2 weeks when my trainer, Sister Siufanua, went home. She is amazing and is exactly what Heavenly Father knows I need at this time. She brings a calmness to the work and a spirit of love for the people. Our mission president keeps telling us to slow down the lessons, and I'm learning so much from her about that.

There's been this one family that, to be honest, I've had a hard time loving. Sobrang makulit ang mga bata, pero we were able to invite the Spirit kahit konte. There is a big difference in taking the time to teach and not rushing from principle to principle in teaching. (And being patient and understanding of the situation. Even though I'm about to hit my year mark, there's still a lot of learning to be done.) But it's like the article from July 2012's Liahona, "The Lesson is in the Learner." It's not about covering material, it's about helping people feel and know what is true. It's hard to do. It's easy enough to say words in Tagalog, but to help people be truly converted in their hearts and understand the gravity of the Restoration, it takes the power of the Holy Ghost. It can't be done by just the missionaries. A lot of people will believe the words we say, and we told one of our investigators, "We're worried when people don't ask questions!" The events that provided for the publication of the Book of Mormon and the return of the Priesthood, the power that literally comes from God, are miraculous. You can't figure it out logically; faith is required... And a confirmation through the Holy Ghost after sincere prayer.

Whether you are a member or not, read the Book of Mormon, ask if it's true, and God will tell you. All of us have those moments where our testimonies get weaker, but if we regularly read and ask, there won't be doubt. Saligang bato siya. (It's the cornerstone... of the Church.) We teach tons of less actives that don't have testimonies, and this is the key. Even I, as a missionary, am in the process of doing this.

Tapos, speaking of priesthood earlier, we were able to teach one of our investigators about priesthood blessings and offer a blessing for her baby. Two of the return missionaries in our ward went over there after church to administer the blessing. We'll check up on them tomorrow, but I know that if it's God's will, the baby will be healed because that power and authority from God is real.

Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Cope

P.S. Pasaway ako... I extended my time to finish writing what I wanted :)

More than a transfer...

So I'm blessed to stay in my current area longer than just one transfer. Sister Sarmiento will be leaving me, though. She's been here four months, and this was her first area when she first arrived in the mission. She's ready for a change, but I'll be sad to see her go. She's a really hard worker, humble, and brings the power of the Holy Ghost when she bears her testimony.

Yesterday actually we had a sweet experience of being the instruments in God's hands to answer the prayers of one of the families in our ward. We had plans to visit this one less active, but felt to go to another in a different area. She wasn't home, so we stopped at the home of a nearby family and left a prayer because they were eating dinner. Sister Sarmiento suggested to go to another family with that area. My initial thought was they have been reactived for a while. They have callings, they're going to church regularly, they're preparing to enter the temple, etc. But I'm so glad Sister Sarmiento suggested it because we arrived, and the mom said she had been questioning God's love for her because of the trials that had come into their life recently. We taught about hope and faith frpm Moroni 7 and how it's all about trusting in the Atonement of Jesus Christ to make things right or to help make us stronger, and in the timing of Heavenly Father. She was crying, and her son was really cute and chimed in, "Be strong!"

Tapos... Sister Sarmiento and I had been studying the talk of Richard G. Scott from April General Conference about receiving inspiration and revelation this past week. He talks about dreams being one way God answers prayers and He'll use people we love and respect to reveal truths to us within our dreams. So it was the coolest thing when we were teaching one of our less actives and following up on his prayers. We had invited him to pray to know that Thomas S. Monson is God's living prophet on the earth. He said he dreamed about his old bishop teaching about President Monson, and I excitedly pulled out the conference edition of the Liahona and shared that part of Elder Scott's talk. Ah! The gospel is so real. It's not just some religion that people created to have purpose in life. It's from God and if we apply it, we can be happier. I know this. I see it week after week. And I know that Heavenly Father has not changed, and still calls prophets now like He did in Biblical times. But we need to listen to them and follow their counsel or it's all for naught.

Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Cope