P is for Preparation for a Typhoon - Field Week 6

INTRO

Another week down, another crazy natural disaster I've never experienced before. For some reason I have gotten sick 4 separate times this month, and this week was no exception. The worst part about being sick is that it is the only time I feel homesick. Also, I got prescribed some antibiotics from the doctor, and decided to take them on an empty stomach even though I could hear my mom screaming at me not to in my head. Let me say, mother knows best because I found myself in the bathroom throwing it all up about 30 minutes later. And then to top the week off, we find out that we have a typhoon hitting us tomorrow. So today's P-day was P for preparation as always, but preparing food and water and 72 hour kits for our safety. Apparently the power likes to go out for a couple days when these things happen, so pray for me extra hard palihog. 

TRANSFERS

I made it through my first transfer. Although I fully have trust in God, I'm super nervous. My companion has been in this area for 6 months already, so he is most likely getting transferred, which means I'll get a new trainer. Although I love him so much as a person, I can't say that I learned anything about the mission or language from him. I'm hoping that I get an American trainer because all the people with American trainers are doing super well in the language, because the foreigners know how to explain everything. Again, I absolutely love my companion. I have laughed so much these past few weeks. I just can't lie that I am excited for something new. I can't wait for six months when me and Elder Nault become comps on his little resort he's on right now and we can baptize the whole place.

OUR INTERESTED FRIENDS

Remember that family that has 8 kids, well my companion invited them to be baptized and they accepted. So 4 of the 10 are getting baptized unta, the first week of December. Sadly though, he extended the invitation when we were on exchanges, so I wasn't there to witness it, but I’ll be there when they hopefully get baptized. Also, exchanges were fun. One lady loved me. She was teaching me bisaya words, and she told me that she is going to make me a pillow, which I am super excited for because I have been wanting another pillow.

MY WEEKLY THOUGHTS

A lot of the time I find myself deep in thought about random things. This weeks, came from my studies. I am trying to finish the Book of Mormon every transfer, and I am behind. So the other day I read half of Alma and all of Helaman, which if you don't know, are all war stories. What I noticed was the recurring idea of laying up your treasures in heaven, and our purpose behind our actions. I then listened to a few missionary podcasts, and some talks and devotionals, and they all somehow outlined this same topic. This obviously made me start thinking about my purpose behind why I am here. When I was sick I thought a lot about when I get home. Am I going to feel accomplished or am I going to feel like I just wasted 2 years. The idea of laying up treasures in heaven, and not in the world. Meaning do what matters most, and what will last the longest. And the idea of our purpose behind our actions made me realize that what I am doing is a good thing. And just that tiny simple thought naghatag sa akoa daghan og kalipay (gave me a lot of happiness) (I only did that because for some reason my mind told me that I knew how to say that in bisaya.) But anyways it gave me just what I needed to be excited to be here again. I think you can probably tell from my emails how much my emotions toward this whole mission thing changes.

Another thing that came up was while I was reading a talk by President Uchtdorf where he talks about faith. One of the things he says is that faith is a powerful thing, but no matter how much faith we have it cannot violate a person's agency. This made me start analyzing my prayers when I ask for things. It made me realize that when I ask for things, I tend to ask for people to do things. When I read this, it reminded me of the story of Nephi, the son of Helaman, when the Lord told him that because of his faith, whatever he asks for will be done. He asks the lord to replace the war with famine that hopefully they would repent and turn to God. He could have asked that the people would repent and turn to God, but that would have violated their agency. So instead he asked for the Lord to provide a way that they may choose for themselves to turn to him. I just thought that was so cool. It made me change my prayers. So instead of asking for people to do something, I ask that God may provide a way that they may choose for themselves whatever it is I am praying for. I don't even know if that is effective. I am still studying the topic and trying to figure out more about it, but I just thought it was so cool.

CONCLUSION

Walking through the city of Cebu in the rains before a typhoon with deftones playing in my ears makes me feel like I'm Batman. This had been the most spiritually fulfilling thing ever. I am so happy to be here. I still can't picture myself speaking a different language one day, like it doesn't feel real. Love you guys. Amping mo!

My little soda pop,

Elder Lewis

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