We had Mission President training this week and Pres. Lopez showed us a video of the destruction in Tacloban. Oh my goodness. I had no idea how extreme this natural disaster was. No wonder you were all so worried! We were not effected by the storm nearly as much as Tacloban. Wow. I can't believe the destruction and all the deaths they experienced. I feel really blessed to be so safe here.
The people I teach were barely affected. Only a few of them need repairs on their homes and things like that. My life is back to normal missionary work. It's kind of crazy though and sad because all of the Tacloban missionaries have to be reassigned to other missions in the Philippines. We're getting a bunch of them this week.
My companion and I actually just found out this morning that things are changing, once again. My companion is getting a Tacloban missionary tomorrow and I will be getting a new companion. I will be "white-washing" the other area in our ward, so I'll still be in the same house and ward, but with a new companion and in a new area. I'm pretty freaked out because I'm supposed to "lead the area" and be the senior companion for the area, while my companion finishes training me. Yeah I don't really get it yet either. crazy.
God has a lot of trust in me and I need to learn to seriously put my trust in Him! It's all good:) Lots of change constantly and lots and lots of learning experiences. I really hope and pray the Tacloban missionaries will be able to adjust okay to their new assignments after experiencing such tragedy. wow. I can't even imagine what they're going through.
I met an elder at the training who is from Renton, WA! He went to Bellevue College and everything! So cool to meet someone from home. His name is Elder Sablan. He's actually FIlippino, but his family moved to Seattle and joined the church when he was like 15 or something like that.
Anyways, the work is going great! I love all of the people we teach soooo much! i get to be with the cutest people in the world! I think I maybe told you about Marjoe and Joemar? Marjoe is a recent convert and now we're teaching his cutie bum brother. This week, at one of our lessons, Marjoe was supposed to teach Joemar how to pray. They're 12-years old:) They started arguing when we brought it up about how Marjoe didn't teach him, but Joemar didn't want to be taught! They're the cutest. So we suggested that we'd teach Joemar and then he could listen to Marjoe pray first and then copy him and pray right after him. What happened was that Marjoe started praying and after every could words, Joemar would repeat what he was saying! I was trying soooo hard not to laugh during the sweet prayer! It was the most adorable thing in the world! So they both prayed together, the same prayer! :)
Oh my goodness, there's this street food that is chicken intestine. My companion bought it the other day and asked if I wanted some. I said I better not because I just knew it would make me sick. I'm adventurous, but not THAT adventurous. oh man, the sight of it makes my insides turn and squirm. So just so you know, mom I'm being careful:) hahaha Just try picturing what an intestine looks like and that's exactly what it looks like! All squiggly.
My testimony of repentance was truly strengthened this week. I'm so eternally grateful for the gift of being able to repent and become clean and free from sin. In one of our lessons this week, I witnessed our investigator recognize a serious sin he had committed and feel godly sorrow for what he had done. He felt so terrible. He prayed at the end of the lesson and started crying. I could see the process of repentance working within him. It was my first time ever witnessing someone experiencing that. I could not stop thinking about him and praying for him. I'm so grateful though for his desire to follow Christ, to not sin, to be better.
I'm so grateful for this opportunity to help others become free from the bondage and guilt that comes from sin. I can't believe that Heavenly Father is allowing me to be involved in such life-changing and miraculous work. It's truly incredible! The gospel is so beautiful and brings so much hope and joy and peace to my life! I know that it is only through Christ that we are able to be freed from the bondage of sin and move on with our lives. It is only through Him that we can return to live with our Eternal and most loving and gracious Father in Heaven. I love my Savior with all my heart:)
We witnessed a miracle this week by having 6 investigators attend church!!!!! Getting people to church is one of the hardest parts of the work here, so it was truly a miracle. The Lord performs miracles when we exercise our faith and do all we can, relying on Him, to achieve our goals.
I love you all so much! Thank you so much for all the missionary work you are doing. Your examples have a much greater effect on others than you realize!
Love love love, Sister Malyon
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