Tuesday 13 November 2012

Punted or Panted?! - Week 32.Serving in Cagayan

Hi guys! Anyways, this was a weird week for us. It's a week wherein I learned so much and it's the week wherein we didn't have much success with our key indicators (because we're panted... after a long time). Still, I've enjoyed the past week.

We moved Brother Z's baptismal date on the 22nd of December, shortly after his wedding with Sister H. Last Sunday, we were able to teach both of them about the Law of Chastity and we can see how hard it was for Sister H to know what they did. During that lesson, we told them about the blessings of repentance and how it could help them live the Law of Chastity. Brother Z is really progressing because he didn't just read the whole pamphlet but he did read the additional scriptures that's in it. It just shows how interested he is about the Law of Chastity which is really great. Both of them came to church which is really great. And we will continue to help him learn more of the Gospel. He even told us that he wants to be baptized not because of his girlfriend but because he feels it is his decision and that no one convinced him to do it. That made me happy. I can't wait to see him enter the waters of baptism, hopefully, I really could stay longer here in the area. But I know God knows better.

Well, Elder Pangilinan and I were talking about our work this week. We don't know what happened, aside from the Specialized Training and the office errands, but we really got panted. It was my first time to get panted in our productive days. Even the people that we expect to be at their homes the most are those that are not there. So, it really was weird. On a brighter side, we were able to meet new people for us to teach. And, we are being able to slowly meet the people that are being prepared by the Lord to receive his Gospel. We are not finding them, they are finding us. That's why there's a lot of work to do.

This week, I've been pondering so much on our purpose as Missionaries. More to that, the insights I've learned from our companionship study with President. I can still remember the phrase he told us during the Zone Conference "so what?". It helped me to look beyond what is in front of us. But to have that "eternal perspective". I have been constantly reading Chapter 1 and 2 Nephi 31. And it helped me. Seeing Elder De Guzman go, I just can't help myself ponder on our purpose. In our specialized training, we tackled about it, especially inviting people to be baptized. I've been praying for the past week to understand more of our purpose as a Missionary. Every District Meeting, or Missionary Meeting, we always recite our purpose, but more than that, I want to view it on a larger perspective. I know that my companions are somehow lenient with some of the smallest things in the Mission like updating Teaching Records, achieving our goals and plans, proper planning, consistent companionship study, and such. I know that there's so much work to do. I am so much challenged by the fact that my companion is leaving. It made me more determined to even work harder, because I know that we are accountable to the Lord with our work. I have learned so much the importance of "going and doing". And I can't wait for next transfer. To do the things in His way, just what D&C 64:29 says.

I'm praying that Elder Pangilinan will do great things in the field because he's a great Missionary. It's great to grow alongside with your companion. I also pray that he'll even see the greatness of this work. I know he can do it and I have trust in him.

With the things that happened, I am so thankful for the lessons I've learned for the past months. I remember Ether 12:27 on how the Lord shows our weaknesses, that we can be made strong. He wants to try our patience in faith. I now understand even more the blessings of increasing our faith in Christ. He wants us to trust Him more. And that is because he really really loves us.

With our Investigators and Less-Actives in mind, as Missionaries we need to press forward and do our best. I know that no effort is wasted. Some of our Less-Actives are progressing like the Oblimar Family and Pajomayo Family. Sister Oblimar was recently given a calling. For the Pajomayo Family, because of Brother's father's worsening health condition, his other siblings started to listen to us. His sister even shared her personal experience about prayer. From the time she became a member of the church, she never felt how powerful prayer can be, just recently, when their father fell ill. It made us happy. And we're looking forward for their progression as well.

That's our interesting week. For the next 2 weeks, we are planning to have more people with baptismal dates. Have a great week ahead guys! 

Sincerely,
Elder Dimazana
Philippines Cagayan De Oro Mission

No comments:

Post a Comment