Saturday, May 31, 2014

Updates this week - My Letter to the Mission President.

"This week has been a long week that somehow I forgot some of the things that happened the first few days. I feel terrible. But this week has been really great though, nevertheless. There are a lot of things I have learned and I hope that I keep remembering these things. I could really see why repetition is so important.

So this week, we were able to teach William, who is progressing really well. The local missionaries invited him to be baptized on the 14th of June. He still doesn't feel prepared about it but we do know that the is the date that the Lord has set for him and we have faith that he will gain an answer from the Lord. Sister Chen and I was inspired to set the same date as well before we called him. My investigator from the Philippines, Catherine Clemente, has been having struggles lately in her life but we are continually supporting her and helping her with the gospel. She says that the emails that we have been sending her is uplifting her. We constantly remind her that she is a daughter of God and that Heavenly Father loves her. Emailing her makes me feel the same way for myself and is one of the things that kept me thinking positively. I was also able to get a hold of my Cebuano investigator who lives here in Sandy and we are praying that she would progress as well and have faith to enter the waters of baptism. She loves the church but there are some things that are holding her back and we are prayerfully doing the best that we can to help her with her concerns. I also have an investigator who replied to my email after weeks of not hearing from her. She's really prepared and she really wants to join the church but her family is holding her back. The thing is, she's a minor and there's nothing much we could do to help her without her parent's consent.

One of the things that I have learned this week is always to follow the Spirit and to not be easily discouraged if we are not able to achieve the goals or the numbers that we have set, as long as we do our best talking to people and sharing the gospel in every contact that we do. One of the things that's hard for both Sister Chen and I is that we are trying to find new investigators to teach. We tried calling people in our area book and some of them don't pick up the phone. There are days that both of us would be upset but what I have learned is that people have their agency and all we have to do is trust in the Lord. This is His work. These thoughts are always a repetition for me and I have realized that I could never seem to get it because of the negative thinking that we could never reach our goals even if we have set them into something that is achievable. But this past week, I realized that as long as I have touched people's hearts with the Spirit, even if they never referred, it's fine because I have planted that seed and it is their choice... and that someday, a few weeks, months, or even years, they would come to remember the things that the Spirit told them through me. I have realized that I am fulfilling my purpose as a missionary.

As for my family, my Sister is currently in Manila, starting her Chinese studies. She emails that she already has a roommate from China and has learned to become independent (going to church, school and institute by herself). As I was reading her email, I could see a missionary in her. She also said that she will be inviting her Chinese friend to Institute as well. I am really happy for her. And learning about her enjoying her time (despite the homesickness), really makes me happy and proud of her. Having all 3 older siblings away from home, I know that my family will be facing some challenges back at home and they would be even busier, but I know that they could also see the blessings that they are receiving with our sacrifices to serve the Lord for His purposes.

Going on a mission has really blessed me and my family and I am definitely learning to be submissive to the will of the Father."
It is really a long email but it contains most of the things that I've learned so far this week. This has been one of my spiritual weeks here in Temple Square. I love being a missionary and writing this email, I am having this feeling that I want to keep applying the things that I have learned here on my mission every single day and let it sink into my heart. There are so many things that happened the past week that writing it in complete detail would make it a 5 page novel or something (and my mom would always say that I write novel letters just like this one. hahaha).
So I think that's all that I could write for this week. :)
♥ Sister Ngo / 吳姐妹.