Sister Harris // Philippines Cebu Mission: another week in Labangon‏

Hello my dearest family and friends, kamusta mo diha?

Another week has come and gone in Labangon! I've lost count how many weeks I've been here, but every week is great and this week was no exception.

Last Wednesday after emailing, we got a text message from nobody other than...my trainer! Sister Minguez was in the city and wanted to meet up for lunch. It was so fun seeing her again. We went to lunch and then went to ukay2x. (it's the Philippines cross between a yard sale and the DI) SO MUCH FUN!! I love her and I have really missed her a whole lot.

Last week we also participated in the peace walk. It's an event where religions gathered together and we just celebrated having peace within the different religions. It was a great event and we were able to meet and talk with a lot of wonderful people who will hopefully become new investigators of the church. The missionary choir sang "Amazing Grace" and it was so fun singing and the spirit was so strong!

Here on my mission I've been blessed to not learn just one new language, but two. Having mainly Filipina companions from Luzon has given me the chance to learn to speak Tagalog as well. I love when the new missionaries come in and I get a chance to try out my Tagalog on them. One told me that I speak with a Tagalog accent- so apparently I speak Cebuano with a Tagalog accent as well haha

Amada had her baptisimal interview last Saturday. Since she has Alzheimer's, we were worried she would forget to go to her interview, so we brought the interview to her! We took the elders to her house and it was quite the experience. I have never been with elders like that it was interesting to see how they act...during the hour long walk to Amada's house they were picking up bugs, throwing sticks at cows, picking up cats, making whistles out of leaves, and somehow they found a plant and broke the leaf off and were blowing bubbles with the stem.

Despite their craziness...Amada passed her baptisimal interview and will be baptized tomorrow night. She is super excited. I am super excited for her. It's been such a blessing meet her and help her.

There was a missionary serving from Labangon who just got home last Wednesday from serving in the Urdaneta Mission. His name is Ivan...he is so great! We went to his homecoming dinner on Saturday night, Sunday he brought a friend to church, and Monday night we taught his friend for the first time and committed him to baptism! Talk about getting right into the member missionary work! He's awesome.

His friend is named Ragi (pronounced like raw-G) and is a student in his 20's who is super elect and in his words "wants to feel clean" and "wants a new life". I can already tell that he'll be baptized and that his conversion into the church is going to be so much easier with his friend Ivan right by his side. I LOVE IT.

Like I said earlier in my email, we had zone conference yesterday and it was another great opportunity to learn from my dear mission president and his sweet wife. I am so grateful for all of these opportunities I have to learn. I am not perfect and I am so far from being anything near perfect, so I need all of the chances I can to learn from others. The mission is a great LEARNING opportunity to soak up everything and apply the things I'm learning to my life...and hopefully to the lives of the people I serve as well.

I love you all and I miss you of course but I am 100% happy here on my mission and I love and cherish the past 13 months (and the next 5 months) I have to give my whole self to my Heavenly Father. I find it kind of funny that He sent me halfway across the world to the Philippines, serving in a place I had never heard of before my mission, speaking a language(s) I had never heard of before my mission as well. His plan is PERFECT. He knew this is exactly what I needed. It's been everything I need, and more. I LOVE MY MISSION.

Nahigugma ko ninyo. Amping kanunay diha :)

Love, Sister Joslyn Harris