June 23, 2014 Transferred again!

Me and Sis Lim and Gerson Ravana at FHE!

All the Santa Cruz sisters at 7eleven!!

My last night in Santa Cruz.  Sis Lim, Gerson, & Leonard

This is Mark's Baptism that I really really really really really REALLY wanted to see!  But it's okay.  He was baptized and that's all that matters.  I miss Santa Cruz..

Hello ang aking pamily!

Man, I was transferred again.  I so did not want to be transferred!  We had a baptism on Saturday and two more this coming Saturday and more next month.  I guess I loved the branch too much.  That's what happens, if you start feeling good and comfortable, you get transferred.  So I was transferred from the furthest north area in the mission, to almost the very south area in the mission.  So I'm back in the south and back to the land of Catholicism.  It really is surprising that it's only about an 8 hour bus ride south but the people are so different in the north as compared to the south.

My new companion is Sister Leakehe, who is.....Tongan!  Woooo! I have a thing for Tongans I think. Maybe I should start learning Tongan.  But, she really is from West Valley, Utah and has lived there her whole life.  So she's really an American.  But she does speak Tongan.  And our apartment here in Pilar has AC in the bedroom.  The first time I've had AC in the house since the MTC!  My fist couple nights I was pretty cold...and I woke up with a really dry throat.  I'm gonna die when I go back to the States.

This week, Sis Leakehe and I did a LOT of finding new people to teach.  I think pretty much all we taught was lesson 1.  We're going to get pretty good at that.  And we've got a lot of potential baptisms for July but the problem is they don't come to church.  Here in the south, it's really hard to get people to come to church.  The north is a whole different story.  Whole different mission! HaHa.  But it's okay, we can do it!

We also visited a lot of less actives.  Something I have really learned on the mission is that we can not afford to let ourselves get offended by other people.  There are a lot of people that say they know the church is true but they do not want to go to church because they got offended by someone.  What they don't realize is that they are withholding themselves from blessings!  They are hurting no one but themselves!  So to everyone back at home:  People are not perfect.  The church is perfect.  the church is the way to get blessings and return to our Heavenly Father.  We cannot afford to get offended by other people and not earn the blessing of returning to our heavenly father.  It is up to us to endure hurts and trials and challenges in this life to prove to our heavenly father that we are worthy of the blessings that he has in store for us.  This life is really so short and then we will have the rest of eternity to think about what we did here.  We will have the rest of eternity to think "If only I could have stayed strong for a little bit longer...."

I really like what my mission president emailed us this week.  (It is his last week here as our mission president.  We get a new one on Sunday ) He said "However, if you cannot give to the Lord the best that is in you here you will not likely ever give to the Lord your best. And if your do not give to Him your best then it is you that He cannot Bless with the Best that He and He alone has to offer." And I know that is true about the mission but it is also true about life.  If we cannot give him our best here in this life, He cannot give us His best blessings.

I love you all!  Stay strong and be obedient!
mahal ko kayo!
Sister Sirrine