Week six. Transfer week! I've been here a whole transfer already! Crazy! Where, where does the time go?! I'm pretty sure it's been maybe 2 weeks. Almost three. But not six!
Along with Transfer week comes the sad news- my companion is getting transferred to a new area to train again.I'm going to miss her so much! We've had some amazing spiritual experiences together- as well as some really good laughs. It's so hard to say goodbye to someone you worked so hard with. My new companion is coming on Thursday. We've been all placing bets- everyone says that she'll be a Filipino. Yay! I'm so excited! I'll finally, really learn the language! If not though, we are going to be setting records for the longest time of four American sisters in one apartment. I think we'll set records at least. I actually don't know. :)
So this week- this week was so wonderful. It felt like the harvesting part of this work. We have so many of our investigators preparing for baptism in the upcoming weeks. And of course, we had the baptism of our investigator. That was one of the sweetest experiences I've had since being here. It was so beautiful to see the joy in his family's faces as he took upon the covenant of baptism. As we took pictures, I watched as more and more people gathered in- until there were over thirty people. I looked around at the group and started crying! At last this family can be sealed together- forever. What a beautiful plan Heavenly Father has provided for us!
The joy in their faces- the radiance beaming from each soul was so beautiful. I will never forget it.
I have also learned just how important it is to always practice the piano! Ha, when I thought of playing it on my mission I always imagined time to practice for some reason. Literally 10 minutes before the baptismal service, a member pulled me out from the hallway and said, "Will you play Families can be Together Forever for the baptismal musical number?" Ahhhh! Not only did I play for the musical number, but also the entire service. Will a lot of praying, I made it through alright.
Remember the investigator I talked about that had received a witness that this church is true? Well, she is going to be baptized Friday! I'm can't wait. She is so ready, so prepared. I love her so much and I love how much she wants to learn in this church. She reads Gospel Principles all the time and always asks questions. She is truly, truly converted. To top it all off, she's made a goal to finish all of 3rd Nephi before her baptism. Isn't she wonderful? I can't wait to see her receive baptism. She is truly so prepared!
So now, for my brothers who keep asking- a few funny stories.
We taught at the bamboo house again this week. Because it is out in the jungle and we always teach at night, it is VITAL to wear mosquito repellent. So there we were, on the jeepeny ride toward their house and I suddenly turn to my companion with big eyes.
"I'm not wearing bug repellent!"
"I'm not either!"
The feeling of doom set deep inside us. We were going to be eaten alive. The only thing we could do was pray, so I started praying really hard. "Um, Heavenly Father, we uh... forgot bug repellent.... HELP!"
We got there just as the sun was setting. The mosquitoes were waiting for us, ready to harvest the Americans. We sat down and literally, it was like a scene from a horror movie. There were about twenty or thirty mosquitoes descending, like blood thirsty vampires. Pretty sure the Psycho theme was playing in the background. The worst part of mosquitoes is that you can't feel them biting you. We couldn't see our legs because the bamboo chairs are high chairs, so we just started kicking our legs back and forth trying to ward them off. It was so hard to close my eyes for that opening prayer! But of course, Heavenly Father does answer all prayers, even ones from two unprepared missionaries. One of the sons got up after the prayer and started burning the shell of a coconut, which actually works as a repellent. Thankfully, it worked and they all left. I could have cried, I was so relieved.
But I left that house with about 12 bites. My ward keeps commenting on how many bites I have now- about 36. It looks like I have chicken pox or something. The mosquitoes just love our blood!
The other story is about soda. There is a lot of soda here. It's okay and most of the time I don't mind it at all. Sometimes however, we are given A LOT of soda in one day- so much that I think that we probably drink about two liters in one day. We had just had one of those "two liter" days and Made a solemn oath that we would go an entire day WITHOUT soda. We were fed a lot of snacks throughout the day and were getting pretty full. Top it off with a stop at the bakery and we were fit to burst. We were early to this investigators house and so her mother decided to feed us. We insisted that we were okay, "busog!" (Full) when we heard the pop of a soda bottle. I felt my heart drop. I turned to my companion and said, "I can't. You have to drink mine. I can't."
We started whispering about who was going to drink whose soda, saying "kaya mo!" back and forth. ( you can do it!) She came back in with this 1/2 liter bottle for each of us and a package of cookie-snacks and that was the end. Like good missionaries- we forced it down. We were pretty much waddling out of that house. A day in the life.
Well, the time has come. I love you all so much! Until next week,
-Sister Beaumont
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