Sister Harris // Philippines Cebu Mission: Car Car Week 8

Well, I've officially been in Carcar for 2 months, and yesterday I hit my 5 month mark on the mission. Time is going by soooo fast! I can't believe it.

We have a zone activity today and we are going to some really cool waterfalls in Barili (here in Carcar, it's the elders area) so this email is going to be a quick one so that we can go prepare for that.

This week I have been trying really hard to focus during my language studies. I've been asking members and investigators for help too. I've just been trying really hard to improve my Cebuano, but on Monday at district meeting, I had to "practice teach" our district leader, and he told me that my Cebuano is "messed up". That was really hard to hear. I felt like I took a huge punch to the gut and I have been trying so hard and I was pretty proud of myself too. Thank goodness for great zone leaders that were there to stand up for me, but the last few days I have been super conscious of my Cebuano so hopefully I can start speaking better soon :)

My companion has had a hard time this week too so I've been trying to really comfort her and be there for her. After district meeting on Monday I was just really struggling and feeling down, and my companion was having a hard day too, and I needed to be strong for her. So when we got back to our apartment, I went into the bathroom and locked myself in there for a little bit, kneeled down on the ground in the bathroom and prayed to my Heavenly Father. I just prayed that I could be filled with charity for my companion, to get my self esteem back up, and to just get through the day. As soon as I was done I stayed there kneeling down for a little bit and I just felt like so warm, like I was getting a hug from my Heavenly Father. I know for a fact that he heard that prayer and that he loves me. I knew it before but that experience just strengthened me. That day we didn't get any work done but I was able to talk to my companion and get to know her better we had a 4 hour talk about things and after that I did feel more charity for her. And if anything it helped me to understand her better too.

That night we had FHE at the Weller's which totally put me in a better mood. I love the Weller's. I gave the lesson about testimony and I used the testimony glove! I think it went pretty well. We also had dinner and the elders came too and it was way fun.

Something that we did to strengthen our companionship was we got companionship tshirts made. They are blue and have 2 minions from Despicable Me on them. They are pretty cute. The less-active son of a member made them, so we were able to talk to him and invite him to come back to church too. Missionary moment!

One day we were tracting and I had a package of 50 stickers with me. I usually always have stickers on me and I didn't think I would give them all out that day, but I gave one sticker away, and then before I knew it kids were swarming around me and pretty soon, every sticker was given away. Yes I had a crowd of 50 children following me around. So I pull out my picture book and show them a picture of Christ and turned it into a teaching moment. These are things that I swear only happen in the Philippines!

I got a package from Trudy yesterday and that made me super happy. It came at the perfect time too! It was exactly what I needed, so Trudy if you are reading this, THANK YOU and I love you so much :)

I've been cooking a lot more this week too. You guys would be so proud of me! I am getting pretty good. :)

Well that's about all I have to say this week. Keep on keepin' on and know I love you all and pray for you all the time! Have a great week :)

love, Jos :)