Rely

Family! And friends!

It's been a crazy week. So much happened- but also, just morag gihapon, more of the same. 

The weather seemed to reflect that too. I've now broken two umbrellas. There was some kind of storm and we walked in this wind that had the leaves stirred up all around us and then really weird rain- kusog kaayo (super strong) one minute and then nothing, and then kusog again and at weird times. But we didn't get too wet ever, so that was a blessing. 

 

First, Sister Bibing's baptism! This was in the middle of this storm, and there was a point where we couldn't hear because of the wind- but there was a real calm there. Despite all of Brother's insistence that he knew how to baptize, he didn't actually, so he got help, but it was all great. Aren't they cute? The day before, they'd both joined our branch's dance performance so they're just part of the branch now.

And on Monday, we had zone conference! With all the missionaries on Negros, 3 zones, so there were lots of us. And lots of sisters! And we're so young- 58 out of the 62 sisters here are either training or being trained- and more than 60% of the whole mission. It's not going to change next transfer either. It's just crazy stuff. We'll see what happens in two weeks when I finish my training. So Zone conference: President Schmutz is so wise and loving, and he knows the scriptures and further, he knows how to apply them. That's a skill that I want so much, and I'm always so excited to learn from him. We learned about the Doctrine of Obedience and its centrality to our purpose here on Earth.  It was so cool to feel the power of so many missionaries together. Then, here comes the crazy part. We were given 10 minutes to study 4 different topics, and then 4 missionaries were selected to give an impromptu talk about them. Out of all those missionaries there, I was selected to be one of them- so I gave a talk about why commitments are central to our missionary purpose. We truly must invite others to Come, just as Christ invited Andrew and John in John 1:39, and the Nephites in 3 Nephi 11:14-16. But not just to come- but to "Come and see", or to "Arise and come forth." You all know that an impromptu talk wouldn't be the easiest thing for me to do, but I did it anyway because the Lord helped me. 

And then yesterday! The Sister Training Leader came, with her companion who's also in training (Sister Wechsler from my MTC district). And instead of a normal situation where we'd have an experienced missionary in both companionships, she asked me to go with Sister Wechsler and lead the other side of our area. Family, that was a really scary moment. The two of us together, not fluent in Visaya, very new missionaries. But we really got to lean on our Faith. Yesterday was truly amazing. We taught lessons, we found new investigators, we talked to everyone we met, I understood people who I'd never understood before, and mostly, I learned I could do it! As long as I love these people, they'll forgive my shortcomings, and as long as I'm doing my best, the rest comes.

Thanks so much for your love and support! You're in my prayers every day and I love hearing about your lives and your learning and your progress and your joy.

Ampin mo,

Sister Josie Tueller