February 3, 2014 Wow! Another Week!

These are houses built on the water...don't know if you can tell very well

This is right by the sea in my area. Pretty huh?

This is a huge hanging bridge in our area.  It's kind of scary because it sways back and forth really bad. But fun too!!!

I am in Zambales so that was just a cool bridge

This is our pet that I caught last night.

Well!  I feel like so much happened this week!  It was super busy.  First of all, we had an investigator accept a baptismal date and it was so exciting.  She had a really hard time committing because of her husband. Every lesson, she just wouldn't commit and she always looked like she was worried or had something to say.  We were just about to drop her but we went back again and asked if her husband had agreed.  She said no.  So we talked to her for a little bit and then she said that she was worried that if she was baptized, she wouldn't be able to come to church all the time.  And then she said that she really wanted to be baptized.  We asked her to commit to March 1 and she hesitated for a while and looked kind of scared but then she said yes.  Afterwards, she smiled so big and looked so happy.  And all of our lesson afterwards she has been so happy.  She even told us that before, her mind was really troubled when we would have lessons but now, she just feels happy and excited.  And she came to church and just was so happy.  And she just keeps mentioning her baptism in March.  So now we are praying for her husband but we know that the Lord will soften his heart and let her be baptized because this is a commandment to her.

We also had a crazy morning on Thursday.  I was chopping vegetables downstairs when Sis Pati-on yelled "Sisters!" from upstairs.  We went to go see what was wrong and walked into my bedroom and there was water all over the floor and water shooting out of the wall in the shower.  Sister Pati-on was in a towel frantically trying to scoop up the water from the floor and put it into the laundry buckets.  Somehow, the shower handles had broken off while she was showering and so water was spraying out of the wall like a fire hose.  Sister Ila ran to get the owner of the apartment but he was still asleep so she ran to the apartment of the missionary couple and they woke up the owner.  In the meantime, we filled up laundry buckets with the water that was shooting out of the wall and ran them to the other bathroom.  the owner came up, the missionary couple came up, plumbers came up and eventually the water was shut off.  While the plumber was surveying the damage, he laughed and said "May baha! Pero walang unlan!" (There's a flood but no rain!) So we spent the next 30 minutes mopping up the water in our bedroom.  Luckily none of our stuff really got wet that was important.  But it was a crazy morning!

This is the shower after the incident.  Those two holes in the wall are where all the water came spraying out.  It was crazy!!!

We also went to the viewing of our investigator who died last Sunday.  Here in the Philippines, their viewings (Or wakes....) are for several days.  If you are rich, it will be a long time and if you're poor, just a few days.  Our investigators wake is for 10 days (he was rich).  They literally are there night and day with the casket open and people just come to sit with him for a while.  And the custom is to feed everyone who comes a snack.  Funerals are expensive here! Sister Pati-on was really sad when we went to see him but hopefully he'll get his work done soon.

Also, I got everyone's Christmas cards this week.  Merry Christmas ulit!  Haha it was fun to get them and see everyone.

And we found two more investigators this week that we are really excited about.  One is an older man who's wife died two years ago.  We told him that he could be with his wife again and so he listened to our message.  We kept focusing on them being back together again and at the end of the lesson, he committed to be baptized.  He looked so so happy afterwards.  He just kept smiling and told us to come back any day, any time.  His name is Chidorro.  I think that is one thing I will really miss when I go home: seeing them so happy because they know the truth and they have a new hope in their life.

Well, there was more from this week but time is short!  I know this is the most important work right now and I'm so grateful to be a part of it! Love you all!

Mahal ko kayo!
Sister Sirrine

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