It all started on Wednesday when we woke up and changed right away to go out and plant some sugarcane. We jogged to the tricycle terminal where we waited until there were way too many people on it and then we left to our farthest area and that's what we did all morning! We helped this one nanay that was complaining to us the day before about how heavy her work is and how hard it was so we volunteered to come and help and we would carry the heavy sack for her so her back didnt hurt as much at the end of the day. Of course, just like last time, everyone around us was laughing that an American was planting sugarcane. But it was a lot of fun and this nanay's kids who we have been inviting to come to church for months now, finally came yesterday!!! So I know our service was blessed and helped this family feel the Savior's love. Then later that day, we helped another person we teach to pump water for her laundry. It was literally so tiring but I sure didn't let her know that!! I got a realllyyyy good arm workout out of it hahha! I loved it and the whole day was full of service and I got home that night and even though I was DEAD tired, all I felt was a happiness in my heart that I got to help God's children to feel closer to their Savior. I love my calling as a missionary because most people think we are just here to teach as many lessons in a day, but in my eyes, I am here to serve God's children in any way that I possibly can. If I teach 0 lessons in a day, but I got to serve 5 people that day, I am happier than if I teach 5 lessons and serve less. My happiest moments here on the mission has come through getting my hands dirty and serving those around me. I love service I really really do.
The service didn't stop there though! It got even more exciting on Saturday when we went to one of our other farthest areas to teach someone we teach there and she actually wasn't there but we saw people going out to plant RICE. So of course what entered into my mind? That I was about to go help them do that. Planting rice is very different than planting sugarcane. You have to plant rice into feet of MUD. So you have to trek in feet of mud and throw the seeds of rice to spread out the seeds by hand. So I pulled my skirt up a little (to no effect because it ended up getting crazy muddy anyway) and we went and trekked through mud and threw rice seeds to the wind. IT WAS AWESOME! I had seen people doing this and put it on my "need to do before I go home" list. And I did it!! The guys who we helped were so confused why we would choose to get muddy to help them but I loved it. Let's just say these Filipino people are some dang hardworking people cause we did it for like an hour maybe but it was so tiring. But I literally had so much fun. It felt like a free foot spa!!
Anyway, that is the major news for the week. There was a missionary that came home from his mission this week in our Branch and we went to his homecoming and it made it really surreal that that is about to be me in a short month. In exactly a month, I will be traveling to Manila. Wow. Wild. I can't believe it. PRay for me that I will be able to give my ALL to this last month so that I can show God how grateful I am for the time He has given me here. One of the newly RM's showed a video on the TV of a vdeo compilation of a bunch of RM's coming home to their families in the airport and he said "Sister Robertson this one is for you." Hahaha ouch. It made me super sad but also way excited to run into y'alls arms so soon. I can't even believe it all. It all feels unreal.
I loved what y'all shared about the Come Follow Me this week. I also love Hebrews 11 about faith. There are endless examples of people showing their faith. I loved in particular the one about Abraham and we talked about how faith is really trust. I have felt that so much on my mission. Faith is just having trust in God's plan and trust that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can heal all wounds and can perfect all imperfections that we have. I have learned how perfect God's plan is here on the mission and I continue to learn that everyday. Life is so hard for every single person here on the earth, but if we have true Faith and true trust, we will not let the hardships that pass our way let our happiness be affected. Everything that happens to us here on earth helps us to be happy. If we remember that, nothing can get us down!! Faith is so key and that is what we endlessly help people to realize here. Faith is only shown through action. It's not enough to say we have faith or to say we trust God, rather we must SHOW it to Him.
I also got to speak in Sacrament meeting yesterday. They gave me the topic of missionary work and had me speak after the newly returned missionary from the Antipolo Mission. He talked all about Ammon in Chapter 26 of Alma, and that was exactly what I had prepared to talk about. But he focused all on the rejoicing of Ammon and their successes, and I more focused on how he is rejoicing DESPITE of it being incredibly hard. The night before I gave that talk, on Saturday night, I felt in a very personal way the scripture in verse 27 that reads, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." I think the whole reason I idolize Ammon so much is that yes, he is rejoicing humbly in his God but more because he is doing that WHILE he is in the midst of a really hard time. I have never related more with anyone in the Book of Mormon than I do with Ammon. His feelings of his Savior he expresses is exactly how I feel. Especially in verse 16. And I also relate to the Sons of Mosiah getting so sad or so overwhelmed they want to turn back. I felt that very thing on Saturday, but then as I was speaking in church and focusing on how missionary work is the hardest thing we can ever do, but it is the most rewarding as well because we get to feel the things that Christ himself felt in Gethsemane. We get to go through a little personal Gethsemane here on the mission and I have never been so appreciative of the weight that Jesus Christ bore for us so that we don't have to suffer as much as He did. And I have never felt so close to Him than I have on my mission and I am excited to keep coming closer to Him even if I am in the Philippines, in Texas, in Utah or wherever I am. The Atonement reaches everyone and everywhere!!
That's all I got this week. Next week may be a shorter email cause we are going to Bacolod so we won't have a ton of time to email cause I have a lot of things I need to sort out before I go home. But I love yall and anything I forget in my letters I'll just tell yall in person in a month(: MISS YALL!!
Sister Robertson
this is the process after harvesting sugar cane, they burn the whole field and its terrifying looking
Me barefoot in the rice field
More Rice Planting
this is how rice planting is really done
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| me gracefully throwing rice seeds into the air |
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| this is what they use to carry the rice. its also heavy |
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| before we got really muddy |
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| free foot spa! |
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| the family we helped plant sugarcane with came to church!!!!! |
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| we found a worm and it was yummy! ha joke |
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| i get why they say their back hurts after working in the field |
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| the crew of harvesters! |
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| this is a truck after harvesting sugarcane |
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| i think i win for finding the smallest rat! i love this picture though look how happy that kid is |
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| it was my tatay's 61st birthday!! |
