Dear Family,
This week we had zone conferences for all the missionaries, 2-3 zones at a time, Monday - Thursday. It's a good thing my assignment was "The Importance of Having the Spirit in Missionary Work - and How to Get it Back When you Loose It" because I was forced to think about it all week, and as a result I repented more and had a greater measure of the Spirit. Stewart taught masterfully about "How to Recognize the Spirit"--I was laughing and crying interchangeably each day. It's very difficult for me to teach the exact same thing four days in a row, but Stewart is a champion at it. I had an object lesson involving moving candy from one bowl to another using one chopstick, then two, to illustrate the effectiveness of working with the Spirit. It totally bombed one day, but Stewart coached me on which missionaries to randomly select, and then it went smoothly, especially with our Hong Kong elder. After the zone leaders, assistants, and sister training leaders teach, Stewart always ends the conferences with powerful remarks. When we return home each night, I just want to eat potato chips and cookies, and Stewart often falls asleep doing his work.
The third day I kind of hit the wall and during practice teaching (photo below), and after lunch I was so drowsy Stewart sent me to his office where I crashed on his couch, only to wake up, moments later, to the senior couples coming in to visit! They are really great, and love every opportunity to interact with Stewart, since they are quite isolated up in the District. He has gone up to Baliwag District the past three Sundays (and some weekdays), and is up there again today, interviewing members, missionaries, meeting with district leaders, etc. His great hope is that it will become a stake next year.
Stewart spent a lot of time counseling missionaries and even counseling with their parents this week. Yesterday he worked with the missionaries in Valenzuela where they found a less-active sister who is a jeepney driver at age 70! We attended the baptism of a missionary who is in the same ward as his cousin and baptized his wife after they got married earlier in the day. Completing families is the best part of missionary work.
I'm blaming my potato chip craving on the weather. It's mid-summer and so hot and humid that it seems like the air is full of steam. The missionaries are never out without an umbrella -- it's as important for sun protection as for rain. Some sisters confided at lunch that their apartment is so hot upstairs they can't sleep, study or even use the room because the walls and floor heat up from the sun streaming through the windows. Stewart bought reflective insulation to tape to their windows which we hope will help. The Area is buying microwaves for all the missionary apartments, but what they really need is AC units--I'm so thankful for ours. Yesterday afternoon it rained and we heard the earth cooled so quickly it was the cause of a 1.5 magnitude earthquake!
Last night I persuaded Stewart to watch part of "Groundhog Day" with me. (Unlike young missionaries, we're allowed to watch movies.) Sometimes as a missionary, it feels like we do the same thing over and over and over again. There are moments when it even feels like I am trapped here! But just as Bill Murray begins to use his time to serve others and improve himself, I hope I will do the same -- especially I hope I can develop the Christlike attributes that will make my service more effective. The Filipino people are such great examples of loving and serving. I don't just want to sit around and eat potato chips the next 26 months!
Love,
Mom
Photos:
-Whenever a new missionary comes, we take a photo with them to send their parents. This elder returned home for six months to California from another mission, and we are happy to have him here. He's in a threesome and has brought great peace to the companionship.
-Practice teaching where the missionaries divide into groups--keeps them awake after lunch, but not me!
-Photo from a neighbor after Hannah's talk in sacrament meeting.
-Elder Quilloy, third from left, and his cousin is holding their baby girl.
-The missionaries are not afraid to get close to one another, especially in the AC. I took this photo of a huge Tongan elder with his arm around a small Filipino during zone conference
-We always have rice and some kind of ulam for lunch. This American feels the same way about rice as the Filipinos!
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