The first part of the week was all crazy and stuff from having emergency transfers and getting adjusted to all the changes that happened but as of now, we have gotten pretty settled. But the craziest thing that happened this week was we went to teach one of the people we have been teaching awhile and once we got there we noticed there had been a death at the house of a neighbor (because here it's very obvious if someone has died in the family because there's a table outside of the house and people are gambling) so we asked what had happened and one of the people we teach, her brother in law, who was only 13-years-old has committed suicide while his parents were at work. Devastating. We quickly went to the house of this child and talked to the mom and offered our help if there was anything we could do to help her, and it turns out she's a member and so is her child that committed suicide. They are all members except one 9-year-old in their family. She explained that they had gone inactive for years now and the mom said "I think this is God telling me to come back to church." She was humbled by the experience.
Here in the Philippines you can not hold a funeral at a Catholic church if the death was a suicide, so this mom had nowhere else to turn except to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which made her contemplate why she had gone inactive and that the only people that truly supported her through this whole experience was The Church of Jesus Christ so she feels as though this was God's way of reminding her family about their covenant they made. It was amazing to see her apply this horrible thing to how it could possibly be a blessing in disguise. She is so strong and we attended her funeral yesterday on Sunday. It was heartbreaking but again, I am grateful for the knowledge we have that this life is not the end. Families can be together forever and I think that is what this sweet mom learned through this experience. God gives us trials to remind us that we can't do this life alone. We desperately need the help of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
At the same time that was all happening, we also attended two birthdays on Sunday and we were very full because here if you have a birthday, you cook a LOT of food and have a LOT of cake and a LOT of ice cream and the guests are supposed to eat A LOT. So it was a good thing it was after fasting because we were very hungry but we went to bed last night veryyy full.
In other news, we had ELEVEN people that we teach show up to church yesterday which was literally such a huge miracle. When I got to this area, it was struggling pretty good. After the four people got baptized, there wasn't really anybody left that was progressing towards baptism and I was pretty stressed about how I was going to help this area. But I have slowly seen this area progress through our diligence and lots and lots of help from my Father in Heaven. Yesterday I almost couldn't believe it. That's like a record for La Carlota in who knows how many months. I felt so loved by Heavenly Father and I know that one day, when I leave this area, I will leave it in a good enough condition for other missionaries to pick it up and take care of it. I love La Carlota and have seen so many miracles here. This week is Mary Vic, Bia, and Queen's baptism which we are so very excited for! Like super! They are so prepared. They have their interview on Tuesday so please add them to your prayers that they will not be shy and be able to pass!! We also have exchanges this week with some sisters and Mission Leadership Council so it will be a VERY busy week full of craziness but full of goodness!!
That's all I can think of right now, sorry! I love y'all and will talk to y'all (for the last time before I come home) next week!!! Keep being awesome! Oh and pray for the people in the southern Philippines because there's crazy earthquakes going on.
Sister Robertson
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| this is called boodle fighting here in the philippines! it was sooo yummy. no utensils, no plates, just boodle! |
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| my loves. i dont know why tatay mede is so far away but its fine |
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| my beautiful companion! |
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| everyone just needs to see this cute nanay who didnt have an umbrella so used a bucket thats meant for laundry instead |
