Goodbye MTC Hello Angeles

This week was absolutely incredible. I am so so happy and GRATEFUL to be here in the Philippines MTC!! This is such a wonderful place. I'm grateful I have been able to have natvie speakers as my teachers, to adjust to the weather, and the food before heading out into the field. Speaking of which, I head out to the mission home on Wednesday bright and early!! :) Sooo exciting. This week we had another proselyting activity. We were supposed to do the same thing as last time where we went with some in-field missionaries to their appointments, pero Quezon City mission cancelled (which had never happened before). We were all a little bummed that we weren't able to go proselyting, but most of teachers live in the same ward just 15 minutes from the MTC. So they split us up into groups and we went street contacting!! It was so scary, especially because we didn't really have anyone that with us who knew the language. We made the record for the most referrals in that mission. But it's not about the numbers, it's about the lives of the people that we contacted. All those numbers are lives that can be changed for good through the gospel. Sister Nielson and I went to a laundromat and taught a lesson the the owner and his wife. Very scary, but it turned out pretty well despite the fact that I've been studying Tagalog for only a month. We ended up talking to lots of people, placing a couple of Book of Mormons, but I really feel like at least 2 or 3 of the people we talked to could be ready to accept the gospel. It was a really coll experience, but I had to rely so much on the Lord. That's one lesson missionary work had taught me- on our own we are nothing, but with the Lord, we can do anything. (See Alma 26:12) Other than that, the MTC has been the same old thing. Last night, our teacher was sick though and we had a substitute, and she ended up being the ivestigator that we were supposed to teach as well, but it was hard because we weren't expecting to have to teach another first lesson. So we kind of went in there not prepared with anything, but it's amazing how well it went anyway. There are so many little things that make me smile everyday and I'm so grateful for my district, for my kasama, and just for everything I have been blessed with in my life. I don't know why or how I got so blessed to be a part of this work at this time, but I'm grateful for the experiences I am having! Mahal ko kayo! :) :) Sister Holmes