Abbey in the Philippines: Sister Abbey Hafen // Week Sixty-Nine // "I Love October"

another week in Gamu! another good week! i think the thing i love most about being a missionary, is that it's 100 percent impossible to have a boring week. but maybe my definition of boring has just changed.. hahah just kidding. :)

This week we had a family home evening with our Recent convert Joy Aquino and her mom (less active). Her dad was supposed to join us (who isn't a member) but before we got there, he had drinken a little and had fallen asleep. I felt like all hope was lost, but as part of Joy's personal progress experience, she had to give the family home evening- and It was so good. She shared about Faith and just shared to raw testimony to her family. Filipinos sometimes are not very open or vocal about their feelings/testimony, especially sister joy. She hasn't always lived with her mom (she was in a different part of the philippiines with her aunt and sisters for 10 years, which is really common here) so she has just been here in Isabela with her mom and dad for 2 years. Anyway, her lesson she shared was so guided by the spirit and the things she shared with her mom in this "non threatening " setting was so cool. Joy's biggest dream is to have her dad baptized and have them sealed in the temple. Her brother was murdered last january and he is the 3rd of 12 kids. About half of them are members, and the other half, not yet.

It was a very peaceful night and the spirit was there. We also invited nanay balisi and her daughter so they could be there to support Joy and her mom. It was beautiful!

We have a newish investigator.. Rechito! He is so awesome. 20 years old, and he is the nephew of one of our less actives. We are also teaching his 2 neices, who are 8 and 11, and we are working to reactivate Sister Cherry (the less active). Her sister also lives there and her husband (who are not yet members), and so this home has really been a huge blessing!! Rechito was so shy at first, but had something about him. He had never prayed before, and in our first lesson we taught him how to pray. The next lesson we followed up with him about it, and he was so so excited to tell us he prayed. and that it felt so good. As I type this out, I honestly just picture Heavenly Father's face, just smiling. I bet He was so happy when Rechito knelt down and offered his first intentional, with purpose, prayer. He has been keeping all his commitments, attending our YSA activities, and is really growing. I really love him and am so happy for him. Last night we extended a baptismal invitation for Nov 15 and he accepted :) He has been such a blessing and has really helped me see how beautiful and real the basics are. Just like all the other people i meet here, I can't wait until you meet RECHITO in the celestial kingdom!! Haha i taught him about the pre earth life, and then i asked him "do you really believe that we were with our father in heaven before? that he knew us and we knew him, and that he shared the plan of salvation with us? or does that seem impossible?" he paused for a minute and then said "i don't know. i will just ask about that in my prayer tonight" my jaw dropped and sister cabada and ijust smiled soo big and told him, YES that is perfect. You know exactly what youre supposed to do.

I've been really loving the gospel art book this week, and have been studying all the parables and stories there. We shared about Peter walking on the water to our investigator (nanay lirio) who has missed 3 sundays in a row and has been really struggling spiritually lately. I had this whole thing I had studied out about why this story was perfect for Nanay and how i was going to share it to her, but when we got to the lesson, I felt the spirit tell me not to share my insights. For a second I was kind of offended!! haha. I fought it for a second, but then I just felt like my tongue was being held. I stopped talking and then said "Ok. all i am going to do right now is share the story of Peter and Christ walking on the water. I studied this and have my insights, but right now, I am just going to tell the story how the bible tells it to us. As I share, open our hearts and minds and let us listen to the promptings of the spirit, and that is what our message is for today" I told the story, paused, and then all of us shared what the spirit had enlightened us with. my companion sister buduan, nanay lirio, and our 2 fellowshippers (her neice and nephew, jolvin and netnet) and me. It was so cool. The spirit was so strong. I realized that anything i would have shared, cannot and will never be able to compete with what the spirit can teach us. Thank you spirit!!

Next week i will give an update about the Luzano family... oh my gosh they are so awesome!!! They came to general conference yesterday and on Friday we watched the Restoration at their house. :) They are truly taking what we are sharing, doing it, and finding their testimony.

There are a thousand other things I could tell stories about but I'm sick of typing haha. we had our Mission Leadership Council in Cauayan and hearing from our mission president, his wife, and the 2 assistants was so good. We had an awesome lesson with our Recent convert Mario last night- we read 3rd nephi 13 together and it was awesome. As we read, he would say "that's me. that's what i need to do better" and all of us really had a humbling experience as we read. We only heard Sunday's general conference because of a billion technical problems in Gamu... but ive downloaded all the media/soundclips, so that's what we'll be doing later today :)

Me and my companion have really been seeing success and just have fun every day- and not all of the success has been directly with the people we're teaching; its been with us, the sisters we serve with, the branch, and with our personal conversion. I love being a missionary and know that time is winding down but it's fun to think that I'm never really going home. I read elder uchtdorf's talk (from april 2014)this morning about being grateful. This was one of my favorite parts this morning, and was an answer to one of my unspoken prayers:

We Are Not Made for Endings

In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless¹³ and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.

The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.

How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings.

I can stop being a sad, nervous, worried loser about this journey of a mission ending, because its just an interruption- a small pause that just seems like a big deal because i don't quite have that "eternal perspective" yet.

It was a great week and I can't believe it's pday again... until next week!

much love,

abbey